Christmas Cheer

I love Christmas! There is so much joy in celebrating the birth of our Savior. The boys put up the Christmas tree all by themselves on the day after Thanksgiving. We love to see the lights for as long as possible. Last week Friday we went caroling at an assisted living center with our homeschool group. The residents there were so excited and thanked the moms over and over for bringing the kids to see them. The kids did a great job singing and then handing out hand-made cards. I was so proud when "Little J" volunteered to play his recorder. While Christmas music was not in his repetoire, he did an excellent job. Not one mistake! Then on Sunday, we went with a group of children from church to carol at another assisted living center. This time we decorated cookies to share with the residents once the caroling was over. Our audience was once again thrilled with the entertainment. Children bring such joy!

Well, our Christmas baking has officially begun. Yesterday we made wonderful cranberry drop cookies. My mom used to make these when I was little. I didn't like them then, but I love them now. I found the recipe at Cooks.com. Today we made sugar cookies. That's always an adventure. I always have pictures (in my head) of a tray with artfully designed nativity scenes. Ha! Not here. We had 2 cookie cutters, blue and red sugar and white frosting. Oh well maybe next year. Tomorrow we will share our creations with our mailman and some neighbors. We will continue baking through the weekend and into next week. I'll show you what else we come up with. I hope you're enjoying this wonderful time of year as much as we are.