Advent: a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas.Today was December 1st! This year, as family, we will be doing something  special to celebrate everyday leading up to Christmas day in expectancy of celebrating the ultimate day. The day our redeeming Savior enter our world.

Day 1: Celebrate good friends and yummy food:
Our church has an annual cookie swap hosted by the women's ministry. Those who want to participate are encouraged to make a batch of cookies to bring to the party to exchange. In my hurried attempted to prepare some goodies using the ingredients already in my pantry I ran to Pinterest where I found some adorable yet simple cookies to make.

1st Attempt:
Dizzies Izzie's {named for the baker, my Izzie Ru}

Since this week's Nanna day was Maggie's turn this left me and Izzie to do the fun task of working together to prepare the perfect creation. I found super cute pinwheel cookies to make. She did such a great job assisting me (minus wanting to stick her fingers in the moving mixer). We ran into 2 problems. 1st, I misunderstood the directions and our cookies would not set up correctly. 2nd, the reviews on the bottom of this online recipe were horrible. Maybe the sticky cookies weren't entirely my fault... Oh well, Iz didn't mind. She got a taste and lunch before nap. {A post in itself}

Since our 1st attempt was an utter failure it left me less than 6 hours to find a new recipe.

Hello Pinterest. Since you were already open...

This ended up being a success! Although the route I took for display and distribution was a bit more time-consuming than just my cookie tray.

2nd Attempt:
Eat It Up Cookie Dough {Safe-to-eat Cookie Dough}

Recipe by: Willow Bird Baking
Yields: about 1 1/2-2 cups cookie dough

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
1 1/3 cups and 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons water

Directions:
In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes until light, fluffy, and pale yellow. Mix in flour and vanilla. Add water one tablespoon at a time, mixing after each, until you reach cookie dough consistency.

We had fun and ate entirely too much sugar!

*future post with printables for labels and recipes ;o)

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What are you doing in anticipation of Christmas?
Do you know Christ and why it's a big deal? If not, PLEASE talk to me so I can share with you more about the life change that is Jesus!