Cookies for Santa

Wednesday morning (12/22) I received a phone call from my sister asking me if I could watch Daniel & Emma while she went to see Faith's school program. I said sure, so the kids were here for a little while playing. Our activity planned for that day was baking and decorating some Christmas cookies for Santa.

Since I don't have a rolling pin other than a mini-pampered chef one, I bought the pre-cut/shaped sugar cookies at Walmart. With the extra dough from around the cutouts, I did use the little rolling pin and my little cutting board and the two cookie cutters I own to form the gingerbread men and the frog shaped cookies. I baked them while the kids played so they could cool in time to decorate them before nap time.

The boys were very excited to help! In the meantime, we also baked some oatmeal raisin and chocolate chip cookies. Then we iced the cooled-down shapes, and the boys stood on their stools to be able to dump the glitter and sprinkles on the various cookies. They enjoyed it, I think.

Then they asked to sample one. So, I gave them each a cookie, and after taking one bite, they both left the rest on their plate and decided to go up for naps instead. I will say that they were not as exciting as years past (probably from store-bought vs. homemade dough). And, I will also say that the kids aren't big cookie eaters unless they're chocolate chip, which is Caleb's favorite. Joshua isn't big on sweets but prefers salty snacks. Here are a couple pictures of what the finished cookies looked like!

That evening, we went to Joshua's favorite restaurant. I had given Daddy the meal itinerary for the week, and I told him we didn't have any plans for Wednesday night. I could make a casserole, but we didn't have much room in the fridge for leftovers. So, Shawn suggested that we go out using a coupon he had, and I agreed that it sounded like a splendid idea! The boys did well, and I suggested that we had over to the mall to see how long the line was to sit on Santa's lap.

Since we hadn't done it yet this year, I knew this was our last chance! Shawn agreed. We got in the long line and figured it would take about a half an hour until it was our turn. We underestimated slightly, and we also underestimated how long our kids could be relatively still in the crowds of people. It was a little bit taxing, but finally it was our turn and so worth the wait!

We got up to our family being next in line when Joshua said with a frantic look on his face, "I have to put my water in the potty NOW!" We hadn't waited that entire time to miss Santa! After all, it was almost closing time and the line was even longer than when we had first got in it. We asked him if he could hold it for just a few minutes to tell Santa what he wanted and then we would rush him to the bathroom. Thankfully he agreed. So, he went up to Santa, who didn't even ask him what he wanted! But, Joshua told him anyway. I want a "Big Mac." Haaa!!! He meant it, too, only he was talking about a Big Mack Truck from the Cars movie. They both smiled nice for the picture and the Bean jumped down so Caleb could take his turn.

Caleb didn't cry this year, but he also refused to tell Santa what he wanted or even say 'hi' to him. He was extremely shy. But, I loved the little picture of him. Then Santa gave them each a little activity book and sent them on their way to get to the other children waiting in line for him. As we were leaving, I took a few more pictures of the various decorations they had up, which were neat. Of course, once we were finished, we ran to the nearest restroom and Joshua took care of business. Thankfully he was able to wait.

Thursday, the day before Christmas Eve, Grandpa Georgia stopped in and helped me peel the potatoes for my Christmas Eve dinner. I spent most of the morning preparing the food so I didn't have to do as much work on the day that Shawn was home. The boys also played with him, which was a nice distraction as I prepped the stuffing and "extra good" mashed potatoes.

That evening, we met friends from our life group at Papa Dino's, somewhere I hadn't been since I was in junior high. It's a little pizza shop that the one family picked, and after we were done eating, we went to one of the two "Christmas Eve" services at church. The boys weren't too sure about going to church at night, but I told them it was a birthday party for Jesus, and they happily went to their classes. We sat with our friends and enjoyed the service. The worship was by far the best part, and the message was a little generic for our taste but never bad.

Shawn had off Christmas Eve and Christmas Day last year, but not this year. He simply had Friday off, which most people did since Christmas fell on a Saturday. When we got up, I made french toast & bacon while he made eggs. He also went shopping to grab the last of what we needed (nothing like waiting for the last minute!). Grandpa had bought some pizzas that he didn't have room for in his freezer, so he asked if we could put them in ours. I said sure, so he came over and brought Emma with him. Joshua told her that she MUST stay and that they were friends. She replied "We are friends, but I can't stay forever!" He was sad that his cousin had to leave, but they had had fun while she was here. When Shawn came back from the store, we wrapped gifts as the boys napped. With two of us working, we finished in less time than I feared it would take us. Again, nothing like waiting until the last minute! We were excited for the boys to wake up as we had lots planned for that night.