Almost Creeeeeestmas!

Ho, ho, ho!!

Well, I felt like the world's worst mommy when I found out that Grant's crankiness was probably due to the fact that he was getting an ear infection. My plans for yesterday were altered to include a trip to the doctor. That actually went well. The nurse at the doc here in Warrenton is excellent. She's super quick (especially for a pregnant girl) and cheerful and friendly. Love her. And the doctor we saw was not the one we originally saw when Josh and the kids switched over, but I loved her, too. She has a 5-year old boy and a 3-year old girl, too. (But she has 2 dogs, not one.) Grant had one very infected ear, and one that was red. Abbie insisted on doing everything that Grant did. You'll be glad to know that she weighs 10 pounds less than Grant, is 10 inches shorter, and has no infected ears. Then, we went to Wal-mart to get the prescription and get a few last minute things, such as milk for Santa's cookies. I hear he likes to dunk. When all that was done, it was after 1:00.

As originally planned, I made some gingerbread cookies next. I was all excited, and have been for months, because the part about making real gingerbread stuff from scratch that I really don't like is working with molasses. Yuck. The smell bothers me, deeply. Plus it gets sticky if you don't keep it chilled, and it always seems to lose the chill when you are right in the middle of making the cutest shape ever. Grr. So, I found this mix that could be made into a cake or cookies, depending on which set of directions you follow. That's what I made. The kids had heaps of fun rolling dough into balls and then rolling the balls in sugar. But when the cookies came out and we tried them, I was disappointed. They just didn't taste great. Not too bad, but not good. Forgettable, at best, and at worst, not worth finishing. But never fear! I have more tricks up my sleeve!

Today I am making a yellow cake (changed my mind from white cake) and am going to add festive sprinkles in red and green to the icing. Well, actually, it came that way. I'm also going to cook up some of those already sliced sugar cookies with Christmas trees on them, to make up for the icky ginger ones. All these delicious (with one exception) goodies shall be carted over to Josh's mom's house, where we will be spending the night. Probably we will do lots of helping to get ready for their Christmas Eve party tomorrow. After the party tomorrow, we will come home and wait for Santa. I have a secret stash of the best cookies ever, just for Santa. You know...Le Petit Ecolier, and also some fancy Peperidge Farm ones I found with strawberry. They are my reward for getting through the next 30-ish hours.

I was so so SO sore last night from taiko. We played Hanabi for about an hour and a half straight, and it was not great for my back. Last night included two rounds of Motrin. I think I got really good sleep, though, until 3. Technically, I've been awake since then, but I feel a lot better than I have lately. Although Abbie did trick me a while ago by saying, "Mommy, I'm very tired. I want to have a nap." We snuggled on my bed, and I was all cozy and warm and well on my way into a doze when she informed me, "Mommy, I'm not tired anymore. I'm just all better now."

*sigh*


The oven beeped! I'm losing valuable time, here!! Excuse me, please, I have a pressing engagement with a yummy cake, some laundry and packing, cookies, and two little children who are currently pretending to be a puppy and a blue whale that has a really big tail.

Merry Christmas!!!!