FIVE

There is something about this month that just pushes my buttons and challenges me. It is not just the holidays. My middle child Oliver celebrates his birthday every December. Between that and all of the mushy gushy Hallmark, Cheerio and Coca Cola commercials my emotions are running wild. There is just not enough tissues to go around folks.

This year Oliver turned five. For some reason five is just hard. It pops up and feels like a big surprise.

Let me tell you about why 5 is wonderful. Five is:

• Painting
• Cutting with scissors
• Legos Legos Legos
• Snuggling in PJs
• Reading Dr. Seuss and Curious George
• Learning your alphabet
• Writing your name
• Building forts
• Being fascinated by bubbles and fireworks
• Singing songs
• Love of animals and nature
• Cheesy knock knock jokes
• Laughter over silly things

Five isn't easy either. Five is also:

• Not sharing with your sister
• Or your brother
• Wardrobe battles
• Stubbornness
• Temper tantrums over the.smallest.thing.ever
• Not uh. Uh huh. Not uh. Uh huh...
• Insisting on using the ninja turtles plate
• One more drink of water
• I don't want to

Five is being newly independent and wanting to do it all.
However, they still sometimes hold your hand. Sometimes they even admit they want your help. Best of all, they still think you are the cooler than any superhero and better than any toy all the money in the world can buy. Most of the time.

When they turn five they are almost ready for kindergarten and suddenly it feels like they will be off to their first prom. Then you blink and they are off to college or to their first job. Sounds dramatic but that is how five feels. Nothing slows them down. All you want is for time to stand still.

We celebrated Oliver's birthday early this year. We had a little sledding party with a lot of fun.

 

We had little mugs of hot cocoa and chocolates and marshmallows and candy canes for goodie bags. All the kids took one home to warm up after our fun in the snow.

I made simple little hot cocoa cupcakes. They turned out great, and of course I dropped a full tray of them on the floor. Twice actually. About two hours before the party. Good thing I made extras. Also, it was good that no one was home when this happened. Mommy was not happy. I *possibly* let out some words that shall not be written in this blog.

We decorated with little paper snowflakes that the kids made earlier in the week. It was our fun craft for the week. Making snowflakes with three kids means not a single one is alike.

The kids decorated cookies and had hot cocoa in-between sledding runs. There were lots of sprinkles on my floor. There probably are some still there actually.

Everyone went home. I caught my breath finally. After all the cake and presents and after all of our fun I realized he was going to be 5.

I just want five to stay. I want it to last a little longer. My kids sometimes frustrate me and leave me exhausted. I love them though no matter what.

If there is anything I want to remember about five it is all simple & fun things we do. Fun is not elaborate. It doesn't cost a bunch of money. It is simple moments where we just spend time together. Usually at home together.

I want more of that for five.

Cookies for Church!

Mmmmm hot and fresh cookies!!! And no they are not for me. Our focus for the second week of Lent was to give as much as we can of ourselves. Through out the week we focused on what we can do to be kind to others and how we can use the gifts God has given us to bless others in our lives. So to wrap up the week, I am bringing some yummy MONSTER size cookies for the treat cart at church. I am going to have to resist the temptation to eat these all up, and to keep the kids out of them too. But it feels good to give.

Thank you Lord for blessing us and allowing us to give back to those around us. Sometimes all it takes is taking the extra time to listen to a stranger who needs help. Sometimes you ask us to give financially. And other times you call for us to use our own great gifts that you have given us and share those with others. Help us to make sacrifices and share our gifts so that we can share joy and peace in your name. Amen!

Here is the recipe for anyone who wants to try it! We found it on Cooks.com and used the Easter M&Ms for some fun spring colors!

M & M PARTY COOKIES

1 c. shortening 1 c. brown sugar 1/2 c. granulated sugar 2 tsp. vanilla 2 eggs 2 1/4 c. sifted flour 1 tsp. soda 1 tsp. salt 1 1/2 c. M & Ms Blend shortening and sugars. Beat in vanilla and eggs. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in 1/2 M & Ms. Reserve the rest for decorating. Drop onto ungreased cookie sheet. Decorate as desired and bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden.

It's not Christmas Eve without a little baking in the kitchen!

Thomas and I made Kringlas today! They turned out beautiful! Up next are gingerbread men and more sugar cookies! We ate all of ours from last week so now we have to make more for Santa. Weight Watchers and gym membership...see you in 2010! ;-)

Here is the recipe we used:

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of sugar

1 egg

2 cups of sour cream (2 8 oz size containers)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

3 1/2 cups of flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease baking sheets.

Combine the sugar, beaten egg and sour cream together. Add vanilla extract and almond extract. Stir well. Mix in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Blend thoroughly.

Gather dough into a large ball. Take a freezer size ziplock bag. Spray with a little nonstick spray on the inside, then sprinkle in about a 1/4 cup of flour and shake up. Place dough in ziplock bag. Cut off a 1/2 inch or narrower tip of the bag in the corner. Use to squeeze out little tubes of dough. This keeps your hands from getting super messy in the sticky dough.

Roll lightly with hands on lightly floured board into a tube about 6-8 inches long. Form into a figure "8" , and pinch ends together. You can wet your fingers with water if necessary if dough doesn't want to stick very easilly.

Place figure 8's on cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining dough. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes or until tops are just starting to brown.