Weekend roundup.

Ben's ear pain has magically disappeared without the use of antibiotics. Hoo-ray!

We had a relaxing weekend - the calm before the storm, surely. The few things that stand out are: Daddy took the kids to Walmart Saturday evening to grab a few things. I got to be at home ALL BY MYSELF for about an hour - another Christmas miracle. Upon their return, I gave the kids baths. Emma, who is just like me when it comes to giving gifts - could not contain herself with her secret knowledge that they found a white dress at Walmart that they wanted to give me for Christmas. Lucky me!! Hahaha. But it was really adorable, she was all "you can't tell Dad I'm telling you this" - it is 90% the reason I usually don't shop until the 24th! 90% I cannot keep a secret and 10% I don't have the space to hide/stash the gift.

This morning I woke up with a sweet tooth. I googled a simple sugar cookie recipe and then cut the ingredients in half knowing we wouldn't actually eat the cookies - the fun is in the making of them and then the decorating of them. I pretty much hate cooked cookies. Yes, you read that right. In all honesty that should read, "I pretty much hate cooked desserts." You see, I love to make the desserts, then EAT THE BATTER RAW / lick the spoon / lick the bowl vs eat the finished product. Yep. So do you. Admit it. You are safe here.

This morning the kids and I made sugar cookies, a 24 cookie recipe that yielded just 12 cookies because I ate approximately 12 cookies raw. Don't judge me and don't be concerned for my health - raw egg and all - the way I see it is, "I am one good stomach flu away from my ideal weight." (The Devil Wears Prada) - or as I like to think of it, "I am one good food poisoning away from my ideal weight." The pre-cooked recipe was delicious!! After cooking, they were hard and gross, Emma and Daddy wanted nothing to do with them, but Ben ate them!! Go figure. To make visual matters worse, I picked up a can of frosting that said "Holiday Vanilla" which to me means WHITE frosting that I can color to my hearts desire. Nope, it was puke green (see below) and when I added red food coloring to it, it turned purple... Not the most attractive cookies, but we had good fun making and decorating them!! (Hey, Henry's mom. Want some cookies???)

Do you see what I see?

The best part of the above picture is in the bottom left corner. YEP. Daddy succumbed to a late night infomercial and bought us a Nutribullet. WE LOVE IT and are giving our beloved juicer away. Get one, dear readers. Your life depends on it. FOR REAL.

The next blurry pic is of me walking out the door to the office Saturday morning. Ben made me a necklace of tinkertoys and was ecstatic that I was actually going to wear it to work.

Ben is a jeweler!

We felt the need for some good NY pizza for lunch today and ended up at Little Joe's. We usually order it and take it home to chow, but Ben and Emma get a huge kick out of staying at the pizzeria and eating at the tables so we decided to eat there today. Yum. Yum. Yum. Is all I can say. I had two slices because I am a pig (and I ONLY had 12 sugar cookies for breakfast) - an eggplant slice and a Gramma slice - square piece with sauce, a slice of mozz, roasted red peppers, with a drizzle of pesto on top. OOOOOhhh, so delicious. Emma ordered a mushroom slice and Ben, of course, had a plain slice.

Don't rush me!