Saturday was all about family time. It was a miserably rainy day, kind of the perfect day to stay inside and bake cookies though. Cookie baking (and decorating) was something my sister and I had grown up doing, and continued the tradition up until about two years ago. Well, this year we brought the tradition back.
My sister and her kids showed up around 11. We started working on some of the cookies while Jason and C ran to the store to pick up a few things I had forgotten.
Jason's brother, sister-in-law and their 2 kids showed up closer to 1. Let the party begin! They have a girl (J) who is one year younger than A and a son (N) who is one year younger than C. But they all got along fabulously.
They played and the ladies finished up most of the cookies. My niece had initially started off assisting Sarah and me with making the dough for a few of the cookies and the icing as well. Then she got side tracked playing with J and the boys.
I took the easy way out for sugar cookies that the kids would decorate and just bought pre-packaged. They were absolutely fine with that of course. They just wanted to make a mess with icing and sprinkles essentially.
The other cookies included:
Russian Teacakes (this is simply a tradition for my sister and me)
Gluten Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (this is an awesome recipe I found from Fannetastic Food)
Chocolate dipped pretzels
White chocolate bark with almonds and cranberries
It was basically a sugar explosion in my kitchen. I'm fairly certain I'll keep finding splatters of chocolate and dustings of powdered sugar throughout the week.
I ended up feeding the kids some of my homemade spaghetti sauce (smart to keep stuff like that on hand). They wolfed it down then were re-fueled and raring to go with endless amounts of energy. The girls wanted to put on a bit of a Christmas show for us with songs and some dancing that they had rehearsed together. The boys, ever so rowdy, followed behind the girls doing their version of Gangnam Style.
It was quite the spectacle I must say. Once they had all of our attention, the shows only grew from there. The girls realized they could use the curtains that separate our pool room from the living room as their grand entrance point. The girls made "Rudolph" noses that I ended up wearing at one point in the evening.
Things were still going strong well into the night. My sister, her kids, and I finally called it quits somewhere around 11. Yes, you read that correctly. I'm normally sounds asleep by 9:30, 10 on a weekend. Jason's family left a little closer to midnight. I just couldn't hang!
The next morning, Jason made pancakes for the kids before they had to pack up and head home. After an full day (and night) of 4 kids, 3 dogs, 5 adults, you truly understand the saying, "Silence is Golden."
Jason and I spent the better part of Sunday morning putting the house back in order. It was cold and crazy windy out. I decided to do something I rarely do on a weekend - I skipped my run entirely. Even better, no guilt about it. I was worn out from Saturday and had no desire to fight the 22 mph winds. It was rather liberating I must admit.
How was your weekend? Do you have any traditions of cookie baking?
My sister and her kids showed up around 11. We started working on some of the cookies while Jason and C ran to the store to pick up a few things I had forgotten.
Jason's brother, sister-in-law and their 2 kids showed up closer to 1. Let the party begin! They have a girl (J) who is one year younger than A and a son (N) who is one year younger than C. But they all got along fabulously.
They played and the ladies finished up most of the cookies. My niece had initially started off assisting Sarah and me with making the dough for a few of the cookies and the icing as well. Then she got side tracked playing with J and the boys.
I took the easy way out for sugar cookies that the kids would decorate and just bought pre-packaged. They were absolutely fine with that of course. They just wanted to make a mess with icing and sprinkles essentially.
The other cookies included:
Russian Teacakes (this is simply a tradition for my sister and me)
Gluten Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (this is an awesome recipe I found from Fannetastic Food)
Chocolate dipped pretzels
White chocolate bark with almonds and cranberries
It was basically a sugar explosion in my kitchen. I'm fairly certain I'll keep finding splatters of chocolate and dustings of powdered sugar throughout the week.
I ended up feeding the kids some of my homemade spaghetti sauce (smart to keep stuff like that on hand). They wolfed it down then were re-fueled and raring to go with endless amounts of energy. The girls wanted to put on a bit of a Christmas show for us with songs and some dancing that they had rehearsed together. The boys, ever so rowdy, followed behind the girls doing their version of Gangnam Style.
It was quite the spectacle I must say. Once they had all of our attention, the shows only grew from there. The girls realized they could use the curtains that separate our pool room from the living room as their grand entrance point. The girls made "Rudolph" noses that I ended up wearing at one point in the evening.
Things were still going strong well into the night. My sister, her kids, and I finally called it quits somewhere around 11. Yes, you read that correctly. I'm normally sounds asleep by 9:30, 10 on a weekend. Jason's family left a little closer to midnight. I just couldn't hang!
The next morning, Jason made pancakes for the kids before they had to pack up and head home. After an full day (and night) of 4 kids, 3 dogs, 5 adults, you truly understand the saying, "Silence is Golden."
Jason and I spent the better part of Sunday morning putting the house back in order. It was cold and crazy windy out. I decided to do something I rarely do on a weekend - I skipped my run entirely. Even better, no guilt about it. I was worn out from Saturday and had no desire to fight the 22 mph winds. It was rather liberating I must admit.
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| Even Maddie was exhausted. This is pretty much how we all looked on Sunday. |
How was your weekend? Do you have any traditions of cookie baking?
So fun! Family time is golden. Russian tea cakes are one I make every year. Reminds me of my grandma. Merry Christmas Heather!
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