Looks like Marcel found himself a new buddy at La Casa, our seasonal visitor, Ellie the Elf.

 

I wonder if Marcel was sharing his holiday gift list with her to take back to Santa at the North Pole?

He has been very good this year!

Monday night I went to a cookie exchange. I stayed up late on Sunday making six dozen cinnamon-ginger cookies to take to the exchange. Once there, we were told to take four dozen cookies in what ever number combination from the cookies offered. Then we could make up the remaining two dozen cookies with what was there so we were taking home six dozen assorted cookies to replace the six dozen same we brought.

I probably botched the explanation I was given at the time, but the math still didn't make sense to me based on the number of cookies on the table and number of attendees that night.

Anyway, the short version is that I chose to take home less than six dozen cookies because A: not all the cookies brought by others appealed to me, and B: a lot of the cookies I was interested in disappeared very quickly by attendees in line in front of me.

But really, I didn't have the room in my container, nor did I want to have six dozen cookies to take home. That's a lot of cookies, and I still have a bunch of cinammon-ginger cookie dough left over in the refrigerator.

And finally, truth-be-told, not everyone makes a good cookie (the hearts above were fabulous, though, I have to say!) unfortunately, so it's really a gamble when you go to a cookie exchange where you only know the person whom was kind enough to invite you.

Last night we spotted our beloved fifth family member, the Bumble, while shopping at Trader Joes!  You can't tell by the photo, but the girls are saying "Bumble" for the picture I took.

 



 

Eddie has an Asus tablet made by Google that the girls love to play age appropriate compuer games on at home. It has a pretty bright red leather case. Bean refers to the tablet as an "iPatch" which greatly entertains Eddie and I to no end, since we are not a Mac household.

Eddie has downloaded several of Bean's favorite Boyton books and sometimes we're naughty parents and let one of them go to bed playing computer games or having books read to them. "Tech in bed" Eddie disdainfully calls it. I don't really have a problem with it, but ironically, Mr. Electronics-of-the-House-And-Must-Have-Latest-Gadgets, does.

Go figure.

On occassion, it's the only way we can keep Bean in her bed so we can watch a "grown-up movie" as Bean refers to it, without her thinking she can sit next to us and watch the movie, too. Sometimes, I have to go as far as claiming I'll revoke her beloved Zebra bowl for breakfast the next morning lest her toe touch her bedroom floor when it should firmly remain in bed.

I don't have a problem with delivering threats, either, as you can see.

 

Is ironically, a little too salty for my tastes.

 

I think my favorites so far are ginger and peach...

Nancy has turned me on to another wonderful sewing blog, and as I was skimming the writers description of her Thanksgiving weekend when I read this:

"...So on Thanksgiving weekend, I made two pair of Marcy's pants. I might have stopped at one, but I made two pair of Katherine's and, as a mother of two girls, it's best when things are "even". ;)"

No truer words have been spoken. As the mother of two girls myself, I can attest, this is the absolute truth.

And I suspect it's only going to get worse as my Bean and Bear, get older. Eddie already learned the hard way from his first work trip to Australia. Since then, any gifts he brings back for the girls, are pretty much the same thing.

It slightly minimizes the regular drama that ensues in our household.