It's time to bake the cookies!

Yesterday, I finally got that start on my holiday baking.  I guess I can't really call it "my holiday baking" because that, to me, sounds like it is an annual thing that I do.  And it's not.  This is my first year baking for the holiday.  But I chose five recipes that have caught my eye the last few weeks and told myself that I would find time to make them.

I got one done, so far.  I made the peanut butter cookie sandwiches and they are so good but so rich.  Too sweet for my taste.  I love a peanut butter cookie but the filling in these bad boys is RICH.  Whoa.  I can eat one, if I have a glass of milk.  I think that if I made them again, I'd cut the powdered sugar amount in half.  It's just way too much sweetness for me.  Now if  you like super sweet, you'd probably love them.  It's a great recipe, nonetheless.

Today, I'm going to make the thumbprint jelly cookies.  I actually made the dough last night and let it refridgerate overnight.  So it'll be simple to finish those up today and start on the next one.

I still have yet to find the candy cane kisses, so that recipe may have to be nixed off the list. 

I feel like I still have so much to do.  I still have to go out for a few more small things and I'm hoping that I can do that on Friday when Richie is off work. 

This morning, I was reading up on a blog that I follow and she had this quote that just sums up everything in my heart right now, it's by Ann Voskamp and I totally feel that it's worthy of repeating:  "Whenever Christmas begins to burden, it’s a sign that I’ve taken on something of the world and not of Christ.”  Does that not just make sense?  It sure does to me.  And it's the reminder that I needed to just slow down.

Last night, Santa made an appearance at my friend's office (which also happens to be a chiropractor's office) so we drove Kinley over to see Santa and have her adjusted for the first time.  Santa, she again wasn't too fond of....but it being a more unformal visit, she didn't scream *as bad* as the other two times.  She screamed when I sat her on his lap, then stopped, then looked up at him, then screamed again.  It was too cute. 

At her exam, we learned of her trouble spots and she had her first adjustment.  And let me just say that she LOVED the adjustment.  She was laying on her belly and just smiling and giggling.  It was amazing to see the look of pure "feel good" on her face.  I mean, I know how good it feels and I just never realized that she could feel that too...  I mean, I know that she feels enjoyment but to see it on her face like that....it was priceless.  And at that moment, I knew that I had made the right choice and will continue her chiropractic health. 

One last thing, the husband thinks that I made the contest entry a bit confusing.  He said that he couldn't figure it out (not that he's entering, but just as a reader), but him not figuring it out, isn't a huge surprise.  He's one of those guys (well, aren't all guys like this sometimes?) that can't find something unless it jumps out and slaps him on the face. 

But anyway, for clarification's sake, to enter the contest, you must leave a comment.  So let's say I am Jane Doe and I want to enter.  I click on "post a comment" and say "I wanna win the Noxzema razors." and click "post comment."  Let's say that Jane wants a few more entries.  So she clicks "post a comment" again and then says "I follow your blog." and clicks "post comment."  Now Jane wants another entry, so she clicks "post a comment" and says "I'm a fan of your blog on facebook." and clicks "post comment."  And finally, she wants all the bang for her buck that she can get so she goes to her blog/facebook and says "I want to win the giveaway over at Living on Trees blog (and that is a linky link)" and then comes back here and clicks "Post a comment" and says "I just linked your giveaway on my facebook/blog" (blog link if it is your blog, if it is on facebook, it's an honor system kinda thing) and then she clicks "post comment." and then AGAIN clicks "Post a Comment" and AGAIN says "I just linked your giveaway on my facebook/blog" and clicks "post comment."  So Jane now has left 5 comments on the giveaway post, giving her 5 entries to the contest.

When I go to draw a winner (that's tomorrow, BTW), I will count up my total comments on that blog post, and lets say there are 20.  I go to random.org generator and enter that the number is between 1 and 20.  It generates a random number, and let's say it's 9.  I count 9 comments down from the top and let's say it happens to be Jane Doe's comment saying "I just linked your giveaway on my facebook/blog."  She wins.  Done. 

Does that make sense?  So by you doing individual comment posts for each entry, you increase your chances of being the one drawn. 

Man, I hope that was clear because it was a jumbled mess falling out of my head onto my keyboard.

I've got cookies to burn make. And you have a contest to enter.