WuChock

Behold, the WuChock - a chocolate WuShock.

I've been at Wichita State University for almost two years now, and this is my first attempt at making an edible version of our lovable mascot, WuShock.

To make a chocolate WuShock, you have to use Rolo candies, Mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Tootsie Rolls and chocolate frosting.

Do they look creepy? Yes. But then, so does WuShock. He's on every possible Top 10 List of funniest, creepiest, lamest or most ridiculous college mascots.

And yes, I'm aware that my chocolate WuShocks could also be mistaken for Beaker from the Muppets, or Sideshow Bob (Krusty the Clown's half-brother) from the Simpsons. But I don't care. They were delicious.

Turning 38 with sprinkles on top.

My birthday cake this year was a family affair.

Eric did the difficult part - the baking, the frosting & the cleaning up.

And the kids joined in on the fun part - SPRINKLES!

Nothing makes you feel young again like cake with sprinkles.

Lots and lots of them.

A frosting foible.

So, what do you do when your frosting won't cooperate? You texturize it with the tip of a corn-cob holder so that it LOOKS funky on purpose.

This brown sugar frosting is one of my favorites, but dang....it's a bitch to get right. It's either too runny or too clumpy or too dry or too much of a pain-in-the-ass. I've decided to quit fighting it and try texturizing it.

I like it.

Ho, ho....hey Santa, you're crushing me.

The kids went to see Santa Claus and The Gingerbread Man today, and Gus got more than his share of holiday love. Ol' Santa had an elfin-grip on him so tight, I thought he was going to squeeze Gus' breakfast right out of him. Maybe someone needs to have a talk with Kris Kringle about "personal space?"

Bea asked Santa to bring her a unicorn. And Gus said he would like a Nintendo Wii. And Santa promised that he'd find room in his sleigh for both.

Gobble, gobble.

Turkey time in Colby, Kansas with the Denneler family. Lots of food, family and the occasional shooting of firearms. It's also Dan & Margaret's 49th Wedding Anniversary! What a great day to celebrate all that we're thankful for.

Little Miss Olive

We finally had a chance to meet Olive Marie Glanzer this weekend. (I worked with Matt at SHS, and he & Chrissy had their first baby about 3 months ago.)

And I with a great name like Olive, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to bring some olive-themed sugar cookies. Oh, and a little pimento-red had. It's a tad big right now, but she'll grow into it.

Gus and Bea liked Olive too. But they LOVED Bailey the dog even more. We could have left them there all day to play. (Which probably would have given Matt & Chrissy a chance to think twice about having more kids.)

Welcome to the world, Little Miss Olive. So nice to meet you!

Eric's lastest distraction.

I'm terribly jealous of this wooden "mistress" that's now sitting in my garage. Mostly because she's occupied my husband's thoughts, hands and precious spare time the last two months. But also because she's so elegant and beautiful and perfect.

Eric's been wanting to make a Krenov-style cabinet for a long time now. So once the backyard rocket ship was mostly complete, I set him free to whittle away in the garage. And whittle, he did. And plane. And carve. And dovetail. And on. And on. And on. For what seemed like FOREVER. (OK. So I'm exaggerating a little. But I don't like competing for my husband's time & attention.)

But she's done. And she's fabulous. A solid cherry body with maple shelves, glass door fronts and gorgeous long legs. (Hummm...now I'm beginning to see why he wanted to spend so much time with her.)

And believe it or not, she's for sale. Eric built this just to build it. He does that a lot. And we truly don't have room for it in our house. So if you're interested in this one-of-a-kind, hand-made, solid-wood, Denneler/Krenov original... let's talk. We're asking $500. (Or $5000 if you actually want to pay for all the man-hours it took to create this little beauty.)

Whooooo doesn't love owls?

I don't know about you, but I just love the look of these funky retro owls. So bright. So cheerful. Almost makes me want to have another baby, just to decorate the room in owls. Almost.

One of my regular freelance clients contacted me last month to help her with some invites for a baby shower she's hosting in December. (This woman hosts more parties than I've ever been invited to in my life, seriously. She is definitely the hostess with the mostess.) But the best part about her invite requests: complete creative freedom. Whatever I can dream up - theme, color, size - anything goes.

So this time, it was owls. A sticker on the back of the envelope says "A little birdy told me it's a boy." And inside, the owl's wings open to reveal the invitation. It's a Month-to-Month shower, so guests are asked to "feather the parents' nest" with a gift that would be fun or appropriate to use at a specified month - 3 months, 16 months, 24 months .... That way, the couple gets 40 different gifts for the first 40 months of the baby's life. Kinda neat huh? Instead of 8 onesies that the kid will grow out of in the first 30 days.

Obviously I had fun making these. It was a real hoot.

Ta-da! Ta tas!

Stayed up late last night making 36 pairs of "boob cakes" for the 2nd Annual Dig for the Cure volleyball tournament at Ell-Saline High School in Brookville, Kansas this weekend. (It's a breast cancer fundraiser started by one of my old high school buddies, who is a cancer survivor herself!)

This year's boob cakes are strawberry flavored with butterscotch-caramel buttercream icing. And the "nipples" are made of gummi Lifesavers and pink chocolate meltaways. My favorite part is the packaging though. That pink box just sells it.

I don't know if cupcakes are a cure for cancer, probably not. But it sure can't hurt to try.

A knight in shining armor and his noble... poodle.

For the first time ever, we let the kids pick out their own Halloween costumes - no building, gluing, sewing, painting or flocking involved. And it was kind of nice. Gus wanted to be a knight - his school's mascot. And Bea had a plethora of costumes to pick from: a chicken, a pink poodle, a witch or a banana. Friday at daycare, she chose the banana. But Saturday night (in true female-fashion) she changed her mind and wanted to be the pink poodle. Whatever.

The weather was perfect for trick-or-treating. Ideal, actually. We went door-to-door for over an hour and gathered up more Reese's Peanutbutter Cups & Kit Kats than any two kidneys can possibly handle. And what's the deal with Almond Joys? We got a ton of those. Blech. Kids don't like Almond Joys. Grandmas like Almond Joys. Stick to the Snickers, folks.

Spooktacular 2nd Grade

Every Halloween at Gammon Elementary School, the parents of each grade decorate vehicles for a Trunk-or-Treat costume parade. And since this month wasn't crazy enough at our house, naturally I volunteered to do the 2nd Grade trunk. Just shoot me now.

Not bad for a couple hours of work though, and Eric's handy saw skills. It was a big hit. I'm thinking next year, we need to add some lights, spooky sounds and fog. Better start working on it now, huh?

A scary-good time at the pumpkin patch.

Mr. & Mrs. Denneler

One cat, two kids, three water heaters and fourteen years later ... Happy Anniversary to us!

Just taking a short break from "projects" at the Dennelers this month, while my mom recuperates at our house from her latest back surgery. The second one in less than a year. For anyone interested in the medical terminology, she had a spinal fusion from T10 to S1. (Basically, they used a small hardware store of screws and rods to straighten her spine and relieve the pinched nerves down her legs. ) Bea says "Grandma needs a bandaid." Well, that's true. But Grandma Nette also needs a boatload of pain killers to make it through the day right now.

This has been quite an ordeal. I don't think any of us expected her to be in this bad of shape after surgery. But we're finally starting to turn the corner and she's moving and walking more. And smiling and joking more. So the healing process has begun. Wish us luck and sent any extra prayers you might have laying around.

Back surgery is not for wimps. That's for sure.

OK. So I'm no Mr. Peanut.

Just a follow-up story on the peanut plant I attempted to grow this summer. I did not kill it. Hooray. But I don't think this crop of nuts is going to feed a family of hungry squirrels. Boo. Maybe a light snack.

After a fairly unsuccessful summer produce crop - only three tomatoes and a handful of green peppers - I think it's time to hang up my gardening gloves. I'll stick to flowers. And grass. I'm really good at growing grass.