This was the scene in my kitchen last Friday. It was baking day. Think it looks bad? You should have seen me. I had fourth day hair. Jackson looked a little homeless too.
Pillsbury wanted to bless my little heart this year and provide my grocery store with huge tubes of refrigerated gingerbread dough. Someone give Him some praise. I’m the worst baker of all time and this was even easy enough for me to use. So Jacks and I made some little gingerbread men together. Here they are, iced and ready to be sprinkled. 
Oops, Mommy didn’t realize that the Mister wouldn’t know how to shake the bottle. He just turned it upside down over the one cookie and let the sprinkles pour out. Why I was not hovering over him at that moment baffles me. I was watching from several feet away as half the bottle landed on one little cookie. Also? Those little round ball sprinkles? They roll off the table and bounce all around the kitchen. Then they stick to your feet and travel onto other surfaces. Like rugs. Bad, bad sprinkles. 
Trying to redistribute them a little.
Who needs a napkin when it comes to sprinkles and icing?
Our cookies got the Jackson Jones stamp of approval.
The fruit of our labor – gingerbread men and butterscotch haystacks.
A closer look at our cookies. Not the cutest ever, but they taste so good!
This is the lovely gingerbread house I bought in early November for Jackson and me to make together. I never could get up the nerve to attempt this project with him though. Somehow I just knew it would be too much for Pregnant Girl and Toddler Boy. So I made it by myself last week.
Jackson was thrilled when he saw it. Although it was torturous for him not to be able to eat the candy. Thankfully, I had enough foresight to save him a few of the gumdrops and Spree. 
This is what our gingerbread house looked like when we got home from Second Baptist’s “Kids’ Crazy Christmas” show on Friday night. Hmmm, had there been a tornado in my home? 
Termites maybe?
Would anyone like a naughty golden retriever for Christmas? Come on, it will get you in the mood to see “Marley and Me” on Christmas day! I knew better than to leave that tray of cookies out on the counter, so I hid it in the oven when we left. I never would have guessed that Jughead the Big White Beast would go for the house. Seriously. Who does that?
I love that your baking sprees look like mine. I love that your little boy is making a perfectly wonderful mess and making THE perfect gingerbread men cookies. And I love that your dog is perfect, too in all his gooberness. Blessings 🙂
Your home and family should seriously be a sitcom! Ya’ll are so funny. BTW – Can’t get over how much Jackson has grown.
Blessings friends, in Him,
Siesta OC
Amanda – those are great pictures!!! I remember so well cooking with our two daughters – loved every minute of it and the fruits of our labor were so yummy!!! What great memories!!! We had a golden also and she was liberal in sampling whatever was left within her reach also!!! I guess you got her stamp of approval by the size of her smile!!!
Blessings and Merry Christmas!
BEBE
I am laughing so hard right now… that is so funny! We had our baking day yesterday and it was not nearly as eventful.
Merry Christmas!
Thanks for sharing Amanda – makes me feel kinda warm inside to see all you goodies and Jackson!
Thanks again
GG2002
love the cookies I want one.Now let me till you something my dog Zoey is 17 months old a black lab, would not touck the cookies or anything that isnt hers, this is the truth,shes a good dog.real good.All so been trained .Lot of work .Shes all so a theaphery dog.Look up www. deltay socitey.org & it will till you all about what she & other animals does.
I rember bakeing cookies with my children, but the grew up, go to with my oldest grandson but they moved away.So I dont even make them anymore.
Thanks so much for shareing this with us.Loved the picture & all the cookies.Sure looked good.Hey litle one want to make some for Miss Vicky lol.Gid bless love sister in Christ Victoria from Redsvile NC ps just had to brag about my dog.
LOL…that is exactly what our Trixie girl would do to any cookie within reasonable reach!
The cookies are cute and Jackson did a great job with the sprinkles!
Those are very cute gingerbread men!! And how funny that your dog attacked the house. One Christmas Eve our family came home from church to find a very hyper dog running circles around the house. Guess who had found the chocolate kisses meant for stockings?! He crashed at about 2am!! Merry Christmas, and way to go Pregnant Girl, for tackling some baking!!
Amanda – I can SOOO identify with you about naughty puppies. We have three – Bo the boxer, Prissy the boxer/lab and Perkie the dachsund/terrier. They are constantly in trouble and although the two older ones have behaved with the Christmas decorations, Perkie has not!
I have had an elf slide for about 15 years (since I was 15) and my 9-year-old still gets endless hours of fun out of playing with the little elves. Not anymore, though, as it was in tiny little pieces when we woke up one morning last week. The next day she had our little trio of Christmas lamps on her agenda…
Needless to say, she’s getting coal in her stocking this year. And I had to laugh out loud at you hiding the cookies in the oven because we do that ALL of the time.
May you have a blessed Christmas season!
The Journey Continues ~
I’ll be home for Christmas you can count on meeeeeeee Please have snow and mistletoe and presents under the treeeeeeee…
Can you hear me singing???? 🙂
Oh Amanda, THOSE PHOTOS ARE PRICELESS AND THAT IS WHAT CHRISTMAS IS ALL ABOUT ~ =
YOUR PRECIOUS MISTER AND HIS LOVE FOR ADVENTURE AND LIFE!!!!!
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for bringing
THE JOY OF CHRISTMAS FROM YOUR HOME!!!!
Looking forward to more photos!!
With “Heaven Bound” and Christmas blessings always,
Kim Safina
http://www.kimsafinathejourneycontinues.blogspot.com
apperently your dog does! LOL! Cute picturs. Happy holidays!
Oh Now, Amanda… That is just to precious for words. Making memories with the little man is worth even the trouble of little sprinkles rolling all around the floor.
The gingerbread men have a lot of love baked in. I found a delicious and cute treat for kids to help make at a blog during the Holiday Tour of Homes… It is Reindeer Peanut Butter Cookies.
SIMPLE! Her name is Kim and you can find her at my tour of homes in the comments (Kim @ Forever Wherever) or something like that.
I made them last night – so easy and so fun. My daughter solicited me to make them for her boss at work – total prep time is about an hour for dozen and a half cookies. So cute to leave for Santa and a lot less mess than Sugar cookies… or Jackson Jones Gingerbread men. Fondant is also fun when making sugar cookings. Less mess also. JUST FYI!
Okay… I’m rambling and my resolve to not be a blog hawg is not working…
Your dog is so funny… Even smiling broad for the snapshot! Sorry about the Gingy House – It looked so adorable before the Jugs got to it. Who Knew?
I loved all of this! I am soon to be a first time grandma. How did you get the dog to show his teeth like that?
I laughed out loud at the picture of the dog! I have a golden retriever too. They are very naughty, aren’t they? But they are so dadgum cute when they dot it!
Amanda,
I think the Jughead needs to be next years Christmas card. lol Beckham is too much.
Merry Christmas LPM and have a great party today!!
Love,
Patty
Your cookies look better than anything I could pull off. I have to get them pre-made ready to eat. We bought the same Gingerbread house, nice job on the windows. The windows were to hard so we had one side just blank with no snow/icing. Merry Christmas!
That is ADORABLE. Girl, I thought I was the only one suffering from fourth-day hair today ;-0
too funny! I’m at work right now and my parents have my 4 year old, 2 year old and 7 month old at MY house, making sugar cookies from scratch complete with icing and sprinkles – and can I say that my mom and I are NOTHING alike – me type A neat freak, my mom, not so much – oh well, it’s Christmas and they’re having a blast!
Cute pictures. My dog Penny took clementines out of a serving bowl and ate them Saturday afternoon. Thankfully I had put the sweets away.
Have a blessed and joyous Christmas.
I will trade you your naughty golden retriever for mine!!! He is just as bad-the other day ate 2 WHOLE LOAVES of freshly baked banana bread. If he did not have that cute golden face…….
Love that dog’s GRIN!!
Wish I could hear the laughter in your home right now…praying for each of you and this wonderful time with family. May it feel like you are completely alone with each other and Christ–just you and nothing but.
Love all the pictures. What fun it must have been even if it was messy.
Love the dog picture…Mine would have ate the whole thing and then wanted more…..
My golden retriever “Goldie” loved gingerbread houses also ! I always had a hard time throwing them away after Christmas, so one year I just put one in the dining room and forgot about it. My husband kept telling me he smelt something on Goldies breath. We couldn’t figure it out, until one day we found the gingerbread house with the roof almost “licked” off ! We laughed so hard and of course Goldie had the guilty look but we just gave her a big hug. One year she snatched a Valenties Day heart shaped cake off the counter while it was cooling. She was hiding under the table when we walked in and saw the crumbs. I sure miss her, she was my best friend. Thanks for bringing her sweet memory back today!
oh Amanda,
I had to giggle. Your baking sounds like mine. We have two golden retrievers and if cookies are left out they are sure to be gobbled up by them. Loved the pictures. Merry Christmas
LOVE it! I made the same mistake one year, but my little dachsund burrowed her way into a well hidden bag of peppermint kisses and ate over 3/4 of the bag! Her belly looked like she was the one “great with child”!!!! Love those beasts! 😉
BTW can’t get over how big Jackson is getting! Thanks for letting us watch him grow up. Can’t wait for the Princess to make her debut!
Merry Christmas!
Val
NC
That gingerbread house rocks! I was laughing outloud when you asked yourself why weren’t you hovering over your son when he had those sprinkles in his grip. Oh I’m sure many a mom can relate to that scenario. We just are so … optimistic our little one can do it this time, right? Merry Christmas.
I laughed and laughed! Your cookies were so cute and so was the house…before and after! I learned from someone else’s experience to never, never leave cakes or cookies out. My sister in law once made a cake for my brother’s birthday. She left it on the counter to cool and our cat got up on the counter and ate a little bit off one of the layers. My sister in law as fuming…she then cut that piece off and decorated the cake so nice and it looked like a little computer….she then left it on the counter (do we never learn?) Well, the cat got on the counter again but decided to share…she pushed the cake down onto the floor and our 2 dogs ate until they were sick! My mom and I had to laugh…we then drove my very mad sister in law to a store to buy a birthday cake! Animals are so funny but not to be trusted with any types of goodies!
That is hilarious! You are much more brave than I. We put our black lab in a crate – known as Moto's K-9 Condo, that thing is so big. Be grateful that all he ate was the gingerbread house. I came home one day to find a large whole in the sofa cover. Mind you this cover was professionally made to fit perfectly on the sofa and to match the other sofa and the curtains. They were made about 10 years ago. I don't think Waverly still has the fabric in stock so for now we have a nice worn look to the one sofa. No punishment needed to the pooch. Ears & face down, he knew he had done a very bad thing and I know would never do anything like that again. LOL
Sorry. I should have told you. Our first golden retriever (now running wild in those green fields in the sky…don’t mess with my theology!) ate an ENTIRE gingerbread house. Every crumb and candy. Made him sick. Really sick. Ate it twice, if you know what I mean. Sorry. Maybe this is too much information. :o)
So sweet to see you bake with your little Jackson. You are making great memories.
Merry Christmas!
Very cute!!
What great memories you two made!! And, I’m with Jackson… can’t get enough icing and sprinkles. Regarding the sweet dog: A friend made HOMEMADE gingerbread houses for our prayer group’s fellowship… she then sent us each home with HOMEMADE icing and candy so we could decorate it together as families. Guess what? The project our family (especially my kiddos) were REALLY looking forward to doing??? Never happened! Because a certain Chocolate Lab attacked the house before we ever had the chance. Apparently you must place these things on much HIGHER surfaces than a kitchen table for these hungry dogs! 🙂 MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!
I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help but laugh. Y’all are too funny. Even the dog is funny. Sounds like your holiday baking could be the next Elf movie. I’m sure you’ve got a budding screenwriter in that family somewhere that could make it happen!
Merry Christmas!
we have a 5 month old golden and I can tell you who eats the house…HE DOES!!! just the cutest thing ever though. Not much for manners but really cute.
The dog looks like the proverbial cat who stole the canary….. Too funny!
Adrienne
Amanda,
You and Jackson are making some wonderful memories. Thank you so much for sharing this special day with your Seistas.
I’ll take your naughty golden retriever anytime. That cheesy smile looked as if somthing suspicious was behind it. The new photo that you see by my post is of Max and Millie, our canine members of the family.
Merry Christmas to the Smiths, the Moores, and the Fitzpatricks.
Mary
Hillarious!! I have boys and a giant golden retriever too… enough said. Perfect pictures. You crack me up Amanda!
I love your commentary! Hilarious!!
Amanda, that picture of your dog at the end made me laugh so hard!! Oh, he looked like he enjoyed that house!!! Thanks for sharing!
Jennifer
Brandon,FL
rofl… seriously… and he’s SMILING about it!!! how funny… thanks for sharing!!
seriously – THAT DOG! I love the picture, so true!
Oh what fun! And how funny! Dogs! I’m sure you and my friend Denise (http://teacupsandtime.blogspot.com) could swap tons of mischevious Golden Retriever stories. Hers is a riot!
Anyway, thanks for sharing a piece of your family Christmas. It’s great to know you’re all doing well. Have a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!
that is the funniest picture of your dog! we made the same gingerbread houses although south florida humidity did not treat it well!! our houses look like they are melting!:)
Oh Girl,
You are a trooper to attempt all of that holiday cheer in your pregnant state. Definetly a candidate for Mom of the Year!! Oh yeah our four legged children are not exempt from the tempations of the Christmas season either.
HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Oh, I love this. Brings back so many memories of me and my girls baking cookies. All the little sprinkles that wound up on the floor and other places… The little fingers licking the icing off their hands and then going right back to decorating! Thanks for sharing.
In Him,
Beth
Just goes to show you that temptation seeks all. From the look of it, I believe Jughead showed great restraint. Almost as though the thought ran through his mind that just a few bites and she probably won’t even notice. Was is still on the table? Aaaamazing !!
This brought wonderful memories back of my son and me doing this very thing.
Merry Christmas !!
Im sorry the dog ate your gingerbread house, but that was a cute post. I am stuck in a blizzard of 2 ft of snow, and my Christmas shopping is not done 🙁
Amanda, you crack me up! Those pics and the comments make my day. Nice to know you can see the humor in it all.
God bless you & Merry Christmas!
Exciting Miss Amanda! You and little Jacks had lots of fun creating all those yummy treats I can see!
I made the haystacks for the girls in my classroom (my right hand gals!) for Christmas and they LOVED them! So thanks for the recipe…it is perfect and so very easy which I personally love!
I’ve tried to do the gingerbread houses before but never have good luck with them they always fall apart! So glad to see one so nicely created (even if Jughead got to it!)
Merry Christmas! Your little man and dog are adorable! It has been a blessing to read all of the blog today. I am in search of a peaceful, God-centered day, and this added to it!
DOGS!!! This reminded my of one of my own pooch’s exploits:
I was upstairs at my mom’s house the night before my baby sister’s wedding while my naughty, naughty beagle was downstairs where the cake was cooling…(my mom not only sewed 10 bridesmaid dresses, she also made the cake. She’s insane.) And yes, you guessed it. He took a big chunk out of one of the layers. The miracle is, he didn’t upset the whole cake all over the whole floor, and he did pretty minimal damage. I imagine that he had big plans for the rest of that cake, but we noticed he had snuck off and called his name before he had a chance to really go to town. He ran upstairs with the most guilty expression I’ve ever seen on human or animal.
And my sister!! God bless her, she actually laughed about it. She obviously has the gift of mercy. 🙂