Bittersweet

Today is a bittersweet day.

Exactly 6 years, 2 weeks ago today I began working fulltime from home. It was a blessing to be able to do things with my children throughout the years that many working moms are unable to do, and not have to put them into daycare. The making of breakfast, the afterschools snacks. The trips to the park on a spring afternoon. The doctors and dentist appointment in the not-so-busy morning hours. The summers at the lake. The drive to and from camp. Attending every single soccer practice and game, baseball practice and game, dance class, dance camps, shows, and school parties. The days snuggled up on the couch when they don't feel good. I have been blessed to do all this, and still work fulltime in the process.

Today is my LAST day of working from home. My children have grown, and we're all moving on to a new place in our lives. They are very independent and responsible children, and I am proud to say they are that way because of the last 6 years. They have learned that happiness comes not from going to work every day, but from spending time with those that we love, and they are old enough to understand that work is just an integral part of our lives, neccessary for us to enjoy all the fun things we love to do together - camping, boating, vacations, and movies.

And mom gets to go back to the workforce. While I'm excited about this new adventure, I will truly miss my friends/coworkers at KMC, and the flexibility I've had over the years. Now is time for me to become a full time working mom again - to be a part of the workforce that I haven't felt I've been a part of for quite some time.

Next week is vacation for me, followed by the start of a new job. It'll be an adjusting period for the first month or two, but we will all benefit in the long run.

Thanks to all my friends, family, and coworkers for your support!!
♥ you all....

Cookie Pops

This past Saturday was Hunter's last soccer game, and we were signed up for snacks. You know me - gotta out do myself everytime. Last summer for baseball I made cake pops that looked like little baseballs. For soccer, I decided to make cookie pops that were both soccer and Halloween themed, since it's only 1 week before Halloween.






Then I wrapped them up with 2 cookies for each of the boys. Great first half of the season, Green Giants! See you all in the spring!

Per Brian's request!

Ever since Brian has realized how much I enjoy baking, his sweet tooth as grown considerably. Last week I heard him say, "I sure am craving some sugar cookies". Probably not a good thing to say in our house, when my craze lately has been sugar cookies and figuring out the best frosting techniques, etc.

I had just picked up a pumpkin cookie cutter, so I went to town - whipping up the dough, cooling, rolling, cooling, cutting, cooling, and baking. That's the hard part for me - it's like doing laundry. You have to wait then work, wait then work, etc. It's a long drawn out process. It's the frosting that I enjoy the most, as it lets me be creative. This has been my only creative outlet lately.





Now, many may ask: "What do you do with all those cookies?" Well, what do you think we do with them? Eat them!! Ha ha..... No, we don't really eat all of them. I save a few for the kids to put in their lunches, or for an afterschool snack. I send some to work with Brian for the guys. I give them to our neighbors (especially the onces I borrow sugar and flour from!!). Although I try to stick to only eating 2 of them, there are times I find myself just eating the dough scraps as I'm cutting them out. oops!



If you haven't had a chance to try my sugar cookies yet, don't fret. There seems to be no end in sight of cookies coming from this kitchen!!

Greenbluff & Pumpkins

Every year we get together with our friends and head up to Greenbluff. Our friends own property up there, so we first meet there, which is right down the road from Seimer's Farm. We then head up to Seimer's to get our pumpkins. This year the kids and I indulged in caramel apples too - yum! We all try to get family pictures while up there. Then we head back to the house to carve, eat chili, roast marshmellows, and just enjoy the company of others.




This year was a success once again. The rain held off until late, and the kids did an awesome job on their pumpkins!

Cherry Pie Pops

Once again, I'm stretching my knowledge and limits with new baking. Today I embarked on a pie pop adventure - CHERRY pie pops. We're having our annual Pumpkin Carving Party and Chili feed tomorrow with our good friends and family, so decided these would be perfect - and easy. Boy was I wrong...

These little buggers were hard! First I ended up making the dough too small, and the cherry filling too big. Once I figured out that I needed more dough and less filling, they worked much better and actually starting turning out quite well. I guess I was just really frustrated that the whole first batch was wasted. Okay - not wasted - we ended up eating them all. But they certainly weren't suitable to take into public!

First batch being made: too much filling - too little dough

Second batch: better, but still not perfect.

Third batch: Perfection!

They melt in your mouth...


Since it was getting late, and I was tired of these little buggers, I decided to use the rest of the pie filling to make a cherry crisp. This will be great warmed up and with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Mmmmmmmm.....

Making "Creepy Crawlies"

I was cleaning off my little camera today which is always fun when your kids have been playing with it. I found all sorts of treasures! Here are some pics that my personal photographer (aka. Hunter) took while I was making some Creepy Crawlies for halloween cookies last week.

Halloween Yum-yums

The kids didn't have school on Friday, so I took the day off. I've had the baking bug again, so we decided to make some cookies for the season. They were GOOD!

Seattle, Washington