A venti, triple-shot, half-foam, double-whip, mocha, Happuccino Birthday!

My coffee-lovin' husband turned 43 this week. And to celebrate, I made him a "Coffee Cake" - a birthday-themed Starbucks coffee cup filled with layers of chocolate cake, brown sugar frosting and coffee-flavored ice cream.

Wowzer. It was delicious, if I do say so myself. But, then I really like coffee. And apparently, Bea really likes it too because she ate the "tall" cup. Should we be worried? Probably.

Have a Hap Hap Happuchino Birthday, Eric!

Don't let the smiles fool you.

If you only knew the agony and stress Bea caused while we tried to get these photos taken - running around the studio, throwing her monkeys in the air, refusing to look at the camera. I'm not sure what her problem was, but after 10 minutes we had to call it quits. Even mild-mannered Gus was frustrated with her.

We've never had very good luck taking our kids to professional photographers. I think I get my hopes up too much, only to have them drown in the tears of a temper tantrum. It used to happen with Gus, and now it's happening with Bea. Apparently, we're better off sticking with the candid shots we take in our own the backyard.

A Bittersweet Thank You

In January, my sister-in-law, Susie, found out that she had breast cancer. They discovered it early before it had spread to any lymph nodes, thank goodness. But rounds and rounds of tests determined that the breast tissue contained more cancerous tendencies, so she decided to go ahead with a double mastectomy two weeks ago. (She was able to have reconstructive surgery and implants put in at the same time, which was nice.) They're still waiting to hear if she'll have to go through any chemotherapy or not. Obviously, we're all praying for NOT.

So the healing process has begun for Susie, my brother Kevin, and my two nieces, Kirsten & Paige. My sister-in-law is a nurse herself, so it's been hard to be on the patient-side of medicine. She's had to let people take care of her instead of being the caregiver. And she's received so much support and kindness from her friends, that she wanted to give something back. Naturally, my Cupcakes for the Cure came to mind. She and my nieces love to bake. And I had plenty of leftover boxes for her to use. So today, she is delivering 24 sets of boobcakes to her caring friends.

I hope they make people smile. I'm sure that making and delivering them is helping Susie heal as well.

I made a new sticker for her to put on the bright pink boxes: A bra with the words "Hey, thanks for all the support."

Grow Wild

In order to support my flower habit/obsession, every spring I do some trade-out work for Tree Top Nursery. I design a t-shirt for them to sell, and in return they give me more hibiscus, lantana and scaviola than any gardener could possibly need. It's a win-win for everyone. And by everyone, I mean me.

This year's t-shirt says "GROW WILD." You can purchase them for $9.99 at the Wichita Garden Show this weekend, March 3 - 7. Or, they'll be available at Tree Top Nursery's Garden Center this spring. Every time you wear the shirt into Tree Top, you'll receive 10% off your entire purchase. More marigolds for the money. More daffodils for your dollars. More barberry for your buck.... O.K., I'll stop.

Spring has sprung, and that can only mean one thing at the Denneler house: Eric's a busy guy. We don't get to see much of him for the next few months, so if you stop in at Tree Top to do some shopping, tell him his wife and kids say "hi."

Babycakes.

One of my good friends from Sullivan Higdon & Sink is having a baby shower this weekend, and I wanted to make something fun and memorable to surprise the new mom.

T-shirt Cupcakes: one dozen, assorted t-shirts rolled up with diaper cloths and red sock "cherries" on top. All packaged neatly in a festive pastry box.

The mom-to-be, Sarah, is having a baby boy (and naming him Carter.) So, I cut some boyish & quirky designs out of fabric and iron-transferred them onto the shirts - a rocket ship, a banana-seat bike, a tie, a skull & crossbones, a robot, a word bubble screaming MOM!, the letter C, PLAY NICE, a peace symbol, a weiner dog, a lightening bolt, and an electric guitar.

The t-shirts are sized for 6 months, 12 months, and 18 months so Carter should be a well-dressed baby boy for the first year. (Not to mention, enough red socks for every day of the week!)

LOVE.

Happy Valentine's Day 2010.

This was the view outside my office on the WSU campus last Monday as the snow fell in Wichita. Robert Indiana's LOVE statue looked extra beautiful with 7 inches of fluffy white stuff decorating it's colorful curves.

Bridgette's 30th Birthday

A friend of mine was planning to celebrate her 30th birthday this weekend and asked if I'd be interested in baking a "simple" cake for the party. She mentioned that she liked white cake, maybe with silver or gold accents, but then replied "Oh, why don't you just surprise me?"

OK. I can do that.

Ten hours, eight boxes of cake mix, 9 1/2 pounds of buttercream icing, and 32 inches of cake later, I think she'll definitely be surprised. Silly, silly Bridgette.... don't you know by now that I never do anything simple?

The name BRIDGETTE is so beautiful. I just hope I was able to make a cake as stunning and sweet as the birthday girl. Happy 30th!

Snow Day

It started with a 5:45 am automated phone call Friday morning from Wichita Public Schools, letting us know that classes were cancelled due to the winter storm - six inches of snow and permission to stay home and play. Yahoo!

After scooping the driveway, Gus determined it was much too cold to be outside and spent the next 72 hours perfecting his Wii skills. But Bea was an absolute snow bunny. She made approximately 25 snow angels in the front yard, built a fort, went sledding in the front yard and ate 13 cubic feet of frozen flakes.

And after changing wet gloves, hats & boots for the last three days, I am snow-day'd out.

When does Spring arrive? Not soon enough.

Double-Iced Mocha Espresso Cookies.

My mom has this cookie recipe that I love called Coconut Islands. Although, she's never made them with coconut. Neither have I. We're just not big fans of it, I guess. It's got a hint of coffee flavor, and they're perfect, bite-sized bursts of chocolate.

Well, today I did a twist on her recipe and added a double-icing of espresso cream cheese frosting with a swirl of mocha.

OMT! (Oh my tastebuds!) These little devils are scrumptious. Hope the birthday girl I made them for agrees.

Here's the recipe, minus the coconut. (Maybe somebody out there could add in 1/3 cup of coconut and tell me how they turn out.)

DOUBLE-ICED MOCHA ESPRESSO COOKIES

Mix:

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup sour cream

1 egg

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp soda

Melt together:

3 squares (6 tablespoons) baking chocolate

1/2 cup coffee

Add melted chocolate and coffee mixture to cookie dough mixture. Drop by heaping teaspoons onto baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

ESPRESSO CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Mix:

1/4 cup butter

4 ounces cream cheese

2 cups powdered sugar

Dissolve:

1 tsp vanilla

instant espresso/coffee powder

Mix butter, cream cheese and powdered sugar. Dissolve espresso powder in the vanilla and add it to the frosting.

CHOCOLATE ICING

Heat:

3 tbls cocoa powder

1/4 cup sour cream

1 tbls butter

Stir in:

2 cups powdered sugar

Mix until smooth. Swirl on top of espresso cream cheese frosting.

Cinnamon-Rolls-On-A-Stick

Why is it, all food tastes better on a stick?

I attempted these little cuties last week and just love how they turned out. Used my new mini-cupcake pan to keep them all bite-sized and poked a stick in them after baking & icing.

Cinnamon Roll Lollipops. Yum.

Storage with a smile.

Fourteen years ago, Eric and I bought our house not knowing how little storage there really was or how many toys two children could possibly accumulate. Oh lordy, do we have toys!

So when I mentioned building some cabinets in our basement to contain all the Nerf guns, Transformers, Legos and Fisher Price toys, Eric replied with a giant "YAWN."

He hates building cabinets. Or something as boring as cabinets. Boxes with no personality, in his opinion. Where's the challenge?

Soooooo ...... I came back to him with an idea I'd seen a few years ago - storage cabinets made out of big alphabet letters. Admittedly, I almost have a fetish for alphabet letters. Maybe it was the inflatable alphabet people we had in Mrs. Selby's Kindergarten class, or maybe it's the designer in me, but there's just something about an enormous 'A' that gets my juices going.

Eric agreed to tackle my latest hair-brained idea. (And yes, I realize how spoiled I am that I've married a man who can not only BUILD whatever I dream up, but still love me after the sawdust settles.)

Our basement isn't big, but there was just enough room to spell out PLAY. And I was able to get almost all of Gus & Bea's toys tucked safely into their new home - everything except the Thomas the Tank Engine collection. That stuff almost needs it's own wing of the house.

I took a ton of photos during the build - it was just so fun to watch it come together. And once again, I'm in awe of Eric's patience, craftsmanship and best-dad-ever abilities.

Project Denneler: Ages 8 and under

So, what kinds of things do Gus and Bea work on while their parents are busy making cupcakes in the kitchen and rocketships in the backyard?

For Bea, it's perpetual potty training. Somedays I wonder if she's ever going to get the gist of this. As long as someone is constantly reminding her to "go," she goes. But leave the remembering up to her, and there's almost always an "uh-oh."

And for Gus, if he's not playing his NintendoDS, then he's probably challenging Eric to a game on the Wii, or vying for time on the computer. Hoping to get him away from all-things-electronic for a couple of hours a week, we did manage to sign him up for Taekwondo class this month. More on that later, I'm sure.

Happy Birthday Mrs. Braet. We "heart" you.

Today is Gus' 2nd-grade teacher's birthday. So we surprised her with cupcakes to share with the class.

Gus asked me if I made a cupcake for Frosty, the classroom dove. No. Sorry. I did not make a cupcake for Frosty. I guess I could have put some birdseed sprinkles on top of one, but I didn't. Maybe I'll remember to do that for Frosty's birthday. Do birds have birthdays?

What will Bea be?

We all wonder what our kids will grow up to be someday.

Will she be an artist? A cowgirl? A professional sand volleyball player?

I can only hope & dream that Bea will do something that makes her happy.