Recipe for a perfect pre-Christmas weekend

Everything this weekend has been perfect. Yes, the baby has been getting over a cold which has made him a little more grumpy than normal, but even a somewhat grouchy baby couldn't dampen my spirits. Maybe because the weekend started out with this:


When E was in France he was inspired to do a little wine/cheese/ploughman's dinner when he got back. It's been a long time since we've done something like this for dinner, and it was perfect. The fire happily flickered in the fireplace, the Christmas tree set off a warm glow in the corner and Pandora played Nat King Cole's Christmas songs.

And the weekend continued to be wonderful because it was E's family's annual cookie day on Saturday and my family's annual cookie day on Sunday. That is a lot of cookies people.

E with his sibs. At E's house we always decorate about six dozen sugar cookies. Luckily Chelsea and Joe show up early to bake them!

James doesn't eat a lot of sugar, but he wanted a cookie like everyone else on cookie day. This might have been his first cookie. As you can see, he really liked it.

And then today we hosted my family's cookie day. For this one we each choose a different recipe and all bake together. By the end of the afternoon we have tons of cookies in all different flavors. Everyone gathers a handful of each and we all end up with lots of yummy options.
My Grandma was able to walk up our sidewalk, up the stairs into the house, and to the kitchen table. I was so thrilled she was able to attend.
At one point James was getting some major tickles and showing off his biggest laughs for the adoring crowd.
Love this one of my boy.
Wow. Just look at the difference a year makes. Here is a photo of Melissa with James on last year's cookie day.
My cute as heck cousin Kendra laughing as James pulls off the Santa hat that I was trying to get a photo of. The hat lasted a total of three seconds.
Can you see some top toofies coming in? Yep, he's been teething for two months solid.



Remember this photo from two years ago when E and I hosted cookie day? We tried to recreate it. (My Grandma was napping at this point).
Near the end of the afternoon Dada picked up his boy and started singing Christmas songs to him while dancing with him in the living room. Melts my heart.

And we needed to have a photo of each person with their cookie. Notice the last photo. My Grandma was so tired so we told her to go take a nap. So we sneaked in and took a photo of her sleeping with the cookie she made. So funny.