Hike

I have plenty of Christmas blogging to do but I'm taking a break! Cause that's exactly what we did today......took a break from all our lounging and Christmas toys! We {maybe more the parents than the girls} decided a few hours in God's playground was a MUST!

We always seem to find a theme on our long hikes which involves only the 4 of us! Today I realized how much color POPS during these cold, short, sometimes dreary winter days.

Also we found several crosses....

We seem to follow a pattern....stopping frequently during the beginning of our trek....during the middle the girls are ready to go.....& then we are booking it during the last couple miles!

Funnest find of the day.....a tree that was as old as their Aumie {my mom}!! Tree ring counting is pure entertainment!

One of my favorite colors found....a coral color!

Even through some whining it was really just what we needed....a little fresh air!

Reindeer Food

This was our 1st year that at least one of our girls have not been in daycare.....HOW DO I HAVE 2 SCHOOL AGED GIRLS??? Anyways.....every Christmas while we had a daycare goer we'd have at least 1 jar of Reindeer food to feed those helpful animals Christmas Eve!

We couldn't not feed them so we made some of our own! I just scoured our shelves at home for some random foods, jars, & what girl infested home doesn't have glitter on had at all times?!

Our Reindeer Food Recipe {for this year at least!}: Steel Cut Oats, Glitter, Powder Sugar, Nutritional Yeast, & Organic Blue Chips...crushed!

The girls each had their own ways about filling the jars....older 2 were very precise with the layering while the younger 2 just poured!

Once the jars were filled to their satisfaction I topped each with a piece of fabric and some green & red string!

I know at least 1 house whose Reindeer were MIGHTY happy with the yumminess spread all over the front lawn!!!

Christmas Cookie Baking Day

We've started a yearly tradition of going to mom's the week of Christmas to bake cookies all day! We each bring ingredients for 3 or 4 cookies....bake them....split all the cookies between each family....leave at the end of the day with far too many cookies & seemingly looking like we've baked for days! PERFECT HUH?!!

What kids don't like to play with dough?.......

.......or sugar!

Kayd got her hands on some Peppermint Meringue Cookies a couple months ago & wouldn't stop eating them! I knew those needed to be added to the yearly Christmas Cookie List!

So for my 1st batch they taste YUMMY but they're more rounded rather than having that typical meringue look! It's more about the taste though right?!

In between baking there was snacking....always good snacking at moms!

Also a 1st was mom making Gingerbread cookies with the girls! My youngest loved this the most!

Did I mention we snack in between baking??

Auntie is always a constant in making sugar cookies with the girls.....letting their creative spirits run crazy!

AND we always have some kind of yummy dinner before going home......

Another successful baking year getting us a little closer to that magical day.......