Cookies, cookies, cookies!

** this is a rewrite because I know no one actually reads the entire thing and I have to put the adorable Luke anecdote first**
Luke and Sadie spent Monday at my girlfriend's house so I could get the last of my Christmas shopping done. When I came to pick them up, Susan told me that Luke wouldn't eat lunch and just stood by oven and demanded cookies.

Now Luke went through this stage when he first discovered the oven, but after a month or so, he realized that cookies do not constitute an entire meal. His regression into sugar-obsession is completely my fault.

Our first sugar load was last Sunday night when I made lemon bars for our dessert meeting. We were having a team get-together for our Ragnar 2012 team and apparently I had a lapse of sanity because I thought that eating loads of dessert went hand in hand with talking about a 200 mile relay race. Exercise is only necessary to burn off dessert calories anyway. Why else would people actually want to run? Plus I thought I could get them all sweetened up so all the talk about training and no sleep and the hills would seem fun.

Monday night is FHE night, so of course we needed dessert. We even had company since Tia's husband was also out of town and Work Widows need to stick together. I did recycle Sunday's leftovers but then I thought the little boys might not like lemon bars so I whipped up a batch of chocolate chip cookies as a back up.

Tuesday my oven was on for four straight hours (which I didn't mind because it is FREEZING in AZ right now) because Wednesday night was our Ward's Annual Hayride. All the kids end the night at our house for hot cocoa and cookies. You need a lot of cookies (and hot chocolate) to feed 30 hungry teenagers. We made Oatmeal Scotchies, Chocolate Chip, Mint Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Peanut Butter. . . I was so sick of baking, I actually called my neighbor and asked if she'd make a brownie mix for me because I couldn't beat one more egg. My kids are always complaining that our house is too small and I always tell them that our house always fits the people we love. Wednesday night might have been a tight squeeze. But I love a house filled with fun and laughter and I'm always happy to offer up a warm place and lots of food. I love love these youth.

Wednesday was dedicated to making cookies for Thursday night's Cookie Exchange Party. When the Ward boundaries were realigned, the self proclaimed "Crazy Cookie Lady" ended up in our ward. I had heard that this party was over-the-top fun and I was ecstatic when I scored an invite (despite being a social leper known as "The Bishop's Wife").

My very sweet girlfriend, Julie, offered up an extra set of hands and her cookie expertise. We mixed, shaped, frosted and sprinkled over 200 spritz cookies. It took over 4 hours of both of us on our feet. I think I would have gone crazy (if that's possible because I might already be there) if I had baked all of those by myself. I feel so blessed to have friends who come and make even mundane tasks fun. Those are 144 plain, chocolate and mint spritz cookies. The other 5 dozen went to my children and the Hayride kids. Well not all of the cookies went to a good home. Apparently chocolate spritz cookies that you make in the shape of trees before you realize they look like giant turds are not appetizing. But the mint and plain went fast.
The Cookie Exchange was not over-hyped. I felt like I was on Oprah's Favorite things. Dinner was better than any Christmas dinner I've ever eaten (originally I had typed "made" -- ha ha, like I've ever made Christmas dinner), plus a box of 15 dozen different cookies and then gift bags! Mine had the cutest Santa Cookie Jar.

Right after the Cookie Exchange was our Book Club Christmas party. I cheated and brought fixings for the Hot Chocolate bar. There was too much food there (as always), so no one seemed to mind. And the Hot Chocolate Meredith made was AMAZING, so I totally piggy-backed off of her success. People would rave over the Hot Chocolate Bar and ask if I had tried it. I would then tell them that I brought some stuff for it and they would fawn all over me. But then I would have to come clean and admit that everything I bought came from a store. Also, I should add that I love our book club more than one should.

We read What Men Live By, which I can not recommend enough. It was beautiful and I found the message very profound. It's also really short, so if you click on that link, you too can read it in half an hour and say you read Tolstoy in your spare time.

Saturday was the Brandes' Ugly Sweater Party. I offered to bring a dessert 2 weeks prior -- before I had looked at my calendar??? That's the only logical explanation I can think of. I really had plans to make something new and yummy that's been sitting on one of my Pinterest boards forever, but instead it turned into a Laura Numeroff book.I was home from my run by 10 with nothing to do so I ran over to Brenda's to borrow an ugly sweater. It was so 80's that I thought maybe I needed some legwarmers. This meant going to Target on a Saturday 2 weeks before Christmas. . . Then I ended up getting one of my Young Women to style my hair 80's (you know, to match my sweater and legwarmers. That is SUPER important) because I have zero hair skills. That ate up more time than I thought it would so and I whipped up a batch of plain old brownies. Well not plain old brownies, it was the Ghiradelli mix from Costco which are the most delicious brownies ever. So delicious that Luke kept on insisting that I feed them to him on the way to the party. All I would hear from the back of the car was, "I WANT CHOCOLATE!"

And so that is the story of why my son thought it perfectly appropriate to have cookies for lunch on Monday. Plus I've been the worst role model. I may have had a tall glass of milk and four cookies and calling it "lunch" one or two days last week. I have no self control, help me! We (Sadie) are happy Daddy is coming home tonight because he's good at chopping vegetables and reminding us to eat all the food groups. Does your husband say things like, "You need more protein," too?