Holiday baking

We did some holiday baking this weekend, and by 'we', I mean me and all THREE kiddos (Ryan tends to run from the kitchen because he can't stand the mess)! Yikes. That's a lot of chaos in our mediocre sized kitchen. But they each adore it so much and I couldn't resist their help. 

Lincoln was still in his jammies when we got to mixing up some cut out cookies Saturday morning. Baking with him in tow has produced a whole new challenge. Not only am I trying to keep control with a 2 year old (a challenge in itself!), but I need to be mindful of his allergies too (there happen to be eggs and dairy in every normal cookie recipe I can find). 

So we do a ton of washing utensils to avoid any cross contamination and in the end, his cookies don't taste too great and he's usually less than thrilled with them. 

But this face....how can I resist it!

Sidney was so sweet, as she meticulously cut out and decorated her cookies that evening while listening to Christmas music. She kept saying over and over how "cookie making" is one of her favorite parts of Christmas. That right there made my heart swell. What more could a mother ask for? Our little girl, telling me that the years of mess -making  memory making was all worth it! 

These two chatted the evening away while cutting and decorating. In all honesty, I let them do most of the work themselves while I just stood and listened in awe. (I did have to frost Lincoln's cookies because it required a whole new set of bowls and utensils). 

They made a mess, they giggled a lot and talked sweetly about the Christmas season. 

Lincoln couldn't wait for his cookies to cool before sneaking a taste. To appease him, I quickly plopped on a smile and buttons. As he said his"cheeesee" for the camera, the smile started melting away so it now looks like the poor gingerbread man has a bloody lip! 

I had so much fun baking all weekend long with these three kiddos: we laughed, we made a mess and we continued to make memories!