My mom has been BFFs with the same 3 ladies for as long as I can remember. They refer to themselves as the YaYas. All those ladies have kids and grandkids now, and each December most of the girls get together for a cookie exchange. The original 4 YaYas used to get together every Christmas and do all their baking together. Picture it: One kitchen. One oven. Everyone bringing their own ingredients, pans, tools, etc. I always remember my mom being in a really bad mood when it was over, not because she didn't have a good time with her friends, but a huge family fight always broke out from basically having to lug an entire kitchen back home. The cookie exchange works much better. We each make a dozen "cookies" (any baked good is welcome) for each participant (11 dozen this year!) and bring them all over to one house to exchange, so we each wind up with 11 dozen cookies of all different kinds. I find this works really well because not only can I bake on my own time, but making a whole whack of one thing is unquestionably easier than trying to make even 3 or 4 different kinds of baked goods.
I decided to do cake pops with pretzel sticks. I did an entire cake and only ended up with enough for about 4 of every dozen to have a cake pop, and since there was no way I was going out to get more cake mix, each dozen got 4 cake pops and 8 caramel & chocolate covered pretzel sticks.
I got this wreath idea from the most addictive website in the world, Pinterest.com. Not quite as pretty as the inspiration, and stuck on an inside door because it was too thick to fit between the front doors, but pretty nonetheless.
This year we bought a real live Christmas tree. We went as a family out to a lot at a church and found the perfect tree for our little house. I will have to get the pics off my phone of the kids helping to saw off the bottom. This photo is terrible, but it's the first one of the cute lit up tree :)
Now for the part of this post I'm most proud of. My mom & I talk on the phone quite a lot. My kids tend to be a little rowdy and attention seeky while I'm on the phone, so to combat this, my mom started putting a nickel in a jar everytime they were good while we were on the phone. As a testament to how often we speak on the phone, the nickel jar added up very quickly. When asked what she wanted to do with the money, Eleda said she would really like to buy some presents for kids who don't have many toys. She pulled at my heartstrings that day like you wouldn't believe. Alan also received some donations from business associates who heard about her generosity, and we as a family matched her nickel for nickel. It was AMAZING taking her shopping and letting her pick out pretty much whatever she wanted to give to other kids. I may have scooped up one extra tiara for her because she deserved a little bling for being so selfless and thoughtful.
Alan is a member of several business networking groups, and it just to happened that shortly after this shopping trip, a representative from the Salvation Army was coming to one of his meetings and was very happy to collect her donation. So I brought Eleda down to the Highland Country Club to present her donation to the group. It was a very proud moment for us as parents, and I hope something that will stay with her and that she will continue with the spirit of giving her whole life.
And just because he's so stinking cute, here is Mr. Ashton-Man turning it on for the camera.
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