december

 A bit of a disaster with the painted handprint craft we attempted...I laughed so hard and Nicholas just kept saying "Why are you laughing? WHY are you laughing, Mom??"

Gingersnaps:  
After we'd been married for almost a year I discovered that Kent's favorite cookie, and an Andersen Christmas must-have, are these gingersnaps.  

Cream together- 

¾ cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1 egg

4 Tb molasses

Sift and add

1 1/2 to 2 cups flour

½ tsp salt

1-2 Tb ground ginger

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

Roll in balls then roll in sugar- flatten with a fork and bake at 350 for 8 minutes or less.

For Kent and his brothers, we have to double the ginger--to 3 or 4 Tb.  They like it so spicy. Like numb-tongue spicy.  I usually just use 1 Tb ginger, bake half the batch, then add another Tb or more to just the second half of the batch for Kent. 

 My kitchen helper approved.  He had some of the less spicy batch.

 Got these in the mail.  I accidentally ordered 240 gift tags. (There was no clear indicator that they actually came in groups of 12. I meant to order 20...) I had a 90% off coupon code, thankfully.  So for $19 I got enough gift tags to last me the rest of my life.  Maybe no one will notice the picture of my children that gets more and more outdated each year?? 

 Some friends from across the street came over to decorate Christmas cookies with us.  The children ate more frosting and sprinkles than they put on the cookies, so it was a great success!
And that green chain in the corner?  It's our sanity-saver.  Nicholas understands that every morning he gets to take off a chain, and it isn't Christmas until we get to the ceiling.  

 Oh just some shopping...

 I ordered new compact strollers for our Disneyland trip.  The day they came was just as good as Christmas.  The kids played in their strollers for a solid two hours. Who knew?

 Neighborhood Christmas gifts

I got out our candles one night for dinner and it became a new tradition.  In December, we eat by candlelight-breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The best part? Blowing them out after our meal is done.