Its beginning to SMELL a lot like Christmas!

Monday afternoon, on the phone: 

Suz: "What are your favorite Christmas cookies?"

Ben: "What do you mean?"

Suz: "You know... Christmas cookies. Every year my mom would spend an entire week doing Christmas baking.  There were always new cookies.  She made peanut butter cookies with Hershey kisses, Chocolate Mud Cookies, Pecan Sandies, Shortbread cookies, Sugar cookies..... I'm getting ready to start Christmas baking, and I need to know your favorite Christmas cookies." 

Ben: "Um... that one." 

Suz: "You didn't do that at Christmas?" 

Ben: "No, but if you want to start that tradition its fine with me!" 

And so I have. I have spent this past week making TONS (ok, dozens) of cookies of all different types! I L.O.V.E. this time of year! 

I've made chocolate truffles (for the first time... but I think they turned out ok), gingerbread cookies, shortbread (one of my favorites), jelly-drop cookies (one of Ben's new favorites!), and sugar cookies (that we still need to frost together)

Here is one of our favorite recipes, in case you want to try these! 

Jelly Drop Cookies

Should I be embarrassed that I am WAY more concerned with holiday baking than holiday decorating? 

First Snow of the Season!!!!

It snowed! It snowed! It snowed! Yay! Yay! Yay! 

We're really excited! 

Don't we look excited? 

A Day In The Life.... Sort Of.

Ben and I offer to babysit for families in our ward pretty often, so parents can have a free night out and we can get a feel for that life. 

There is a family in our ward we just love, and they happen to be out of town this week and asked us to stay overnight with their three kids; Hayley, 13, Caron, 11, and David, 7.  They are such great, fun, easy kids and we love being invited over! 

But seriously... is this what it's really like to be a mom?!?!

Wednesday: 

6:30 am: Wake up, make sure 3 kids are awake
7:00 am: Drive girls to school (15 mins away!)
7:30 am: Back at the house, get David ready for school
8:10 am: Drive David to school
8:30 am: Over to my house to do some vinyl work
9:00-12:00 am: Design, cut, and prep for mail 2 vinyl orders
12:00 pm: Design and make our own Christmas decoration
12:30 pm: Grocery store for special "1st Day of Channukah dinner recipe" ingredients
1:00 pm: Post office to mail vinyl orders
1:30-2:30 pm: Back at kids' house, begin making Challah bread
2:30 pm: Write new blog post for uVinyl blog
3:00 pm: David gets dropped off at home
3:10 pm: Leave with David to pick up girls from school
3:45 pm: Back at the house
3:45 - 4:00 pm: Help David with his homework
4:00 - 5:00 pm: Begin making soup for dinner and finish Challah bread
5:00 pm: Ben gets home
5:30 pm: Eat dinner
6:30 - 7:30 pm: Ben takes Hayley to church for activity
8:45 pm: All kids go upstairs to get ready for bed
8:50- 9:15 pm: Read scripture stories with David, help him fall asleep
10:00 pm: Go to bed.

When do you have time to shower?!?!?!?!

At least I got to spend a long time kneading something.