If you know me even a little bit, you know that I’m crazy for Christmas. The joy, the traditions, the music, the family, … the cookies! There’s just no better time of year. When I was growing up, one of my favorite traditions was baking and decorating Christmas cookies with my mom. This tradition started by including my brothers as well, but as time went on, they grew less interested in decorating and more interested in snacking on the ingredients! By the time I reached middle school, it was just my mom and me running the cookie show. We made all different kinds, but my favorite – and my brothers’ favorites too! – are frosted cutout cookies. It’s just not Christmas without them!

Continuing the Christmas Cookie Tradition

Now that I have kids of my own who are old enough to participate, I’m so excited to continue this tradition with them. Cameron has helped me decorate the last couple years, but this year was the first year he was able to really help with the baking too. I did the measuring – and you know this math teacher mama had to give him a lesson on fractions! – while he did all the dumping and mixing. He even helped with rolling out the dough and using the cookie cutters. We did all of this during Morgan’s nap and it was pretty special to have some time just with him.

After Morgan woke up, we started the decorating. The kids loved wearing their matching Grinch aprons from Grandma and working together on the cookies. Cameron was fairly intentional with the decorations that he used, while Morgan seemed to just think the more m&ms and chocolate chips the better. (I mean, is she wrong?) I loved seeing their focus and determination in addition to their joy. They were so proud of the cookies they decorated and it made my Christmas-loving heart so happy.

I typically prefer outdoor photoshoots, but this might just be my favorite photos of my kids from this year. I can’t wait to frame some of them!

Holiday Freebie

Would you like to take images like these of your own kids? It’s no secret that I used my professional camera and favorite lens for these shots, but you could get similar shots with just a cell phone by following a couple key ideas. If you’re interested in those tips, check out my freebie, Capturing the Holiday Magic with Your Family. Whether you’re capturing baking Christmas cookies or another favorite tradition, you’ll be able to use these tips to transform your photos.