Sugar Cookie Sniggler

A couple of weeks ago I made some sugar cookies to take to a baby shower. Of course, both boys were eager to sample what was being made. Rhett was a bit more persistent than Benjamin, though. It didn't take long for him to discover the powdered sugar goodness coating my work surface.


A few people at the shower asked for the recipe, so here it is. I found out last weekend that the recipe comes from my mother-in-law's college roommate. Not that you need to know that, but I've been wondering myself.

Kathy's Soft Sugar Cookies

2/3 c. butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 c. milk
3 1/2 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. vanilla
1/4 t. salt

Cream butter and sugar; add eggs. Dissolve baking soda in milk and blend. Add vanilla. Sit flour and salt; add gradually to mixture. Chill. Roll about 1/8" thick and bake on a greased cookie sheet @ 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

The dough is very sticky, so sometimes I add a tiny bit more flour, but mostly it's important to chill it for a long time. Mine was in the fridge for several hours (or maybe overnight, I can't remember). Then I roll it out on powdered sugar. This time I also tried keeping the cut-out cookies in the fridge for a few minutes, and I think that helped them keep their shape in the oven. Oh, and I do mine a little thicker than 1/8".

Creamy White Frosting
(From Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook)

1 c. shortening
1 1/2 t. vanilla
1/2 t. lemon, orange, or almond extract (I used almond)
4 1/2 c. sifted powdered sugar (about 1 pound)
3 to 4 T. milk

In a medium mixing bowl beat shortening, vanilla, and extract with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Slowly add half of the powdered sugar, beating well. Add 2 tablespoons of the milk. Gradually beat in remaining powdered sugar and enough remaining milk to reach spreading consistency.

When I used this for Benjamin's birthday cake I used 1/2 c. margarine and 1/2 c. shortening. For the cookies I used 1 c. butter. I liked both ways, and I think both would be better than just shortening. I frosted 30-35 cookies (about 4") with this recipe.

Birdhouse painting with Benjamin

Slowly but surely I'm going to try to fill in the gaps about things we did in Alaska since much went unposted with our limited internet access.

This is one of the rainy day activities we did in September. (Whether it was actually raining, I can't remember.) I spent a fair amount of time at JoAnne's craft store while we were in Juneau, which the boys were thrilled about. (Can you guess how thrilled they were?) During one of our visits, Benjamin was rewarded with a $1 wooden birdhouse to paint since he had behaved really well that day. Unfortunately, the birdhouse ended up in the trash as we were leaving for the airport on our way home because it just would not fit. But it filled some time quite nicely, as you will see below. Here, Benjamin tells it in his own words (with some help from me).

I love painting my birdhouse.
Why did you love it?
'Cause I did.

I love painting the roof and the sides.
I love painting the orange and blue.

I love painting a castle.
Did you paint a castle?
No.

Bye bye! I love my birdhouse!

(Rhett was a good sport, too.)

Getting into the spirit of things

No pun intended. Honestly.

I loved the idea of these newspaper ghosts the minute I saw them on my friend Lori's blog a while back. It was so simple and quick to bring a little Halloween into our house.


Benjamin insisted that these two ghosts needed to hold hands like another pair that I had deliberately cut out together so that they could be a "famowee" too.

Thanks for the great idea, Lori!

If you want to see some really great fall decor, check out what Anne did at her house.

September 25, 2009

First birthday photo of the day. Benjamin, 3 years old

I wanted Benjamin's birthday to be special (memorable) this year because, well, he might remember it. I remember my third birthday still, even after more than twenty years.

Fortunately he didn't care that we recycled the balloons from my birthday.

Benjamin jumping in Rhett's balloon-filled bed

I had been asking Benjamin often during the past couple of months what kind of birthday cake he wanted, and it didn't take him long to announce enthusiastically,

"I want Lightning McQueen!"

I think I have some history of trying too hard to make amazing-looking creations out of cake and icing (and usually ending up disappointed), and I contemplated a couple of different ways to create a Lightning McQueen cake, including building the race car out of cake, drawing him on with icing or, rather simply, making cupcakes with some sort of Cars party toppers. Fortunately for us all, I ultimately decided, the simpler, the better.

I think it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. In any case, Benjamin loves his new cars! His new Lightning McQueen has hardly left his sight in the past two weeks, and he generously allows me to play with Sally and Rhett with Chick Hicks.

Happy birthday, Benjamin!

25 and counting

We ate a lot of cake during the last two weeks of September. And it wasn't because we were depressed at still being in Alaska. We had birthdays! I turned 25 on September 16, and Benjamin turned 3 on September 25 (a post which will follow later).

What was the best part of my 25th birthday?

The surprise balloons brought home at lunchtime...

the sunny flowers bursting from a pickle jar...

the (voluntarily) self-made chocolate chip cake...

or something else?

It could have been the two little boys who must have known it was my birthday and who would often climb into my lap that day with no other apparent reason than to sit a while and snuggle.

It could have been the husband who, despite his busy work day, tried extra hard to make it a special day for me.

It must have been all of those things.

I can't belive it! We're back!

It's true! We arrived home in Bellingham on Friday, October 2, and oh boy, did it ever feel like coming home!

After waking up in Juneau at 4:00 a.m. and flying for five hours or so (up and down three times), the scent of our front porch told me that we had finally arrived. It smelled like home.


And now it feels like a dream. Did we really spend over four months in Juneau, Alaska, living in a (rather smelly) single-wide trailer with peeling paint, moldy windows, and purple-flowered wallpaper?



Yes, we did.

The truck packed full (and I mean packed full) of our stuff should arrive on the barge in Seattle at the end of the week and hopefully we'll be able to spend the weekend unpacking. (Hello, Kitchenaid!)

Glacier Valley Elementary School

This summer went very quickly for me, especially when you're working 11-12 hour days, 6 days a week. The project consisted of two seasons; a complete renovation of the school including new mechanical, electrical and controls systems. Season 1, last summer, included renovating the center of the school: administration offices, staff lounge, gym, library, a few bathrooms, a new commons area/cafeteria, and a new mechanical fan loft. Season 2, this summer, included renovating the rest of the school and the parking lots: both classroom wings (South and East), new kindergarten entry (bathrooms and special Ed rooms), entry canopy, and new entry plaza. Below are a few before and after photos from this past summer.

New front entry, skylight, concrete, landscaping, flagpole, memorial garden, plaza, bike racks, metal siding, asphalt...

(You should be able to click on each set of photos for a larger view.)

The students were back in classes by 31 August. Many students, teachers, and school neighbors have positively commented on how much they like their "new" school.

This project has been a great blessing in my life and the life of my family in many ways and a great learning experience. I am also very grateful my family and I could spend this summer together here in Juneau. Our time is quickly coming to an end and we should be back in Bellingham very soon. What a summer.

August 1, 2009

The first Saturday in August Paul was able to take most of the day off of work, so our whole family was treated to a day out!

We decided to visit a tourist attraction near our house called Glacier Gardens. Basically, a decade or two ago a guy who was cleaning up some of his recently purchased acreage had the idea to replant some dead trees (from a mudslide) upside down, with their roots hanging over the top, and plant flowers in them. The result is pretty interesting to see and we enjoyed our tour of the gardens.

Inside the visitor’s center

An eagles’ nest up in a tree

Our little treehugger
View of part of Juneau from boardwalk at around 600 ft.



The main attractions






After lunch and a rest for the boys we drove out to Echo Cove for some salmon fishing! Paul had had a couple opportunities already to go fishing, so I took a turn. I was disappointed at first because the only thing biting was the seaweed, but after a few minutes the fish started biting like crazy!


Benjamin and Rhett were troopers while I was catching fish. We spread a blanket on the ground, but despite having no shoes, Rhett preferred to walk around the rocky, barnacle covered beach, filling his mouth with rocks as he went. Both boys were captivated by the fish splashing in the bucket after they were caught.



After an hour or so I came away with my limit of six big salmon, and a bit of a sore arm!

Black Bears

While in Juneau I wanted to see bears and whales, more than any other animal. Luckily for me I have gotten to see quite a few of both. I've seen ten different bears at this point. Below are a few of the most recent photos.

What a photo, huh!!?! I was pretty excited to get this one! This bear was hiding in the meadow grasses to the left. I didn't see him until just after three large brillantly red sockeye salmon started flopping in the shallow creek. Suddenly the bear jumped up out of the meadow and barged into the stream. He got his salmon! (Click on the photo.) I now have a new appreciation for how fast bears are.

See the salmon? So does the bear. I count at least three which are noticeably visible.

No zoom on this photo!

This was a little too close for me!

Those two cubs were really cute!

Priceless

One pink Mepps Flying-C lure: $5.00

One "Nonresident" Alaska One-day Fishing License: $20.00

Driving 25 Minutes in a Ford F150 Truck: $5.00 (that's a guess...)

Tending your two sons at a rocky beach, one sucking on rocks while the other is throwing rocks: $0.00

Watching your sweetheart catch her limit in salmon, (within an hour): PRICELESS.

Way-to-go Love!

(1 Aug. 2009)