Christmas 2015 {Gingerbread}

Growing up, my mom, my sister & I always made cute little gingerbread cookies.

In a fun, little, wonky way.

The recipe is as simple as it gets, kids can have all hands on deck & the tradition continues with my family.

They're made from a box mix, you roll each little body part out of the dough, no cookie cutters are involved, & plenty of m&ms are used.

Especially when you're 3 years old.

Here's to gingerbread "baking" 2015…thanks mom for being so fun & helping me want to be the same with my kids!

Did I mention they taste awesome?
I can eat my weight's worth in these babies.
Thankfully my kids like them just as much as I do, so they force me to share.
Parker made her little guy perfect. She's very much like her dad (who's was also perfect) & is in to those details.
Tucker was determined to make his, his way. While baking in his undies.
Truett wanted all the m&ms. ALL the m&ms.
Lincoln was just happy to be there. And may or may not have eaten a few tiny m&ms himself.
And as fast as we made those cookies, we ate them.
Such a fun time of year!

Christmas Tree 2015

Thanksgiving 2015 came & went.

And I have about 3 random photos to show for it. Shoot.

It brought the rain & cold along with the turkey & pies for our holiday this year.

And that meant our usual tromp through the forest the day after Thanksgiving for our perfect Christmas tree was dampened (haha- sorry- it was too easy) by all that rain.

Enter: Home Depot to save the day!

 We parked our car about 5 feet from the tree tent.

Unloaded our crew & peeled our eyes for "the tree."

Bless those sweet Home Depot shoppers for smiling gracious smiles our way…that brood up there sure is cute, & sure is LOUD.

 And about 1 minute later, there it was.

For real. Tent tree shopping is fast!

 We shook off the cold rain water, smiled for a few obligatory photos…that turned out so well…

(see below photo for proof) & brought our tree to the shaker to get all wrapped up.

 We gathered around the heaters, causing a bit of a scene when someone, who shall remain nameless, but who is in the photo below, couldn't get his dad's attention that he wanted to go with him to pay, then all hightailed it inside for a quick restroom break (Home Depot has real bathrooms too- not port-a-potties…amen).

 By the time we made it out, Mitchel & some boys had loaded our precious cargo atop the swagger wagon & it was time to head home.

The rain even held off long enough to get the tree home & unloaded.

All in all it was a good tree hunting day after all.

We missed the tree farm & the sawing & the hay rides, but the rain & mud pushed us to the easy route this year, & we still had fun.

Until I saw the receipt at home.

Did you know Noble Firs cost a lot of money?

Well. We didn't. Do now.

But it's pretty!

And that's the kickoff to our favorite holiday season.

Yay for Christmas!

Now to finish the shopping & just enjoy the break from the usual chaos.

Or embrace the chaos & enjoy the season?

Whatever. I'm just going to enjoy.