Baking Day

We have several things on the agenda today, but the main thing is baking day (because I am in denial that sorting/decluttering the girl's clothes will actually take the most time and suck the life out of of me.) Baking is nice. I love the warm oven and yummy smells of vanilla, butter and cinnamon through out the day. I love keeping my tea cup full of True Blueberry or Red Raspberry tea. I do not love sorting children's clothes. So I'm combining the two, hoping (and crossing fingers) that the lure of baking cookies and hot cups of tea will motivate me to quickly move through the sorting/decluttering. And because I live in a complete state of fantasy, I have even more added to my list. The dream wish list, I shall call it! I mean if I get the parlor cleaned top to bottom, and my baking done, AND the clothing thing done, then I might as well just trade my sweat pants in for a wonder woman suit, because I will be all that AND a bag of chips! OK...so onto the baking. Last night I ground flour and started a soaked grain cracker dough. I made it this morning, and the children are nibbling on them and telling me how they remind them of cheeze-its. The recipe is from Nourishing Traditions, but you can also see it on Nourishing Gourmet. It makes a TON of crackers. I used whole wheat flour and whole milk yogurt. I also roll the dough out on a silpat and they bake up perfectly.

Here are some other things I'm baking today:
Mary's Sugar Cookies
(our family's traditional Christmas cookie) I'm making a triple batch. Some dough will go in the freezer and some cookies will be bagged up for AWANA sparks.
Brownie Pudding Cake (original recipe is from an OLD Betty Crocker book)
However, I'm making this version at Nourishing Gourmet.
If time permits I will also make those drop boiled oatmeal cookies that are fast and easy. Hopefully, I will get the AWANA treats all bagged up and ready to go today and tomorrow I can move on to other things.

Other things on the list are:

• finish putting up the garland and Jesse Tree ornaments (I'm SOOO BEHIND!)

• sort through the girl's clothes & declutter too smalls, torn, stained, etc (I think the clothes have been reproducing like rabbits in their closet and under their beds!)
• Tally up points for AWANA store night and email it out
• Rock baby, tend to baby, change baby, chase the baby, save baby from near death falls off of chairs, stairs, etc -repeat throughout the day
• Arrange and set up Christmas Caroling at the nursing home for 4-H
• Clean the parlor top to bottom
• Make sure Miss A does her "over the Christmas Break" homework from CC. Aren't you glad that you don't have 40 pages of Latin, 10 lessons of algebra and more haunting you all Christmas break???
  

Hmm...that list is looking a little scary...especially the part about sorting the girl's clothes. Wish me luck and if I don't come back, then you will know I got lost in the girl's clothes. Seriously, they could clothe a small country of girls!