We've got mail!

My sister spoils us. 

This months care package included a whole lot of stoke. 

Sal made out like a bandit with a Tonka set and police badge from uncle Juls, and custom excavator cookies from aunt Stephanie. 

I came in second with all of this elastic for headbands. I've got enough to make a few sizes and will probably make some gifts for friends. 

Carla got some leggings and she and Nick both got some reading material. A few books for her, and a Surfer magazine for him. You know--just to make him miss the ocean more, lol. 

But really, we've loved and appreciated all of the care packages we've been sent over the last few years. It's not cheap, and it's not easy to ship to China. So, the fact that people have gone out of their way to send a slice of home has made us feel remembered while we are away. 

What Santa wants, Santa gets

Last night I announced to Sal that we would be baking cookies to leave for Santa. NZ seems to think Santa might have a hankering for snicker doodles this year....

Sal and I spent some time after lunch today making snicker doodles. 

We even decorated a paper plate to serve him on. I think we will make one every year. 

What Santa wants, Santa gets. 

WIC cookie exchange

I keep mentioning WIC in my posts, but rarely remember to take pictures from the events we attend. Last week, WIC hosted a holiday cookie exchange at my friend Heather's apartment. 

The cool thing about having a cookie exchange with an international club, is all the truly traditional cookies and sweets we get to sample. For this years cookie exchange, we had guests from all over the world...America, Spain, Belgium, France, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Canada, United Kingdom and Romania.

                             Some of my international friends  (Photo credit:Heather Ratliff)

Check out the table. It was stocked full of delicious desserts and recipe cards to share.

  (Photo credit: Heather Ratliff)

I made toffee to share, and sure hope nobody broke a tooth on it. It's one of my favorite Christmas treats, but my dentist would probably scold me for eating it. There was apple bread, wedding cookies, peanut butter cookies, no bake oatmeal stacks, brownies, custard, gingerbread and so much more. I was stuffed by the end of the day, but was sure to bring a sampler home for NZ who always happens to miss out on the WIC fun. 

The kids had fun playing together. It has been fun to watch them all grow up, as this time last year they were just babies, and now we are all staring potty training and big kid beds down the barrel. Crazy how fast time flies.

                         

                            Aiden, Sal and Dakota (photo credit: Heather Ratliff)

I had fun too. I love that we have so many events hosted in our complex, so it makes it easy to attend even while massively pregnant.

                             My friend Heather, me & Sal (photo credit: Heather Ratliff)

                                          Happy holidays to all! 

Domestic fail

NZ wanted cookies tonight, so I pulled out what remained of my smuggled butterscotch chips and got to mixing. I found a recipe for oatmeal butterscotch cookies on the Hershey website and with four out of five stars for reviews, I was sold.....

...until I checked the oven after ten minutes and saw this....

What the?! 

The hormonal me wasn't sure if screaming or crying were appropriate responses so I just got angry and started feeling like a domestic failure. NZ came to see what the fuss was about and dared to ask, "did you forget something?"

Oh.no.he.didnt.

Oh yes, he did.

I swore up and down I followed the recipe to a tee. I was angry that so many people gave it four stars and fooled me! I scrapped the rest of the dough, scraped the mess from my cookie sheet and just about cried. I declared "kitchen is closed!" and pouted my way through washing up the debris. As I was putting the oats away, I looked up at my flour jar.

Guess who forgot to add flour to her cookie dough?

This girl.

Cookie Monster

A little bragging here.....

My sister, Stephanie over at www.sweetcreationsbystephanie.com makes THE best cut out sugar cookies, ever, ever, eeeev-er. I love them. You should check out her blog, and you'll fall in love with all her creativity too. I usually find that pretty cookies taste like cardboard, but hers are far from cardboard. I'd eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I could..

They're awesome.

Even more awesome, is my sister.

I think she misses me as much as I miss her (or she misses her nephew and just pretends to miss me so she can Skype with him), so she sends monthly care packages. Shipping to China is not cheap. Stephanie has become a professional at figuring out just what can be packed to keep the costs down, and all of us over here still happy. Without her, and her willingness and thoughtfulness, we would be hard pressed for some of our creature comforts from home. She knows what customs will allow, and won't allow, and has even figured out how to send cookies!

Check out the cookie she sent Sal (sorry, but NZ and I devoured ours as well as half a dozen mini cookies before I thought to take a picture).

The only other sugary treat he has had was his birthday cake, so you can bet he was bouncing off the walls amongst the rainbows and unicorns when he realized mama was going to let him eat his easter bunny cookie.

This is the picture of happiness. Sent in a box. In the form of a cookie. From auntie Stephanie.

For the love of PB&J

Here's a snipet of the guest blog I did for my sister @ Sweetcreationsbystephanie.com...Check her blog out for the recipe to these delicious summertime cookies.