The Least, the Lost, the Left-Behind

Posted on December 13, 2005 by moonbridgebooks

Holidays are a time for fun, food, and festivities. For most of us. It is easy to look only within our immediate families to share happy times, but I would like to challenge you to look beyond to others who are alone, who are homebound, who are in need. The winter holidays, especially, are a time when sharing and caring are honored. Look beyond your own home to relatives, neighbors, or friends who are alone or cannot get out to celebrate with others. Invite them to join in your celebration, give them transportation, gather them into the fold. Visit those who are unable to leave their homes. Help them enjoy the light of the holiday season.

The winter holidays are a time for helping others in need. This month our newspaper publishes sad stories each day of desperate local families overcome by poverty and sickness. Donate to some of the many charities, help serve at a food kitchen, join an adopt-a-family program. By serving others, you feed your own spirit.

Sharing and caring is a valuable lesson for children. Teach them to look beyond themselves to see others who need help, and to lend a hand or a kind word to lift someone up. The ability to be thoughtful and caring is a great gift that brings joy to the giver as well as those that are helped.

The holiday light is not meant to be hidden in your own little corner of the world. Let it shine out to brighten other corners and you will see that your own light will merge with the flicker of another and the two will grow stronger… and memories will glow.

Linda Austin
“Cherry Blossoms in Twilight”
http://www.moonbridgebooks.com
Posted in holiday, sharing | 1 Comment

Making Christmas Memories

Posted on December 10, 2005 by moonbridgebooks

Most families have their own special traditions relating to the winter holidays. I always make the eggnog butter cookies my mother used to bake, and now my own children decorate them. My dad gets a new puzzle every year for Christmas so there’s a table set up for anyone to stop by and fit a piece in. My sister and I find it a required treat to watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas” each year in our own homes to help us keep the real meaning of Christmas in mind as we rush towards the big day. These traditions give extra meaning to the holiday by making it our own personal celebration.

Is there a certain prayer that is said around the dinner table, a candlelight service to attend, a particular home where relatives gather? Is there an aging angel that tops the Christmas tree, a holiday light show to drive through, a giving of food or gifts to those less fortunate? Whatever your traditions, they are rituals that make the holidays more memorable and enjoyable. They create a bond within family members that goes on to future generations. Memories, after all, are what make the holidays truly special.


Eggnog Butter Cookies

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1 cup eggnog
½ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
5 ½ cups sifted flour

Cream butter and sugar. Add remaining ingredients in order listed. The dough will be rather stiff. Chill an hour or more. Roll out dough and use cookie cutters to cut shapes. Set on cookie sheets covered with parchment paper. Brush lightly with egg white and sprinkle with colored sugars. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Linda Austin
“Cherry Blossoms in Twilight”
http://www.moonbridgebooks.com
Posted in holiday, recipe, traditions | Tagged | 2 Comments

The Family Games People Play

Posted on December 5, 2005 by moonbridgebooks

Our closet is filled with board games and card games and puzzles. I like to buy games that even our youngest child can play, and that us parents enjoy. The games listed below are educational and/or challenging to the mind and are our top choices for family fun. They can be played with two to four (sometimes more) people. Sometimes, even Grandma joins in.

Slamwich, for ages 6 and up, is a well-worn card game in our house. Make sure your fingernails are smooth as you have be the first to slap the deck to win cards. It is available in specialty toy shops and online through Gamewright and Amazon.

Rat-a-tat Cat, an award-winning card game for ages 6 and up, works your memory and tests your strategy as you try to collect low-number cards after looking at only half the cards you were dealt. It can also only be found at educational toy shops or online.

Yahtzee, for the beginning poker player, is a simple game where kids can practice addition skills. Young kids can play with parental help on strategy and adding.

Pass the Pigs is a fun, interesting game of rolling pigs, adding, and taking risks. Comes in a little carrying case you can fit in your purse. You should be able to find this at your neighborhood Target or Toys-R-Us.

Labyrinth, by Ravensburger, is one of our favorites and is also only at educational toy shops or online. Ours came from Discovery Toys. Even my husband enjoys this game of shifting “maze cards” to create pathways so you can reach treasures shown on your cards. This game is for ages 8 and up. There is a Junior Labyrinth for ages 5-10.

Life, an oldy but goody, is now available as “Sponge-Bob Life” – a version my child has on her Christmas list. This game has taught our youngest to count big money and to make change. It introduces concepts like insurance and the cost of paying for daycare. I’m not sure what concepts Sponge-Bob Life introduces … or whether there will be any boy children my daughter will insist on sticking under the car.

I Spy is a card-matching memory game based on the I Spy books, which my kids (and I) enjoy. This is the one that sharpens my own scatter-brained memory and that we like to get Grandma to play since it is good brain exercise to help combat her short-term memory problems.

Of these games, Rat-a-tat Cat and Pass the Pigs are shorter games for busy parents with time limits. Hope you’ve found some ideas for the kids’ Christmas presents. Have fun!

Linda Austin
“Cherry Blossoms in Twilight”
http://www.moonbridgebooks.com
Posted in family gathering, raising kids | 1 Comment