Oven Lovin' Cookies

When I was growing up - and there wasn't any dessert in the house - my mom would put frosting between two graham crackers and call it a "cookie." She was typically just trying to use up leftover frosting in the fridge. But truthfully, we liked that delicious, make-do dessert.

For these kitschy little oven cookies, I combined my nostalgia for graham crackers and my love of 3-dimensional food crafts. After I assembled my first one, I realized that a mini cupcake would fit perfectly inside. Bonus! 

Wouldn't these be fun to make for a "bun-in-the-oven" gender reveal party with pink or blue cupcakes? 

You can find my step-by-step instructions and photos at She Knows.

Eight is Great!

Bea turned eight (great) years old this week. For the last three years, she's celebrated her birthday making stuffed animals with friends at Build-a-Bear. But this time she wanted to get manis and pedis with her best pals, Peyton & Morgan. (Amazing how quickly they grow up, huh?) So that's what we did.

There was also lots of celebrating with cake, presents, laughter, a sleepover, and more cake.

For her birthday treats at school on Monday, Bea asked me to make calico cat cookies. Halfway through baking them, she expressed her disappointment that they were sugar cookies and not chocolate chip cookies. Apparently, I missed the memo instructing me to make them out of chocolate chip cookie dough. But she graciously agreed to take them to school anyway, and all the kids said they loved them. (Thank goodness. Sometimes, there's just too much pressure on this mom to get the birthday treats right. I guarantee my own mother never suffered this much angst over a cookie.)

The next Denneler birthday in this house is mine. I'll take one just like Bea's, please - manis, pedis & cake!

Flower Girl

A few weeks ago, Bea got to be a flower girl in her cousin's wedding. Casey and Grace Denneler got married in Colby, and they had two flower girls and two ring bearers. It was just too, too cute.

Our little girl doesn't get dress up very often. And very rarely does she wear hair or jewelry accessories, so I took as many photos of her as I could to remember the moment. I'm pretty sure she felt like a princess-for-a-day.

The wedding was absolutely perfect. Beautiful bride, handsome groom, fantastic friends and family. And a reception that was so much fun. I don't think Bea stopped smiling until she fell asleep that night. What a special day to share with loved ones.

Dog Rocker vs Cat

For a cat family, we seem to make a lot of "dog"' themed projects.

Eric built another delightful dachshund rocker a few weeks ago for some first-time, soon-to-be grandparents in Omaha, Nebraska. 

Before shipping the pooch off to it's new home, I took it outside to get some photos in the yard, and our curious cat had to check things out.

I think Eric needs to make a cat rocker next time, don't you?