Christmas Cookies Batch #2-#4 and Jesus's Birthday Party

i've found the recipe for the best cookies. ever. i've already
made them 3 times. they're called million dollar caramel cookies
and i'd wager they're worth at least $786,000, roughly.

ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar, plus 1 tbs
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1 bag rolo chewey caramels

1. preheat oven to 375. beat butter and sugars until fluffy, then
add eggs and vanilla and beat well.
2. in separate bowl, mix flour, cocoa, and baking soda.
add flour mixture to sugar mixture a little bit at a time and
blend well. if the dough feels too sticky, sprinkle in a little extra
flour. cover and chill dough in fridge for about 30 minutes.
(andie note...while adding the flour mixture, the dough gets
incredibly thick. i almost blew out the engine of my mixer so i
had to do it by hand. just so you know, you're doing it right.)
3. place 1 tbs of white sugar in small bowl and set aside.
4. once dough has chilled, wrap a piece around each caramel,
forming a 1-inch ball and covering the candy completely.
dip top of dough ball into sugar and place on baking sheet.
5. bake 7-10 minutes. cookies will look soft, but don't overbake.
let them cool thoroughly.
6. enjoy melty caramel yumminess (that last step is mine)

we attended our church's birthday party for Jesus a couple weekends ago. it was a lot of kids, a lot of chaos, and a lot of fun. i think rachel was a little confused because Jesus wasn't there, but i'm pretty sure she had a good time. i mean, look at that face.
pure, unadulterated excitement.

there was a story time with the cubbie puppets and a shepherd who couldn't find his sheep and was holding a garden tool for a staff. maybe his sheep were just confused. i mean, you can't really blame them.

then there was craft make-christmas-ornaments time. rachel loves some craft time.

look at that concentration.

then they got to decorate 3 yummy snacks: 2 to give to a local nursing home,
and 1 to take home.

lucas got a bird's eye view of the festivities.

she's holding her goody bag and waiting patiently for the next station.

musical chairs with a lot of 3 year olds is a really interesting idea...
and is even more interesting to watch.

rachel had absolutely no clue what the game was about, but she was always quick to find a seat when i screamed at her to sit down. (i might be one of those soccer moms... )

she was actually the runner up! i think the reason she lost was because the little boy she was up against at the end actually understood the point of the game.

then came "red light, green light." she understood this one even less. as soon as the leader said "green light" she took off and didn't stop until she crossed the finish line. all of the other kids were obediently frozen by the "red light."

it wouldn't be a birthday party without some form of cake.

merry christmas and happy birthday, Jesus!