Straight Up....

My kids try to fool me into thinking they want to bake cookies and make treats.  ....That they love the mixing and cutting out and dipping. 

Yes, they may tolerate that part, but really..... 

It's all about the sprinkles.





Here, Anna is waiting (not so) patiently, to get the whole cookie part done and over with, so we can finally indulge in the decorating part. 

Do not pass go.  Do not collect $200.  Just get me to the sprinkles.  Now!

But of course, we start here.  With the sugar and butter and vanilla.  And once they get into it, the kids remember that this is actually pretty fun too.  What other occasion would have mom saying "just wipe it on your shirt" when they look down at their flour-covered hands?

(Aunt Annie: notice that package under the tree to the left.  That is for you. Anna wrapped a random stack of magazines, and said she wanted to mail it off to Africa so you had something to read.  I must admit that the package will not get mailed off, but the sentiment certainly will.  We love you!)

Finally, after the cookies had cooled and the almond bark firmed up just a bit, it was off to sprinkle-land.  Anna checked to make sure that last year's stash was still edible.  Luckily, it was. (I did NOT want to buy a whole new batch of tiny little jars. Do you know how expensive these are? I swear, ounce for ounce, sprinkles may be as valuable as gold!)

But, regardless of expense, our family philosophy remains the same. There is no such thing as too many sprinkles.  Sugar-gold or not.

Shake away, baby - - it's Christmas-time!

So, the finished confections were stacked on a tray and they are presently sitting on my kitchen counter, largely untouched. Some of the treats will certainly get eaten. But, I admit that I'll probably end up tossing quite a few more. This happens every year. We sprinkle, and then we forget about the eating part. However, considering the licking that was going on during the process, tossing the cookies may not be a bad idea either.

Te most important part to me: we had fun. We laughed and we sang "The 12 Days of Christmas" twice. (We got every verse right, too!) And we sprinkled, just like we do every year.

This is what the kids will remember. The time together. The feeling. And one day, they'll probably do the same thing with their own kiddos. Because, it's just what we do at the holidays.

We happily sprinkle with wild, merry abandon.