Patriotic Cookies: Home is Where the Heart is

I talked about my amazing English teacher Mrs. Smith in my blog post for Williams Syndrome Awareness cookies, but she isn't the only incredible English teacher I was blessed to have in my life!  Mrs. Johnston taught me British Literature my senior year of high school.  I enjoyed her class so much, not just because we were able to talk her into getting donuts on a few occasions, but also because she was one of those teachers you could tell genuinely loved and cared about you.  Because of wonderful Facebook, I was recently able to reconnect with Mrs. Johnston!

Mrs. Johnston has family visiting all the way from Maine and Florida.  Because they don't get to make it home to Texas very often, she wanted to make them a Texas goodie bag to take back home with them.  I thought that was such a sweet idea and I was honored that she wanted my cookies to be a part of it!  Since they will be here over the 4th, a patriotic spin on the cookies was only natural.  Mrs. Johnston had seen my Going Away cookies for my friend Jenny and together we came up with the concept.



 

The stars have sanding sugar on the white border.  This not only made them pop and tie them in with the USA cookies, but it adds a nice crunch to the cookie as well.

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy this time with your family, Mrs. Johnston, and thank you so much for letting me be a part of giving your family a little piece of Texas to bring home with them!

Happy Father's Day: Father & Son Silhouette Cookies

Father's Day is almost here and I wanted to do something special for one of the best fathers I know, my husband Kevin.  Kevin is an incredible father to James and I am so blessed to have a partner who shares the load and helps so much.  James goes crazy every weekday when he hears the garage go up because he knows that "Dada" is home.

One of James's favorite places in the world is sitting on his Dada's shoulders.  I still remember the first time I saw him up there (the picture on the right).  I was inside "cleaning" (at least that's what I told Kevin I was doing) and I hear a knock at the front door.  I go to answer and I see this adorable, chubby face smiling down at me.

Since then, we have captured several photos of James in that same spot.  One of my favorite pictures of Kevin and James is one taken at his 1st birthday by my friend Krista of Event Identity.  It is the picture on the left above and on the right below.  He just looks so content up there.

I also can't believe it's been a year already since Kevin's first Father's Day, picture on the top right.  James was smitten with his Daddy from the get-go.  I even joked that now was the time that James was supposed to be obsessed with Mommy and that Kevin would get his time later when James got into sports and what-not.  

These beautiful photos were captured by my friend Lynnsay Macey of Lynnsay Macey Photography.  It just melts my heart when I look at these and see the joy in James's eyes. 

Kevin, since James is not yet able to express it to you, I want you to know that he already adores you and can't get enough of spending time with you.  Every day when you get home from work and y'all play outside together is one of his favorite times of the day.  He loves bonding with you and I already see him wanting to be just like you.  You are his hero, his supporter, his mentor, his provider, his biggest fan, his teacher, but most importantly, You are his Dad.  

 
We love you!

 

One Big, Happy (Cookie) Family

When I first started this cookie adventure, I stumbled across some pretty impressive cookie decorators that have become my mentors, unbeknownst to them!  Lila Loa is one of these said mentors and she is amazing!  Every month, she hosts a challenge to help you stretch yourself as a decorator.

 

This month, the challenge is to take this certain cookie cutter and turn it into anything but its intended purpose.  I was so excited by this challenge and immediately dove into sketching out various ideas.  Somehow, I eventually stumbled upon the idea to do caricatures of our family!  

 

Any guess what the cookie cutter was?

 

A ring!

 

Here's some more shots of our big, happy cookie family!

 

At first, I just did Kevin, James and me...

Then, I decided I had to add Sophie, a very important member of our family.

Kevin with a baseball, his favorite sport, and a calculator (he's an engineer)

Sweet Melissa, me, with baking tools in tow

James with his sippy cup and beloved Wubbanub, Travis

I had to get a close-up shot of Travis!

I'm pretty in love with the cookies and excited to see the other ideas that other cookie decorators come up with.  If you want to see them, head over to Lila Loa's website.  I might try to get in one more idea before the challenge ends!