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?
Oh Amanda! How absolutely precious!
That picture of Jughead's smirky smile cracks me up! He looks proud of what he did. Warmest Blessings & Merry Christmas!
How you got your dog to (coyishly)smile like that, i don’t know. But I do like how Jack is wearing his swimmer diaper!
Merry Christmas!
LOL!!!!! I love it! Being a mother is certainly a learning process. My oldest is really close to Jackson’s age. My youngest is 14 months. Be glad yours will be a little farther apart. 🙂 We’re going to try that next time. So where’s a pic of that cute pregnant girl????
The picture of the dog makes for the best photographic comedic timing EVER. Brilliant, Amanda!
Good job! I am baking challenged like you so I should give these a try. I do have a pack of ready to bake sugar cookies in my fridge AND the sprinkles!! They will be yummy.
I love all the pics! The ginger bread looks amazing!! Your lil man is so cute!
My boys are 8 and 10 and I still haven’t worked up the nerve to do the gingerbread house thing. Probably because there would be fighting over which NFL team should be represented on which side of the house.
That is the BEST picture of your dog……is that what he looks like on a sugar high???
I loved the pictures! Jackson looks like he’s having a blast with those cookies. Beckham didn’t look very repentant did he? My Lab ate half of my oldest son’s first birthday cake that was on the counter.
The pictures are great!
I remember when mine where little, even in the middle of winter all they would wear was their undies.
We left a pizza on the table once, came into the kitchen and our German Shepard was ON TOP of the table eating the pizza.
Thanks for sharing your pictures.
LOVED THEM !
SOOO cute! This is great! e made that same gingerbread house last night and I noticed that a good chunk of the candy is already gone!
Thanks for sharing a little of your Christmas with us!
Amy
Laughing – laughing – laughing —– so needed this —– thank you for being so real —– your little man is growing up so fast!!!! The dog shot “took the cake” or was it gingerbread . . . ? You will be finding delightful sprinkles in every nook and cranny until next Christmas! Recycle . . . think green (or red, or blue, or yellow).
BAD DOG!!! Bad, bad, dog! 🙁
We had a golden puppy years ago and every Wednesday night when we went to AWANA (as leaders) that dog destroyed something (but not on any other night!) We prayed over him, and he never did it again! Not kidding!!!
Loved “little Man” and his decorating! And I think the Pillsbury Sugar Cookies are still THE BEST EVER! Will have to find the gingerbread.
Get a bigger oven for the “house” next year! Off to flour my own kitchen!
Our family laughed out loud at this. We have 3 crazy dogs of our own and have learned the hard way to never leave any food on the counters. Very cute pictures of Jackson. I miss those days having teenagers now!
just send that dog hear.Victoria Redsvilel NC
Thank you, thank you, thank you for that post! I love it! Your stories allow us into your life and make me feel like I know you and your family personally! It’s like visiting a friend through the internet.
And that picture of Jughead (PERFECT name for a dog! Especially w/ a last name of Jones! Huge Archie fan, here!)….well, what can I say besides I literally laughed out loud when I saw it! SUPER!
ahh i love the dog’s somewhat smile..:) haha. i’m glad you got some quality time with your son making cookies. what a blessing that must have been. MERRY CHRISTMAS
I am a new reader to your blog site and am blessed by it every day! I am in the middle of my first Beth study ever(Daniel)its wonderful!!! Then I found this blog – its like a good chocolate cake – I can’t get enough!! I am hooked! Merry Christmas. My boyfriend has a crazy lab puppy, so i can identify with your dog story. When I go over to his house, all I think is… “man this dog in out of control”!!!
I have an english mastiff who would also do…does that!!!!!
I love the picture of your “beast”!!!
Michelle
How Sweet! I wish you could have seen my Gingerbread house the year I made one. It was not a pretty sight!
Hahahaha! Love the dog’s expression-
Merry Christmas!
Kathy
I wish my house looked that good. how does that hapes so quickly, it is beyond me.
Now I must say that is one happy, energized doggie.
thos type things are waht Christmas memories are made of.
ha-ha-ha-ha I love it.
becky/brentwood TN
Looks like you have a new Christmas card.
the Becky
Come on, you KNOW the dog did NOT do that. Just go ahead and admit that you ate it. It’ll be ok. LOL
Oh my goodness – that dog picture just about had me in tears from laughter! So wonderful! I love it.
Oh yes, the child, Mr. Jackson, he’s cute, too. 🙂 But, the dog, sorry Jackson, but the dog takes the cake. TOO FUNNY!!!
I love this story and the pictures you shared, especially the anecdotes about Jughead. Her “renovations” definetely made the gingerbread house look lived in.
I have a Golden Retriever myself and wouldn’t put something like this past her either! She loves mischief and is so much fun.
Merry Christmas and His blessings to you all!
The most wonderful time with Children is when you can get the into the kitchen for extra hands on at Christmas time.
What a mighty fine looking young man you have there Amanda and a cute dog too!
Have a Blessed Christmas!
Lichelle
I love the story and pictures of Jackson with his cookie! When my 2nd son, Matt, was about the same age he did almost the exact same thing! Except I was longer catching on than you were; maybe because there was his older brother and twin younger sisters as well as my best friend’s son there doing cookies at the same time! It’s one of those stories that gets told year after year; he’s 20 now!!
Merry Christmas!
I baked gingerbread cookies today with 6 kids. Talking about messy kitchen… Ran the dishwasher twice in between… It was so much fun though and it sure does smell like Christmas in the house now. By the way, I bought mini M&M instead of sprinkles. They're less messy and great to snack on 🙂
Amanda,
Both of your Misters have memorable grins!! Jackson is lovin’ his job as cookie decorator and may I say he’s doing a pretty doggone good job–he’s a keeper!
Beckham’s would win a prize too! I think he enjoyed his theft-must’ve been mighty tasty!
These memories that you’re giving Jackson are priceless…he’ll remember more than you think.
Enjoy those cookies! Yum
Blessings,
Bobbie
Amanda, your sprinkle story brought back memories for me of making cookies with my Kristin when she was little 🙂
Only in the south can you make Christmas cookies in your underwear! 🙂
We had a 100+ lb. Yellow lab
(talk about Marley and me) and one day after I had made cupcakes, they were sitting on the counter, wrapped in the paper cups with foil.
I kid you not – sampson got on his back legs, front paws up on the counter right in front of me and with a swipe of his tongue, took one whole cupcake – paper and all.
You gotta love dogs!
Oh Amanda! This is the cutest post ever! Jackson is adorable, and the baked goods look like bake goods should! DELICIOUS! I am cracking up about the ginger bread house! Our dog Rags got about 2 pounds of fudge one year! God was looking out for him for certian! We didn’t discover the missing fudge for a day, and we could not figure out why he was so thirsty when we got home from the prayer meeting until we noticed the missing fudge! He too was smiling… Love you all.
Judy
It looks like you all had so much fun. I love the picture of the dog and the story is so funny. When I was in my teens, big black dog ate half of my sisters birthday cake.( he was also know to still a steak or two over the years.) We had company coming and so my mom cut of the part where the dog had eaten. No one even knew what happened and we did have another cake on hand. Needless to say I passed on cake eating that day.
Merry Christmas, Kim B. in AZ
Please allow me to add that the Gingerbread house was actually on our bar – as high up as I could get it besides on top of the fridge (where it is now). Unbelievable!
We are empty nesters who borrowed our son’s giant schnauzer and refused to give him back. One night I made beef stroganoff and left it on the stove, when I came back the pan was licked perfectly clean but still in place. I am making Christmas ornaments, salt dough and shrinky dink, with my 6 year old grandson and my play grandaughter tomorrow. It will be messy and loud. Merry Christmas to all
Inez
too funny! did the dog get sick?
Amanda,
Love the pictures! Jackson is too cute making those cookies. These days pass all to quickly.
I must say that Jughead looks quite innocent to me. That cute dog, with that sophisticated smile is most certainly innocent. I would know. I sit in a courtroom every day and hear testimony in trials. Gingerbread House destroyer, I don’t think so, just look at that face!!! LOL (Oh my, I have never seen anyone so guilty in all my life! Love him!)
Merry Christmas Everyone,
Luv2Praise, Lori
Amanda,
thanks for sharing your great photos of your house, dog & Jackson! They are too cute. I have 4 little boys & my trick to frosting & sprinkling sugar cookies is to have them do it over a pie tin. They each have their own & all the sprinkles go in it & not all over the floor. I am type A, anal retentive & a bit of a clean freak…but completely normal! Hugs to you all! Amy W
That picture of your dog is too funny! You should put that on your Christmas card next year:)
Ha ha!! Awwl! That’s soooo cute!!!!!! Y’all had fun! We’re making a Jesus birthday cake tomorrow, my four-year-old niece and I. Should be fun! Blessings!
Manders , that was SO FUNNY !!!!!
( I actually thought Beth wrote and did all that til I started reading the blog and went back to see for myself that it was you. )
What great memories. Thank you Lord.
Elizabeth in NM
I just read this and cracked up..called my husband and son to come and see the picture of the dog…what a hoot!!! it reminds me of the time our dog ate the pizza off the counter, while I was waiting for the oven to preheat and went to the computer…looked on the floor and pizza no more. thanks for making my day….blessings…pam in san diego
Hilarious! My boys and our two labs knocked my Christmas tree over two days after I got it up. Can you say “meltdown”???? Merry Christmas, Pregnant Girl. Cherish every single Silent Night.
We call our yellow Lab Jughead too. I didn’t think anyone else used that name!
Merry Christmas to you and your wonderful family including your Jughead!
Oh, the ‘beast” is too funny! How can you not love him to pieces!
Jackson is growing up SO FAST!! He’s quite the handsome young man!
On a side note for all you siestas, have you heard the Christmas song “A Baby Changes Everything” by Faith Hill? Oh you must! It is heart wrenching beautiful!!! Google it!
And enjoy some precious Christmas cookies while you listen! 🙂
Christmas blessings to all with love!
we made muddy buddies the other day. i melted the chocolate, poured it over the cereal placed it into the ziploc bag add the 2 cups of powdered sugar, zipped the bag closed (or so i thought) and started to shake them up. well the bad did not close, needless to say we ended up with cereal, chocolate and powdered sugar EVERYWHERE!! my dog who was no where in sight must have heard food hitting the floor came running in licking up as much as he could as fast as he could as my son was trying to pull him back. I just stood there too stunned to move!! my poor son was saying we can’t let him eat it, the chocolate will make him sick. SO i thought i better help him get the dog out of the kitchen. although if i had it my way i would have let him lick up the entire mess!! SO my advice to all…. make sure the ziploc bag is truly closed BEFORE you turn it up side down to shake it up!!!!
haa haa haa haa…I couldn’t stop laughing at the Gingerbread house…I was seriously trying to figure out how it got messed up while you were all out…hee hee. I laughed my head off at the dog smiling…I used to have a golden retreiver that would grin like that.
that cracks me up. sounds just like something that my HUSBANDS dog would do. my dog is perfect. she would NEVER participate in such activities.
So much fun. My daughter helped to clean up our counter after she did the sprinkles by brushing them all onto the floor. I feel your pain! I am glad I am not the only one who has to put any food product behind closed doors when I leave the house.
Naughty doggie! I have have lived with goldens for most of my life and ya just gotta love ’em! With a face like that, I’m guessing forgiveness came quickly? My dogs were after all of the warm chex mix I had spread out all over the counters on paper towels. Jackson is just adorable…cherish those moments. My little girl is almost 13 and tomorrow we’re dipping pretzel rods into milk chocolate and then going crazy with all sorts of sprinkled treats! May you and all of the blog siestas have a blessed Christmas : )