Frosted Christmas Tree Craft

Just wanted to share a picture of this holiday craft you can eat! I created this frosted Christmas tree using a large waffle cone from Baskin Robbins.  You can use real gingerbread cookies to decorate. I usually buy a package of pre-made cookies from the store, but my local grocer doesn't have them yet, so I substituted with "claydough" from Hobby Lobby.

Note: Ebram and his siblings created their own Christmas trees in THE HAUNTING. Free instructions on how to make your own with the online purchase of the book during the month of December from my website: www.estherlocascio.com/store.html!  

Advent

We celebrated the beginning of the new church year by lighting the first of three purple candles on our Advent wreath. The purple candles remind us of the humility and penitence of the seasons of Advent and Lent. The wreath includes a rose candle, which signifies Christmas joy and will be lit on the third week of Advent.  There's also a white candle representing Jesus, the unblemished lamb of God, that will be lit every week.  

The Advent wreath is a family tradition we started to help prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of Our Savior, both his birth at the first coming and his judgment at the second coming.  It's a time filled with joy and love as we anticipate Christ's birth, and prayer and hope as we prepare for his return.  



Saints

At this time of year, there's a lot of interest in ghost stories, haunted places, and paranormal activities. For young kids, it's about candy, costumes, and jack-o'-lanterns.  In The Haunting, "rumors spread of curious sights and sounds in the [neighborhood], mostly of young children at play and distant church bells ringing." For all the talk of ghosts, the story ends in a surprising way...


Let's not forget the saints. Halloween, or All Hallow's Eve, falls on October 31st while All Saints Day is celebrated on November 1st. Two saints honored on the secular calendar are St. Valentine's Day in February and St. Patrick's Day in March. The Catholic calendar celebrates saints most days of the year.  All Saints Day honors all saints, including those who are unknown and otherwise forgotten. The holy lives saints led are an example for us to follow in our own journey through life.

Turbulent Times

There was another suicide--this time, a friend of the girl who killed herself a few days ago. Some students missed school yesterday because of the rumors that naturally flow from such a tragedy. With Facebook and other social media, word spreads far and wide.


We received a call yesterday from school officials stating that it had been "a good day" and everyone was expected back at school Tuesday. I had no idea until then how serious the rumors were.

Mourning

Because Ebram comes from a close-knit family and is grounded in his faith, he sees beyond the strange appearances of the Shroudas to the good deeds they do in their community. It's what helps him decide to become a Shrouda himself and start a project he hopes will bring some childhood fun to his unfriendly new middle school, never mind the bullies who pick on him. 

My daughter was distraught when she learned that a girl she knew in middle school killed herself yesterday. She attended a candlelight vigil for the suicide victim at her high school where she was a freshman. No one knew why the girl killed herself, and it was a question everyone asked. Rumors were that she was being bullied. Whatever the reason, the message is the same: step out of your comfort zone to help someone in need.

Connections in "The Haunting"

The family baby sitter, Rachel, names the neighbors, mostly adults, for new residents Ebram and his siblings, Alyssa, Eric, and Angela. They're surprised to meet them for the first time at a children's birthday party for Eric and Angela!  Rachel also says there are two girls, Chloe and Zoe, who live a few blocks away. Not only are these girls invited to the same party because their dad is a colleague of Ebram's dad, but they live next door to one of Ebram's best friends!

There are much deeper links explored in this book, such as the link people have to each other despite their differences, including cultural and religious.  A group of tweens/teens that Ebram joins consists of Christians of various denominations linked together by their common goal to serve the Lord, the equilateral triangle worn on their clothing a reminder of their belief in the Holy Trinity.

Links that Bind

When our oldest son was in kindergarten in Nebraska, he befriended a quiet classmate who slowly came out of his shell. As their friendship developed, they wanted to go to each  other's house to play. Eventually, Chuck realized that he knew this boy's dad from his college days!  They'd both been in the drum and bugle corps at the college and graduated the same year.

I'm reminded of this because as arrangements were made for a book signing at Helotes Creek Winery with four Helotes area authors (including me), we learned that we were all members of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Helotes.  Then on the day of the event, I learned that fellow author Diana Fidone-Griggs lives in my neighborhood--on the same street, just houses away!