cookies and ornaments

My mother is one of those people who makes a ton of Christmas cookies every year and brings big beautiful trays of them to people throughout the holiday season. If I had to pick a favorite it would be a tie between her butter cookies that are dipped in jelly and sprinkles (my great grandma's recipe) and her chocolate chips. I can't wait to have cookie baking parties with my mom and the girls once they are a little bit bigger. But for now the pre-made cookies are easy and fun and Maddie and Claudia have fun pretending to bake.

Maddie also enjoys sampling her work....

Maddie calls the headband she is wearing her "grinch" headband and insists on wearing it everyday...everywhere we go! I love this about her.

Also here are two of the beautiful ornaments I picked up yesterday at my favorite store!

Hopefully the cookies will be a nice snack for our snowstorm tonight. (Wish we were able to have our fireplace installed for tonight though...)

Luck be a Lady...

I never win anything. Never (I lied... once I won a baby shower game). Today Shaun took the day off and I was going to finish up Christmas shopping and run errands and then we were supposed to get our fireplace hooked up so we could have a nice romantic fire tonight. However, neither of us got a wink of sleep last night because poor Claudia got her first cold on her five month birthday and we took her to the doctor and had to cancel our fireplace install. But the good news....while I was at the pediatrician's office I got a call that I had won a door prize from the holiday open house I attended at my FAVORITE store! It is an antique/country store in an old red barn and I have loved going there since I was a little girl. I always tell the owner, Carol that I would LIVE in her store if she would let me. And I recently had a dream that she did let me! For some reason her store just has that x factor for me. ESPECIALLY at Christmas time. I took Maddie in with me and she was in total awe. I wish I had brought my camera to share with you what I mean, but when I left the house I did not think I would be a WINNER! So the moral of the story is that even if your day is not going as you had planned you never know when things are going to start looking up!

The question is how long will my new found luck last and should I play the lottery?

If I were writing a letter to Santa...

If I were writing a letter to Santa, (which I am not but it is fun to think about) one of the things on my list would be a few beautiful cake stands. The only thing more beautiful than cake itself is when it is displayed on an adorable cake stand. If you feel the same way and like me, have not had much luck finding any in stores (or simply have zero time to shop this year!) you should check out Sweet and Saucy Supply...trust me!