Gingerbread

True confession: I don't like to bake cookies. I think it's messy and at the end of the day I always eat way more cookies than I'm planning to which leaves me feeling bloating and bad. With the busyness of December and my said feeling about baking, I never got around to making Christmas cookies. Thinking of the dozens and dozens of holiday cookies we made growing up, the metal tins we'd store them in, and keeping them in the walkout freezer (the porch); I couldn't help but think I was robbing my poor children of Christmas memories. Laura just wrapped up a unit in gingerbread in preschool so I decided on January 10th (better late than never, right) to make gingerbread cookies with the kids. It was messy but the kids were eager to help and taste! I had already put away my Christmas cookie cutters with the rest of the Christmas decorations so we used stars and hearts cutters instead. Laura and Sam used toothpicks and their imaginations to turn the hearts and stars into people. They may have eaten their weight in cookie dough too, but we were making memories. 

The things the kids said while we were making cookies were so much more delicious than the actual cookies themselves.

Sam: Oppees, not again! (when a cookie would fall apart).

Laura: Be careful, Mommy! She's fragile.

Sam: Can I eat this?    Me: No    Sam: Can I just lick it?


And to think, I almost didn't make Christmas cookies this year.