Silas woke up this morning and the first thing he wanted to do was make Snowman Cookies. I’m not exactly sure where he got the idea from… but he was really sold on it.
It was a busy day today, my to-do list was long in preparation for my trip tomorrow, and making Snowman Cookies — especially so early in the morning — wasn’t really on the agenda.
But I’m working on learning to say “yes” to the mess, so I agreed that we should make them. And we had a blast making them together.
Watching my little Silas roll the dough, intently cut the snowman, and carefully put them on the baking sheet warmed my heart on this chilly November morning.
These are the moments that matter most. These spur-of-the-moment times when I say “yes” to something that might seem a bit messy and inconvenient.
These are the memories I’ll treasure long after there are no more little hands eager to help me in the kitchen.
I may not have gotten everything done on my to-do list today, but making Snowman Cookies on a whim with my 3-year-old was a whole lot more important than most of those things anyway.
P.S. Sadly, I completely forgot to take pictures this morning while we were making the cookies… and every single last Snowman was eaten by tonight. But I thought you’d enjoy these pictures of the kiddos having a little afternoon tea party today. If you can’t tell, they have quite a bit of fun together. 🙂
I read this very touching little story earlier this week, as I prepared my heart to attend a friend’s funeral…37 years old with 4 beautiful children, husband, family. The day she was diagnosed as terminal she said, “We all have a day to die. Let’s make sure all the other days count”.
Cookies for breakfast, movie night despite a pile of laundry, chats with my teenage daughter even though I’m exhausted (she is my night owl), are all what matter. That pile of laundry that sat for another 24 hours, not so much.
These are the things that matter! Thank you for sharing!
This absolutely warmed my heart! My baby (the youngest of five) is now in college and I can attest to the fact that they do grow up and leave home. Glad you are cherishing the moment!
I love when you post about your little guy! my youngest is around his age and a real big handful but reading alot of your posts helps remind me that i need to involve him more even if something he wants to do is not on my list of things i need to get done. Thanks so much!!!!
so this brings tears to my eyes. I”m a single mom of a 4 year old and 35 weeks pregnant. My son loves Christmas and I’ve been struggleing with trying to juggle everything. I work 45 + hours a week and when we are home I am so tired. What a reminder that these times are so important and even if I don’t feel like it, those memories and times together are worth more than any inconvenience I might feel right now. I did take your suggestion from the other week about making a bucket list for Christmas. We sat down together and did one a few days ago. Tonight we are going to look at Christmas lights together! Thanks for your blog. I Love the deals, but I love the real life stories even more!
We must be on the same page although I did cheat. My grandson and I made store bought slice and bake cookies first thing this morning.
When we get closer to Christmas we will have a all out total mess baking and frosting cut out sugar cookies.
Those pictures are so cute! I sure love those special moments.
I’ve been trying to say yes more too- this morning I took my daughter out to breakfast even though it made me late for work. She was so happy- what’s an extra hour to squeeze in somewhere in the long run. 🙂
Even though we know our kids will remember the spur of the moment memories we made, we often forget! I bet Silas talks about making snowman cookies early in the morning with mom for many years to come. Great job Crystal, and thanks for reminding us all to say yes more, even if we feel it’s inconvenient.
The other day my youngest wanted to make some play clay. It was 8pm, I’m 50 years old, and my first reaction was ‘oh-no’. I replied ‘sure’ with enthusiasm. So glad I did. She had a blast and my heart was full. I like your say yes to the mess!
Thanks so much for letting me, well all of us, get a glimpse into your family life. My kids are 20 and 16 and life is so different now. I homeschooled my oldest all through until he graduated from high school and our youngest through 8th grade. Now time with all of us together is precious and not so often with all of our busy schedules. With my son applying for 4 year colleges for next year, he’s been attending our local community college now, I know that family time is so much more precious. Tonight we will be trimming our tree together and I look forward to the precious memories we will be creating. Again, thanks for sharing your life with all of us and reminding me to take each moment with mine and treat it as the blessing it is from God.
You are so right, I need to work on saying “yes to the mess” more too. And they will be big before we know it, thanks for the reminder.
Crystal, these are BEAUTIFUL pictures. Love, love, love.
Seeing them all around the table like that with their mugs in hand, makes them look so grown up you can almost get a glimpse of them as adults sitting around the table with their siblings talking. You are so right it does go so fast. Now that mine are 10 and up there are days I wish I said Yes more. It’s a hard game of balance we moms play.
you really can see them all around the table 20 years from now mugs in hand can’t you?
My Maddie wanted to work on her writing skills this morning at 7:00 am. So, I worked with her on writing all the Disney Princesses’ names. It was early (and I really didn’t want to), but I couldn’t say no to learning and her eagerness to do schoolwork. I love moments like that… I know someday I will miss these moments.
My 4 year old did something similar today! I sat down with him to do school while his sister was sleeping. I’d planned to do a page in each of three workbooks after some hands-on activities. He got so into writing his numbers that instead of just practicing 1 and 2, he did them all the way up to 10. It was so fun to see him so excited about writing finally. He loves counting and comparing numbers, but writing/coloring is just not his thing–yet.
They are so sweet! You are blessed. I, too, struggle with saying yes to the mess. 🙂
Thanks for that reminder to say yes, even when it’s messy, or inconvenient, or not on the to do list. The faces of your kids say it all! Way to go mom!!
What sweet joyful faces!
I love it! Savor those moments!
Dont forget, when there are no more little hands to do cookies with…… you can look forward to grandbaby hands to do them with 🙂