7 Quick Takes: Sweet Edition

I decided to dump all our recent doings in one giant photo post.  I have to do the quickest posting lately because of all that's going on.  I will say that today we're looking at the first of 3 flutes for Maria.  She auditions June 2nd for the GTCYS.  Her flute definitely needs to be upgraded.  I ran with Monica this morning for 20 minutes.  I'm happy to be sitting right now because my joints hurt and my calves are burning!  I HATE to RUN....but....there's that BIG BUT....Monica has started another soccer season, is getting better, and will probably be put in as a Forward or as Stopper.  This requires she have the stamina to be running around A LOT.  She needs to build up her endurance hence the running.  I told her I will go out with her from 6:30-7AM ALMOST daily to help her out.  I'm hoping Daddy pitches in a bit so I can sleep in a few days.  We'll see how that goes!  Cookie orders are trickling in.  I have 3 orders for next weekend and a potential 4th order for the U of M next week....keep praying!  Need any cookies?...give us a call or send us a shout via the web.

7 Quick Takes Friday seemed like a good way to unload the other stuff so here goes....

1.  There is a sweet nest in my bedroom window sill....

2.  There is a sweet pair of robins that come to tend said nest....

3.  One egg was laid on Monday....

4.  Another egg was laid on Tuesday....

5.  A third egg was laid on Wednesday....

6.  More sweets were baking in my kitchen yesterday in hopes of generating more business....

Hats Off to the Grad!

Roses for Our Lady or for your Mom!

Month of Mary Cookies/Mother's Day Cookies

7.  Kids that can make a good shot and take a good shot of their new basketball hoop!  Monica's angle and lighting are so good in this picture...IMHO.

You can see more Quick Takes over at Jen's Conversion Diary Blog.  Have a great weekend!

Finally an Update

I've been busy doing who knows what. I've had all kinds of ideas running through my head....

business ideas
networking
joining LinkedIn
doing some promotion on Facebook
redoing business cards and flyers
updating our school room after moving it yet again!
baking
taking care of sick people...Daddy was sick last week and Nick had a bench drop on his big toe fracturing it.  He's fine, but the nail looks awful!:(


There's a lot of promotion that has to be done with starting/restarting a business.  Word of mouth is truly the best promotion, but I have to physically do things like make flyers, calls, talk to people, bake cookies...I so need to do more of this.

And then there's school....that should probably be the other way around.  However, I can't say enough about how much the kids have been learning about running a business.  I'll have to do a separate post about all the things the kids have been learning/doing in the midst of it all.  I'm amazed at how unschooling truly does work!

Meanwhile, I've been using up apples from our Fall stash.  What a great idea it was to freeze several bags of apples!

Apple Bread for Breakfast

Then I updated the school room to make it more of a school room.  We moved the sectional and TV up to the family room where the school room was.  Then we moved all of the bins, shelves, table, and wall materials downstairs.  I can't believe how much room there was down there!

We all love it and use it quite a bit.  There is still a bit of homework that gets done at the kitchen table, but that's only when I'm up there.  If I'm working downstairs, the kids want to be down there, too.  Kinda cool!

Next, I've been wanting to use different ideas to display books for little hands and keep the kids interested in strewed materials.  I made a book sling for the little home schoolers using the idea from here.  I found this when I was on Pinterest.  Thank God I bookmarked it, too!

Next, I wanted a long shelf on one of the walls.  I saw something similar at Ann's site here.  Here's our version....

Here's a link for the tutorial to make your own rain gutter wall shelf.  Rain gutters are typically 10 feet long, but can be cut to any length.  Our wall was just perfect for the whole rain gutter to be used...suweet!

It's been a productive few weeks.  We haven't been participating in the Garden of the Good Shepherd since I decided to use the sticker calendar with my religion class at the parish.  So we've just been feasting in our own way and enjoying Daddy while he's on break between trimesters.  He's been busy grouting a bathroom, fixing wall outlets, and ordering a new sliding glass door for the entrance to the deck.  I can't wait for that to be installed!  Garden party anyone?!

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real: The Big Sisters' Edition

Pretty:

Maria took some pictures of Jane and Nick yesterday while they were playing outside.

Happy:

The kids were happy playing together in the front and back yards.

Funny:

Gabe and Lucas asked Maria if she would take a picture of Lucas pretending to stab Gabe. 

Meanwhile....... Jane was trying to achieve gymnastics and Nicholas 

was getting into the flower pots. 

Real:

In case you've been wondering about the lush green grass that they're posing on in this picture............it's our neighbors!

Dad is working very hard to get ready for our garden.  Unfortunately, it will be planted in another year.:(

Photographs:  Maria

Writing & Posting:  Monica

Divine Mercy

I was so thrilled this morning at Mass with the huge framed picture of The Divine Mercy stationed just beyond the altar railing.  I hugged Nicholas so tight and wished him a happy feast day.  Here we are just two short years ago at his baptism....

And here we are today.  Sorry the pic is so grainy, but I didn't have my camera so we used Daddy's phone.

Can you believe how much the kids have grown?  It's amazing!  Monica is taller than me and almost as tall as Daddy.  Maria is almost as tall as me.  Nick is 2, and Jane is almost 4.  Crazy!

We came home and watched the Holy Father's address for today that was posted on the web at the Vatican website.  I love how we can remain connected to Rome so easily via the web.  I still remember being there so clearly.  Here's a refresher....

May God's Divine Mercy be yours today and always.  I am so glad for it in my life.

The Rest of the Story

So the last couple days were filled with activities, more cookie decorating, packaging, and cleaning.  It's been a busy week.  Here are the rest of the cookies we put together for the celebrations happening today.

These crosses along with 1 dozen chalices went to The Way
of the Shepherd School in Blaine.

These cookies were for a little girl at our parish.

Monogram cookies for a little girl's reception happening today after
First Communion at our parish.

And here are the chihuahuas!

Cute, huh?!

We prayed for all of these little people receiving our Lord for the first time in the Eucharist.  Gratefully, I read the beautiful meditation found in Magnificat yesterday morning by the Holy Father.  Here's a portion of that meditation so you can read it, too.

"But there are artistic expressions that are true roads to God, the Supreme Beauty - indeed, they are a help to us in growing in our relationship with him in prayer.  We are referring to works of art that are born of faith, and that express the faith.  We see an example of this whenever we visit a Gothic cathedral:  We are ravished by the verticle lines that reach heavenward and draw our gaze and our spirit upward, while at the same time we feel small and yet yearn to be filled.... How many times can artistic expression be for us an occassion that reminds us of God, that assists us in our prayer or even in the conversion of our heart!...Dear friends, I invite you to rediscover the importance of this way of prayer, for our living relationship with God... Let us hope that the Lord will help us contemplate his beauty, both in nature as well as in works of art, so that we might be touched by the light of his face, and so also be light for our neighbor." 

Pope Benedict XVI

I sure hope we are able to bring people closer to Christ through our cookies.  We certainly pray when we make them from start to finish!

Special Events....

always come up at this time of year.  First Communions, Confirmations, Graduations, Mother's and Father's Days are all right around the corner for several families.  We have been thrilled to be able to add a little something to some of these celebrations!

These are probably not the best shots of some of the cookies.  But this is what you get at 6AM when you're still in your pajamas!

Don't forget to visit us over at our cookie blog, You Smart Cookie.  If you would like to order cookies for an upcoming event, like us on Facebook or leave a comment to receive 20% off your minimum 2 dozen order.  Hey, and we ship, too!

Super Busy

Phew!  I've been super busy baking today.  Thanks to all of your prayers plus the prayers of our kids, we have 15 dozen cookies to make by Friday.  All of these are first communion cookies.  I'm making....

crosses
chalices
sheep
text and photo cookies
and
chihuahuas!

One of the little girls likes dogs...is crazy about them so her mom requested a few dog cookies to go with her order.  Cute huh?

Anyway, here are a few leftover pics from Easter which was beautiful by the way.  I was on an Easter high all day Sunday.  Yesterday I was dragging from all the late nights and early mornings, but it was so worth it for all the joy, graces, peace, and love we had going on around here!

The girls decorated the Easter cakes.  Yippee!

Naturally dyed eggs using onion skins, cabbage, spinach, and beet leaves, and turmeric
Very cool!

And.....here's my latest super, amazing addition to our little business....

This is a bun rack. I can get 20 pans on it drying at one time!!!  Now, if only I
had that many pans....eye roll.

I love it!  No more stacking these in the oven to dry icing overnight.  Now I just have to keep the kids from hanging on it and driving themselves around the dining room....oh, and Nick from eating the cookies that will be drying on the racks.:(

Wow, I really miss all of you here in blogland.  I miss the comments and sharing the goings-on with you all.  I hope I haven't lost anyone due to my lack of posting.  It's just been....super busy!

Breaking Darkness and Silence

Preparing and Waiting