Happy 75th Birthday!

 

A few cookies + a cute card  

 to wish my pickleball loving brother-in-law a happy birthday.

  

          Dinking of you on your birthday! Hope it's a great one!

 

 

 

A Special Day For Mary Grace

After two years of hard work at the University of Iowa, great-niece Mary Grace began her junior year with her white coat ceremony to signify the beginning of her clinical practice for the College of Nursing. 

 As Mom and Dad sent pictures, the family shared the following text messages: 

 Grandma Rita:

Happy tears, so proud of you. You were only 21/2 when you sat on Grandpa's lap in the emergency room during my stroke (on the day baby sister, Leann was born)  until Uncle Billy could come and get you.  You never made a peep but for the next months and months every time I talked to you, you would ask, "Grandma, you feeling OK?"  You will be a wonderful nurse.

Grandpa Bill:

This is very cool!  You will save some money with that jacket, you can dress up as a nurse for Halloween.  Oh, silly me, I have a hard time sticking to the point.  Looking at those pictures I see a beautiful, smart, enthusiastic woman.  I am really happy for you.  PS your parents did a fine job. 

Aunt Heather:

Yes, I will always remember Mary Grace as wondering "you feeling ok?"  The heart!  The brain! The EVERYTHING!  Go get 'em!!!!

 

Although she might have laughed at Uncle Billy's note, there is a LOT of truth in his words.

Uncle Billy:

"Way to go MG!  You make us all proud.  Toddler MG didn't know she'd be signing up for decades of helping this aging family." 

 

 

                                So proud of this special young woman!

  

 

 

End of School Year Celebration

 

A friend asked for a couple dozen cookies for an end of the school year celebration she is planning.  

 

 

 

A Little Cutie Is About To Arrive

 

A fun theme for a friend's baby shower.  A platter of minis to serve and larger cookies boxed for favors.

 

 

Happy Easter

 

Many, many years ago, I purchased these teeny-tiny crystal bunnies in St. Thomas for 1.00 each.  Buyer's remorse, I should have purchased dozens for gifts.  Of all the things in my home, those bunnies are what people commented on the most.  Over the years countless nieces and nephews played with them, loved making them kiss and they survived it all.  They now happily reside at great-niece Jody's house and have become a family "heirloom."

So, although I keep telling myself to stop buying cookie cutters, when I saw this set from Mike at Semi Sweet Designs, I couldn't resist.

This cute little pair were added to the family cookie platter and boxed as gifts for friends. 

I also finally got around to making this guy that has been on my "to do" list since 2016 when Montreal Confections first posted the design on YouTube.  I couldn't decide if I wanted a fuzzy bunny or not, so he is sporting a beard of sorts. 

In addition to cookies, the lamb cake tradition continues.  Great-nieces Leann and Mary Grace are representing the 4th generation to decorate the cakes.  I baked, they decorated!

                        

 

SIX is for Avery

It's been another wonderful year watching dear, sweet, great-niece Avery grow.  She continues to be a foodie. . . 

 

 

still loves fashion .  .  .

 

and wears it all with style and perhaps a bit of attitude.

 

 

Avery has become quite the little helper this year.  No projects are too big or too small for her.

Kindergarten took her to a new school.  .  .

 

 

. . . and on the first day, she once again said she wants to be a doctor just like she did in preschool.  However, with all of the activities she enjoys, I suspect she might change her mind over and over in the years ahead.

One of Avery's goals this year was to use the monkey bars without assistance.  Although she broke her wrist on a failed attempt, her cast did not slow her down.  The little daredevil even added gymnastics and rock climbing to her routine.

Halloween has always been a favorite holiday for the family and she was quite enthusiastic about decorating this year.

Avery is definitely following in Mom and Dad's footsteps when it comes to interest in design.

Avery's earlier birthday celebrations included cookie designs of my choosing, pastel and cute.

 

However, this year was the first time that SHE chose the theme for her birthday party, Wednesday/Barbie, and asked all of her guests to wear pink.

The theme was a new one for me and I had to do a little research on Wednesday Addams, so it seems that she is following the family tradition of challenging me to make some unusual designs.  Her older cousins had some pretty unusual requests at young ages, too.  Elliot asked for numbers for his sixth birthday so his friends could do math problems at his party.  At nine, Mary Grace requested brains and took her friends to the museum to dissect eye balls.  At ten, Leann wanted to serve her guests chicken nuggets.

From Doc McStuffins to Wednesday Addams, I'll never know what to expect from Avery, but I think she is well on her way to changing the world!

S is for sensational and stunning.

 I is for interesting and imaginative.

  X is for eXtraordinary and eXcellent.

Avery is definitely SIX in every way!

 

 

Love, hugs, cookies and happy birthday wishes!

 

 

 

Finding Dorothy

 

 

My friend Bobbie and I recently hosted our Book Club discussion of Finding Dorothy.

We welcomed our guests with images of the characters from the book and photos of L. Frank Baum's connection to Chicago, while Elton John was singing, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road."

Since my great-niece Mary Grace was passionate about the Wizard of Oz when she was a little girl, I borrowed from her collection of memorabilia to decorate for the evening. 

We added some sparkling emeralds to her vintage collection and decided to wear our own ruby slippers. 

Mary Grace's books collection also added to the event.

We chose appetizers and desserts related to the theme of the evening, including a yellow brick road of cheese and a rainbow fruit platter.

 

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photograph of our poppy field with Parmesan/poppy seed wrapped mini hot dogs and our green gelato with a mini ruby slipper and a broomstick spoon that was the hit of the night!

As the evening concluded we gave each of our guests a swag bag that included additional information related to the book and of course some cookies.

 

As for Finding Dorothy.  .  . Mary Grace will ALWAYS be my lovable Dorothy!

 

References:

Thank you to Jill FCS for the design inspiration for the character cookies.