Cookie baking at the James house!

The first Saturday of December, my sister and I take the kids to my parents house for cookie baking.

That was nothing...nothing I tell you...compared to what I've been doing this week.

I think I'm crazy.

Every year I say I'm not going to do it.

And each year...I do it again.

I make waaaaay too many things.

I seriously need to just stick to a few of our favorites.

We're going to be eating cookies till February!

Actually not...these guys of mine have been TAKING THEM DOWN each night!

My silly little bakers rolling out their dough and putting sprikles on the sugar cookies.

Busted!

I saw you sneak a cookie!

The sugar cookies...

Peppermint sugar cookies...

(Thanks to my bloggy friend Liz!)

Candy cane blossoms...

Hershey Kiss blossoms...

Zastrow Delights...

Butter Balls and Snickerdoodles...

Cocoa Crinkles...

Whew!  Now that's a lot of cookies!

I still have to make Holiday Wreaths and Magic Cookie Bars...

But I don't think I'm doing those right now.

I may even save those for the weekend or New Year's Eve.

Next up...

Dips and spreads for our extended family party.

(sigh)

I'm pooped!

LOL!

                                    



We won!

Well, I told you I'd keep you posted.

And...

We won!!!

The Royal Rangers won The Festival Of Trees contest for the second year in a row!

We are so happy and proud of them!

The cash prize they earned toward their ministry will help them go to and secure buses for

Camp-A-Rama next year!

We are thrilled!

Their tree was awesome!

The Rangers raised over $1000.00 for BGMC (Boys & Girls Missionary Crusade)...and the entire contest raised over $3000.00 for BGMC.

What a wonderful event it was!

Festival of Trees (GR 1st A/G)

We are having our annual Festival of Trees at church again this year.

Each year, each ministry of the church decorates a tree to place in the narthex.

We get to "vote" on each tree by placing a donation into their box for "Speed The Light" (youth/missions).  The tree with the most votes/donations "wins" and will receive a cash award toward their ministry!

Last year our Royal Rangers won!

We are really hoping they do it again this year!

The boys had been working hard on their ornaments.

They made the cutest little S'mores for their tree!

They used campfire sized marshmallows, a piece of cardboard (for the graham cracker), painted "chocolate" on it, then decorated the little S'more guys in Ranger attire!

They are sooooooo cute!

We love our Ranger program.

My boys have gotten so much from the program.

A close-up of a few of the S'mores.

"Warm up with Royal Rangers!"

"Christmas 'N' Rangers...it's like going home."

So cute!

Good luck Rangers!

We can't wait to hear who won!

Annual Cookie Baking Day w/ Geeg and Papa

We had our annual cookie baking day at geeg and papa's house w/ my sister and all the cousins last Saturday.  The kids always look forward to it each year.

The hubbies don't usually come...but us girls and the kiddos always go down usually the first or second Saturday of December so the kids can make sugar cookies with geeg.

Geeg always makes us lunch.

This year it was chili with all the fixin's...crushed Dortitos, cheddar cheese, sour cream, YUM!

She also had a pot of chicken noodle soup going and turkey sandwiches as well.

The cousins always have a great time cutting out their cookies and decorating together.

They all watched a Christmas movie afterward and we all munched on Aunt Jessie's white chocolate popcorn with sprinkles!

Yummy!

We got half-way there and Nate said, "Mom, did you remember your camera?"

Crud.

How could I forget?

Well...

Once I'm allowed to use my "Christmas gift" in public (after Evan receieves his as well), I'll never have to worry about that!

I'll always have a camera on me!  Teehee!

So...

Papa was a dear and took pictures for me.

Yay papa!

The finished product!

Good job cousins!

You all did a fantastic job!

One would think...

Ugh...

If it's one thing I hate about the holidays...

It's going outside to unplug the lights every night.

It's just on my front porch...I just flip a switch...

And one in the garage that I unplug...

But still...

Going out into the cold and turning them off every night is so...

Unenjoyable.

Ugh.
One would think after all these years, I'd wise up and just buy a timer.

Maybe I'll wise up next year, LOL!

Worse than a kid in a candy store!

Yes...

I'm terrible at keeping secrets.

Especially about presents!

And I'm about 10 times worse this year because I'm so excited about what we're giving a certain someone!

I can't even post it because I'm afraid they might find out!

I'm dying!

I'm so excited!

They are going to be so happy!

Well, at least I can let off a little steam right here!  Teehee!

I can't wait!

"Haul out the holly...put up the tree before my spirit falls again..."

We've "Hauled out the holly"..."Decked the halls"...you name it...our house is "Christmas-y"!

In every aspect of the word...

The living room...

Christmas tree...

End tables are covered in candles, snow globes, bells, coasters, trinkets, mini trees...

The desk holds my village...

There are candy dishes...

Door knob covers...

Bulletin boards...

Baskets...

Mistletoe...

The stockings are hung by the..."closet" with care...
(we don't have a fireplace, much less a chimney)

The snowman collection is out...

The snowmen take over all winter...

Not just Christmas time...

The windows are decked out...

The coffee table books are put away and now Santas and reindeer and angels adorn the coffee table...

The older things go in the family room downstairs...

But none the less...

It's decorated!

The bathroom is decked out!

Even Christmas soap!

And towels!

Nate decorates his room too!

He gets into it more than Ev...

And the kitchen as well!

Now...

All that's missing is a picture of the outside lights of the house...

It's too cold...

Maybe you'll just have to drive be and see them all, LOL!

We haven't been up to much lately...

I haven't had many "family" posts lately...

But then...

As I always say...

We're pretty boring, LOL!

And that's ok...I like boring.

Teehee!

Nate has been learning to play the recorder in music class at school.

He's moving right along...

We all get to "enjoy" listening to him practice, LOL!

Nate goes on these streaks where he pulls old toys out of his room and "rediscovers" them.

He pulled out this "punching balloon" the other day and blew it up so huge...

Bigger than he should have...

We were lucky it didn't pop!

Anyway...you can see how big it is in comparison to Oreo (our cat).

Evan just had to snap a picture.

We've been having A LOT of lakeshore snow here.

Honestly, I don't mind the snow if I don't have to go anywhere.

And there's nothing like snuggling up in a blanket with your favorite kitty on a cold snowy day...

Am I right?

But then again...

Who needs snow?

There's nothing like snuggling your kitty ANY DAY!!!

LOL!

Oreo has discovered a new "perch".

Our reading chair...right in the corner window.

He found this niche on a bright sunny day and has been enjoying it ever since.

As I said...Nate always "rediscoveres" his toys...and I love that about him.

He's not quick to outgrow anything.

He tends to have the same philosophy with toys as the movie "Toy Story"...

"A toy is only happy if it's being played with"...

And it just so happens we had watched "Toy Story 3" and so Nate dug out Buzz and Woody...

Here you see Oreo being ever-patient while Nate tried to put Woody's hat on him.

Poor cat.

Ohhhh...he loves every minute of it!

Don't let him fool ya!

Success!

As I said, nothing better than sitting by the glow of the Christmas tree snuggled up with your favorite blanket and favorite kitty.

Sometimes I wonder what life will be like when/if Oreo is not around.

I can't imagine our life without him.

Those boys do love him so!

And truth be told...

So do I!!!

Jim Brickman - Sending You A Little Christmas Music Video