Holiday Spirit



Santa Roxanne




Santa Louis













I suppose that all of the shopping and baking I did this weekend should have me in the holiday spirit, but honestly I am not. I loved the shopping because I went out with Avery my youngest. We had a great morning and enjoyed our time together. As for the baking, I did that on my own yesterday and as always I enjoyed it immensely.

 On my baking menu yesterday was sugar cookies and caramel corn. I started with the caramel corn. This sounds like a lot of work, but is actually very easy to make. Tomorrow is hopefully our last visit to Aly's doctor about her Pilonidal Cyst on her tailbone. We decided last month that we would take caramel corn to the staff at the doctor's office this month, since we have been visiting them for over a year now. We just wanted to do something to say thank you to everyone there for being so nice and caring so much about Aly. So the caramel corn is done, but I am sure I will be whipping up at least one more batch since it is so delicious.

 As for the sugar cookies, I made a trip out last week and found a music note cookie cutter. The girls are in the Choral at school and their Christmas concert is Wednesday. The choir director has cookie day the day after each concert, on this day the students munch on cookies while they discuss what went well at the concert and what they need to work on. I decided it would be fun to make some sugar cookies in the shape of music notes for the girls to take in on Thursday. I have not had a chance to frost the cookies yet, I was thinking I would wait until tomorrow to complete that task so that the cookies will be yummy and fresh. Once they are frosted I will take a photo of them. Honestly when it comes to cookie decorating I am not that great. I slap on some colored frosting and throw them on a plate but most people are like me and will devour anything with frosting so I am not worried about how attractive they are.

As for the holiday spirit, it comes and goes. Right now it is mostly gone. I have made no real list this year, so perhaps that is what is making the shopping unexciting. I also am not use to roaming around trying to figure out what to purchase for people. It feels so frustrating wondering from place to place hoping for inspiration and never having any. My only hope is that in the next few days I will have a burst of enthusiasm that will carry me over the gift buying threshold like a wave carries a surfer to shore, just one big Holiday wave with a curl that slowly unfurls me on the shore of Christmas Eve.

 In the mean time I look for those special things like the laughter of my girls or the smell of holiday goodies baking, the candles burning with their glow casting calming shadows or the light of the moon bright and strong in the cold night. One thing is certain, the holiday is coming whether I am in the spirit or not, so I best just pull it together and make the best of it.