If you inflate it, they will come.

The kids in our neighborhood have a 6th sense for summertime fun. It's almost as if a "Bat Signal" went out on Sunday for an impromptu pool party in our backyard.

Mere minutes after I inflated our little pirate ship pool for Gus and Bea to splash around in and cool off, we had four kids knocking on the door to see if they could play. And then two more showed up, and then two more ... I even had a mom drive by and drop off two girls that I'd never met before. No kidding - didn't know them, didn't know their mom, but they jumped out of the car with waterguns in-hand and headed to the backyard to play.

Sure, why not.

Before I knew it, we had 10 kids running around with squirt guns and water balloons and trying to do cannon balls in our pathetic, 48-inch-wide Scurvy Dog. (BTW - the pirate pool has seen it's last hurrah. We'll be heading to the store for a replacement the next weekend we get temperatures above 90º.)

The waterpark fun lasted for three hours. And while I'm glad my kids and their friends had a good time, I'm not sure I'm prepared for a whole summer of this. I can't handle the popsicle demand.

Our Not-So-Starving Artist

Bea was a watercoloring machine on Sunday. I think she must have painted nonstop for almost two hours - cranking out one refrigerator masterpiece after another.

She didn't even stop for lunch. One hand worked the paintbrush while the other secured her cheese sammich.

Looks gouda, Bea.

Wood workings.

In January, we bought a new TV for the basement and Eric's been meticulously working on a stylish walnut cabinet stand for it to reside. He's almost finished, with the finish. (His least favorite part of every project.) When it's done, it will have two fancy, dovetailed drawers and compartment shelves to hold the DVD player, the cable box and the Wii.

Those flat screen TVs always look so nice in the store - hanging on the wall in a clean, uncluttered environment. But that's not reality. Once you hook up all the devices you actually use with your TV, you need a cabinet to hold it all.

Backyard Rocket Ship Launch Party

Summer turned into fall, fall turned into winter, and winter turned into spring - but, we finally had an official "launch party" for our backyard rocket ship last weekend. As the rain stopped and the clouds parted, we enjoyed a glorious evening of sunshine with the Lauers, the Lindemans and the Diefenbachs.

There were plenty of cookies, Nerf ammunition and giggling to go around. I guess you could say, we had a blast (off!)

Gimme an "A!"

My niece, Alyssa Peppiatt, graduated from Salina South High School this weekend. Yippee! So, the dessert I made for her big party on Saturday was a giant, angel food cake "A" with fluffy, white meringue frosting. (Reminiscent of the giant, furry "A" I made for her bedroom wall on her 13th birthday. Awwww....)

Note to self: Never build a cake bigger than the door you have to carry it through. Let's just say, that getting the giant "A" to it's destination was a trick. The board I put under the cake, with all of Alyssa's senior photos, was slightly larger than most door frames. Oops.

When I bake, I bake big.

Chocolate Brownie Graduation Cap Lollipops

My 27-year-old oven has been working some serious overtime lately.

I made some fun desserts for work last Friday as we celebrated the graduation of our friend, Barbara. She got her bachelor's degree in accounting from Southwestern College on Sunday. Yeah Barbara... job well done!

These little graduation caps were made out of mini cupcake brownies on lollipop sticks, Ghirardelli Chocolate Squares, black M&Ms, and a little red icing for the tassels.

Bite-sized party pops, perfect for celebrating.

Graduation Gâteaux.

(Four years of french and I can still remember the word for "cakes." Not bad. Just don't ask me to conjugate a verb.)

This week's sugar stress and baking marathon nearly killed me. Last August, my friend Jodi asked if I would bake some special treats for her daughter's graduation party in May. "Oh, sure. No problem. May? Sheesh. That's months & months away. Absolutely. Sure. No big deal."

Wrong. What was I thinking? I'm not a bakery!?! I'm a crazy woman with a KitchenAid mixer & a 27-year-old oven. And for some reason, I believe I can create whatever idea pops into my head. That, my friends, is a recipe for disaster.

Well, these graduation treats multiplied between August and May, and I ended up making:

- One hot pink & lime green graduation cake for Emily (She told me the colors she wanted & left the rest up to me.)

- One Fort Hays State-themed, pennant graduation cake for Payte (Emily's cousin, who's attending FHSU in the fall)

- Four dozen, HUGE, cosmetology-scissor sugar cookies. (Emily's attending the Eric Fisher Academy in September.)

Needless to say, I took the day off from work to complete all of these, and still ended up spending 18.5 hours in the kitchen that day. Insane. Even for me.

But, the stress and the baker's meltdown I experienced halfway-thru were all worth it. (Eric might not agree.) The smile on Emily's face yesterday was awesome. Yeah!

Sugar Sisters

Today I shared some of my sugary secrets in a Food Art class at Adriene Rathbun's house. Six women and one precious kindergartener (who was quite the fast learner!) watched, listened and experimented for 2 hours as I showed them how to make cherry pie brownies, dessert burgers & hotdogs, bumblebee cupcakes, taco cookies, cinnamon roll lollipops, chinese takeout cupcakes, and caramel candy fortune cookies. There were chocolate butterflies on the agenda too, but we ran out of time and only got a few of them to "fly."

It was lots of fun. Thanks to my hostess, Adriene, for inviting me to share my crazy love of sugar art. I think everyone had a good time and learned some clever dessert tricks to attempt at their next birthday party or summer potluck.

Sweet.

Kites + Dandelions = Springtime

What's New, Cupcake?

I bought myself some baking inspiration last week. This is the second book from Karen Tack & Alan Richardson. And I love, love, love, love, love everything in it. Much like I love, love, love, love, love everything in their FIRST book - Hello, Cupcake!

I'm going to steal one of their ideas - Chinese Takeout Cupcakes - for the Edible Art Class that I'm teaching in a few weeks. Holy moly, did she say TEACHING? Yes. My dear friend, Adriene Rathbun, suckered me into demonstrating some of my sugary sculptures at her in-home cooking class called Social. Check it out. She does 2 or 3 classes every week. And if you'd like to join in on the fun, my class is scheduled for Saturday, May 1st from 10am to noon. Here's what I'll be making:

- Dessert Burgers & Dogs

- Cinco de Mayo Taco Cookies

- Bumblebee Cupcakes

- Chocolate Rockets

- Cherry Pie Brownies

- Chinese Takeout Cupcakes

- Cinnamon Roll Flower Bouquet

Guaranteed to entertain your sweet tooth and possibly put you in a sugar coma.

WOW! MOM is 73!

No matter which way you read the cake (WOW or MOM), it was pretty awesome to celebrate my mom's 73rd birthday this weekend. It just happened to fall on Easter Sunday this year, so we all gathered for a big family lunch, multiple egg hunts with the grandkids, and lots of cake.

The last couple of years have been a struggle for my mom with all of her back surgeries and moving to Salina, so it was really great to see her feeling healthy and happy to be near family.