slice of holiday life

Crafting and baking with children is a blessing. I love it!  But the resulting exuberance and chaos is getting to me. After we put our hyperactive happy children to bed tonight, we felt utterly exhausted--more so than we have in quite a while.

My oldest will be eight in January, so I've been a parent nearly eight years.  You would think in that number of years I'd have learned how to manage them.  Maybe by the time they're college age, I can do this Christmas crafting and baking thing with finesse.  Ya, think?  Would I still have to say, while I'm preparing the counter for baking--"Stop wrestling!"  "Leave your sister alone!"  "Be gentle."

Then, the dryer buzzer rings.  For the second time.  I simply must stop and hang the clothes this time.

Twenty minutes later, I go back to the kitchen, and smell a diaper that needs changing.  Following that wrestling match fun experience with my twelve-month-old baby, my three-year-old tells me she is wet.

Fifteen minutes later, everyone is dry and happy, and I go back to preparing the counter.

Then Paul tells me the baby has a Light Bright peg in her hand.  A what!?  Running in there, I say, "Who got out the Light Bright, and why was it in the playroom?!

I check the floor, and sure enough, there are pegs scattered around.  It's not an easy cleanup, as I have to clear the floor of larger things first.  The peg colors are light, making them hard to detect on the carpet surface.  As we clear the floor, I notice how badly it needs a good vacuuming--since the floor is clear, I figure I'd better take advantage of the vacuuming opportunity.

Thirty minutes later, I go back to the kitchen, and continue preparing the counter.  I glance at the clock, and notice that it's time to start dinner already.  I thought I had ninety minutes to work with!

Time sure flies when you're having fun going crazy!

I announce that we'll have to mix the batch of cookies after dinner, depending on behavior.  It's just too close to dinner to start.

This announcement is not welcomed.

After dinner, it goes similarly--one fire to put out after another.  We then get too close to bath time to start a batch of cookies.  Besides, everyone is clearly tired and cranky, including Mom and Dad.

I let them decorate some cookies we'd already baked--giving them fifteen minutes to create their messes masterpieces--and then we head for the bath.

What would I do without all this to fill my days? :)  I'm blessed!

But clearly, we look forward to bedtime around here.

Does anyone have a good icing recipe for cutout cookies?  I disappointed my boys by mixing up a quick batch of icing using a recipe I found on the Internet (Royal Icing ll)--only to realize afterwards that it called for raw egg whites.  I had to throw it out, as we are giving these cookies away, for the most part.  The risk of salmonella poisoning made it seem too dangerous.

Another recipe called for meringue powder, which I don't have.  The one with egg whites is perhaps only for gingerbread houses, which usually aren't eaten?  I do need a recipe that would allow the cookies to be stacked without a mess--meaning it would dry hard.  Thanks!

If necessary, I'll go out and get meringue powder this weekend.  They must treat it somehow so salmonella isn't a risk?

Anyhow, I was hoping for something simple!  :(