Christmas Cookies 2007: Day Three / Happy Birthday Sophia!

I'm sick. Sick and miserable. I feel like that claymation kid in the Kleenex commercial who's nose jumps off his face and hides when he tries to wipe it. And to make matter worse, today is Sophia's 9th birthday. Such a bummer for her.

I was planning on making gingerbread men and snowman shaped sugar cookies for the kids to decorate for a little birthday/Christmas fun, but so far I haven't been up to any baking. Vince went ahead and went to work this morning, he had a project that had to be completed today, or else eight days worth of work would have been for nothing. But luckily he was able to leave as soon as he was done, and got back home by ten or eleven this morning. I'm not even sure what time it was, I was back in bed after getting the babies taken care of this morning. So after a bit more bed time, I dragged my sorry butt out of bed and took Sophia to the mall.

Vince and I were planning on taking her to Roy's, our favorite special occasion restaurant, for her birthday dinner. But she wanted to go to Build-A-Bear Workshop. And since I can't really taste anything anyway, it would have been a waste of great food and a lot of money to go ahead and go to Roy's. And it's her birthday after all, so Build-A-Bear it was. She had a great time, and really took her sweet time on which animal to pick. Much to my discomfort, but she finally chose. She ended up with a kind of Christmas-fairy-kitty. And her name is Christie. Christie the Christmas Kitty. I think it's funny how kids give animals human names.

So I totally slacked on the birthday cake, and just ended up buying her a cheesecake from the Cheesecake factory. But honestly, how could anyone complain about a cheesecake from the Cheesecake factory? I think that fulfills my birthday cake dreams, even if a cheesecake isn't technically a cake. And since cake decorating is not my forte, anything I could have come up with would not look quite so nice.
See, I'm trying to ease my guilt over being a slacker mom on my oldest daughter's birthday.

So we came home, and Sophia got to unveil her gift, a new bicycle. She's out riding it right now, so I think she was pleased. Again, easing the guilt. And not to completely let her down today, I am making her a special dinner that she requested . . . juicy, juicy steak, cheesy potatoes, and sauteed green beans.

To on to the Christmas cookies . . .

Honey Caramel Hazelnut Bars

I think these are good, but again, can't really taste anything, so I may be fooling myself. Vince's favorite nuts are hazelnuts, and he said they're good, so I'll have to take his word on it.

Chocolate Caramel Macadamia Nut Shortbread Bars

These are good. I make them last year when my taste buds were working just fine, so I know these are worth the calories. Actually they're better than just good, they're pretty amazing.
Obviously, photography is not my forte either.

Let's see if I can get myself in the kitchen today, and get back on the cookie track.