Cookies, shoppin', workin', & more

Made some cookies.
Did some shopping.
Wrote some notes.
Surfed the 'net.

Oh details, details.
Here they are:

Dale and I made the cookies Sunday afternoon. They were Christmas sugar cookie cut-outs. I don't think I have ever ever ever used the same roll & cut sugar cookie recipe twice. This year I made these from Pioneer Woman. I have only recently (as in about 5 days ago) started reading Pioneer Woman, but she is funny. And appears to cook good food. So Dale and I cut trees & wreaths & reindeer & 2 different shapes of snowmen, and painted them all with an egg-yolk paint and then added some finishing touches with a powdered sugar glaze and some sprinkly things. Great fun. And yummy cookies, even if they were a bit crumbly. But, you know, that's how the .... oh never mind. And yes! I took a picture of some of our little treats.

But there's a story to that, too.

Greg and I received a nice little bit of Christmas money from a generous family member and decided to plunk it all down on a laptop. Yippee! Our desktop has been limping along pathetically for a while now, and makes us pretty nervous now and then that it has reached it's end. It's gotten pretty cranky in it's age. We try to treat it very gently. Ha. So anyway, we have a new laptop! I'm particularly excited about being able to take it to the hospital with us, and it has been great for those times when I must hold and hold and hold Alan.

But.
I don't have my camera software on it yet. And this is where I am typing the blog tonight, sooo... no pics. Maybe tomorrow? Okay? Okay.

On to the shopping.

Had to make a run for some prescription refills. My mom went along with us. Dale needs a new coat. He has a nice windbreaker type, but needs something for when the temps dip below 50. Cuz, you know, 45 is so very cold.

We went to 3 pretty major clothing stores and found the same thing in each: racks full of winter coats warm enough to keep preschool size abominable snow children warm! In a blizzard! And did you notice I said racks FULL of them? It doesn't GET that cold here. Well, ok - so about 2 days out of the year it gets really, frigidly cold, but that is what hot chocolate, long underwear, and 17 layers of clothes are for. I just wanted a medium-weight coat to keep my kiddo warm in the high 30's to mid 40's. Really.
I have turned to the internet for my shopping and there are some promising things turning up. I'll keep you posted.

Happily, I did have some success in some little shopping ventures I managed to work in along side the coat hunt. Some of them were gifts for people who read this blog, so I will not elaborate. But I CAN tell you Mom pointed me in the direction of some very nice black pumps on clearance for $8. And I was actually in NEED of black pumps. Spectacular.

And I also came home with a festive little shirt for Christmas. I was going to be all cool and link to it here, but the store's website didn't have the same color pattern, and I didn't want to be all "well, it's like this but its not" so I just won't link it after all. It is black and red and V-neck and has sparkles and a sash. How's that? I'm already planning how I can get the most mileage out of it before the holidays are over. It took a little work to find it, but it was worth it. :)

And then we came home and blahblahblah and had an afternoon and blahblahblah and after supper I left the boys at home w/Greg and went over to my parents' for some peace and quiet and some put-your-head-down-and-work-real-hard-time.

Last Saturday our church hosted an incredible fundraiser for Alan's medical expenses. I'll tell you all about it sometime. With pictures. For now, all that is relevant is that I have 80-100 thank you notes to write. Whoa. So Mom helped me work my way through the lists and address and all that good stuff. We're about a third of the way done. Maybe more. We agreed to meet again tomorrow and continue. In the meantime, I will be headed to the store for more cards and the good ol' USPS to drop about $50 on stamps. Whoa.

And finally.... came home and got online (does anybody really say "surf the net" anymore?) while nursing Alan to sleep. Mom and I had talked about kids having a lot to do with making it really seem like Christmas and that brought up an Oak Ridge Boys song. I keep wanting to say "old" Oak Ridge Boys song, but it's not like they have any new ones. Hmm. Anyway, I remember it because my mom had it on a record when I was growing up. I looked up the lyrics a little while ago, and it is the first time I've seen them since I've been a parent. It is so much more meaningful as a parent. It is sweet before, but down-right touching after you "get it".

I cried! So maybe I've been a little more emotional lately (stress (even if you don't realize it is there) can do that to you). Anyway, it's a precious song. I'm going to go pray over my boys and try not to cry. :)
And I leave you with the lyrics:

Thank God for Kids
by The Oak Ridge Boys
album: Country Christmas Eve [Capitol] (1995), Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 [MCA] (1984), Christmas With the Oak Ridge Boys [MCA] (1985), The Collection [MCA] (1992), Christmas with the Oak Ridge Boys (1982), Christmas with the Oak Ridge Boys [Universal] (1995), I'll Be Home for Christmas [Liberty] (2001), Colors [Word Entertainment] (2003), Oak Ridge Boys Collection, Vol. 1 [MCA] (1992)

If it weren't for kids have you ever thought
There wouldn't be no Santa Claus
Or look what the stork just brought
Thank God for kids.

And we'd all live in a quiet house
With-out Big Bird or Mickey Mouse
And Kool Aid on the couch
Thank God for kids.

Thank God for kids, there's magic for a while
A special kind of sunshine in a smile
Do you ever stop to think or wonder why
The nearest thing to heaven is a child.

When you get down on your knees tonight
To thank the Lord for His guiding light
And pray they turn out right
Thank God for kids.

Daddy, how does this thing fly?
And a hundred other where's and why's
You really don't know but you try
Thank God for kids.

When you look down in those trusting eyes
That look to you, you realize
There's a love that you can't buy
Thank God for kids...