Happy Wednesday! We're two weeks from Christmas Eve! Can you even believe it? That short span of time between Thanksgiving and December first has really kind of screwed me up for the second year in a row. Y'all, I haven't wrapped a single Christmas gift. What I have done (besides work), however, is a fair amount of holiday baking and treat-making.

I get into the holiday spirit when I'm in my kitchen, hand-dipping butter cookies in melted chocolate, or waiting for butter to soften enough to start bringing some cookie dough together. I'm not a great baker, but there's something about making Christmas goodies to share with friends and family that brings me tons of joy.

We enjoyed cookie baking with my parents last weekend, and have cookie baking with my husband's family to look forward to this coming weekend. With my husband's family, we bake a lot of German cookies like Gingerbread, Rugelach, Spritz cookies, Spitzbaum, etc. We also throw in some family favorites like Peanut Butter Blossoms, Holly cookies, and Viennese Crescent cookies.

My family typically makes Russian Tea Cakes, Sugar cookies, Fudge, and Toffee. I believe my mom is making a batch of rum balls and bourbon balls, and is going to make me some cheese straws. Yum!

At my house, I sort of do my own thing. I embrace my Italian side and always make Italian Butter cookies. This year, I also made Amaretti cookies, and my husband helped me make Italian Rainbow cookies... what an experience that was! God bless the bakers who make sheets and sheets of these for their bakeries on the regular! I also make Grinchmas cookies, which are chocolate chip and M&M cookies, colored green. I am hoping to make orange cranberry shortbread, and maybe, just maybe I'll make Millionaire Shortbread this Christmas. It'll just depend on how much time I have.

A lot of the cookies I am making are for a cookie exchange with my church worship team this week. I'm looking forward to a good old-fashioned Christmas gathering!

Looks like I have lots of work to do- with baking, shopping, wrapping, activities, work, rehearsals, concerts, worship services, etc. School spirit week is thrown into that mix, too! All the things, friends, all the things!