I'd like to start out by saying that I AM still doing Cookie for a Cause so please feel free to place orders! All your orders have come together to help tremendously as my sister notes in her recent post Loaves and Fishes. Thank you so much for all the support. They are facing upcoming surgery, and my sister's fibro has really been growing worse due to lack of sleep in part because Danica is having pain at night, and in part because of her work at home job. They could really use continued support so that my sister has the ability to at least temporarily take a hiatus from working to maintain her own health so she has the ability to fully focus on caring for Danica. I've been messing around with new ways to decorate the cookies and this style (although I also do other icing and heart colors) has become my recent favorite:
Here is my sweet, almost five year old daughter, Harmony, snuggling with me:
It is so hard for me to believe that she is about to turn FIVE years old! She is growing up in so many ways. She is learning self control and kindness that comes from the heart (although, like any almost five year old she has slip ups, but the majority of the time, she is sweet like cookies).
Last year, for her fourth birthday, we had a Care Bears party and I made her a special shirt to wear on the big day.
She surprised me this year by asking me to make another special birthday shirt for her. You never know what things are going to be the most special to kids and she let me know by asking for another shirt that this is one of the things that makes her feel special. She has asked for a dinosaur party this year, and triceratops are her favorite *because of their frill!* so I created this shirt for her:
Her face lit up when she saw it and she threw her arms around me with a huge, "THANK YOU, MOMMY!" It is now hanging in her closet, front and center, awaiting the big day. I wanted to get it done early so I schoolwork wouldn't interfere with me getting it done...or vice versa.
On the 4th of July, Layla decided that Mommy needed to paint her toes. Mine needed done, too, so I decided to go with a patriotic theme. Harmony isn't pictured because a.)she only wanted her fingers done and b.)she wanted teal and yellow, not red and blue. Painting nails is one of the many little joys of having girls, for me.
We were invited to Jaime and Tom's house for the 4th of July to celebrate with a cookout. I decided to bring a dessert and after many red, white, and blue ideas swirled through my head, I finally settled on this.
Cookies AND cupcakes! What could be better? This cupcake is a supremely moist white cake with cherry jello poured over it while it was still hot from the over and after I poked holes in it with a chopstick. I then chilled it thoroughly and made the topping out of thick vanilla pudding with Cool Whip folded in. I topped that with my famous sugar cookies *yes, the same ones I make for Cookies for a Cause. I tinted the small star blue with food coloring before baking and I topped the large star with red sugar sprinkles before baking. I love how they turned out. This is a cool, light summer treat and everyone enjoyed them.
One day over break, Marc and I took the girls to a sitter and went to the beach. They were SO good while we were gone, that we decided they deserved a reward. Marc took Harmony out for ice cream, and I stayed home with Layla and gave her a special treat. I gave her two colors of leftover cupcake topping, 3 kinds of sprinkles, and some mini marshmallows to decorate a cookie with. I let her choose a cookie cutter and cut out her cookie and then eat it however she wanted. She choose to dip her cookie into the topping and then eat the sprinkles afterward. I, personally, think her treat was better than ice cream, but I think I'm more of a cookie girl.
I start back to school Monday, so soon you will be getting delicious World food posts. I can't wait to share it with you!
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