By Sheri Hopkins
Hello everyone!!! Twelve days ’til Christmas! My oldest grandson, Ethan, asked me if I had my shopping done. I said, “No, I do not!” He said, “Nana, don’t you think you better get it done?” I love flying by the seat of my pants. Honey, I just go to sleep on Christmas Eve and say, “That’s all I can do.” I love this time of year, and it brings back a flood of memories. I cannot let this time of year go by without reminding ya’ll of the best Christmas gift Chuck Hopkins ever gave me. You know it’s coming—the Confederate soldier statue. I’m still mad about it after all these years. Ha ha! Let’s not forget the dark hunter green men’s sweater, hot pink flashlights, mouse traps, and of course, the turkey clock. I wish I had kept a list. I sure miss that guy at Christmas—he loved Christmas. We always went together as a family and got a real Christmas tree. One year he decided we would just go cut one down instead of going to Lowe’s or Home Depot. Against my better judgment, we loaded up in his old pickup and away we went. We went where no vehicle should have gone—up a huge hill, snow on the ground, sliding around. Me and Shannon were scared to death. Well, he finally decided on a tree, and when we got it home and put it up, it really was a Charlie Brown Christmas tree. It looked pitiful, but after what we went through to get it, we left it up! When I was a child, we had a silver tree with a color wheel that rotated colors. After having one like that, the little Charlie Brown tree looked pretty good. Speaking of memories—did ya’ll just love the Santa Show on Channel Five with Dodie the Elf? I couldn’t wait for that to come on. Kids today have no clue about all the fun things that went on when we were kids. I actually got to meet Dodie’s daughter and I had to hug her. I felt like I was in the presence of royalty. Did ya’ll have the silver icicles on your tree as a kid? Honey, me and my sister loved putting those on the tree—we would just have globs of them all in one spot. I wonder if you can still buy those. I’d love to put some on my artificial tree. I may check into that. I love a mess to clean up after Christmas. Ha ha!! Remember—hug your loved ones and spend as much time with them as you can. Merry Christmas near and far! Grinch Cookies This is a simple recipe, but the kids will love the Grinch theme. 1 vanilla or white cake mix 1 egg 1 (8-ounce) tub of Cool Whip Mix all of this together and add enough green food coloring to make it Grinch green. Put in the refrigerator for at least an hour, or they will be too sticky to work with. Roll into balls, then roll in powdered sugar. Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 8–10 minutes (ovens will vary). When you take them out, you can put a little red candy heart on top, or add red sprinkles to the batter. Enjoy!!
