Swirly Twirly Gumdrops

We are done with our Christmas shopping!!! WAHOOOO!!

Okay I know I'm not finished that far in advance of Christmas so I probably shouldn't be quite so smug and proud of my pre-planning and organizational skills, but oh it feels so good to be done. We both took the day off yesterday to focus solely on buying Christmas gifts, mailing Christmas cards, and putting out Christmas decorations. It was a complete BLAST!! We decided last year to make this an annual tradition and set aside one vaycay day each year as Family Shopping Day. This year, we made a point to stay in Ocean Springs and buy every single one of our gifts locally. It took a little more creativity and thought than usual, but I think that's probably kind of the point, and we had such a great time.

Conveniently, the greatest children's toy store in the world is officially Miner's Toy Store in Ocean Springs http://www.minerstoystore.com/ where we had loads of fun picking out gifts for all the new nieces, nephews, godchildren, and friends' kids that have joined our lives over the past year. The owner, 'Bubs,' taught both Tanner and I - and approximately 800 other Coast kids - to swim when we were little. Evidently, on the Coast, she has legendary skills regarding swimming lessons, and kids in general it seems, as I learned yesterday. She would ask for a detailed description of each child, and then repeatedly lead us to the PERFECT gift for every little person our list. We adore Bubs!!

Anyways, now all I have left to check off the list is "Christmas Baking."

Each year, I use my mom's secret recipe to make toffee for most of our close friends, work colleagues, and ALL of Tanner's million-and-three cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. Since I'm still a relatively new addition to the family, they don't seem to be too tired of it yet. And it's an especially good choice because I don't like hard candy and am never tempted to 'taste.' I made my first four batches last night, and as usual, had to throw away the first two. I only make it once a year, so it takes a minute to remember how to get it Just Right. Now only about a million more to go!!