A few pictures from Christmas

Poor Joshua has been very sick, but despite that nasty runny nose and cough, he had a great Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Big Soft Ginger Molasses Cookies

I was looking for a new cookie recipe yesterday and found this recipe for Ginger Molasses Cookies. I baked the cookies this morning and the house smells wonderful and the cookies are sooooo good! Joshua kept asking "what's that smell?" (be sure to read that with a cute southern accent).

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup margarine, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons white sugar

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir in the water and molasses. Gradually stir the sifted ingredients into the molasses mixture. Shape dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and flatten slightly.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

My favorite time of year

I love this time of year, with Christmas music and decorations everywhere. It gets better and better every year. This year is even more fun because Joshua is so excited about Christmas. He loves the lights and the trees. We started decorating our tree yesterday and we're still working on it today. I usually place a large red bow on the top of the tree, but this morning Joshua told me that we had to put a star on the top of the tree. You know, it's whatever he wants, so this afternoon we will be headed to the store to find a star for our tree topper.

Here are a few of the pictures from the beginning of decorating:

Digging through the ornaments

Picking the perfect place to hang

Pooh's musical snow globe:Joshua is so funny - he's wearing the stockings as socks!

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season!