Making and decorating cookies...

Yes, we definitely had our fill of baking and decorating cookies during the holidays, and plenty of eating them too! We started just before Thanksgiving with "Thankful" cookies. Zoe and Jackson are at a great age to really teach them and have them understand being thankful for all the blessings God us provides especially our close friends and family. I had each child think of five people they are thankful for and didn't coerce them as to whom to choose. Then we baked and decorated sugar cookies in fall shapes (turkey, leaves, pumpkin, etc.) and wrapped them up real pretty and handed them out to their choice of people. Along with the cookies, was a note reading, "Zoe/Jackson was asked to choose people they are thankful for and guess what? They chose YOU!" Then they wrote (in their own words) why they were thankful for that person. It was so cute to see who they came up with and why they were thankful for them. I think this is definitely a new family tradition we will continue to do. I'm not sure which they enjoyed more, making the cookies or delivering them.

Each year my mom comes over and we make Christmas cookies, what a special time for us to have her with us to do this! The kids LOVE their mom-mom (and pop too, of course!). What a blessing to live so close to them! Below are a couple fun pictures of them together. We all wish we lived closer to John's parents (or Grammy and PaPa to the kids) and my dad (Pop Purdy), but we cherish the time we get to spend with them when we get to visit. The kids are blessed with amazing grandparents no matter where they live!

making the "thankful" cookies

Jackson and mom-mom (my mom)
Zoe and mom-mom

it's impossible to get a "normal" picture of him - what a goof!

time to sample some cookies!

Each year for Christmas we make something for our neighbors and friends to give out at Christmas. Usually, it's just something little. This year I saw these adorable Peppermint Pinwheel cookies on Paula Dean's Christmas Cookie Swap on Food Network and I thought, "I am going to make them!" They are so cute and really yummy too! They are swirled red and white cookies and then you put them on a lollipop stick so they look like a lollipop. I put a plastic bag over them and tied them with cute Christmas ribbon. So cute! I wish I had taken a picture of them. All the kids we gave them too LOVED them! Here's a link to them if you are interested: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/peppermint-pinwheels-recipe/index.html