christmas cookies

Mother didn't expect to have anything to do with the Christmas pageant except to make me and my little brother Charlie be in it (we didn't want to) and to make my father go and see it (he didn't want to).

Every year he said the same thing--"I've seen the Christmas pageant."

"You haven't seen this year's christmas pageant," Mother would tell him.  "Charlie is a shepherd this year."

"Charlie was a shepherd last year. No. . . you go on and go.  I'm just going to put on my bathrobe and sit by the fire and relax.  There's never anything different about the Christmas pageant."

"There's something different this year," Mother said.

"What?"

"Charlie is wearing your bathrobe."

So that year my father went. . . to see his bathrobe, he said.

--from the best christmas pageant ever.

Today we made sugar christmas cookies and decorated them.  I've been giving the kids a little incentive to be good each day and yesterday's was we would get to make and decorate christmas cookies.  I thought it would be a big hassle but it was actually fun, I mean you should see my kitchen it is a HUGE disaster but it was totally worth it.  This spending time together doing little things instead of tons of presents is making things seem sweeter, more special, and you know I think it's things like putting frosting all over that the kids are actually going to remember.

Speaking of Brian and I had our shopping trip yesterday and it was so great.  We went to Lansing so that  he could have me try this really great chicago style pizza (we're always trying different pizzas, we're on a quest to find the best pizza ever).  Did most of our shopping at target and then drove around for a really long time trying to find a kohl's until we decided to just come back home and go to our kohl's.  That ended up working out really well, except we were each allowed to get a new christmas outfit (something I actually need by the way) and I tried on half the store and bought nothing.  Man is that frustrating and it was hard to not let myself feel fatter then our mini-van.  But I didn't let it ruin our day.  We then went to good will to find ugly sweaters (we're having an ugly sweater xmas party with the youth group, I'll post pics of that when it happens) and boy did we find some, along with a pair of practically new boxing gloves which was something Brian and I had looked all over for for Hunter, how cool is that?  Thanks God.  Turns out it was a good thing we came back when we did because it just started snowing and blowing and today it looks like the upper peninsula!!  It was weird and hard cutting back on Hunter I kept saying "I feel like he needs one more thing." but listen to this from proverbs 1:19 "So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain; It takes away the life of it's owners."  Yikes what are we inadvertently teaching our kids about greed?  Just a thought one that helped me keep things in perspective.  And we did get him some fun things and some great stocking stuffers because for my money stocking are the most fun.