Christmas Cookies

These pictures aren't quite in order but you'll get the idea...this year involved lots of cookie baking! Zak and I made a ton of cookies for gifts and for the various family events. It didn't seem like a lot when we were planning but once we finished...well let's just say that even after we gave away two large platters, we still had our car trunk at least a third full of cookie containers to take home to Pittsburgh.

Once we got there, the fun kept going. I had a girls day with Maddie & Sophia (she sat in the bouncer and watched) were we made sprinkle and suger cookies. As Maddie said, "We made the bestest cookies in the whole world." Who would argue with that review!

The next day we planned to do a gingerbread house with all the kids. Zak and Alex took the house construction very seriously.

Logan was all about the candy and icing. We gave up trying to let him decorate the house and just let him have a bowl of decorations and some gingerbread trees to decorate instead. I think we did finally have one tree that he hadn't licked in the end.
Our finished product was pretty cute. The kids wanted to eat it so badly but we told them that if fell apart while we were at Chucky Cheese, then they could eat it, otherwise it had to last two more days until Christmas Eve.
Just to give you an idea, this was the Candy Table that we made, we had to clear the table twice more when we were making the cookies...
Let me just say that I LOVE my new mixer. Zak and I spent almost three solid days in the kitchen (had a blast) and my mixer was awesome!
At home, Logan have us a hand with the sugar dough before his bed time. He worked on it himself but then started telling us what to make. In addition to Christmas trees and pinwheels on our trays, we also had a Caterpillar, dinosaur, turtles, our names, and some "adult" themed cookies that Zak made.
Logan was sleeping when we made cookies with Maddie so when he got up, he and Grandma decorated his cookies.
Overall, we had a great time making cookies and although we plan to cut recipes in half next year, Zak and I plan to make it part of our family tradition.