All I Want for Christmas ...

... is my two front teeth!

Christmas Sugar Cookies and Santa Claus

Last week was peppernuts, this weekend was traditional Christmas sugar cookies.  We always have fun making the cookies in various shapes and decorating them with icing and all kinds of sprinkles.  This year we started a new tradition: going to Ben Franklin to let each girl pick out a new cookie cutter to add to the collection.

We tried a different recipe than usual, sour cream sugar cookies.  I had made some a few weeks ago for Space Day at school, and they were so soft and delicious that we decided to try them for Christmas cookies.  In the past we've made a recipe that turns out more crunchy.

Here's Sophie counting the cookies as we make them:

We ended up with over 200 cookies, including the little miniature ones that Sophie's counting in the photograph.

Here are the artists hard at work and (below that) some of their creations:

Earlier in the day, we visited Santa Claus at Blue Ribbon Nursery and (reluctantly) got our photograph taken:

Sophie wanted to bring along her little stuffed Santa, but wouldn't actually speak to the real guy.  Neither would Hannah, not even to tell him what she wanted for Christmas!

Later we went for a run at the park and some playtime there for the girls.  Since it was nearly 70 degrees we decided to take advantage of the spring-like weather in December!

Holiday Parade

Last evening was the annual Holiday Parade in downtown Harrisonburg.  In the weeks leading up to the parade, there was a big stink created by the media saying that the city had changed the name of the parade from the "Christmas Parade" to the "Holiday Parade."  Folks were saying that they were going to boycott the parade due to the change of name.  The irony of it all was that the name of the parade actually changed over 15 years ago, so I guess their boycott was 15 years too late.

At any rate, downtown was certainly full of plenty of folks who decided to be inclusive and participate in the holiday fun.  We saw them, all of them, while walking the parade route next to the EMS mini-bus.  The bus was decked out in lights and decorations, and even the driver was looking rather elfish.

Sophie rode the shuttle with other kids from EMES, and parents and older kids (including Hannah) walked alongside the mini-bus handing out Christmas pencils with Eastern Mennonite Elementary printed on them.  Unfortunately, we ran out of pencils before we made it even halfway through the parade route!

Hannah was a trooper, walking the entire way and then doubling back to the car, which was probably over two miles in all.  We had a great time on a balmy December evening and saw many friends along the way.

Gymnastics Ends

The girls participated in their final fall gymnastics class earlier this week.  Hannah has decided that she would like to continue in the spring class, but Sophie wants to "just watch Hannah."  Since Hannah hasn't been excited about any sort of sport or physical activity she's tried up to this point, I'm happy that she's enjoying gymnastics and wants to continue.  This is a sport where her small size will be a benefit!  At the end of class Monday, they got certificates of completion and posed for pictures.

My little gymnasts

Sign, Signs, Everywhere Signs

Sophie created this game for her and Hannah to play during church

Found in my classroom one day this week

Located outside the playroom

Crossroads Candlelight Tour

Each year the Crossroads Heritage Center does a candlelight Christmas tour.  Charles and the girls had gone to see it another year, but I had not been before this year.  I had a good reason to go, since Hannah and Sophie were recruited as school-children for the event.  They were instructed to dress as children might dress around 1900 and participated in a "program" that children of that time might have given at school around Christmas-time.  They really enjoyed the evening, though Sophie was plumb worn out till they got home at 9:30pm!

Friends from EMES played other school-children

In their old-timey clothes, including skirts made by mom!

Peppernuts

This past weekend the girls and Grandma and I made peppernuts.  My grandma used to make these tiny little cookies each Christmas, and now we like to make them in her memory.  Since the recipe calls for 10 cups of flour, we pulled out the humongous bag of flour from Costco and dipped straight out of that!

Creaming the shortening and sugar

Practicing songs for the EMES concert while baking

Keeping count of the number of cups of flour we'd added

A total of 555 peppernuts... yes, we counted!

Since Saturday was December 1, the girls also got the place the first ornaments on the advent calendar.  This year I printed jokes and stuck them inside the boxes too.  The girls have been enjoying reading them each day.

Sophie got to do the first day

She's holding the joke in her hand