Gingerbread Cookies

So Mattie & I sat down tonight and made the gingerbread cookies. She recited a rhyme she said she'd heard on tv: "Children's years go flying by like cookies off a plate, so make a batch with them tonight and maybe time will wait." Or something like that. I hope she's right! We did have SUCH a good time tonight.

Cutting out the cookies went fine, but decorating was another story. I'm used to sugar cookies, just frost and sprinkle. For these we had gotten some of the frosting in the can, and a tube that was supposed to be easy. Neither one of those worked very well at all. The frosting in the can either wouldn't come out, or it came out way too fast. The frosting in the tube would not come out through the decorator tip. So finally we just put the white frosting in a plastic bag and cut the corner off to make a little hole. That method works ok until the hole gets too big.

We were using mini M&M's for eyes, and they looked like the googly eyes on a bobble head dog the girls have. When I used frosting for eyes, the poor gingerbread men either looked angry or worried. That gave us the giggles. There is nothing better than sharing a little silliness with a 6 year old.

We ate some of the cookies, but in my opinion they were dry and too chewy. Maybe I cooked them a little too long.

I think gingerbread cookies were meant to be painted and hung on the tree. Next year I'll do just that.

But for tonight, my kitchen smells yummy, and my little girl is happy. Mission accomplished.

As long as I'm posting

For some reason this year has been the year for me to get back to some old traditions. I finally sent Christmas cards again. I meant to in 1995, I really did, but it just never happened. So then I was going to do New Year's, and then Valentine's, but I just couldn't get my act together. Incidentally, 1995 was the year my first child was born.

The baking didn't end quite so quickly, and I usually do sugar cookies if my husband doesn't get around to it first, but we have discovered that Pillsbury is easier and yummier (although some connoisseurs disagree.) But the real baking, the pumpkin bread and different kinds of cookies and carmel popcorn, etc., it just faded away gradually.

Well, I'm back. Sent out my Christmas cards by Dec. 1, to immediate family. OK, so it's Dec. 18, and the rest of the batch is still waiting to be addressed, but it's a start. And then the baking. Thursday I did pumpkin bread and mini muffins. Friday I did 4 batches of carmel popcorn. And yesterday I did oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, fudge (not "baking" but...), and gingerbread dough (still sitting in the fridge waiting to be baked, but it will be). Oh, and apple crisp. I think that was my 3rd apple crisp since Thanksgiving!

And since I was in the Christmas spirit, I updated my CD collection: Sandy Patti (ok, that one was old, but I still love it), Stephen Curtis Chapman, Mercy Me, and NewSong (that Grinch song is hilarious!)

So that's what I've been up to. Christmasing. I hope yours is merry.

I've been tagged

A-Z's of Me

A - Age: I don't do age
B - Bed size: double
C - Chore you hate: scrubbing toilets
D - Dessert you love: good chocolate
E - Essential start your day item: diet coke
F - Favorite actor(s): Tom Hanks & Meg Ryan
G - Gold or Silver: it depends
H - Height: 5'2-1/2"
I - Instruments you play: used to play trumpet & French horn
J - Job title: Actuary
K - Kids: Sarah & Mattie
L - Living arrangements: Typical family of 4, plus 3 gerbils
M - Mom's name: Betty
N - Nicknames: Spousal Unit, SB
O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: No
P - Phobia: spiders, snakes and other creepy crawlies
Q - Quote you like: "Nothing is worth more than this day." --Goethe (?)
R - Right or left handed: right
S - Siblings: 4, sisters Jonna, Betsy and Cassi, one brother Tim
T - Time you woke up today: 5:30 am, on a Sunday, what's up with that?
U - Unique habit: playing with my Palm in meetings
V - Vegetable you hate: brussel sprouts, beets
W - Worst habit: procrastination
X - X-rays you've had: I don't want to talk about it
Y - Yummy food you can make: beef fajitas, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, DH's grandma's apple crisp, and carmel popcorn
Z - Zodiac Sign: Taurus, for whatever that's worth

I'll tag Karin, b/c she's the only one besides Jonna who's usually paying attention

Top 10 reasons I'm glad Char & Heather came to visit

OK, it's been what, a month and a half? I was looking at pictures the other day and remembered I wanted to post this.

My cousins Char and Heather (actually 2nd cousins to me, as they are technically my mom's first cousins) came to visit and we had not seen each other in more than 30 years. I am too young to even remember the visit, but Mom had pictures. Elise is Char's 2yo girl, and she came too!

So here are the top ten reasons I'm so glad they came.

10. I needed an excuse to eat at Cracker Barrel.
9. You never know when you might need a foot doctor.
8. Elise is so cute!
7. Who knew vegetarians were so much fun?
6. DH grilled!
5. DH did the dishes so we could talk!
4. Wow, we had some great meals.
3. Elise's blonde hair, blue eyes, and high intelligence fit right in with the rest of the kids in our family. (They're all gifted, you know.)
2. I love any excuse to visit my sisters!
1. "One can never have too many kindred spirits." (Quote from Anne of Green Gables, but definitely how I felt after meeting Char & Heather.)

Thanks again, ladies, for taking the time and expense to come down for a visit!

My children are brilliant

Where can I brag about them, if not in my blog?

We had two Parent-Teacher conferences tonight.

Our kindergarten is excelling, but I didn't need a conference to tell me that. She amazes me every day. She is reading very well and she loves it. I hope she always does.

Our 4th grader had a "Student Led" conference. She had to tell us all her grades and whether she was satisfied with each one. She was happy with all her A's & said she had earned them by "doing her best". She was unhappy with her one B (an 89!) & said it was b/c she was "just not good at science". She is a hard worker & I am pretty proud of her.

I am a happy mom today.

Annie, Jr.

Tonight the girls & I went to see Annie Jr. at Stage Door (http://www.thestagedoorinc.org/) in Yukon. It was fabulous. The 11 yo girl who played Annie was just terrific. I have to put in a plug for Joel & Luke S as well. They come from a family of great entertainers. It is clear that they love what they are doing and they sure are fun to watch.

The girls came out doing their "invitations" (Mattie's word for "imitations") of the orphan girl who says, "Oh my goodness". I was trying to get Sarah to act like Rooster's girlfriend (Rooster is the bad guy), but she said, "Why would I want to do that?" Why indeed.

It was a fun evening and now I'm even more behind on the things I was supposed to get done this week. Oh well. There's always Tomorrow. I love ya, Tomorrow.

Meanwhile...

While the hurricane was pounding the Gulf Region, we had our own little set of troubles. A car that wouldn't run (we got it home just before it died for good) and a truck that ran, but not great, not trustworthy at all.

So we fumed, and we prayed. And we prayed some more. And we calculated. And we took the car to the shop. And DH looked at newer trucks. And we budgeted. And we prayed some more. And we fretted that the mechanic was taking so long to find the problem with the car. And DH car shopped.

And last Tuesday, we sold our car to the mechanic, drove our broken down truck to the car lot (http://www.diffee.com/) and we left the car lot in a 2005 Ford Focus. We didn't pick up the Ford F-150 until Thursday.

On Saturday, while thousands of people were still waiting to be evacuated from New Orleans, and thousands of others were just getting back into their neighborhoods to survey the damage, we drove 400 miles to spend our weekend near DH's grandmother, who is turning 90 years old.

On Sunday, we attended the birthday party, and witnessed said grandmother riding on the back of a motorcycle, having just proclaimed, "You never know what I might be capable of."

May we all learn yet another lesson from this wise grandmother. Grandma E., we all love you! Happy birthday!!!

What can I say?

That hasn't already been said about Hurricane Katrina and the devastation?

Nothing at all.

I've given my cash donation, and it seems puny in light of the need.

So tonight the girls & I went to a shelter. At least it's a wannabe shelter. A local church has given their building to be used for that purpose. Tonight we went and sorted clothing for a couple hours. Just a small act. Hopefully it will benefit someone in need.

I know it helped us to get our minds off our own troubles and onto those who are really in trouble.

What will tomorrow bring?

First Day of School

The day finally arrived. Mattie's first day of kindergarten and Sarah's first day of 4th grade. I made breakfast sandwiches inspired by my friend Karin G. (Karin, if you are reading this, I even used hamburger buns!) Mattie opened hers up and ate the insides first, and then decided the bread wasn't too bad.

Mattie declared that she was "a little nervous". DH was in charge of pictures. Considering I took a whole roll of film 4 years ago, Mattie's first day did not get the same coverage, even with the digital. Oh, well, we got the important ones --front porch, in front of school with the sign, and with the teacher after school. Even a couple in class.

Mattie learned about tornado/fire/lock down drills. Her teacher read two books. They played with play dough and they had recess. She made a new friend, Brooke. That's about all I got out of her.

Sarah did not want her picture taken at school. Funny, I was recently looking at the of her the day she started preschool, in1999. She was not too happy that day either. Sarah has a new best friend, "Mr. Agenda". I'm to review and sign it every night. Is this for the kids or the parents? Seriously, I'm glad they'll be working on organization. Better to learn in 4th grade than 6th or 8th or never, I think. Sarah's teacher does not like the sound of pencils sharpening. She doesn't go to lunch until 12:05 (it was 11:40 last year), but she says she didn't starve. One of her friends has the same lunchbox. She'll have Spanish this year, and "health". I have fond memories of "health" class, myself. I shared them with her. She doesn't want to go. I told her we'd wait and see. For all I know, "health" class this year will be all about nutrition. We are a "School for Healthy Lifestyles" after all.

Before dinner Sarah burst into tears for no good reason, at least none she cared to share with her father or me. Sigh. She's not even 10 years old yet and we're already dealing with the hormones. Or maybe it was just stress. I should be more kind to her. Sigh.

By the time dinner was over, Sarah was a 9yo girl again. Thank goodness!

Tomorrow is another day...

Met the Teachers

One more milestone down--we met the teachers tonight. Sarah will have two teachers this year. Both seemed young & energetic & wonderful--she is so excited about 4th grade now. Also, she has several friends in her class. That could be good OR bad, but we'll hope for the best.

Mattie was pretty shy this morning. I was passing out some PTO stuff to the teachers & the girls were with me. We got to see all the K rooms, but we didn't know yet which one would be Mattie's. Any time Mattie met a teacher, she just hid behind me. But tonight was another story. She just about talked the teacher's ears off! She too is excited about school and can't wait until Thursday.

BTW, volunteering for PTO is WORK. I walked 9,521 steps today. Yay, me!

This really feels funny

I'm still not sure what to say here. It feels weird.

Today I'm excited b/c I finally tidied up my scrapbook area and now I can WORK. I'm off from my paying job this week so looking forward to doing what I call "mom things". You know, like volunteering at school and baking chocolate chip cookies and yes, hopefully, scrapbooking. All while hanging out with my two favorite girls.

Tomorrow night is "Back to School" night and the girls get to meet their teachers. Sarah is going into 4th grade and Mattie is going to Kindergarten. We have our "favorite teachers" that we hope they get, but honestly, I have not met a teacher I don't like at this school. I feel really blessed that we have such an incredible public school.

It is late so I am going to bed. Maybe I will get bold and post pictures this week.

Hey, I'm blogging

Never thought I'd do this, but here I am. Now I just have to think of something useful to say...

Joy