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I wanted to make some holiday treats for our neighbors, but I don’t really enjoy cooking. I asked Briar and Brad to help and we picked some easy treats that wouldn’t require any real cooking – peanut butter and Ritz crackers dipped in chocolate almond bark, pretzels dipped in vanilla almond bark decorated with red and green sprinkles and peppermint brittle – which is melted white chocolate chips mixed with crushed peppermints and then chilled and broken apart.

While Brad was excited and did almost all of the work, Briar retreated to the living room and asked that we yell at him when it came time to crush things. And let me tell you, boys LOVE crushing things.

After finishing, we loaded up Christmas tins and delivered our goodies. Brad proudly told the neighbors what he had made and that he hoped they enjoyed the treats.

He has since thought of several others who he wants to deliver Christmas goodies to ... Looks like I’ll be spending even more time in the kitchen!

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Christmas is a wonderful time of year. The only thing I usually have trouble with is Briar and Brad’s ever-changing Christmas list. They started their list back in August (at my request), but seem to add to it or take away from it daily. They have also made a note of the things they want the most. It made me wonder if all they have thought about is what they will get for Christmas.

I want them to think about what they can give. So … for everything they want to get, they have to list something they want to give. I talked to them about giving from the heart. Gifts can be a hug, a kind word, a hand-made card or gift, or something of your own that may make someone else happy.

The boys have some great ideas and special gifts they hope will make other people’s holiday more special. My hope is that the experience will make Briar and Brad’s Christmas more memorable as well.

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It’s a great time of the year for college sports fans. Football season is winding down, but there are still several big games to come. Several conference championship games took place this past weekend and the bowl season is just around the corner.

Meanwhile, the college basketball season is in full swing. Hardly a night goes by without an enticing matchup on television. Several highly ranked teams have already suffered defeats this season, so we should be in store for an exciting, unpredictable season to come.

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While taking the kids to school the other morning, a song I like came on the radio. I turned it up and started singing along. Briar rolled his eyes at me and said he couldn’t believe I liked those lame songs that all the “typical girls” like right now.

According to Briar and Brad, there are several songs right now that are really popular with all the girls at school. They sing them on break, walking down the halls and in the classrooms. All the boys, evidently, don’t like these songs and make fun of the girls for singing them. Two of those songs happen to be my favorites right now.

I told Briar, that even though I’m a “mom,” I still like a lot of the things that “typical girls” like. Brad laughed at this and agreed that the songs are lame. Of course now I am made fun of a little bit whenever one of the two songs comes on the radio, but I don’t care – I still turn it up and sing along anyway.

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The Christmas season has begun. Some of us look forward to it with real anticipation while some of us dread it.

I love Christmas. It is a time when the people you meet have a smile on their face and they speak to total strangers wishing them a “Merry Christmas.”

My house is already showing signs of the season. A Christmas tree (only one so far), the teddy bear, snowmen and Santa Claus collections are in place. This weekend we will set up the crèche and our old time village. For me Christmas is a time of anticipation and excitement and a time when I can once more look at the world, if only for a moment, with a child’s sense of wonder.

But I can also sympathize with those who dread the day. I often believe I must shoulder all of responsibility for our family’s Christmas experience. I am slowly learning to let go, but still for one month out of the year I try to don a red cape and blue spandex (not attractive, believe me) and create a perfect moment in time.

This year I intend to stop and realize Christmas is not about me. It is about hope, love and compassion. After all the angels sang about peace on earth and good will not about figgy pudding demands.

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I love Thanksgiving – spending time with family and amazing food! What more can you ask for? I don’t remember a time when I didn’t enjoy the Thanksgiving feast – dressing and potato salad are two of my favorites.

Briar and Brad, however, are very picky eaters. They aren’t picky about the same kind of food either – I always have to fix something extra for one of them. I’ve been told not to do this, that when they are hungry they will eat. But they won’t. Briar and Brad are both as stubborn as they are picky.

For Thanksgiving dinner at my father-in-law’s house, Briar fared a little better than Brad. He filled his plate with turkey and mashed potatoes. Brad had corn and a roll.

For supper, we ate at my parent’s house. While the food at my father-in-laws was good – nothing beats the spread my mom puts out. Again, there wasn’t a lot that Briar and Brad liked. Briar ate ham this time. I wanted Brad to have something more than corn again, so I fixed him peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

About the time Brad set down to eat his sandwiches, Georgetta, my sister-in-law, asked the kids to say what they are most thankful for. All the responses were the same… family, except for Brad’s. He paused and said, “right now… I’m most thankful for peanut butter and jelly!”

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Every morning, my sister-in-law brings my six-year-old niece, Jarah, to my house. My brother and his wife have to be at work in Jonesboro at six, which leaves them without another way to get Jarah to school. I like doing this because it gives me time with her I wouldn’t otherwise have and I have to take Briar and Brad to school anyway – so it is no trouble for me.

Jarah can be rather difficult at times, though. Everything has to be just right. Her socks have to have the seam in the right place, her shirt can’t be too long and can’t be tucked in, her shoes have to be tied the way she likes them (let me tell you this is a hard one – I tied them six times one morning and she still wasn’t happy with them). Most importantly, she can’t have a hair out of place. I spend quite a bit of time combing it for her and then she always combs it, too.

To my horror, Friday morning, she had a cough drop tangled in her hair. I tried everything I could think of to remove it without having to cut it out. Jarah told me pretty quickly that I was not going to touch her hair with scissors. In the end I had no choice. I had to cut it out. I didn’t use scissors, though. I used my husband’s electric grooming set while Briar and Brad pointed and laughed.

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I completely agree with the saying, “A mother’s work is never done.”

All too often I hear:

“Mom, come here!”
“Mom, I need your help!”
“Mom, when are we going to eat supper – I’m hungry!”
“Mom, Briar won’t get off the computer!”
“Mom, Brad won’t leave me alone!”
“Mom, I need help with my homework!”

These phrases come at me so quickly and they never stop! At 10 and 12, I know I won’t be hearing these phrases from them much longer. Although I look forward to that day now, I know that when it comes I will miss it.

Besides, “Thanks, Mom!” and “I love you, Mom!” more than compensate for anything else.

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I think it is so great that parents do so many activities with their children – ballgames, dance, clubs, etc. What I don’t understand is – how do they do it? There is so much to get done in a given day: get up at 5 a.m., get ready and get the kids ready to leave the house for school and work, working, errands, picking kids up at 2-3 different locations, get home between 5:30-6, supper, dishes, homework, kids' baths, your shower, go through mail, laundry, tidy up the house – not to mention trying to keep a nearly two year old (in my case) at least a little happy so you can get anything done — by the time this is all done it is getting close to midnight. And then you start it all over again the next day at 5 a.m. And that’s if you can even get this stuff all done. How do you fit anything else in?

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I stumbled onto a great website for parents called Common Sense Media. The focus of the site is providing parents with the info they need to judge whether or not a particular movie, television show, website, book or game is suitable for their child.

The site gives the pros and cons for a particular piece of media and includes ideas for discussing it with your child.

I appreciate the openness of the site and that they provide the information a parent needs to make their own judgment call about whether their child should have access to a particular piece of media.

The website is located at www.commonsensemedia.org

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There’s been a lot of talk in the Hoxie and Walnut Ridge area, since the election results were announced, that the newly elected mayors might be able to bring about needed progress for the community. Citizens who cast their ballots because they want to see that progress need to remember that for good things to happen it takes the involvement of many, not just the elected officials. Great things can happen in Walnut Ridge and Hoxie, but they won’t happen magically and they won’t happen without hard work. If Hoxie and Walnut Ridge residents want to see forward progress, they need to pull together, set some goals and put one foot in front of the other.

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At the ages of 10 and 12, my two boys already have this never-ending need to prove me wrong.

Briar, the oldest, decided that he needed his hair trimmed. It had started flipping up at the ends – and he didn’t like that. So, my mom made him an appointment for Friday afternoon.

When he got up in the chair at the beauty shop, I told the stylist that he just wanted it trimmed. To my delight, he said, “No I don’t, I want it short!” He then went on and told our stylist how he wanted his hair cut.

My husband had told Brad that he had to get his bangs trimmed, too. We couldn’t keep them out of his eyes, no matter what we tried. He groaned and complained, but agreed to have them cut as little as possible.

When Briar finished and Brad’s turn came, he got up in the chair and told the stylist not to cut off very much. She trimmed up his bangs and the ends of his hair. Brad took one look in the mirror and said, “Just cut it all off.” I wasn’t sure I heard him right – and the stylist was looking at me unsure of what to do since he had been so adamant about not cutting a lot of it. He wanted it cut like Briar’s. I told her to go ahead and do it.

They both love their new style – just not as much as I do.

I didn’t think they would want their hair short, but they proved me wrong. In this instance, I don’t mind at all.

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What is it with boys and their hair these days? When I was growing up the guys had either really long hair – or really short hair. The few guys with hair at the “in between” length hated it. They were trying to grow really long hair.

It seems these days most of the boys want their hair at that dreaded “in between” length. Both of my boys ~ Briar and Brad ~ wear their hair like this. I don’t like it ~ but I don’t have to wear it either.

I did, however, receive a request from Brad’s teacher to find a way to keep his hair out of his eyes. We are experimenting on different ways to wear his hair that will accomplish this.

Heaven forbid he actually get it cut!

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Dan Marino. Karl Malone. Tony Gwynn. All were undeniably great players in their respective sports. However, they also share something else in common. They are all members of what could be called the “Yes, but...” Club. As in “Yes, he was a great player, but he never won a championship.” The club’s membership includes many great players in all sports.

The St. Louis Cardinals’ made an improbable run to a World Series championship, even though their star player, Albert Pujols, wasn’t really that much of a factor. Still in his mid-twenties, Albert is generally considered the best all-around player in baseball. He won the National League’s Most Valuable Player award in 2005, and may win it again this year. Despite all the acclaim he has received, he still seems like a genuinely humble and team-oriented player. And best of all for Cardinals’ fans, he’ll never be a member of the “Yes, but...” Club.

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I’ve been over run with dough…just not the right kind!

Like many other students, my son, Brad, recently sold cookie dough as a fundraiser for Hoxie School. The dough came in Tuesday and we had to deliver it to those who bought from him. Hearing him laugh and talk to people as he delivered the cookie dough was a real treat. What I thought would be a tedious task turned in to the perfect opportunity to have fun and bond with my son.

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The state high school football playoffs begin this week and, in a rare occurrence, both Lawrence County teams will be playing. Both teams have to hit the road for their first-round game.

The Hoxie Mustangs, who have become playoff regulars the past few years, will make the long trip to Gurdon, in southern Arkansas. It will be the second long trip of the season for the Mustangs, who had to travel to Barton a few weeks ago.

The Walnut Ridge Bobcats, making their first playoff appearance since 1999, will travel to Earle. The Arkansas Athletics Association suspended seven Earle players as a result of a fight in last week’s game at Marked Tree. Many Bobcat fans may have painful memories of the Bobcats game against Earle in 2004 at Sexton Field, when Earle scored on a 99-yard touchdown pass on the game’s final play for a 12-6 win.

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It occurs to me that as people become anxious to find out the results of an election, they often forget the need for diligence in verifying the vote, which can in some cases cause a longer wait. My hat is off to the Lawrence County election officials, the election commissioners and the county clerk and her staff for taking the time to make sure everything was handled properly, even though it might not have won them any popularity contests with those who were waiting for the final numbers. We live in a fast and furious world, but when it comes to something as important as election results, I’ll take slow and steady any day.

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I am so pleased that Lawrence County will be an Angel Food distribution point. Thanks to all the hard working volunteers the group no longer has to travel to Jonesboro to pick up the food. What a time saver that will be.

Angel Food Ministries is a fantastic resource for those on a fixed income. A box of food containing meat, vegetables and other food items is available for just $25. If you haven't heard about this wonderful program contact Debbie Spangler at 759-0135

To order a unit of food contact Spangler or Vicky Davis at 759-1568. Other contacts for ordering include: Kristen West, 886-5709, at WestWeb in Walnut Ridge; Betty Ross, 886-5460, Main Street Church of Christ; Teresa Helms, 886-7856, United Free Will Baptist Church; Paula Decker, 886-6681, First Free Will Baptist Church; Susan O’Connor, 870-528-1111, Smithville/Lynn area; Kathy Lee, 870-219-4385, Alicia area; Cathy Harthorn, 886-2752, College City area; and Rhonda Turbyeville, 501-412-4464, Imboden area.

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