I'll have sugar, with a side sugar, please.

Sugar High #1: The Class Christmas Party

Josh's class had a Christmas party that consisted of juice boxes, cookies, cakes, and candy canes. Wowzers. It reminded me of the movie ELF: "Us elves like to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corn, and syrup."

My mom was still in town and she came with me to the class party. It didn't seem to phase him a bit to have his Mommy AND MeMe in attendance. He barely gave us a second glance. He came home with all kinds of goodies. I swear, Josh has been in a continual state of sugar high all month. From birthday parties, to marathon parties, to Christmas parties... thank goodness the teeth he has right now are just temporary.

Sugar High #2:

We headed to Hanna's for a little playtime and her sweet mom had Gingerbread men all ready for us to decorate. Josh would pick up a jelly bean and say, "Can I eat it?" with this super innocent face. For every one piece of candy that made it onto the Gingerbread man, another made it into his mouth.

Sugar High #3:

The three of us have a new tradition that is becoming extremely dangerous. Almost every Saturday we go to our favorite diner for a huge breakfast. Chris gets a big protein-based plate of bacon and eggs and Josh and I get a powdered sugar-based plate of french toast. Poor Chris has to put up with Josh and me giggling from our sugar overload for the next hour.

Sugar High(s) # 4-6:

Josh has something for people born in the fall, because I think every one of his friend's have Oct-Jan birthdays. He's not complaining at all. He has hit up at least 5 birthdays in the past few weeks and they have all been fantastic! From bounce houses to trampolines and foam pits, Josh knows how to put the P in Party.

Sugar High #7

Josh's sweet teacher, Mrs. Anderson had us over for a special pancake breakfast the other morning. We all showed up in our PJs and the kids helped Mrs. Anderson make special Christmas pancakes with red and green sprinkles. (I may have been more excited about the sprinkles than any of the kids.) True to form, Josh downed an impressive amount of pancakes.

SUGAR HIGH #8: Christmas cookies

Josh was in heaven when I named him to be my sous-chef and help me bake dozens and dozens of Christmas cookies to deliver to our neighbors. Turns out he is quite a passionate cook. He taps the eggs ever so gently so it makes only a teeny-tiny crack, then inspects the crack and then wackes the heck out of the egg until the entire thing explodes all over both of us and the floor. I learned my lesson quickly on that one. Of course, the best part of any baking experience is licking the bowl. I take the fact that he sat and licked the bowl sparkly clean for about 30 minutes to mean good things for my baking abilities.

We also mixed up some of my homemade Hot Chocolate Mix and delivered it in decorated mason jars.

I was pleased with the Christmas treats that I made for my neighbors, but two of my friends far outdid me.

The Most Creative Award goes to...

Nancy and her Sugar Cookie Reindeer!

The Most Delicious Award goes to...

Erin and her evil and addictive Pretzel Rolo Thingys. This recipe is just too good and too easy not to share. So, here you go...

15 oz bag waffle pretzels (square grid)

Rolos

Pecan halves and/or M &Ms

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Heat oven to 350°F. Line two rimmed cookie sheets with foil. Lay out rows of waffle pretzels on each cookie sheet (one pretzel per Rolo you have on hand).

Unwrap the chocolate-covered caramels, and center one on each pretzel. Bake for a scant 3 minutes, until the chocolate softens (it glistens a little). Be careful not to cook these too long. Pull the cookie sheet out of the oven.

Working quickly before the chocolate cools, press one pecan half or M&M into each caramel. Squish them down, so the pecan or M&M is firmly in place and the caramel is pushed down. Let cool on the racks, and then store them in an airtight container. If you need to, you can set the chocolate in the refrigerator.

Yummmy!

Anything that involves the act of squishing M&Ms on top of Rolos is alright with me!

Here's to 11 more days of sugar-loading.