Where does the time go? I’m still not quite sure how we got from December to April so quickly. The boy and I just wrapped up a fabulous Spring Break. Neither of us wanted it to end (me more so than him!). I forgot what it feels like to slow down and just be. Needless to say, I am counting the days (39 work  days, in case you are wondering) until summer. Though I’ve been away from the blog,  I have still been doing orders (as much as I can), I’ve just become much more realistic about what I can manage and still keep my sanity in tact.

These cookies just had to be shared, as they were made for a pretty amazing little girl named Brooke. Is she not the most adorable girl you’ve seen! At four years of age, she has faced more challenges than many will face in a lifetime. Brooke’s mom, Jenni and I have known each other for years from teaching.  At just a few weeks old, Jenni, and her husband were given the devastating news that Brooke had a rare heart disease, which enlarged her heart. At two and a half, Brooke was given the gift of life and received a heart transplant from a donor. She is now turning four and healthy and happy. I am so inspired by Brooke and her family. They have made the choice to  let Brooke live life to its fullest. She is in preschool and dance, and is a girly girl! You can read more about Brooke and organ donation here. 

Brooke had her birthday at Build a Bear and I was super excited to do cookies for her. She requested bear cookie favors that had purple and pink on them and bows in their hair. Since boys were invited to her party, we made some boy bears too. Each cookie favor bag also included a little red heart, just like the little hearts that are sewn into the kids’ bears. Adorable bears for an adorable girl… if I do say so myself!

Be back soon (a very relative term, I know)!

Here’s another batch of cookies I made in the past couple of weeks. Hope you’re enjoying these last couple days before Christmas.

It’s kinda sad when 6 days before Christmas my most recent post is of Halloween treats. And quite honestly, I’m not exactly sure how we got from Halloween to Christmas so quickly. It has been such a crazy year. My KitchenAid has been running overtime the past couple of weeks…tons of cookie dough and royal icing!! I didn’t want to let Christmas go by without posting. The boy and I are off to Washington DC right after Christmas to visit our friends. We are both looking forward to a much needed break from our daily routine.

Wishing you all a merry Christmas!! Savor all of the time with your families.

Life continues to go by at warp speed, and as cliché as it is, there really are not enough minutes in the day. My new recent weight loss plan is to keep crazy-busy and not stop moving until around 9, at which point I’m too exhausted to get up and fix anything. Each night the boy and dog-child nag/bark at me until I surrender to the couch for “tv time”.
In addition to our normal activities, we’ve now added homework to the mix.  You do not know what homework really means until middle school. It was a monumental day a few weeks back when the boy for the first time EVER asked me to help him with his homework… prior to that time he always refused my assistance (seeing how I have absolutely no experience in education, I guess??) Ironically, of all things he needs help with is algebra. The day will come soon where he will surpass my math capability, but for now we are both struggling through it. And as much as I am missing those early years with my boy, I have to say I’m loving watching him mature and come into his own.

This was the first year we didn’t do our annual drive out to the farm to get my 100 lb+ pumpkin. We decided not to host our giant carving party, and will be gone tonight, so it made sense to skip this year. Also, my pumpkin partner-in-crime dad, who helps me load and unload the pumpkin, is MIA. My parents are still clocking the miles across the US in their new tricked-out, rock-star RV. We always knew they were rock-stars! Though we are very excited for them to live out this adventure, the boy said it best yesterday when he told me that ten weeks is TOO long for Grandma and Grandpa to be gone. Having my parents here all these years has been an amazing blessing in our lives and we are excited to have them back soon. My sis and her family are visiting in a few weeks too. We can’t wait to have everyone back home!

My Kitchen-Aid has been on hiatus since school started, aside from a few cookie orders I squeezed in. I did make time to do a few treats for Halloween festivities this week. One of my latest finds is a chevron cookie cutter. My girlfriend Deb and I both have kind of an obsession with the trendy chevron pattern, so I had to have this. To use it, you bake the cookie shape you want and once cool, press the chevron cookie cutter into it to make an impression. Then, go back and outline with royal icing. I found this at Plastics in Print, an online Etsy shop. They have some really cute cookie cutters and will make custom cutters too.

Wishing you a fabulous night ahead!!

Happy fall everyone! Technically, I’m a few days late, but that’s kinda been the story of my life lately. Middle school is now in full swing and the Naughty One, the boy, and I are back to our regular routine. The Naughty One has resumed her 15 hour per day sleep regimen, and the boy and I are back to school, sports, and work. Why is it that the busier things are, the calmer we feel? A little paradoxical, but we’re creatures of habit…what can I say.

I’m pretty sure today marks the day that I’ve officially lost my cool status (and yes, I do think prior to this I was considered a “cool” mom). This morning in the carpool I made a serious faux pas and knew it the second I said it. I asked the girls if they still play with one of the other girls in our neighborhood, and was quickly informed that eleven-year-olds no longer “play” with friends. I was further informed that middle schoolers are WAY too busy to play and even if they did have free time, it wouldn’t be considered “playing“. Can I tell you how excited I am to relive these junior high years again. Somehow, I have a feeling it’s going to be WAY less amusing in the parent role.

With fall comes one of my favorite things… pumpkin. I posted pumpkin rice krispie treats on my site a few years ago and the photo has been making the rounds on Pinterest. I’ve had a lot of emails asking for directions on how to make these, so I thought I’d do a repeat performance with detailed instructions. These are simple to make and a great recipe to get the kids involved. I tried something a little different this time around. Have you seen all of the flavored marshmallows Kraft has created? There’s chocolate, strawberry, toasted coconut, cinnamon bun, caramel and vanilla, chocolate mint, gingerbread, peppermint mocha, pumpkin, and I’m sure a few more. Who knew??I bought the pumpkin spice marshmallows and substituted the original marshmallows with these. In addition to the pumpkins, we made mini pumpkin pie shaped treats. These would be a fun Thanksgiving treat for your non-pie lovin’ kids.

The boy didn’t dare argue about the adorable-ness of these (he wasn’t given the chance or he might have). He did say they tasted like “nothing” (whatever that means). Did I mention that eleven-year-olds feel free to provide unlimited feedback on every topic? The treats actually do taste like “something”. The pumpkin marshmallows added a hint of pumpkin flavor and gave them a darker color. I added a touch of Americolor Orange to the mixture for the pumpkin color. Better than the original recipe? They’re good, but I wouldn’t go that far.  I’m now wondering if the cinnamon-bun marshmallows would taste even better. Let me know if you try them.

Pumpkin Rice Krispies Recipe

3 tbsp. butter

5 cups Rice Krispies

1 bag (8 0z.) Kraft Pumpkin Marshmallows

tootsie rolls

green icing (tan if you are making the pie shapes)

orange food coloring (optional)

Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add marshmallows and stir until melted. Remove from heat. Add a few drops of orange food coloring and stir to combine. Add rice krispies and stir until thoroughly coated. Let sit for 3-5 minutes.*

To make pumpkins: form rice krispie mixture into balls. If your hands are super sticky, you can spray them with a little non-stick spray. Insert half of a tootsie roll for the stem. Once firm, pipe green icing for the vine.

To make pumpkin pies: Spray a standard cupcake pan with non-stick spray. Fill each cupcake with rice krispie mixture and press down to mold. I filled mine about half-way. Once firm, use royal icing or frosting to pipe. I used royal icing tinted with a little gold and warm brown. The criss-cross lines were piped with Wilton tip #46 and the border was piped with tip #102.

Store in an air-tight container.

*It’s important to let the mixture sit in the pan for a few minute so that it’s firm enough to form into pumpkins.

Happy Fall!