With love, the Dennelers

Whew. I finally finished the 2010 Denneler Family Update and dropped them in mail this week – all 100+, hand-folded, heart-shaped, finger-cramping, personally-addressed "love" letters to friends and family. (I'm sorry if you didn't get one. I don't intentionally try to leave people out. I probably just don't have your address in my super-duper, handy-but-nerdy, Excel spreadsheet.)

In case your letter got lost in the mail, here's the virtual version. Still filled with lots of love, I promise.

*Bonus: this option causes fewer paper cuts. So there's that....

*Here are some closeups, in case you'd like to read every last detail. Please remember, I'm an art director, not a copywriter. Or a proofreader, for that matter.

Before you know it.... Bea's four.

Our little Bea celebrated her 4th birthday today with her buddies from Adventureland Daycare and a giant, pink bumblebee cake. It was going to be yellow, but Bea made a last-minute "PINK!" demand, and I hated to disappoint the birthday girl. And no, I did not defy cake gravity. The bottom half is made of styrofoam mounted on wooden dowel rods, and the top half is cake. The whole thing is covered in buttercream icing and crushed cookies.

All that work, and then Bea only wanted to eat the chocolate wings and stinger. Go figure. But everyone else had their fill of frosting and fun. We bounced in the inflatable house, slid, swung & climbed on the rocketship, built sandcastles, played house, picked flowers, ate pizza, drank juice and giggled. A lot. It was everything a 4-year-old could ask for and more.

Chicken coop in bloom.

Before Gus was born, I found this old, rusty metal chicken coop at an antique store and thought it would make a really cool toy bin. (Insert your bad parenting judgements here.) Eric quickly vetoed that idea, so it got demoted to the backyard. Where it sat. For nine years. Behind our shed. Until this spring. 

I moved it onto the deck and planted impatients inside the coop holes. Doesn't it look gorgeous? I've never been able to plant impatients anywhere at our house because they require so much shade. Now I have the perfect spot. 

Makin' Whoopie (Pies)

This weekend's agenda including a whole lotta boring: haircuts, cleaning and a trip to Home Depot. So I thought I'd spice things up in the kitchen and bake some Gingersnap Pumpkin Cream Cheese Whoopie Pies.
That gingersnap recipe I made last weekend was sooooooooo awesome, I decided they'd be double-y delicious if I sandwiched two cookies between some pumpkin cream cheese frosting. I was right. They're so good, I must give them away. For if I keep them all to myself, I too, will be double-y delicious (in size.) Luckily, I'm late on some birthday treats to a couple of friends. So tomorrow, I'll be delivering my belated birthday bites. Whoopie!

I don't send Christmas cards.

Nine years ago, I designed and mailed out Gus' birth announcements. And every year since then, I've always tried to send a fun "Denneler Update" to family and friends in the fall. It's my version of a Christmas card. Minus the stress & frenzy of the holidays. 

Once a year, I get to be my own client. Sometimes, Eric doesn't even see what I'm doing until it's in the mail. I'm working on our 2010 Denneler Update now - trying to find the perfect mix of informative, entertaining, and cheap to produce. (That's the hardest part, of course.) Here's a look at the last 9 years. Enjoy!

2001 - "Gus' Birth Announcement"

2002 - "Sandals"

2003 - "Tidbits of 2003"

2004 - "Library Cards"

2005 - "The Alphabet"

2006 - "Bea's Birth Announcement"

2007 - "Starbucks Cups"

2008 - "Denneler Family Buttons"

2009 - "Business Cards"

A little Labor Day love.

Today is Labor Day. And Eric is working. Sigh. If you work retail, you end up working when the rest of the world is off playing. In our 15 years together, we've never gotten to spend Memorial Day or Labor Day together. Such is life.

So, to show him how much I appreciate him laboring on Labor Day, I baked his favorite: Molasses Sugar Cookies (a.k.a Ginger Snaps.)

Heart-shaped, of course. 'Cause they're baked with love.