leave it to the professionals

armed w/Pillsbury refrigerated cookie dough and a simple royal icing recipe, i thought i would bake some xmas cookies with the girls, in hopes they'll have some memories of baking w/mom, if once a year. i'm not a baker and have even made a hobby of sampling all the bakeries in town

(if you have a favorite let me know).

i rolled and the girls helped pat and shape/cut their dough. eric even did a couple of free-hand animals and tigger. i can see why moms get into this.

here they are out fm the oven. and folks that's why i leave it to the professionals. even decorated, they still looked like blobs, but with color.

they were actually quite yummy-- chewy with crispy edges and not too sweet or buttery. go premade dough. the girls enjoying the final product (vienna likes to eat her cookie face on).

xmas photo shoot '08

we take professional pics once a year at xmas time. really, the only professional pics not counting the girls' school pics.

love love the magic of christmas, but i always feel extra stuffed fm all the turkey gobbling---not optimal for picture taking. the girls did great, we were able to get tons of shots lasting over 1 1/2 hr--- maybe we should call the child modeling agency hahhaha. our photographer friend comes to us, which makes it awhole lotta easier.

here's this year's photo shoot, the best of the crop shots. can you tell i love props (and outfits).