I am not really much of a baker. I enjoy cooking quite a lot, love eating even more, but baking is not a gift I have. But somehow this week I managed TWO batches of perfect cookies (sugar AND chocolate chip, some of which even made it to the oven) and spent some time with the girlies in the house.

Classy, no? Royal icing is not really a thing at my house, and the one time I tried it with a brilliant friend, mine turned out all squiggly and wobbly. Icing from a can tinted with food coloring, however, is right up my alley, and perfect for my girls.

Christmas cookies aren’t complete around here without these guys, either, artfully displayed in our collection of Ikea plastic bowls. I think that deserves a KLASSY. I just know you want to pin this.

This, though, is why we decorate cookies around here.

(Excuse the cropping on these images—my fave indoor lens is currently broken, so I had to pull out my 85mm lovely for outdoor portraits but too long for my dining room table lens instead.)

We made the rounds of our neighborhood last night, delivering treats and chatting, but we saved the best cookies (you know, the ones the girls poured all their effort into, licked fingers and all) for ourselves. And each girl got to eat her final creation.

Mmmmmmm. A cookie only a three-year-old can love, or stomach.

Their creations:

And my boring (but sanitary) versions:

To those friends and family who we’re missing this Christmas, we love you! Like last year, I could not pull it together enough to get a Christmas card out. We made one attempt at taking a family portrait while we were at the beach this summer—I had the perfect idea of how we could incorporate our Patrick’s memory into the images. But when it came down to it, I had a complete emotional melt-down at the idea of taking a family picture without all my children. So with all the healing and comfort of the last year, I’m not there yet. Hopefully next Christmas, after baby #5’s safe delivery this coming May, I will find my peace with family pictures. Love to all as you celebrate our Savior’s birth.