Christmas Smelling

If there is one thing about the holidays that I love, it is the wonderful collection of smells. You know what I am talking about -

The Christmas Tree - except ours is FAKE. I do get to smell real pine trees sometimes when we go walking. And when we camped at Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe - OMP! It was heavenly with the smell of the trees and the snow that was still on the ground, and the crisp air. . . ahhhhhhhhhh.

The Christmas Meal - If you do the turkey, ham, prime rib thingy then you KNOW what I mean. Mouthwatering is an understatement. Since my Mommys and Aunties are vegetarian, we get very little of those kind of smells. But you know Butternut squash and Brussels Sprouts are pretty wonderful smelling as well. I think cooking food in general smells DELICIOUS.

Gingerbread - This is one of my favorites and the ONE my Mommy did this weekend. Can you STAND IT? The spiciness and richness of gingerbread dough is just about as perfect for the holiday as you can get. This coming weekend we are hosting a gingerbread decorating party at our house which is why Mommy made SIX batches of dough. She anticipates needing about 12 houses worth. Making the dough smells wonderful enough - but tonight she is BAKING the houses. She figures she can make 2-3 a night and more on Wednesday when she works from home. She should be able to have them baked and put together in time for the party.

Then the fun begins. Friends and their children come over for snacks and to decorate the houses. There is CANDY everywhere and laughter. A lot of laughter. It is so much fun.

I usually station myself under the tables because . . . you know. . . KIDS drop a LOT of stuff.

The best part of all of this? There are 2 FULL weeks of the fun and revelry.  I am lovin' every minute of it.