Is a snowman considered edible art?

It is if you ask Bea.

I swear, Gus and I would have been finished building our snowman 30 minutes earlier if she hadn't munched on him the whole time. "Nummy snowman, mommy. He's deelishush."

Never mind the leaves and grass that she probably swallowed in the process, our snowman did have some edible features - a carrot nose and some Russell Stover chocolates for the eyes. (You know, those nasty pink-marshmallow-centered ones that nobody likes.)

We've had just enough snow over our Christmas break to keep us entertained and not cabin-fevered.

Wii wish you a Merry Christmas.

Gus and Bea must have been extra good this year, because Santa brought them some very nice presents. Gus got the Wii he desperately wanted and Bea danced with delight when she opened up her box to find a pink unicorn with wings.

Nothing's more magical than Christmas time with kids.

Christmas Cookie Craziness

I love baking cookies. Don't get me wrong. But making 16-dozen, frosted and decorated sugar cookies last week for Christmas just about put me over the edge. (On top of all the other hub-bub that goes on the week before ol' Santa Claus comes to town!)

Why 16 dozen? Because I have a lot of nieces and nephews that LOVE Aunt Sandy's sugar cookies. And I would hate to disappoint.

When all was said & baked, I think I used: 8 cups of butter, 6 cups of sugar, 16 cups of flour and 6 bags of powdered sugar. Six bags! That's insane. But mighty tasty.

Pet Project

Sometimes, after I've worked on design projects all day at WSU, I come home and work on more design projects... just for fun. Oh, and a little profit too. (Backyard rocketships aren't cheap you know...)

In June, a friend-of-a-friend of mine at the Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Hospital of Wichita contacted me to create a new brochure for them. Well, it was suppose to just be a brochure. But then it turned into a new logo. And then of course, that turned into designing some new business cards, letterhead and envelopes to go along with it. Which kinda snowballed itself into a few months of work for me. But it's work that I'm very proud of and happy to have been given the chance to create.

If you ever find yourself needing a vet in the middle of the night, on the weekend, or over a holiday, these are the people you call - Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Hospital of Wichita. You can pick up their new brochure and handy-dandy refrigerator magnet (for quick reference) from your local vet clinic.

Gotta love Target.

I'm such sucker for all the cute product lines at Target. Which is why I couldn't resist these adorable melamine penguin plates. I got 10 of them back in November, to give to Bea's little buddies at daycare for Christmas. Attach a bag of Oreo cookies to each wing, and voilà - penguin present perfection on a plate.

Thanks Target, you rock! Can't wait to see what you have for Valentine's Day....

WuChock

Behold, the WuChock - a chocolate WuShock.

I've been at Wichita State University for almost two years now, and this is my first attempt at making an edible version of our lovable mascot, WuShock.

To make a chocolate WuShock, you have to use Rolo candies, Mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Tootsie Rolls and chocolate frosting.

Do they look creepy? Yes. But then, so does WuShock. He's on every possible Top 10 List of funniest, creepiest, lamest or most ridiculous college mascots.

And yes, I'm aware that my chocolate WuShocks could also be mistaken for Beaker from the Muppets, or Sideshow Bob (Krusty the Clown's half-brother) from the Simpsons. But I don't care. They were delicious.

Turning 38 with sprinkles on top.

My birthday cake this year was a family affair.

Eric did the difficult part - the baking, the frosting & the cleaning up.

And the kids joined in on the fun part - SPRINKLES!

Nothing makes you feel young again like cake with sprinkles.

Lots and lots of them.

A frosting foible.

So, what do you do when your frosting won't cooperate? You texturize it with the tip of a corn-cob holder so that it LOOKS funky on purpose.

This brown sugar frosting is one of my favorites, but dang....it's a bitch to get right. It's either too runny or too clumpy or too dry or too much of a pain-in-the-ass. I've decided to quit fighting it and try texturizing it.

I like it.

Ho, ho....hey Santa, you're crushing me.

The kids went to see Santa Claus and The Gingerbread Man today, and Gus got more than his share of holiday love. Ol' Santa had an elfin-grip on him so tight, I thought he was going to squeeze Gus' breakfast right out of him. Maybe someone needs to have a talk with Kris Kringle about "personal space?"

Bea asked Santa to bring her a unicorn. And Gus said he would like a Nintendo Wii. And Santa promised that he'd find room in his sleigh for both.