Cookie Day - My Most Favorite Day of the Year~

I was so excited for Saturday to come around. It is truly my most favorite day of the year! On Friday I got all prepared..... hauling out all of my baking supplies. I did up a triple batch of cut-out sugar Christmas cookies.

While I baked, I had a smile on my face as I opened up Mom's old red Betty Crocker cookbook for the recipe.  I recalled many childhood times of baking cookies and decorating with my own brothers and sister.  I rolled out hunks of dough, baked on my parchment lined cookie sheets (the BEST way to bake cookies!) I ended up with 18 dozen cookies and only one broken one. Steve took care of that one, even without any frosting on it.

Saturday morning, I was up early and "de-kidderized" the house. I remove all of my sharp scissors, needles and fiber tools and put them out of reach of the wee ones.  Most of the knickknacks are pretty kid-proof and I encourage them to look and explore.  I just don't want anyone to get hurt.

I think what I like best about this day is that I get all seven grandkids ALL TO MYSELF!  That sounds kinda selfish, I know. But I don't have to share them like at Xmas the competition of Christmas presents, or with other grandparents, or the ex's, or even their friends at their birthday parties.  I get all of their attention at my own home stomping grounds. It's a day for me to watch, interact, relate and enjoy each of them as they play together, help me, or just hang out.

I flustered and blustered around the house getting ready for this Big Day.  I prepared in advance by buying a whole bunch of funny shaped Christmas holiday mugs and lined them up on the buffet in the dining room...

Added to each mug is a little mini wire whisk. I have laughingly renamed these "The Best Little Invention in the World". I have a few in the house and the camper that I have used with the grandkids. They are just the right size for whisking up hot cocoa mix in a cup. This year, I ordered a batch of a dozen online so each grandkid could go home with one of their own with their mugs.

Of course, once the hot cocoa mix with marshmallows is all mixed up, you need a stir stick. What's better than a peppermint candy cane as a stir stick?

Everything was set by 9 a.m.  We told the dogs "The childrenz are coming, the childrenz are coming"  (kinda like the Paul Revere alert about the Red Coats).  The dogs were waiting at the window to watch for the big surprise.

Binney still gets a little shy when there are so many grandkids at once. She's better with only one or two kids at a time. When we first got her, she used to hide in the bedroom closet or a corner, but has gotten better over the years.  Finnegan was eager because he knows that when the grandkids come, that means spilled food on the floor. That's a delight for any dog, especially when it's multiplied times seven grandchildren coming at once!

AND HERE THEY COME!!!

They trooped on into the house and shed their winter jackets, hats, mittens and boots. It was time for this Grandmother to have some fun.

Here is the cast of characters:

These are the three boys. Left to right they are Jameson age 10, Mason age 6, and Clayton age 6. They all play together so well as cousins.  I love it that they play on the staircase in the sunshine and rainbows from the leaded glass windows.  They had matchbox cars, trucks and building blocks all over the place.

Next in the cast of characters are the two oldest girls: This is Chelsea and Allegra. Chelsea is 8, and Allegra just turned 9.  Chelsea will catch up to her early in January in age. They are best buddies and do sleepovers at each other's houses. I can always count on them to help out or get creative with craft projects and be my buddies.

Here are the two smallest ones, the littlest girls Claire and Whitney. Claire is 2 and Whitney is 3. They are learning to play together well and share (sometimes) and socialize.

As soon as little Claire got here, she made a beeline for the toy closet under the stairs. She knew right where the little Fisher-Price farm & silo were. She grabbed both in her tiny arms and waddled on over into the living room to plunk them down and start to play.

All of the grandchildren have played lovingly with this Fisher-Price farm over the years. It is from my own Grandma Kafehl. That would make her their great great grandmother. I know she's smiling down from Heaven to see her great-great-grandchildren all together, and playing with this toy that she's so lovingly kept all of those years. We played with it as kids in the 1960's. My kids played with it when we would visit in the 1980's.  When she passed away in 1996, I was the lucky one to inherit it and it is one of my prized possessions. Some things are more valuable than diamonds, emeralds, rubies and pearls. The look on that little face says it all!

Once everyone was here, we had a quick little breakfast of fruit and those little boxes of cereal. I always have those on hand for the grandkids, just like Grandma Kafehl had for us when we were kids.  We needed to fill their bellies with good stuff because once they started decorating I knew how many would be sneaking bits of frosting, snacking on the decorations, and even eating a cookie or two along the way.

NOW IT WAS TIME TO GET DOWN TO WORK....  

DECORATING THOSE COOKIES!!!

(we were so anxious to get started,

we forgot to put on our Xmas Aprons from last year!)

I had pre-made up tubs of colorful frosting and I was in charge of getting the frosting spread on each cookie. From there we passed them around the table on paper plates to be decorated by the waiting kids.  I had assorted sprinkles, sugars and chocolate chips to adorn as they pleased.

The mommies and Grandpa helped to decorate and also to take all the finished cookies back into the kitchen a tray full at a time to lay them out on the island and countertops to dry.

We had Christmas music playing on the stereo, and there was a lot of laughter and silliness going on. The kids especially loved hearing stories about their own parents when they were little. Sometimes it's the littlest things that can emit gales of laughter.

This is known as a "Party Cookie" by the kids. Erin invented the name last year. It's when they have so many decorations on their little paper plate, they just take a frosted cookie and flip it over upside down to absorb the leftovers.

This little lady definitely got into the cookie decorating, especially the blue frosting. Can't you tell? Her mommy had to remove the shirt before it got ruined by all of the blue food coloring.  I was told she "ate a Smurf"  Ack!

Here is a You Tube video clip we made
from a few of the segments taken during the morning,
along with a photo montage at the end of all the pics.

Once all of the cookies were decorated and everything was cleaned up, the mommies took a break in the living room by the tree. This is our daughter Erin on the left (with goofy Claire on her lap) and our daughter Heather on the right. Our daughter-in-law Heather had to work for the day so Erin brought those kids along to take part with all of the others.

Grandpa had cleaned up the kitchen for me and put away everything that was not needed, and he washed up all of the breakfast dishes as well. It was time for him to take a little break too.

I chased the kids around the house and got some activities going. The two littlest girls adore playing "Tea Party" so we set up the small white table and brought out Grandma's tea set. The older kids were involved in a very active game of hide-and-seek, as well as some kind of ghost hunting where they were taking photo images with a camera of the supposed spirits that they were doing paranormal research on.  It was fun to listen to them make up scenarios, and work with their imaginations to create some fun topics to play together.  I love the inventiveness and talent they have to share, make up and create.

Now it was getting close to lunchtime, so I enlisted the help of all of the munchkin kids to cooperate in preparing our lunch. We took 3 packs of hot dogs and cut each of them into thirds. Then we took a big pack of raw spaghetti noodles and put the kids to work.  They stuck about 8, sometimes 9, sometimes 10, sometimes 6, who knows how many, noodles lengthwise through the raw hot dogs. I had a big pot of water boiling in the kitchen to submerge them into. (the process is on the You Tube video clip that I posted above)

Once the noodles were cooked up, 

the bundles were carefully removed from the hot pot. 

then cut each of the 1/3 hot dogs into half.

 From just one hot dog, 

you can get six little octopuses!!!

We made 72 little octopus? octopii?

Wow, talk about lunchtime fun!
They could eat them with their fingers,
dip them into ketchup,
and play with their food.

Imagine that, Grandma's house has NO rules about playing with their food?? 

The silliness and laughter continues, 

even with something as simple as a grandchildren lunch party.

We added trays of fresh vegetables and dip along with an ample supply of pickles and olives to go along with our meal. These kids absolutely love olives and pickles, including the oldest granddaughter Allegra craves black olives.  Also the oldest grandson Jameson enjoys sweet gherkins. Have to have a bunch on hand when they come.  He even brought the rest of the jar home with him as a special treat.   I remember my Grandma Kafehl who always had spaghettios in the large cans on hand for when we came over, and always sent us home with boxes of our most favorite breakfast cereals.

It warms my heart to see all of the grandkids around my dining room table. When I bought this table 6 years ago I had no idea there would be this many sweet little grandchildren gathered around it. These are the things that I live for.

Also around the diningroom are plate rails that encircle the room. Instead of plates I have many photo frames of all the different photos of the grandkids throughout the years. They really like seeing their images and how they change. I tell them when they are not here, Grandpa and I sit here and gaze upon all of their faces and remember them and love them and miss them so much.

Once the lunch was done, 

again Grandpa took care of the kitchen cleanup

and all of the dishes.

I appreciate that so I can spend more time with the grandkids.

Then this grandma headed up our yearly tradition 

of writing letters to Santa Claus!

We also took out the Christmas mugs and little world's best little invention and packets of hot cocoa with marshmallows. What a wonderful thing to sip on their cocoa while they work on their Christmas letters to Santa.

I love seeing how much the children change every year in their abilities to write and spell and use larger and larger words in their letters. It was so cute to see them help each other and give each other ideas of things to ask from Santa. I even wrote a letter myself telling Santa that I've been a good grandma I think and that all I want for Christmas is "Good Grandkids" ! (I think I already got that wish)  The kids take turns reading their letters also in the YouTube clip I posted above.

I took about a zillion pictures and Steve took a probably a zillion more. These are two of my favorites. Daughter Erin is helping her son Clayton (a first grader) while he uses some really huge words like "electric", and littlest granddaughter Claire is giving Finnegan a wonderful hug in the rays of afternoon sunshine.

Before the kids are ready to head out, I tried, and failed, to get all seven of them to sit around the tree and face forward. It really doesn't work. I don't know how my friend Sarah does it at her photography studio. Maybe someday that will work. I don't know. So finally, since none of them were having it, I told them all to pick their noses! That got their attention. But there was still a couple grumps in the group. Yep, a typical family photo of my grandchildren.

I can't wait to see them all again at our Family Christmas Celebration together in two weeks!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!

My Best Day This Year

I must say, I have some pretty thoughtful kids. They all made Saturday possible, and especially the oldest daughter, Erin, who planned the event.

What did she do? Wellllll she managed to get everybody to schedule a busy Saturday in December to do a special thing for this silly grandma. Erin loaded up all seven grandchildren, yes 7! and brought them 70+ miles to my house. It had to be done early in the morning to get here because of other commitments in the afternoon from some of the families. That meant getting up and hitting the road by 6 a.m. Picking up grandchildren along the way.

During their 70+ mile journey here, the oldest grandson, nine year old Jameson, kept us apprised of their location via text on his Auntie's cell phone. We knew just when they were ready to come tumbling in the door!!!  They were due to arrive by 8 a.m. So we had to get prepared!

Grandpa had been busy cooking up sausages and special snowman shaped pancakes. That was his good contribution to the special day.

I had everything set and ready with 32 dozen sugar cut-out cookies that I baked earlier in the week. I used up three and a half bags of powdered sugar to make enough fresh frosting in the morning. I had to split it up into separate bowls to add food coloring.

I had a wide assortment of decorations and sprinkles. We used parmesan cheese shakers to put the sprinkles in to help control the mess. As opposed to just wide open store containers with kids dipping in with their fingers...lol lol!

I already had three little baking aprons, because usually the grandkids are only here two at a time to help me cook or bake. So earlier in the week I made up five more aprons, including a little tiny one for baby Claire who is only one year old. They were reversible Christmas prints so each child could choose which way they wanted to wear it.

The dining room table was covered in vinyl and ready for the little stinkers to start getting creative. I figured the fun was well worth the memories and the mess.

As soon as breakfast was done, Grandpa took care of all the clean up while Erin and I wrangled all the little helpers around the dining room table. All of them put on their aprons and posed for a pic.

I even managed to get in a pic with most of them....

We had Christmas music playing, including my favorite childhood album Gene Autry's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The kids told stories and laughed and giggled throughout the morning. I would spread on the frosting and hand them over to the kiddos to decorate. I was going as fast as I could and barely kept up with them.

Even little Whitney was decorating and she is only 2 years old!

Erin was also keeping Claire, the youngest, busy while we worked on cookies. 

Tray by tray of cookies were transferred back into the kitchen and laid out on the island to get the frosting to harden up a bit. Then they could be stacked into large containers so every family got about 8 dozen cookies to go home with.

Shortly, the cookies were being stacked along the counter tops 

and in staggered trays on top of the stove.

I was amazed, but the last kid to hold out and continue decorating and not take a break was Mason! He is a five year old that seems to really have developed a long attention span. Unusual at that age, especially for a boy!

The others took breaks here and there

 but came back again and again to help finish up.

There was some finger-licking going on, as well as some snitching of chocolate chips. We did an "Eat A Cookie Break" about halfway through and everybody could choose their favorite.

Amazingly we finished up all 32 dozen cookies.

 I didn't expect to get them all done.

Then we had some time for each grandchild to write a letter to Santa. They were then mailed out that afternoon to the Chilton post office, where they will be delivered to the North Pole and be promptly answered by return mail.

It turns out we had almost an hour for playtime before they had to bundle up and hit the road. For some silly reason, the kids started a Christmas conga line. I have absolutely no idea why? Maybe it will become a new family tradition?

The two littlest ones wanted to join in on all the fun. We sang Christmas carols and we made sure the little ones got to be part of the joy. The sugar high had kicked in by now so they were pretty antsy. Although I love them dearly, they really needed to get outside and run around more than anything to burn off some of that sugar!!!!

We carefully packaged up the cookies, along with some Pecan Mexican Wedding cookies I had made the week before.

I got lots of hugs and cuddles and happy times with these grandchildren. My heart was overflowing with joy, and I even get tears in my eyes right now as I write this. What a special day.

That brave daughter of mine loaded up 7 sugar-laden children back into her vehicle to head north.

And there they gooooo

She had to drop two kids off in Green Bay on the east side and then bring two others to meet with our other daughter on the west side... and have lunch with them all in a restaurant. I can't imagine the Sugar High Kids sat well in the restaurant, but what do I know? They are all used to eating out and they know how to behave. Then Erin had to take her three children all afternoon to a crazy wild birthday party at a gymnasium party place. At least her kids could bounce off all of that energy on the trampolines. lol


Honestly, there was a lot less decorations on the floor than I had originally expected to see:

We let the dogs lick up a few decorations for a while, off the floor, but then we put them away in a bedroom behind a shut door so they wouldn't get sick.

Grandpa and I heaved a big sigh, and started cleaning up all of the little decorations. The vacuum cleaner did a great job as well as a Swiffer Wet Jet. In no time at all the house was back in shipshape and you would never have known we had been descended upon by 7 adorable sugar-laden grandchildren.

It seemed it was over way too soon----

But I have lots of smiles in my heart of the wonderful day.

Plus I have this video from the camera I had set up for about the first hour and a half before it ran out of memory. (it may not work right away because it is still uploading, but you might have to come back and click it again)

Now do you think we sat down and took a break or took a nap? Ohhhh nooooo, not us.

We donned our painting clothes, took out all of our painting supplies, and put a fresh coat of paint on the walls and ceiling in the bathroom. We wanted to do that before installing the wooden stained beadboard below on the lower portions of the walls.

After a quick supper, then I went down into the basement and finished staining the last of the upper cap trim. Now all of the wood was completely stained and polyurethaned and ready to be cut and installed in the bathroom.

More on that in the next blog.

***A special huge thank you to our daughter Erin and son-in-law Waylen for arranging this day.
***A very heartfelt thank you to our daughter Heather and son-in-law Jesse for letting their children come for the day and meeting up in Green Bay afterwards to pick them up.
***And a appreciative thank you to our son Dan and daughter-in-law Heather for letting their kids come in the morning, even though they had a Christmas celebration in the afternoon to attend far away, and then an evening dance recital for another relative.

It was a very long day for everyone, and I appreciated the effort that went into arranging it just for me to have cookie decorating at my house.

I am truly blessed and grateful.

My heart is full of Grandmotherly Love.