twas the day before Christmas

The two weeks before Christmas were filled with the stomach bug, the flu, and other unexpected dilemmas. But I wanted Christmas Eve to be fun. I was hoping to maybe start some family traditions; I think I may have succeeded. The day was filled with two fun activities.

#1: Christmas Cut-out Cookies



We all had a great time mixing and rolling and baking and decorating.
Well, almost all of us.



She sat in her chair and wavered back and forth between looking cute and making a stink that she was stuck in the high chair.




Now here is a picture quiz for you. Look at the photo very closely and tell me what doesn't belong. Can you spot it?



Need a clue?



Yes, you got it! A jar of tomato sauce. But you see, when one leaves her rolling pin at her sister's house from cousin-cinnamon-applesauce-ornaments day, a jar of tomato sauce does belong because how else are you going to roll out the cookie dough?



I love the big brother/little sister dynamic when doing something like this all together. She is always looking to him for cues


or to get a kick out of what silliness he has drummed up



and then, of course, to be just as cool as he is.



Joey is so much fun. He loves projects that include any sort of artsy aspect. Some serious concentration and planning resulted in some real beauties.




And then there was this one by Katie which she entitled, "Worms eating a rocking horse."



Disturbing? Just a little bit. :)


My recommendation for cut-out cookies with small children is a 1:1 adult to child ratio. I did cookies with the kids by myself back in the fall, and lets just say this experience was much more enjoyable. A little less mean mommy, and a bunch more smiles.





We had so much fun together. It was one of those times where you know that the picture in your head can be very different from the reality that occurs, but on this day, the picture and reality were pretty close. The fact that I love artsy stuff was a bonus. As I stood at the counter squeezing green icing out of my make-shift ziploc piping bag, I turned to Adam and told him, "I could do this all day long!" There is a part of my brain that delights in the occasional art outlet.

They weren't glorious works of art, but in my book they were cookie success!



#2: Marshmallow Fight

I think I may have read in a magazine that one family's Chritmas tradition was a marshmallow fight, and I immediately thought now there is a tradition I could enjoy! It was worth every penny of the $1.78 it cost for two bags of marshmallows to delight in the wild rumpus of marshmallow blitzing, tossing, and zinging that filled the house.

And when you don't let your husband know what you have planned, but let your son help you devise how to spring the surprise on Daddy, the fun factor goes up exponentially. I wish someone could have been there to tally how many times I hit Adam in the head that night, because my aim was unusually dead on that evening.

Joey smiled so big during the whole marshmallow frenzy, I think he may have strained some cheek muscles. Katie would gather up a bunch in her arms and sling them all at once in a barrage of marshmallows that didn't hit anybody. Lizzie just did her best to stay calm and figure out why we had all gone crazy. The animals nibbled on marshmallows strew about the house. And I didn't take one picture, because it was one of those times that couldn't be weighted down with photographic desires.

Pure, family fun, and I loved every minute of it.

And what do you do after a marshmallow fight? You find a few marshmallows that don't look too dusty or chewed on and you plop them into mugs of hot cocoa while you watch some Christmas cinema and eat a cookie or two.





And that, my friends, was a really great Christmas Eve.

I love my family. I am so thankful for every one of these splendid people God has given me.
I hope your days with family were filled with laughter and love as well.