Delight

We officially launched our holiday baking today. As snow flurries whirled outside the kitchen window and Handel's Messiah blared from the basement CD player, Thomas and I donned our aprons (it never gets old seeing my eldest son wearing an apron) and the four of us cluttered up the kitchen with baking essentials and some non-baking essentials in order to make double chocolate cranberry cookies. You see, St. Nicholas Day is right around the corner, and it has become part of our family's tradition on that day to anonymously leave cookies on the doorsteps of our neighbors in an effort to emulate in a miniscule way the generosity of that beloved saint. Of course, Thomas had his own plans and within minutes of our cookie making requested a bowl, spoon, and host of ingredients so that he could concoct some other delicacy. "Coffee!" he declared as I skeptically peered into his bowl of brownish colored liquid complete with lumps of flour. "Can we heat it up?" In a similar fashion, his two younger brothers began to politely request (yeah right) spoons and bowls so they too could create their own desserts. "Pumpkin pie," Elliot stated as he held up a spoon for me to taste. (It sounds something like, "Puhkuh Piee," but we know what he means.) And Russell? Well, as he offered me his spoon, he announced that his tidbit was, "Noony. Bobby." Don't ask. Though the boys covered their ears because the music was a bit loud and Thomas insisted on making a cookie minus the cranberries for himself, the cookies received a big thumbs up from my eldest son-a little Friday afternoon delight.