Spritz Cookies

Every year Jenelle and I make spritz cookies at Christmas time. We use a hand press to get the cookies out in cute shapes. It takes a lot of hand strength and it's a pain. I remember as a kid growing up that we had an electric press. It did all the work for you. My sister and I made a lot of spritz cookies without any help. So with that memory in mind, I asked for one for Christmas.

Curt bought me a Cuisinart electric cookie press. What a piece of junk! First, it takes an engineering degree to put the thing together. Second, the press warps halfway down and stops making cookies. So I had to keep opening it, adding more dough and then put the thing back together (see point #1). It was extremely frustrating. Curt tried using it and he didn't have any better luck. We're returning it.

I made the cookies with my hand press and Jenelle had a GREAT time decorating the cookies. She used a lot of different colored sprinkles. Hopefully there will still be some left by Christmas.

Stress and Stuff

I went to chapel at Jenelle's school on Wednesday. I've never been to chapel before. It was excellent. The kids sang praise songs and they had a speaker. The speaker talked about how Christmas has become all about stuff and stress. Basically everything under the tree is just stuff. He asked the kids if they could remember what they got for Christmas last year. Eventually the newness of the toys wears off, etc. Then he talked about the stress. This was geared toward the adults in the room. It's so true! Christmas becomes a time of spending too much money and running all around shopping and being so busy.

So anyway, I decided to start a new tradition this year. I want to make a conscious effort to give gifts to Jesus this Christmas. It is his birthday after all. I shared this concept with Jenelle and Curt. Maybe a gift would be going out of your way for somebody. Or biting your tongue and stopping yourself from complaining or whining or saying something not so nice. Or being patient in those long holiday shopping lines. Or doing something that makes you a little uncomfortable like inviting a neighbor to church or talking to someone about the real meaning of Christmas. Or doing something you don't normally do. Something that takes a little effort and sacrifice I guess.