Me in Place

Okay – these traditions will be out of place, but I have to throw them all on here somewhere. Like how you start out wrapping gifts all carefully and neatly tucking in the little corners to make them crisp and even and by the 4,934th gift, you’re just slapping the paper on there, sticking the bow and scribbling the tag out…just gotta get it done at this point. So, here’s Tradition #4 (which usually occurs on Christmas, but this year occurred two weeks ago at our first Christmas celebration.

It’s ever so great that I married into a family of artistic people. My dear sister-in-law makes these beautiful cookies every year and reads the Christmas story while the kids hold up their cookies at the right parts. Here’s a sample of what she does:

And here’s the kids acting out their parts with their cookies. Can you tell the three-year-old is being the star way up high in the sky?

And the Tradition #2 is the Rock Candy my mom has been making every year since I was about 4. And as soon as you’re able to use scissors in our family – you’re an official helper. You boil sugar, water and corn syrup, add in amazing candy flavorings (which, around here, are only available at Graham’s Chocolate Store in Geneva) and food coloring. Let it harden just ever so slighty and start cutting and molding. You end up with the most delicious rock candy that’s gotten me through many a Christmastime sore throat. We gave it out to our teachers and music teachers every year and now my daughter carried on the tradition by giving it to her violin teacher. Tradition! Tradition!

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