K Turns 3!

Today my little guy turned three! These few years have gone by so, so quickly, but without sugar-coating it some of the days have seemed to last for ever. That being said, K is an awesome little boy full of kindness and love, and I cannot think of a single bit of him I would like to change - scratch that! He doesn't like cake and it kills me!!!!!

I have mentioned before that K is not the biggest fan of cake. Frosting is okay in his book, but it seemed to lame (and also kind of gross) to let him tear into a vat of Swiss Meringe Buttercream. Plus, how would I have gotten the candles to stick in it!? The one thing that he asks for week after week is Christmas cookies. Last Christmas, I made a few different kinds, but he fell in love with the "brown circles." Although we are four months out of the Christmas season, I decided that Christmas cookies were due.

As I started mixing up the dry ingredients, the house immediately started smelling of Christmas - cinnamon, ginger, allspice and cloves will do that.

Once the dry ingredients were mixed in with the wet - including molasses - it definitely started to taste like Christmas, too.

Once the batter was ready, I rolled the little balls and then coated them in sugar. I was able to get all of the dough prepared while the first set were baking - so simple. The recipe said to bake for 9 to 11 minutes. I stuck with 9, as I like them on the chewy side.

This isn't the best photo, but they are puffed up a bit when first taken out of the oven. I found that they are really difficult to transfer to a cooling rack until they flatten out and cool a bit on the tray. Then they move quite easily, yet are still nice and chewy once cooled.

This morning, in lieu of a cake, I popped three candles in a stack of cookies. As soon as K saw the cookies, he was so excited, "Mama!!! My favorite cookies!!! I love Christmas cookies. Thank you!" I will admit that making Christmas cookies in April was weird, but hearing those words and seeing his little face light up was worth it. I think I would make these for him daily if I kept getting that reaction.

After singing, he wasted no time blowing out his candles. It took him a few tries, but in the end he got them all out.

Then he made the most adorable face and noise when he took his first bite. I love him.