Cookie baking season ( Snickerdoodles)

Holiday time means family time

In our house, that means baking and crafts

We would love to share some of our tried and true recipes with you this holiday season

So here is our tried and true Snickerdoodle cookie Recipe 

Perfect Snickerdoodles

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 and 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

 Cream together butter, brown sugar, eggs, 1 cup sugar, and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, cream of tartar, and baking soda. Slowly add dry ingredients to butter mixture until a soft dough forms

 Shape dough into 1 inch balls.

 In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon. Press balls into cinnamon sugar. Arrange on baking sheet and bake for 14 minutes. Allow to cool.

 Then serve and Enjoy with those you love

 Happy Holidays

Family Traditions

Yesterday I wrote about my kids Christmas wish list

and I said that some of the things they put on their are traditions.

Traditions are extremely important to me.

When I was growing up my Daddy made sure we had a lot of traditions...

until he got to sick to do them anymore :(

And the memories of traditions...those are some of my favorite childhood memories.

So of course making traditions with my kids is very important to me.

Some of the traditions are ones from my childhood and some are from Devon's childhood...

And some are new ones we have made with our own little (okay not so little) family...

We used to go to fantasy lights EVERY YEAR...

I don't remember a year I didn't go growing up, and when we still lived in Western Wa

we took the kids every year to...

But we moved, and it still breaks my heart a little every year I can't take the kids. 

But we have a new tradition now..

Disney on Ice..

As my daddy used to say-

 It's not what you do with your kids...it's that you do something with them!

Wise words daddy and I am glad I listened to them <3

Making memories

One tradition at a time

Christmas Wish list

You want to know why the holidays are one of my favorite times of year???

It's because I get to slow down on sessions and working...

Marketing is more tiring then one would think...

As is editing, as all my photographer friends know ;)

And it's not that I don't love what I do or that I don't love my clients

(please don't get me wrong here)

But what I do is a job...and it's exhausting

And everyone needs a break to recharge once in awhile.

Best of all...

The break from work means more time to do holiday fun with my kids...

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the holidays

I loved them growing up, and my love of them only grew with each kid I had.

Every year my kids always make me proud with their Letters to Santa..

One year they asked for a house when we didn't have a home of our own so that we could be closer to daddy, who was at the time working in Spokane while we were living in Ione...

Once they asked for their baby to be healthy and be a girl (which came true and we love our little A)

They always ask for things for each other instead of themselves and never asked for more then a couple items each.

Basically they are kind, thoughtful and thankful and that never fails to make me proud.

So this year we asked them if they would rather ask for things ( toys, clothes, ect)

or do things...

They Chose to do things and I love them so much for it :)

(of course I would love them anyway lol)

So we sat down and they made a list

Here is their

 Christmas Wish list 2014

Pick a Christmas Tree as a family

Decorate the tree together 

Batman marathon

Ice Skating

Snowball fight

Build a snowman as a family

Make Cookies as a family

Christmas Movie Marathon

Bake cookies for a Homeless Shelter

Board Game night

Do Christmas Crafts

Sledding as a family

Tubing as a family

Go on a sleigh ride

Visit Santa 

Go to the tree lighting ceremony 

Decorate the house

Read Christmas Stories

Take food and blankets to the animal Shelter

Take a family photo in the snow

Sing Christmas Carols

Make Christmas ornaments

Go shopping for sibling presents

Write letters to Santa

Make Christ a birthday cake

Send Santa a Thank you card

Send out Family Christmas Cards 

(and a new one they wanted to add after thinking about it a couple of days)

Make someones Christmas wish come true...

That one is going to take a little thinking on my part lol

Now some of these are traditions we do every year...

It makes my heart so happy that the kids love them so much they put them on their list. 

Some of them are new traditions we had been wanting to start this year

(well they go hand in hand with the new traditions anyway) 

And some of them are just so selfless and touching that when I wrote them I cried like a baby

We plan to do all the things on this list with our kids

(yes they will still be getting gifts but it's the idea we are teaching them that the season isn't about getting gifts...it's about giving them and creating memories with those you love)

We also plan to document it with our Children so they can look back and remember it

and we plan to make it a new tradition every year...

If more families would do this then we could change the world..

Remind everyone that the holiday season isn't about wanting or getting...

It's about kindness and giving and love...

If we can remind one other family of that and help them remember it then I will have my Christmas wish come true <3 so please if any of you decide to do this email me or post it to my business facebook page or just comment it so that I can check off the final thing on my kids list for them ;)

Have a Very Happy Holiday Season

Love the Benson Bunch

A late share

It's been Crazy busy over here at the Benson Bunch Household

So I am way behind on my blogging...

Alas that happens a lot..

But I have some cute pictures to share of the kids and I promise you they were worth the wait ;)

Happy (Belated) Halloween from the Benson Bunch