Manic Monday: Tradition

My sisters and I decided to bring back a holiday tradition we used to do every year when we were little. We made gingerbread cookies before Christmas. It was always one of my favorite Christmas traditions growing up. We would all go to our Oma's house and make "pfefferkuchen." Our cookies were decorated simply, with almonds and rasins, and brushed with egg whites to make them shine. Oma made us all wear aprons and hair nets and we baked at her house all afternoon using cookie-cutters of all shapes and sizes. For some reasons the shapes I remember making the most were chickens, moons and circles with scalloped edges.

This year we made gingerbread cookies using traditional gingerbread-man shaped cookie cutters and decorated them with white frosting and almost every kind of candy you could think of. The funny thing was, the kids really weren't that interested while we rolled and cut out the cookies. Jace went to play with a friend, Camden took a nap most of the time while we baked, and Alek and Sophie were too little to care. So it really was like reliving a tradition of the past. It was my mom, my two sisters and me. But when it came time to decorate the cookies the kids definitely joined in the fun as you can see by their masterpieces.

Hoppefully this will be a tradition we can carry on for may years as we continue to share it with the next generation.

Alek found something to do while we were busy making cookies. He loves this drawer.

Camden hard at work. You wouldn't believe how much candy that kid ate while he decorated cookies!

His finished project and classic "the flash is too bright for my eyes" smile.

Jace really took his time with his biggest cookie. He's trying to get it just right.

He was happy with how it turned out and couldn't wait to eat it.

And here's the whole group.

I'm so glad we did this. Thanks Katie for suggesting it!