*Christmas fun!*

We have three weeks of school in December before we're out for the holidays, so I thought we would do a fun "Christmasy" thing each week. Last week, week 1, I thought we could make Christmas cookies. I love making Christmas cookies and honestly, it's so much more fun doing it with kids than it is doing it by myself!

Bethany is always more than willing to get her hands dirty when we cook! I love it! Once again, I asked Sophie if she wanted to mix some with her hands, too. Her reply, "Um, no thanks." : )
BUT...she did want to get her hands a little dirty so she could help cut out the cookies. They did such a great job! I let them cut them all out and put them on the cookie sheets.

Mmmmm...yummy sugar cookies! And to make them even better, we mixed up some simple powdered sugar icing to put on top (just 1 cup of powdered sugar and some milk). I added 1/4 tsp of peppermint flavoring to one and colored it red, almond flavoring to another and colored it green, and squeezed some fresh lemon into another and colored it yellow. With fresh lemon juice, you definitely have to add a lot more than 1/4 tsp and more powered sugar to make it a little thicker. It tasted awesome, though!

I let the girls decorate and add some sprinkles. They got tired out after a while, so they stopped and played outside while I finished them up.

The finished product! They were so pretty and tasted so good! They were gone in a day!

On a family note, we also decorated our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. I was so excited that the kids are now both old enough to help me decorate. They did a great job and made our tree look so pretty : ). I love the crazy variety of ornaments...some homemade, some bought...all with special memories! It's truly a celebration of life and our family.

Isaac is really getting into all things Christmas this year. Any time we see a tree, Christmas lights around town, etc., he says, "Look at the Christmas!" I love that expression. We're planning on going to see the lights at Callaway Gardens again this year and I can't wait to see his reaction!

We love all the lights, trees, decorations and other fun things at Christmas time, but we're also trying to teach our children that Jesus is to be the focus of this special holiday. I've told Sophie several times that it's Jesus' birthday that we're celebrating at Christmas. When we were decorating the tree, I asked Sophie what the true meaning of Christmas was. She said, "Santa Clause". I was stunned. We have never taught her that, but it just shows that it's the message taught on tv, in the stores we sometimes shop at, and basically everywhere. We stopped right there and told her that, no, Christmas is not about Santa. It took a while for her to be convinced. I'm seeing even at this young age how proactive we have to be to teach our children that Jesus is the most important part of this season.

On a lighter note...here are two of the funnest, sweetest little girlies posing by the tree! I'm so thankful for them and for the privilege to teach them!

This week our special activity will be to make Christmas tree ornaments. I can't wait!

God bless~Stacey