Buckeye Balls

We have recently eliminated Tracey's nap each day -- which, I'll be honest, is bittersweet.  Tracey has always been a good napper -- I've never had to fight her about taking one.  So, that means that every day for nearly a year I have had a solid two hours in the middle of the day when my three kiddos are napping.  It was a beautiful time of the day to either be productive or to rest myself.

It also meant that bedtime was a struggle because Tracey wasn't really tired until 9:00 or so at night.  By eliminating the nap, she is exhausted by 7:00pm, which is great except when she melts down at bedtime because she is so tired.  We are still adjusting, but overall I think it was a good move and I think she will adjust over these next few weeks.

Now that Tracey is up during that time, she and I get to do some big girl activities together.  Sometimes we read stories, sometimes she helps me with laundry, sometimes she watches a little television while I nurse Addallee... and the past two days, she and I have made Buckeye Balls together.

Monday she helped me mix all the peanut butter ingredients, and then yesterday she helped me dip all the balls in chocolate.

It was a lot of fun because it was one of the first times she REALLY helped with an activity like this -- not all the buckeye balls are totally dipped, but she actually did them herself, which is so special.  We are going to give some of these cookies away as parts of Christmas presents, and Tracey will honestly be able to proudly say that she helped make them.

Here Tracey is with all our ingredients on Monday ready to make the peanut butter balls.

Here she is on Tuesday, giving me a Thumbs Up after we dipped our first batch in chocolate making them Buckeye balls.

And... after all her hard work, this great little baker got to lick the spatula!  Yum!

Have you started on Christmas cookies yet?