"We make treats Mommy?"

Yup Lana, we made lots of treats.

For the past several years, I've made a selection of Christmas goodies and sent them off to friends and family in far-off locales. It was usually all done over the course of a long day or weekend, and while it was a fun activity for me and I loved that recipients enjoyed getting treats, it wasn't one of my very favorite things to do.

That all changed this year. Mostly because of this little chocolate-covered sprite:

 

Lana absolutely loved making treats with me. She would dump in pre-measured ingredients, tell me it was too loud when I turned the mixer on, patted balls of cookie dough, and decorated. Boy oh boy can this girl decorate her some treats!

 

(Here she was covering peppermint bark with tiny peppermint marshmallows and eating marshmallows by the fistfull.)

Lana had our treat-making routine down pat and when I told her we'd make more treats, she'd push over a chair to her work spot on the counter top and be ready for action. She'd vigorously and enthusiastically add sprinkles and sparkles to cookies and cake truffles or wait for a fudge-covered spoon to clean off with her tongue. No matter the task, she thoroughly enjoyed herself.

 

Of course, eating the fruits of her labor was the best part for Lana!

But the best part for me, the part I will remember the most, is the time the two of us spent together.