I have a super fun story to tell you guys. Are you ready? I mean, its a really good one, so don't be pretending to listen while doing the dishes or anything. Because, if you do that, you're going to miss the punchline and then I'll be standing there looking at you and  you won't be laughing and then it will get all silent until you realize I've stopped talking. And everything after that will be just awkward. And...I don't really like awkward. I made you parade candy cookies last Saturday. And they were real, real cute. And completely festive because I made them with red, white, and blue icing. It was like one of those dream come true afternoons. My husband was working. (That's not the dream come true part.) My oldest child was reading in his bedroom. My nearly 2 year old was sleeping quietly in her room and the baby was making happy sounds from the living room floor. I had somehow created the most perfect shades of navy and red that ever existed. My lines ...

  Let's back this whole color train up, shall we? First, can I just say that I've always wanted to say that? Not the color part, but the "Let's back the train up" part. Also, I would really like to work into conversation the phrase..."all over creation." You know, like..."my kids have their toys scattered all over creation." I heard my grandma say it once. Right before she said something else that was a naughty word. And I've been trying to come up with a valid situation that would necessitate its use. So far, I've decided it has to be used on an occasion in which I would be slightly raising my voice, but not in anger. Maybe in disbelief or wonderment. And I have to be talking to someone who is NOT in my family because my family doesn't listen to me anyway and it would be totally wasted on them. Also, it needs to be followed by another sentence so that it appears seamless. Otherwise whoever I'm talking to will know t...

I have spent a ridiculous amount of time today trying to discover the "real" name of the graduation cap. And as it turns out....graduation cap IS the real name! The term "mortarboard"  (the term for which I was searching) is really a slang term . I feel cheated somehow. All that time...wasted. Oh sure, I could convince myself that I was on a quest to better myself, that somehow it was the journey that mattered. I could tell my children that their unanswered pleas for a third snack were all in the name of enlightenment and greater good for the...umm...for the...greater good of goodness. And stuff. I'd like a refund on my afternoon please.   Now that I think about it...I don't really care what it is called. What I want to know is who came up with that design? I mean, it's like someone grabbed a spare piece of cardboard and glued it to a hat that strangely resembles a bowl. And then...because that wasn't weird enough, they also took some odd pi...

  Actually, first, let's talk about me again. As previously discussed , I'm not a good Let-It-Goer. Colors are no exception. It was a real, real frustrating thing for me at first. I would have some great color choices in my head... and they would NEVER come out right in icing. Want proof? Check out THESE cookies. Eww. And I've never told anyone this...and its totally embarrassing but...I was so upset about that "perfect" color and my inability to achieve it that I actually put SALT in the icing as well so I wouldn't be tempted to give the cookies to anyone. Clearly...not one of my better decisions in life. Although, my husband never noticed. I'm not sure if that is a reflection on my emotional salt pouring skills or his love for me. Anyway...I've gotten over my color issues and I'm happy to say that my icing has been salt-free for just over a year now. For a while I mixed and stared and mixed and stared and mixed and over-mixed until I started...

These are my very favorite kind of cookies to make. They are the very first kind of cookies I ever made. These kind of cookies are the reason that I ever started decorating cookies in the first place. These cookies are for a soldier deployed overseas. Don't get me wrong. I'm not excited that they are deployed...I just like being able to do something for them. I started making cookies when my husband was deployed. It seemed like I had nothing but time. And a computer. And a library. I learned to do A LOT of cool stuff between the hours of 9pm and 5am. (Obviously...sleeping was not one of the things I learned to do while he was deployed. But don't be like me. Sleep is a good thing. Especially if you are an infant.....Can someone read this post to my child?) I made some real ugly cookies the first time around. And the second time as well. And I made A LOT of them. And I sent them all to my husband. And he shared them. And then he told me that everyone loved them. Secre...

Okay, I know this is totally annoying, but before I tell you who won the contest I want to first say -- I LOVE YOU ALL!! Thank you SO MUCH for entering and sharing and voting and loving and...stuff. I am completely astounded by the sheer number of entries and the pure talent and creativity involved in each of them. I wish I could give every single one of you a prize. You should all be extremely proud of yourselves for the creativity, the execution, and for flat out finding time to make those cookies!! I was really, really excited to get the scores from the judges until the very end when I realized it would be final and only ONE of you could win first place. So...moving along to that very interesting piece of information -- I would like to introduce you to the -- GRAND PRIZE, NUMERO UNO, FIRST PLACE WINNING COOKIE  OF DREAMS-- AMY HAYES from SWEET FACE COOKIES!!! Congratulations!!!! At this point I'd like to be slightly more annoying and just say how much I love...

I think that maybe I should be a novel-title-maker-up person. I would be super great at it. Basically, I would get all kinds of rich and famous by thinking up intriguing titles for novels and then selling them to people who want to write a book that other people will buy. My plan is a little rough at this point. Definitely some details that need to be worked out. But that won't stop me from thinking up great titles in the mean time. And then when this goes big and I'm all in demand and everything, I'll have a whole stockpile of intriguing titles to choose from. My first title -- The Remaining Nine What do you think? It's got potential right? (Tell me you love it.) It could be about these kids that ...or maybe an island where these people...hmmm. Actually, every idea I have is super depressing and kind of dark and that's not really what I'm going for at all. Let's just pretend that this is the title of a super fun book chronicling some hypothetical,...