Frighteningly Delicious!

In a moment of Halloween weakness, I bought a box of awesome cookie cutters at Michaels the other day. Only later did I stop to think that someone (probably me) was actually going to have to bake! Oh the horror! Lucky for Max and Nolen, they have an awesome Grammy that enjoys baking and decorating cookies! Hooray, I'm off the hook! Tara remembers how much I like making cut out cookies. hehe The boys got to help Grammy make and decorate cookies on Friday night. They had a blast and each ate more than their share of spooky treats!


Let the season of sugar begin!
I don't really let the kids have too many sweets. Most nights they don't get dessert. Lollipops are reserved for trips to the grocery store in an attempt to keep them still in the cart. And cookies and ice cream and consumed mainly by me after the kids are in bed. Thank goodness for Jazzercise! However, there is a annual social conspiracy that tries to make my kids into overweight little people with tooth decay...its traditionally referred to as "The Holiday Season." It starts about this time every year with Halloween. The kids get treats from Boo Bags in the neighborhood, parties at school and of course trick or treating. This candy accumulates on the top of my refridgerator and taunts my little people daily. Eventually, I comb through it and throw away all of the mary janes, bit-o-honies, and mike and ikes and save only the chocolate, nerds and laffy taffy. This pile is still on my fridge from last year. Next comes Thanksgiving, which is now just Christmas Season Part I. From November 1st through Turkey Day, we all start ramping up for Christmas as if 4 weeks won't be enough time to consume cookies, candy canes and santa shaped marshmellow filled chocolates. Ii am personally a sucker for any candy wrapped in special holiday colors. The kids collect candy from school parties, Santa visits, Christmas parties, stockings, and packages from family members. My purse becomes something of a collection point for all of the sugar being distributed. I can't tell you how many half eaten, half wrapped sticky candy canes with receipts stuck to them I pull out of my purse each January. And what kind of mother would I be if I didn't bake Christmas cookies??? So after we make it through Christmas, January is spent attempting to dispose of the menagerie of sugar orally. Finally I reach my breaking point and decide to toss it ALL (Again, except the chocolate...even if it was from Halloween. You never know when you might run out of good chocolate and have to resort to old Halloween candy. Because a Melissa without chocolate is a monster!). So on January 31st we have an entire 24 hour period without nasty candy taunting us. Finally, the kids eat their first piece of fruit in three months! (Just kidding! Sheesh!) On February 1st they start convulsing from sugar withdrawls...luckily we've reached Valentines Month (its no long Valentine's Day, its become a month long love affair). Did you know that ALL Valentines in school now come with candy? And not just a random heart shaped lollipop...we get packages of M&Ms, candy bars and treat bags filled with candy frome every kid in the class! Its as bad as Halloween. The tub of candy on the refridgerator makes an encore appearance. We are now five months into the "Season of Sugar" and we still have Easter to get through. Anway, you get the idea...just think Easter Bunny visits, Easter Egg hunt at school, Easter Egg hunt at church, Easter Egg hunt on Easter, Easter party at school, marshmallow peeps, chocolate bunnies from each grandparent, Easter basket...this takes us through May...hey look, its Spring! Maybe this is just how we cope with winter. All I know is, I'm going upstairs to brush my teeth!