Christmas Cookies

So I decided today we would make cookies for Santa. It is one of our favorite Christmas traditions and we couldn't wait to introduce it to Alex. It is one of those things that I know will be a ton of work and a big mess but is so fun that I just can't not do it! So while the kiddos played this morning with neighbor kids- some here...some there...I baked the cookies and made the frosting.

Then I had my little mother's helper come over this afternoon to assist me! (Little tip....11 year olds are great mother's helpers. Rowan is a friend of our's daughter and she wanted to start earning some money and practice babysitting so I hired her this summer to come help me out. She also comes when Scott is out of town to help with dinner and bedtime and even when we just have tons to do and need an extra hand with the kiddos. They listen really well to her and she is able to entertain them. Right now she is putting on a play production with them while I blog. I encourage all of you stressed out mamas to find an eager 11 year old. She seems to enjoy it as much as our kiddos enjoy having her! And she charges less than a babysitter!)

Anyway we had so much fun decorating. It actually went very well. Everyone had fun, no tears over cookies breaking or not looking right, everyone was just really happy to decorate and sprinkle to their hearts content. They even made a plate just for Santa. As you can tell some children chose to decorate their hands too. And then I caught the 4 year olds "cleaning" the table by licking it. Oh and of course Karis sucked frosting out of one of the tubes and dumped a whole container of sprinkles on 1 cookie. But other than that it was disaster free. And while I spent an hour cleaning it up....Rowan entertained the kiddos....so it was a rather peaceful and productive hour. It was worth it! Life is good.