Hello, hello, and a happy Monday to you!
I hope you all had a great weekend – do anything fun? We had a good mix of staying in and being out and about, which is increasingly becoming a little bit easier. Ahhh, and it feels good!
On Saturday we enjoyed a quiet morning at home, watching the snow fall outside in the bitter cold. It honestly just felt like a perfect Saturday. The boys were both being so well behaved, the snow was falling, the fire was going…and then cookies were baking!
I had to come up with something to make for the party we were attending that night so (as you may have already seen on Instagram) I made a batch of my favorite Crackled Sugar Cookies and topped them with my Vanilla Buttercream Frosting.
Lucas was also my big helper and did a great job decorating his special cookies…even though all he was truly interested in was being able to eat them in the end.
After cookie baking, we all had some fun around the house before it was snooze time a little later.
Then in the evening, we made our way out to attend a Christmas party at the boys’ daycare.
There was all sorts of yummy food, including snacks, pizza, wings, and plenty of desserts.
Lucas just absolutely loves his buddies at his daycare!
And Alex just likes hanging back and watching.
The kids all had a blast playing and eating, and then later in the evening, they got a special visit from Santa…our third Santa encounter this season!
We talked it up quite a bit with Lucas, since he’s still not super fond of the big guy, but surprisingly enough, he actually made it up on to his lap (even if he was stiff as a board the whole time).
Alex? Well…not a big fan.
Sorry, bud.
But overall, it was a successful outing and the boys both loved their toys from Santa!
(Alex got this ‘smart phone’ and Lucas got this lock and latches board from Melissa and Doug)
Sunday started off as another day at home, which also consisted of some grocery shopping. Then we headed out to my parents’ house in the afternoon to celebrate my brother’s birthday (which was on Wednesday) and my dad’s birthday (which was on Saturday).
Dad requested a full turkey dinner, so we all lucked out on that one with a delicious meal, courtesy of mi madre.
And of course, it can’t be a birthday without birthday cake, right? Another homemade gem from mom – chocolate cake with strawberry filling and buttercream frosting. And bowling themed, just for the boys.
After dinner and cake, we wound up watching a few old home videos which made for a few good laughs. Then it was time to head back home for bedtime (since skipped toddler naps = meltdown city come about 6:30pm).
I also managed to get a good amount of Christmas wrapping done over the weekend, and OH YES…cookies! I never got the chance to check in with you guys on Friday, but cookie baking day on Thursday with my mom was a success!
What we’ve made so far:
- Chewy Chocolate Chip Heath Bar Cookies
- M&M’s Explosion Cookies (aka, my Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cup Explosion Cookies, subbing mini m&m’s for the PB cups)
- Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies
- Mexican Wedding Cookies
- Raspberry Almond Gems
- Toffee Almond Fudge
- Oreo Truffles
I’m also making some Chocolate Raspberry Bars and Dark Chocolate Turtle Graham Bars this week for a cookie exchange I’m heading to on Wednesday (and hopefully at least 1 or 2 more treats!).
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Hope you guys all have a GREAT week ahead – I’m sure many of you will be busy (I know we sure are!).
Brynn says
What a fun winter weekend! Did you have your baking day with your mom this year?
Courtney says
Yep! I posted about it above ;)
kate says
Hi Courtney,
Do you freeze the cookies that you make? Do you bake them before freezing?
thanks!
Courtney says
Hey Kate! Yes I bake them first then freeze them :)
Amanda @ A Blonderful Life says
We plan on watching a bunch of home videos at my mom’s house on Christmas Eve and are really looking forward to it. Glad you had a nice weekend and that Lucas is finally warming up to Santa!
Fiona @ Get Fit Fiona says
Can’t go wrong with turkey for birthday dinner. Yum! The bowling cake sounds delicious too.
I’ve done a bunch of Christmas baking over the last two weeks too. I find if I do a couple recipes a week it really starts to add up without being overwhelming.
Bethany @luluruns says
Looks like you all had a fun weekend! Cookie baking is such a fun acitivity to do during this Christmas season!
JEN says
Thank you for posting your cookie recipes. I will be attempting your crackled sugar cookies with the frosting!!!!
Katie @ Live Half Full says
Oh my goodness! Alex’s suit one-piece is SOOOO cute!
Shaqueefa says
Cute! I made a batch of fudgy chili white chocolate chip cookies it ended up into a taco salad. ??♀️