Decking the halls... and some cookies too

It is been way too long since I last blogged. That is because my computer broke. Again. I had a hard drive failure and the laptop I just bought this summer is somewhere still in the lovely land of Dell repair shops, so my blogging has been lacking. Since Rob is off doing a photo shoot this morning, I snagged his laptop to post a quick blog while I can.

Lots to catch up on- Going to a Bama Game, Thanksgiving, pre-school programs, my Mom's birthday, Lainey's first smiles.... but I will start with what is freshest on my mind. My kids super duper annual cookie decorating party.

We began on Thursday night and trashed our kitchen by making tons and tons of dough. Bennett and I rolled out, cut out, and baked dozens and dozens of sugar cookies, gingerbread, and cupcakes. We were exhausted. But she had fun learning how to use the rolling pin and I had tons of fun cleaning up the flour that was stuck in every crevice of my kitchen. Not.

But it was all worth it the next day when most of the kids in Bennett's pre-school class came over to get their decorating on.

Bennett and Will can't wait for their friends to get here!

The table is ready for the little tornadoes that are about it hit.

I used little boxes and baking cups to hold all of the decorations. It make the table look a lot cuter than having the boxes out.

The best part of living in Dothan? We get to carry the party outside even in December. We had the same set up outside on our back patio for the younger kids.

 Platters of cookies ready to go.

The first guest to show up was Bennett's best buddy, Brody. She was SO happy when his Mom said he could come. Notice the card that she made for him in her hand. 

The girls had to check out Bennett's room before the party started.

And Brody had to check out Will's room.

Okay, everyone's here! Let's go decorate!!

I love this picture of Jadyn decorating. I love how much kids get into this and I love seeing their awesome creations.

 We used ketchup bottles for the frosting. Last year I used the traditional plastic bags with frosting tips and it was a mess. I saw online that this was a better way for small kids to decorate and it was a whole lot easier!

 Some of the finished creations.

And these were the ones I decorated. Hey, even grownups enjoy decorating cookies too.

When their creative juices wore out, the party moved upstairs to our playroom.

And back downstairs again to play with the train underneath our Christmas tree.

And then outside to jump on our bouncy house.

Lainey woke up from her long winters nap and she instantly became the hit of the party. Of course.

And we ended with Rob gathering the kids on the couch and singing Christmas carols. Bennett said her favorite part was singing songs with her Daddy and her friends.

So, our cookie party turned into a cookie decorating, dress up, train, bouncy house, outdoor, indoor, sing-along party. And it was wonderful. We still miss our friends from Kansas City so much, but it was good for the kids to have some new friends over to continue traditions we began years ago. We are so grateful for a beautiful home to welcome people into and for sweet friends for our children.