Christmas cookies

Yesterday was our annual Christmas cookie baking with Janice, or as the kids call her "Aunt" Jan. We started this tradition several years ago. We pick a day to go to "Aunt" Jan's house and bake cookies. It is so fun to go back through the years and compare pictures. Of course, the favorite part for all the kids is decorating the cookies, and I'm not talking about the frosting. The kids love to dump the sprinkles on the cookies and then eat every sprinkle that doesn't stick. The kids look forward to this day every year. Once December hits, they are asking if "Aunt" Jan has called to tell us when we are making cookies. It is a highlight of Christmas! Of course, Jason's favorite part of the day is when we arrive home with the cookies and getting to eat them. The kids usually always have one that they have decorated just special for daddy.

This year, Brenna got to go first cutting out the cookies...she was very good about the placement of the cookie cutters and made sure she was able to use all 6 cookie cutters each time "Aunt" Jan rolled the dough out.
Alyssa is still perfecting the concept of cookie cutter placement...she relies on "Aunt" Jan a little more than Brenna to make sure she isn't overlapping any of the shapes.

Ethan is like any typical man..."let's just get the job done." He doesn't really care where the cookie cutter lands...his method is "drop and press". It was very cute. "Aunt" Jan had to make sure she was holding on to the cookie cutter as he pressed it down so it wasn't sliding across on to the other shapes.

Mommy even got in on the action...directing Ethan on how we were going to decorate the cookies. He wanted to go straight for the sprinkles...what kid doesn't? He was also very adamant about using only the green frosting. The "red" was just a little too pink for him. In Ethan's words, "Pink is for girls, I use green."

Having fun...not sure what's up with Alyssa's "smile". She's at that stage again...tough to get good smiles from that girl.

"Aunt" Jan and the kids with the cookies they made...the tradition lives on!

Thanks for such a fun day "Aunt" Jan! This mommy needs to get your amazing cookie dough recipe.