Delicious Christmas Tradition

Last Saturday, while we were in Columbia enjoying Christmas with Grandmary, most of my extended family was on the farm in Illinois having Christmas at Granny's. It is, I am almost sure, the first such Christmas I've missed. I'll make up for it soon by heading to the farm myself and visiting, but I won't get to eat more of Granny's fresh Santa cookies than I should.

In order to rectify this situation, Sophia and I made those Santa cookies today. I talked with my grandma today, and she said, "They're not the easiest cookies to make, are they?" Nope, they certainly aren't. But they're worth it.

First, of course, you need the recipe. I happen to keep my recipe on the counter all through the year.

Once you've made the dough, you have to chill it for a few hours. This is key in order to keep it workable but not sticky. When you're ready to roll it out, don't get stingy and make them thin. Be sure they're thick enough for the cutter details to show up. That's key.

After they cool down a little, they're ready to be iced. This is when the Santa cookies get a little tougher. The first step is actually a little water painted onto the red parts (hat and rosy cheeks) then sprinkled red sugar. The beard and hat ball are next.

To make the Santa cookies that will make Granny proud, he must have a piped on mustache and eyebrows. My frosting bag broke. I tried a couple of secondary baggie options, but those failed miserably. My only other option was to push the icing through - with my fingers. So, yeah. I got dirty.

Like I said, totally worth it. Granny would approve, especially since his beard looks windblown and he's delicious.

Traditions may be my favorite part of Christmas. That's why we're about to head to see The Nutcracker! Again. I asked Sophia if she wanted to try a different Christmas show this year, but nope. The Nutcracker it is.

Sophia's blog update

Sophia has not forgotten about the possibility of having a blog, but she has become a little overwhelmed by the responsibility that it inevitably brings.

So we'll see what becomes of that. In the meantime, I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season. Lots of good will and calmness, I hope!

To add to your joy, here's a little cuteness to brighten your day.

Hi, this is Sophia. I have exiting news. This Friday I might get my own blog! I am not sure what it's name is going to be. This weekend me, mommy and daddy went to a play called Peter And The Star-catcher. It was about Peter Pan before he was Peter Pan. This weekend I am going to my Grandma and Grandpa's house. It will be our Christmas with them. I am so exited!

Lovely Girl

We recently had our family pictures taken by a lovely photographer, Jessica. She captured some really great shots of our family, and some that I really love of Sophia.

We needed another good family photo this year, but I probably wouldn't have done it if she hadn't been running a charitable special. Donate to Doctors Without Borders or a similar charity that directly assists refugees and receive a photo shoot and images without paying her directly. I love being able to reward selfless action like that. 

And sometimes it results in something beautiful like this.

It's starting to feel like Christmas

This break we put up  our christmas decorations.

 It is always fun, but this year we went shopping while the tree was setting. This year we got an artificial tree. Finally after shopping it was time to decorate. First mommy and daddy put the lights on the tree. Then I helped put the ornaments on the tree. After boxes, and boxes, of ornaments, it was finally time to put the star on the tree. Unfortunately the old star didn't fit on the tree. We had to get a new one and try again.

Somewhere in the middle of all the chaos we put up my own winter wonderland. Finished with a snow globe that plays music, a regular snow globe, a big nutcracker, my nutcracker collection, and finally a white tree that reminds me of my old play room. It is very bittersweet but I'm glad I'm here.