Baking and Taking

I've been baking cookies today and taking our picture for Christmas cards (hence the title of this post). A few weeks ago I bought a tripod for my camera so that I could take a nice Christmas picture of us all and add it to some cards I'd bought in Target. I wanted this done last weekend but didn't get around to it. December is flying by so I had no more time to lose. The picture came out really well. I don't want to share it here just yet because it will kind of spoil the anticipation for my family and close friends who will get it in the mail. I will add it to my blog just before Christmas when I know my cards will have been delivered to the recipients. I ordered some prints from Walmart from their hour service, picked up the cards this afternoon and now they're ready to go in the post box tomorrow.

Because I can't share our latest Christmas picture, I thought I'd add a picture of Kristen when she was one year old (it was her second Christmas). Isn't she a cutie :-)

Kristen has been taking piano lessons for about 6 weeks now. Today her teacher had a small recital so the kids could play for their parents. She only has about 6 students and they range from age 5 to about 10 (from the look of them). Kristen didn't want to take part, but we did go along today just to see what it was like, and how the other kids are playing. I think most of them have been playing for about a year now. They were really very good, and I am hoping that next time the teacher puts on a recital, which I think will be in the Spring, Kristen might want to take part. It only lasted about 30 minutes, then we had some refreshments and left. I headed to Walmart to pick up my pictures before coming home.

Once home it was time to bake cookies. Our church is hosting 'Merry Christmas with Love', where they collect lots of food, clothes toys etc and distribute to the multihousing communities as well as teachers in local schools and meals on wheels recipients. They will also be delivering cookies to the local fire and police stations this week, to share Christ's love and the real reason for the season. I put my name down to bake 3 dozen cookies. Here they are.... chocolate chip and pecan cookies, and of course we had a few extras to try at home tonight. I wouldn't send cookies off without first trying them and this was the first time I tried this recipe from my new cookies in a jar book, so I wasn't sure how they'd turned out. Not to worry, they are yummy!

Well, it's time to hop off here. Bedtime for Kristen. We're nearing the end of 'Charlotte's Web' (a story I've never read) and I'm eager to find out what happens in the end. I want to rent the new movie of this from Blockbuster next. I think both Kristen and I will enjoy watching it.