The Greatest Mess Of All

All in all, Im pretty much a neat freak. Let me clarify though, that my house routinely gets cluttered or messy from three kids in elementary, middle and high school, who think that items they throw on the floor somehow walk themselves into its proper place. Three kids who come home from school everyday and experience some type of bookbag explosion phenomenon where everything they bring home seems to be scattered from one end of the room to the other, and fourteen pairs of shoes are strewn about.

But nonetheless, it doesnt take long for me to reach my clutter tolerance limit, and miss crazed neat freak soon kicks in. But not last night.

Last night was the greatest mess of all. See it below:

Kaitlyn loves to bake and decorate - just like her mom! So me and my sweet Katybug (that is what we call her) got to baking last night. First we made some Candy Cane Crunch which was a recipe I found on my friend and fellow P31 speakers blog, Karen Ehman.

The Candy Cane Crunch was delicious! And so easy! Simply take 24 oz of white baking chocolate and melt it in the microwave. Then crush up two boxes of candy canes until they are in very small pieces and make about 2 cups; mix chocolate and candy cane pieces together and spread on a pan; wait until it hardens and then break it up and begin munching! This will definitely be one of our favorite holiday recipes for many years to come.

Below is a picture of our candy cane crunch mixture, and then Kaitlyn holding a bag of it after it was all done - while sitting in front of our candy tree, of course!

Then we got the bright idea of making sugar cookies. Even though it was already getting close to bedtime, we searched the cabinets to make sure we had all the necessary ingredients, turned on the Christmas music and began making the greatest mess! Here are a few more shots of my little cooks.

Being the Christmas fanatic that I am, I loved this mess! It not only resulted in a few baked goods, but a few sweet memories that taste even better than sugar. My sweet children, working together, listening to holiday music, having fun, amid the Christmas decorations, talking about what volunteer opportunities we are looking forward to and who we need to pray for.

Wow. Now that is a mess that I can live with (or course I cleaned it all up spic and span before I went to bed!) But the sweet memories we cooked up will stay in my heart for always.

Merry Christmas!