Never too Late for Christmas Cookies

Remember when I said the days were going quickly..? We blinked and Christmas came and went. That’ll be its’ own blog post, I am just always so shocked how fast it all goes, even when I always know it will. Since our kids were tiny we have made sugar cookies and decorated them for Santa, and this year, two of our dearest friends joined us!

Kennedy Lynn is two years old now, and I am still in denial that she is no longer a newborn. We still remember well Tim and Clayton going to the hospital when she was born, bringing her home, and then adopting her! Her birthday is only a couple days apart from Reese’s, and Reese has been her claimed BFF from the very beginning. Kennedy says her name with such pride and joy, and we just love having her around to be in these memories with us!

I recently saw a post on Pinterest [author unknown] that says this:

“You will never have this day with your children again. Tomorrow, they will be a little older than they were today. This day is a gift. Just breathe, notice, study their faces and little feet. Pay attention. Relish the charms of the present. Enjoy today. It will be over before you know it.”

I know if you’re in the thick of things in those newborn days, it may seem surreal that they will be any bigger. In any stage there are moments of frustration, of anger, of sadness, of doubts, of ALL the feelings—you’re wondering if you are doing a good job. If they will remember your hard work. If they will remember the good, especially when there have undoubtedly been moments of bad. Here are my snapshots of some of our good. Decorating cookies with small children isn’t a guarantee of sunshine and roses, of complete laughter and giddiness; often there are messes and spills, tears over mistakes, and for a mama who really loves QUIET—it is generally a very HAPPILY loud memory.

Does your family do any baking together in the holiday season? What are some of your traditions? I would love to hear in the comments below, or always feel free to hit REPLY to these posts! Happy Holidays, Sweet Readers and Friends.

Celebrating Fall with Cheryl's Cookies

Y’all know we LOVE to host and that we love to celebrate any and everything! The month of October was one of my favorites because it held so many good reasons to do just that. Between my husband’s birthday, celebrating our kids’ amazing report cards, and ending the month with a Barn Party where I board my horses—there was a whole lot of goodness!

Many of my friend have heard of and LOVE Cheryl’s Cookies, but in case you are unfamiliar, this company provides the most delicious, handcrafted cookies and treats delivered in gorgeous gift packaging which were perfect for ALL the occasions! Probably most well-known for its cut-out cookies with buttercream frosting, they also are offering so much Fall goodness with Marshmallow Frosted S’more flavors, as well as Peanut Butter Oat Chocolate Chip. We were also delighted to be the recipients of their Fudge Frosted Cut-Outs. ALL of the hand-crafted baked goods were perfect for all our occasions, and you can guess that our kids were NOT disappointed to be on the receiving end of the taste-testing!

We were able to share a lot of these at my husband’s birthday get together, but it was also fun for me to document our kids having their own little mini celebration on our back deck talking about how well they did in the first grading period of school. These sweet kids of ours are in first and second grade (where did time go?!) and they work SO hard in school and their grades are such evidence of that. Their teachers have nothing but positive and affirming things to say about each of them and they’re both discovering their love of reading, which makes me so happy!

We had plenty of cookies for them to be able to choose from and together as a family we celebrated their school victories—it was so, so sweet. LITERALLY! :)

So, Y’all! If you can’t tell already, Cheryl’s Cookies New Flavors Launch gives you more than enough cookies to share with your friends and family and they’ll all be oohing and aahing over the flavors and fun cut-out shapes. The company was founded in 1981 and is still going SO strong. Head over to their website to check out the ginormous variety of treats they have to offer (psstt…their Christmas selection is unbelievably delicious looking and CUTE!!)