Mr. Bingle

Ok so I really didn’t want to go out last night Christmas shopping AGAIN.....It’s cold. When I left four years ago to live in Germany it was not cold around this time of year in New Orleans.  It’s normally warm around Christmas time. I come back and I think I brought the cold back from Germany. 


Not loving the weather.

So off I went yet again out in the cold to finish Christmas shopping. Only one kid left to buy for. Four out of five were done. That’s not so bad, right? Normally I do it all in one day but it didn’t work out that was this time. So last night I got the fifth child’s presents and was DONE! 

Ok well not done, done.

I’m bad....

Really bad about Christmas. I’m not ever OFFICIALLY done. I start off good, with a budget and all. 

I finish.....I stick to the budget......

then I add.....and add some more. Until there are not anymore days left to shop...like until December 23rd.  


I’d shop on the 24th but our family does their annual Christmas party on Christmas Eve. It’s been that way since I was born and we still do it that way.  

So yeah, I’m one of those parents. The one who buys and buys and buys until I run out of shopping time. 


Yes, my kids are spoiled. 


Yes, they have too much junk.


 Yes, I will regret it. 


I always do. Especially when I’m tripping over toys.....or worse, stepping on them. 

Are you ever barefoot and step on a toy? Yeah, that Hurts like doo doo. 

So I worked on some cookies before I went shopping last night. 

All this Christmas shopping gets me thinking about when I was a kid and so excited about Christmas. I’m really gonna show my age here, but do you guys remember Mr. Bingle? No, I’m not that old, only in my thirties but I do remember Mr. Bingle. He was the Christmas icon of the department store, Maison Blanche. He was Santa's assistant. He’s was a true New Orleans icon.

So I could not go making Christmas cookies without making a cookie of Mr. Bingle. 

What reminds y’all of Christmas time as a child? Any special memories? I’d love to hear them.

Jingles....The Elf on the Shelf

As if my kids didn't get into enough trouble on there own, Jingles came to our house a few days ago.  Jingles is our Elf on the Shelf. He comes every Christmas. It's such a cute family tradition.

I'm sure y'all have seen people posting pictures of their Elf on the Shelf on Facebook.  He's Santa's little helper that comes to our house every Christmas to keep an eye on the children. He goes back to see Santa every night to report on their behavior. The next morning his location has changed.

Problem is......

Whose gonna watch him?

Jingles gets into more trouble than the kids could.

Well the other night Jingles thought he'd get into my baking supplies. Oh Yeah......Death to the Elf!

But then when I saw the cute cookie he made, I wasn't so upset with him anymore.  Now he's a little bit full of himself because he made a cookie of HIMSELF. But hey, it's all good.......because he picked up all his mess too. YEAH for Jingles!

How do you like his little piping bag? Pretty cute huh?

Ok so I just thought I would share Jingles and his cookie. This is exactly how my little cookie monster found him.

How could I get mad at him? He can cookie!

*Disclaimer: No sprinkles were harmed in the making of this*

Christmas Lights.....and Bieber Fever

Justin Bieber......yeah my three year old is begging Santa for a Justin Bieber singing doll.....well it’s more a Barbie than a doll in my opinion, but that’s what it’s listed as. 

When shopping last night I somehow managed to convince my husband to purchase this doll. Twenty-five dollars later the doll was in the car.....ok it was more like $150 later because you know you can’t go to Walmart and spend under a hundred. 

This morning she was letting Jingles, our Elf know that she wanted a Justin Bieber doll that sings “Baby”and to please let Santa know.

OHHHH POO! Yep POO....the one I bought did not sing “Baby” but sang “Somebody to Love”. Now all you parents out there know this is where you PANIC.....that’s right you PANIC and frantically call every store in town and out of town to find this doll because your 3 yr old has major Bieber fever. 

I could have saved myself the hassle and paid $65 for it on Amazon, but instead I’m driving to Target an HOUR away to pick one up......they have three left. No amount of bribing helped in having them hold one for me or would allow me to pay for it over the phone. 

So here we are in the car driving the hour drive to Target. After all I need to get her the right Justin Beiber doll. 

With the Christmas season so hectic there’s hardly time for anything. No worries, I still made you some cookies. 

Once again I opt for SIMPLE.....hey I had to, we’re out looking for Justin Bieber.....much harder than finding WALDO.

And I must add that when we arrived at Target, they never had any and never did have them in the store. Geez don't you just love it when a store says they carry something that they don't.

So my choices are to give her the one we already purchased.....or

spend $65 and hope it arrives on time.....man decisions, decisions...oh how I hate decisions. 

How's everyone else's Christmas shopping coming along?

Tomorrow I may stick to online shopping. It's safer that way....

I think.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

Apparently I'm a big air head.  Seriously my head must be up in the clouds somewhere.

First I numbered wrong on my blog giveaway......

Then I did a Sunday Facebook Shout out....ON A SATURDAY...oh yeah that was me....maybe it will up my talk about numbers (just a thought)

And then tonight when my husband was on Staff duty all night.....yeah AGAIN....I was watching a show on the DVR from a few weeks ago and a severe weather alert comes on.

I PANIC....I get all OMG the weathers gonna be bad and I'm home alone with no husband.....UMMM HELLO IT'S A RECORDING FROM WEEKS AGO.

I looked like an idiot, my teenage daughter laughs at me and I just know she is now texting all her friends about my stupidity. Yeah her 15,000 a month text messages are mostly about something stupid I did or about her being mad at some injustice I've done to her.

Yep that's my life around here.....cookies and jokes about mom.

At least the cookies won't make fun of me.

This weekend I got off on a Reindeer kick.  I don't know what came over me but Rudolph was on the brain. I knew when I bought the ornament cutters from Fancy Flours I was going to make many different cookies with them.  If Sweet Sugarbelle has taught me one thing, it's been to think outside the box when it comes to your cookie cutters. I mean seriously have you seen the creativity that girl has?

I wanted to come up with other creative ways to make Rudolph. Not everyone is obsessed with cookie cutters like I am and may not have these ornament cutters.

 So, I wanted to make a few with more common shapes. Some cutters that most cookiers are likely to have....like a heart, gingerbread girl, and a bone that I modified before baking. Then show you how I made them.

These were really so easy to make there isn't a need for a tutorial.....BUT.....For those who like a step by step visual, I'm gonna walk you through the process. After all I needed a good excuse to use the My Memories Suite software that one of my readers will receive in my giveaway.



Here are the steps and a cute use of the Scrapbooking software.

Be sure to let the icing dry a few hours in between steps.