That's the way the cookie crumbles...

For those of you playing a very Brandi Christmas from home, we checked off tradition #3 this past weekend--making Christmas cookies! I decided to get adventurous and try a gingerbread house this year. That was an ill-fated decision for many reasons. First, the kids are nowhere near patient enough for such a project. Second, while the pattern was easy enough to follow, I didn't use a "gingerbread house" gingerbread recipe, but rather my tried and true recipe for cookies. What's the problem, you ask? Well, I like soft cookies, so my recipe produces cookies with a chew versus a snap--not the ideal building material. Third, while I was making Martha Stewart's "caramel glue" I decided I could multi-task and fold some laundry, answer a visitor at the door, and help Lainey spell words for her 1,237,895 Christmas card. I was wrong. I let it overheat and it turned from edible glue into a crystallized mess in my saucepan. Fine--who needs Stewart's caramel glue? We'll use tried and true royal icing. Now, the icing turned out just fine, but there really was nothing strong enough to reinforce the crumbling walls and roof. Womp, womp. I told the kids they could still eat the pieces, so they were cool with it. I even cut several squares out of the remnants for decorating. 

Maybe next year...

So, glad I salvaged some cookies from the ginger bread debris, because...

...about three cookies into decorating, I bumped the container with my elbow and sent three dozen sugar cookie cut-outs crashing to the floor. 

As Lainey is fond of saying, "oh, nuts!"

As you see in the faces above, they didn't take this mishap as well as the gingerbread house. But, they did eventually forgive me and we still had plenty of cookies to have fun decorating. It's just as well over half the cookies were destroyed, because Nick ate most of the frosting along the way. So much so that when we were done, and they were allowed to eat a cookie, he didn't even want one.

Our masterpieces

It's hard to believe we're just a few days away from Christmas Eve...and even harder to believe we're only a week-and-a-half away from 2017!!!

It's Christmastime in the City

Well, we got one looking at the camera...

...and two faces, but no eye contact.

This past Saturday we made our traditional trip (does three consecutive years count as tradition?) downtown to see the Macy's Christmas windows and enjoy the general hustle and bustle of the city. The windows were a little lackluster this year, but per usual, the kids were more fascinated by the street bucket drummers anyway. And because we moved through the windows so quickly, we had plenty of time to fit in our other annual tradition of shopping for Christmas ornaments at Macy's. Usually we do this at the Old Orchard location, because it's less crowded, but now that we are free of strollers and our kids have some semblance of how to behave in public, we decided to go for it. I'm so glad we did, because a) this now frees up a day next weekend and b) the selection was 10 times the size! The kids loved it and I only had two panic attacks as they jostled merrily around the dozens of trees adorned top to bottom with delicate glass ornaments. We did witness a breakage by a very careless woman, who completely ignored the situation, but Lainey helpfully drew her attention back by quite loudly saying, "What? Is she not going to even try to clean it up? What's wrong with people?" (I just don't know where the girl picks up these phrases! Hmmmm....)

We grabbed some quick lunch at Latinicity before heading back to Union Station to catch the train. The kids were really into the Latin music playing. Lainey popped up in the window sill at one point and started busting a move and raising her eyebrows up and down. Mark said, "Lainey you are making me very concerned for 15 years from now." (I just don't know where the girl picks up these behaviors! Hmmmm...) 

Part of the tradition is the kids get to have cookies on the train ride home, so we popped into Au Bon Pain. While I was reaching the top shelf to grab two cookies, Nick was helping himself to the frosting on a cinnamon roll on the bottom shelf. Sooooo, we got that too.

A fun trip downtown for the kids earned Mark and I a grown-up dinner out. We traversed the snow to have dinner at Sink/Swim in our old stomping grounds, Logan Square. It was soooo good! We devoured everything (and we ordered A LOT). Simple seafood dishes, but done really well. 

We capped off the weekend by rising early on Sunday and getting to the sledding hill before anyone else. It was awesome having the space all to ourselves! So much fun (although Mark and I were both sore today). Back at the house it was hot cocoa (and the accidental cinnamon roll) and a Christmas music dance party.

So fun! Let's keep the Christmas cheer going...

Ready to hit the hill

Catching air off the ramp...

Cutest sledder EVER!