On the first day of school, Maggie had a note about bringing treats to her class for her birthday. Today was finally the day! I took Maggie to the store with me yesterday to pick out something to bring. There were a lot of conditions: couldn't be homemade, no nuts, no cake or cupcakes. Whew! I wasn't sure if we should bring drinks, too, so I bought some juice pouches just in case. Maggie really wanted another Ariel cake, but settled with pink frosted sugar cookies with sprinkles. We were late dropping her off, so instead of going to Babytime and coming back, Carter and I hung out in the lobby until snack time. We joined the class as they came in from the playground to wash their hands, and Maggie was very surprised to see me. Carter was eager to join the class, and headed straight for a chair at the table to enjoy his cookie and juice along with the rest of the kids. As soon as everyone was seated (except for the one kid whom I gather marches to the beat of his own drum), we all (just the teachers) sang Happy Birthday to Maggie. Everyone unceremoniously finished their cookies and juice and bolted to the toys for free play. I guess I was expecting more, but that's okay. Maggie seemed satisfied! Carter and I hung out until it was art time, and he protested going back to the lobby to wait for school to end. He wasn't too upset, though, because he fell asleep on the couch and slept the rest of the time. Today was a work day for me, so we headed over to the folks' house this afternoon. Gramma and Grampa were excited for Maggie to open her present. They had stuffed a gift bag full of various dress-up clothes. Most of them were oversized to make it easy for her to put on and last awhile. There were also a couple of hats (which Carter really liked), socks, and plastic heels (Maggie's favorite). She's having a hard time with the we-only-wear-dress-up-clothes-in-the-house rule. The heels gave her a blister during the 30 minutes she had them on, and she still wanted to wear them out! I had yoga tonight, so I got home after everyone was already in bed. Since I will probably also be the last one up, I decorated for Maggie's birthday and took a picture of it before bed, just in case it looks different in the morning!

ok... so maybe i baked a little for the holidays... hehe. :) these are fun and easy enough. you can frost them with whatever... store bought or an easy homemade powder sugar frosting. delish. Easy Gingerbread Cookies Ingredients 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup molasses 1 egg 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1/2 teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt DIRECTIONS This dough is perfect for creating people, animals, or just about any shape your child wants to decorate. Makes about 2 dozen Preparation time: 30 minutes Chilling time: 1 hour Baking time: 8 minutes Step 1: In a large bowl, with mixer at slow speed, beat flour, sugar, butter, molasses, egg, cinnamon, baking powder, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt until well mixed. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour. Step 2: Preheat oven to 350°F. On a lightly floured surface, working with half of the dough at a time, roll 1/8 inch thick. With floured cookie cutters, cut dough into shapes. Using a metal spatula or pancake turner, place cookies 1/2 inch apart on greased cookie sheets. Reroll trimmings and continue to cut shapes. Bake 8 minutes, or until very lightly browned. Transfer cookies to racks to cool completely.