What will you remember about this Christmas?

I've been "home" in St. Louis for the last 36 hours and I'm not going to pretend I've been eating super healthy. But I'm having a great time so far spending time with my family, especially my 4 year old niece. Here are a few gems from our cookie making session on Wednesday night:

First, I gave her the job of unwrapping all the Hershey Kisses for the peanut butter blossoms I was making. I strongly warned her not to eat them since we had not had dinner yet. Every time I looked over at her, it looked like she was eating something. "Madelynnn," I'd say, "are you eating those? Open your mouth and show Auntie Em." And nothing would be in her mouth. After about 3 rounds of this, I saw her put her little fingers out to her mouth - she was eating the little "tips" off the Hershey Kisses! I know I shouldn't, but I couldn't help but laugh.

Then, after an expired peanut butter mishap (seriously, you find the weirdest expired crap in my mom's pantry) I was going to scoop some peanut butter in the trash can and "PLOP!" - a whole scoopful landed on my mom's just cleaned kitchen floor. My niece chimed in, "your mom is going to KILL you!"

I may feel a little guilty about wasting calories on vodka last night and eating too much at dinner, but in 10 years those moments above are what I'll remember from this Christmas. Not how I drank and ate too much or that I gained 5 pounds.