December Fun - Baking, Crafting, Lights, and Parties (OH MY!)

December is always full of fun and traditions, and this year was no exception. This is some of the fun stuff we've been up to this month.

As we usually do, we took one Saturday and had a baking day.

Ready to get our baking on!

We always begin with sugar cookies . . . the kids are getting to where they need very little help to roll out their cookies. It's nice in a lot of ways, but also a little bittersweet. 

Bren put his apron on and discovered that he'd grown this year . . . a lot! This apron matches Daddy's, so it's sad that Bren has outgrown it.

Having no apron didn't stop Bren from participating in the cookie making, though!

Cute 'lil bakers!

Brianna could pretty much lead this activity by herself!

Happy baking day!

Baking day is so much more enjoyable for us now . . . less chaos but still so much fun!

Our cookies turned out cute and interesting. I'm not sure where the brown frosting came from, but it made for a unique look, haha!

Baking day is always a MESS! Always, always! Brooke wasn't too impressed to be on clean-up duty :-).

After cookies, Chris made a batch of cinnamon candy.

We gave these containers of cinnamon candy to our Bible class teachers.

While Chris (and some of the kids) did cinnamon candy, almond bark pretzels, and puppy chow, I decided to try my hand at glass etching. This was the first plate I did for our neighbor, and it turned out better than I expected!

So, I made one for my parents, too!

After the cookies were frosted, we decided to put a few on the plates I made and hand deliver them. We agreed ahead of time that when Mrs. Mooney answered her door, we would sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" to her. She was so surprised and happy that she covered her mouth and let out the biggest laugh. It was the best reaction! In fact, her reaction was so good that we decided to carol to my parents, too!

We make a lot of our edible goodies in time to take them to our December church luncheon. I love the tradition of having a "photo booth" at the luncheon!

The following week, I decided to make some gifts for Brooke and Brecklyn's teachers at school. We also did some things for a few others. This cookie jar turned out so cute! Of course, we included a gift card along with it and gave it to the school secretary. 

For each of the girls' teachers, I pressed Baking Spirits Bright onto an oven mitt and filled it with cookie mix, a spoon, and a gift card. We tied the mitt to a personalized glass plate, and the girls each helped me make an ornament to attach, as well. 

This was my first time to try ornaments like this.

I didn't love the metal look, so for myself I made an ornament out of an acrylic disc. It sparkles and looks perfect on my upstairs tree!

Because all that wasn't enough, I also decided to glass etch ornaments for a few friends. The Lewellen's sent me this photo of the ornament I made on their tree. 

I also decided to try to vinyl ornaments instead of glass etch them. I made about five of these for family. Lisa sent me this photo of the one I made for them. 

We always enjoy going to look at Christmas lights, but this year we went to Oologah Lake to see a new display that is being done out there. It was cute and hopefully it will grow as time goes on!

Another new thing this year was a light display being put on by the City of Claremore at Claremore Lake. It's so fun to have this in our backyard! And, the plan is for it to grow every year for the next ten years, so we're excited to see where it goes! We stopped by the Lake after church one Sunday evening, and Mom and Dad went out there with us.

The Nutcrackers were my favorite!

The bridge looked great!

Love my little crew!

I loved the idea of establishing some family traditions back when Chris and I were growing our family, and we've got some pretty great ones in my opinion. I'm always grateful for our time together.