all done shopping...

Abigail and I went out and about this fine snowy morning. BigLots for one more roll of wrapping paper, two Secret Santa gifts, and some marked-down Christmas cds. An oil change for Benjamin's car at Valvoline, then to Walmart for pizza dough (homemade is better, but 88 cents isn't bad either), and a box of ribbon candy for Aaron. Then Wegman's...they sell 5 pound bags of shredded mozzarella cheese for $12-something. We are having our usual Saturday night pizza tomorrow for Margaret's sixteenth birthday celebration, plus some chicken wings, celery and blue cheese, and carrots and ranch dip. Not me, of course...I do not eat dip, and try to stay away from pizza. Anyway, we got Fluff to make our Christmas fudge, and pears and yogurt and milk. We stopped to fill up Ben's car with gas, and home we came.

Emily and Abigail are moving. They closed on their house on Wednesday, and most of their stuff is moved. Samuel, Sonja, and Jonathan just went to help Abigail move the rest of her stuff into the house.

My little princesses stayed home from school today, again. They were just dragging yesterday. Char had no energy...and Camille had a temperature of 99.9 yesterday afternoon. They are pretty happy though: their big box from the Disney store! Belle and Merida and Ariel and Rapunzel are now playing with them.

Yesterday I got my sugar cookies made...it took too many hours. Rolling them out, baking them, frosting and sprinkling them. I used a new recipe that called for 10 cups of flour and 6 sticks of butter. Kim, I think they turned out pretty good, judging by how many I "tasted".

Now we just have to keep the kids out of them so there will be some left when Ben gets home.

I don't know when that will be yet...I think he is going to surprise us.

It is snowing out! We will be having a white Christmas here in the middle of New York state.

Mirielle and Aaron are tired this week. They had clinical in the hospital, leaving here at 5:30 every morning. And somehow I wake up when they do. This fine morning I couldn't fall back to sleep, so I can totally sympathize with their fatigue...I would LOVE a nap today!

But when those kids get off that school bus in an hour or so, it will be the start of Christmas Vacation! So I don't think I will be sleeping when they come in the door. Nah.

I think I will go do some work around here, make some fudge, switch the laundry.