Christmas Goodies: Day 5

Yesterday, I settled in for what I had hoped would be a very restful weekend to enjoy with my family and for the most part it was; however ...

Apparently, there just wasn't quite enough sugary goodness in the house and back to the kitchen I went where I, Mother & Miss Ma'am made and baked 5 dozen gooey butter cookies that were just absolutely melt-in-your-mouth delicious; a bit of a hassle to make but oh so worth the effort and I'll definitely be adding that recipe to the annual cookie files.

Now, my best good friend from Maine, Jn.D, had given me a recipe for some Eggnog Spritz cookies that sounded super yummy so I made, baked and glazed 5 dozen of those too. Let me just tell y'all ... and Jn.D you know I love ya, girl ... but I will NE-VAH make those things again. They were EW! Miss Ma'am & Daddy were the only two out of the six of us who actually liked them so guess who ended up taking about 4 dozen home once the weekend was over?

Miss Ma'am has discovered a new love in the last few months for mint chocolate so she put in a request for some mint fudge. Altering my recipe just a wee bit, I was able to also manage to make three more pounds of fudge; one mint, especially for Miss Ma'am, one regular milk chocolate for the rest of us, and one to be gifted to the neighbors across the street.

All-in-all, it was a great day and we had a lot of fun just being able to share some taste-testing goodness, some laughs and a whole lot of love. I think JD, Daddy & MC, Jr. [nephew] may have gained a couple inches just in one day's time (well, somebody's gotta do the dirty work, right?).

After everyone was pooped and relaxing, Miss Ma'am & I settled on in for the evening by making our annual Gingerbread House. This has become something we look forward to making every year since she was 2 years old. Very fortunately, she and JD both LOVE gingerbread so it never goes to waste.

Family Christmas Cheer
The plan to spend Sunday sharing some Christmas Cheer was awesome. I was so glad that Mother, Daddy and MC, Jr. were able to visit with us since our annual journey to 'The Country' just wasn't a possibility this year. We had some soft Christmas music playing, candles lit, house smelling all yummy and enjoyed a counter full of finger foods & hors devours, and then totally indulged in some sweet confection.

Of course, Miss Ma'am was chomping at the bits waiting to get to the gift-giving portion of the day but it came soon enough.

A Very Excited Miss Ma'am

On their BEST behavior (they look like they might
actually like each other - LOL)
Cheesy Grins ... Guess we've made them wait long enough ...

Wedding Day Sparkle Barbie ... the first she opened of several gifts to include a Tinker Bell Snuggie, Toy Story Snuggie, Star Trek Collector's Edition Pez Set, and Sorry (a board game). We're still waiting on one more to arrive in the mail. It didn't quite make it in time for our Family Christmas Cheer.

Making her rounds ... after opening all of her own gifts (we always let her go first), she had to help everyone else open theirs.
First stop - Granddad.

Hugs & Kisses from Grandmother

She even bought gifts for Abby (MC, Jr's puppy). It wouldn't do for Miss Ma'am to have a dog of her own. She'd have the poor thing playing dress up with her. She picked out and bought (with her own earned money) a Christmas sweater and bone for Abby.

Miss Ma'am & MC, Jr. - two cousins - loving on Abby.
This is one of my favorite photos taken this year.
After a lot of laughs, precious moments, smiles and hugs; I served up a round of eggnog while Miss Ma'am and Granddad played a game of Sorry. As much as I hated to see it come to an end, as all good things must; Mother, Daddy & MC, Jr. were scheduled to leave out in the morning - so off Mother went to start packing while I began the necessary preparations for Miss Ma'am's surgery in the morning. I still hadn't made any jello and that absolutely had to be done before we went to bed.


In the process of organizing, it occurred to me that once the surgery was done, we should dress her in some pajamas to bring her home so we wouldn't have to worry with trying to change her into something more comfy once we did finally arrive home.




So, after she had a nice hot shower, I let her open a gift from under the tree that was from me. Totally exhausted by this point, she was quite tickled with her new Tinker Bell Thermal Jammies.


Wishing all my fabulous friends the joy of family at Christmas time. There's absolutely nothing like it in the world.

This is USS Retired signing off ...