10 MORE DAYS!

We are almost in single digits, people. Just a report on the Pecan Dippers: So easy, and so good. I'm going to have to give some of those other recipes a whirl.

Additionally, I discovered that no child is too young to take part in and enjoy a little holiday cookie baking. I put Granty in the Bjorn while I kneaded the dough and did other prep work. Let's just say I never knew making cookies could be so comical.  I thought he might be slightly amused at what I was doing, so I strapped him on to watch the show. Boy, did I ever underestimate the entertainment value of crushing pecans. For some reason, Grant found me banging the wooden spoon on the bag of pecans simply hilarious. It seriously made him belly laugh--which made me belly laugh. It was so cute, I about couldn't handle it. I couldn't figure it out at the time, but now that I think about a disheveled lady with a baby strapped to the front of her, banging on the counter rhythmically with a wooden spoon, it is pretty funny. Wish I could have recorded it to share, but I'm sure you can see it all in your mind's eye.

-11 Days: Cookies, Cookies, Cookies

I feel like that's all I write about these days. This is the recipe I am preparing for our Relief Society cookie exchange tomorrow--Pecan Dippers. These ones in particular piqued my interest because they are made with store-bought dough. In fact, I stumbled across an entire article of cookie recipes using prepared cookie dough. Hope these turn out alright. But either way, I will still come home with an assorted plate of deliciousness to enjoy. Win-win.

-12 Days

I know I am behind. The countdown is getting the best of me, but I will come out triumphant in the end. For day -12 (yesterday) I give to you cute tags my paper-expert friend, Lyndsey, posted about on her stationery blog.  This seems only appropriate since most of yesterday my living room was littered with wrapping paper. Grant and I had a blast listening to Christmas music, and he crumpled paper while I wrapped presents. I've gotten the basic wrapping done as a "blank canvas" of sorts. Now I can begin beautifying. These tags or something similar would really add that special touch to any holiday gift, don't you think? Lyndsey has compiled tons of great ideas. Check her out.

13 More Days-"The Betty Ten"

I've somehow neglected Betty Crocker this entire holiday season. Luckily I went searching her site tonight for an old recipe. Check out her tips for making the holidays special--"Red Hot Holiday Trends--or, The Betty Ten." Pretty enticing ideas. (Not that I condone the cocktails or "Mancakes.") The Reindeer Feed looks simple and delicious, and I am pretty sure I will be testing out her Lemon Linzer Bars. Yum.

On another note, Jared and I watched The Santa Clause this weekend and laughed our heads off. Okay, maybe it was mostly me. If you haven't watched it yet this year, do. It is a classic. "You have much more important things to worry about-- like where to get more sweaters when the circus leaves town." That Tim Allen. What a crack-up.

-14 Days: A Little Paper and a Little Twine

Here's a shot of the final Christmas card product. The picture was really the best we could do--out of about a hundred of these self-taken pictures, this was the only one that Grant was looking. For those of you who want one of these on your mantel or other card displaying location, send me your address. Everyone, enjoy this digital version.

And while I'm here, might as well share a couple pictures of what little Granty J has been up to at 6 months.

 Doing baby push-ups, trying desperately to crawl . . .

 sitting up. . . 

 dabbling in some baby food . . .

and of course, taking piano lessons.

-15 Days: Gift-giving Traditions

I can't BELIEVE I have kept this crazy countdown going. I would say I am really getting conditioned for New Year's resolutions with all this commitment-keeping I've been up to. It has been just the perfect little extra dose of holiday stress.

Today's topic: gift-giving traditions.

When Jared and I first discussed all this holiday tradition shenanigans a couple months ago, one of our key objectives was to come up with ways to make Christmas really special, meaningful, and fun for our family without focusing so much on big, expensive, or numerous gifts. Someday, even if we can afford it, I don't want to find myself in the common trap of better, cooler, bigger, and more expensive than the year before. Let's face it, both gift-givers and receivers can get a little carried away sometimes. My theory however, is that with a little creativity and careful planning, this can be avoided. My dream is that with some great traditions, and just a few meaningful gifts, those visions of sugarplums will dance away in my kids' heads.

For example, why not make the ACT of giving the gift just as fun as the gift itself? One of the most fun things at Christmas in my family is drawing names for the sibling gift-exchange. Does your family do something similar? A white-elephant, or one of those exchanges where you can steal others' gifts? I love when gift-giving has a game element to it. Why not spend more time in the presentation of the gift? Cool or creative wrapping? I read somewhere on the internet (and this is my tip of the day) about a family that plays a gift-giving game that goes something like this:

Before each gift is opened, the recipient has to guess what they think the gift is. Because of this tradition, the family goes to great lengths each year to throw each other off. They put little things in big boxes, they might pack a brick in the box of a really light-weight gift, you get the idea. I think this sounds like some rambunctious fun I would love to get in on. Throw in a simple prize for the best guess and one for the best-disguised gift, and you've got the makings of a GREAT gift-giving tradition that actually takes a little focus off gifts and adds a little more fun. Any other fun gift-giving games or traditions out there? Send them my way.

16 More Days--More on Cards

Breaking News: According to two of my friends' blogs today, Shutterfly is offering 50 free photo cards if you write about them on your blog. If you still haven't gotten Christmas cards, check out this site! And then be sure to send me one!