I love making and giving food and gifts to those who I love, and want to show my appreciation for. As I have been lucky enough to spend time volunteering in a first grade class I wanted to do something special for my little ones.

  I bought these little Chinese takeout boxes then stamped and embossed them . I then placed a little felt red nose reindeer on the back, added red tissue paper inside, then filled them with M&M's, Kisses, and Christmas pretzel's.

To finish it off, I added curly ribbon to the handles and when all was counted, I had twenty-six boxes total.



 While  making these boxes for the 25 students  and one for the teacher, I realized that this was the number of people killed Friday at Sandy Brook Elementary in CT. These are 1st graders I work with, same grade as the ones killed in CT. My heart and mind struggled with thoughts of those little lives at Sandy Brook, and I kept thinking that it could have been here in this class room, this teacher. I thought about  how those teachers took such heroic care of those students. As I filled each box with treats, I couldn't quit thinking of those 1st graders in CT,  and the ones I love volunteering to help every week.

The kids in the class I volunteer in always say "You're the best Mrs. Skousen", they want to tell me about their pets at home, about their brothers, sisters, and parents. They make me smile, they make me giggle, and I always leave that class every week feeling better than when I walked in. So as I give these little boxes of treats to my little class of 1st graders, I hope they will know it has also been filled with lots of love just for them.