Cookie Update

Okay after spending a few hours on trying to figure out how to get the silly paypal icon on my blog, I have figured out through paypal that when you order cookies from Emily, I will send you an invoice by email, and you may pay by anyway you choose (I do ebay, so my account accepts all forms of payment, though check transfer is free for me.) I use paypal because it is completely secure and it really makes things easier, I can even print shipping labels from there. Again, I apologize for the hassle, although, I am thinking this will actually be easier than checks. (for me anyway. easier to keep track of who bought what)

Thanks again for making this a success for Emily. She is heading out tomorrow evening with Dad to go make her rounds in the neighborhood. Poor baby... I am having flashbacks of being knee deep in snow with a wagon full of cookies.... AAAAHHHH father daughter bonding time. Gotta Love it!

Girl Scout Cookies

Double click on flyer to see more clearly :)

Hey Guys... it is officially Girl Scout Cookie time. Emily will be selling between January 11 through the January 27, 2008. Each box is $3.50.

If you would like to order some extra to send to Deployed troops, our Brownie troop is sponsoring some of the units on base and are sending them directly through the orderly rooms (we are sending some to different units in all the branches, as we have marines, army, navy, coastguard and AIR FORCE kids in our troop) we felt this way we knew they were being sent and who they were going to.

Please note: The GIRL SCOUTS of America is doing a program similar to this, this year, but the literature on this was rather sketchy, and as a troop we didn't think very well planned out, so we are going our own route. SUCH REBELS! ha ha ha

If you would like me to mail them out to you when they arrive, I will let you know how much the shipping is. At the very most it will be 8.95 (flat rate box). Cookies arrive to the Brownie troops on February 30, so I will get them to you ASAP.

To make this even more exciting, the troops are not allowed to accept personal checks this year. Super fun! If you like, you may send a check payable to me.... Don't worry, I am responsible, and will make sure all the money goes to the girls (ha ha ha) I am going to check with the troop and see if we can open a paypal account for troop money, set it up in the leaders name, and that way, we can avoid the hassle that I can see this causing :) Money is not due until 13 March, 2008.

I am also attaching a link to the cookie website, so you can choose the variety of cookie you would like and see all the nutrition facts. The new cookie this year comes in 100 calorie packs, pretty cool for those of you who are DIETING and can still have carbs :)

If you have any questions, please let me know. I will be happy to answer them for you.

http://www.abccookies.com/ (this is the offical cookie website)

Mardi Gras cookies

Okay, so maybe this is just another one of my silly whims, but my mom mentioned when Ispoke to her last week that her friend Mary said I should do this professionally, but then it wouldn't be fun anymore. I love cookies! It's like having a bunch of coloring pages that people can eat.... Anyway, I thought there might really be a market for decorated cookies that actually taste good and won't break the bank. Give me your thoughts please. I worked on these today and I know that there is a lack of mardi gras cookies available online. later I will include some packaging ideas. Just double click on the picture to get a better view.

January 6, 2008

This month started out with a "Bang". We spent New Years Eve at the movies. National Treasure is a new favorite of our family. We promptly came home and went to bed... ahhh the life of married with children. ha ha ha

So much going on, it's hard to remember everything. I am feeling extremely scatterbrained lately. Thanks so much to my mom, though, I got a wonderful calendar for Christmas that allows me to keep up on all that the kids and my dh is doing. Bill is starting a new job and trying to learn all the ins and outs of things. This means a lot of late hours and weekends. Emily is beginning her girl scout cookie sales this month, so watch out for phone calls and visits from her. Thursday is her first day of piano lessons. She is so excited! Robert has his first gymnastics competition on the 26th. He has been undergoing very intense training, and has received an award from his school for his performance on the pommel horse. We are so proud of the effort both the kids have put into their extra curricular activities, while still maintaining their studies. There will be pictures to follow... of course!

And last but certainly not least, Mr. William turns 3 on the 23rd. Wow, it's hard to believe that my baby who I held in my arms for so many hours is now a big boy! I am just beginning to plan his party. He really doesn't want a "theme", but he seems to think that birthdays mean balloons, candles and streamers... whoda thought it? What am I going to do with something so simple... well you know me, I will find a way to make it into a production!

December 2007

This month we were finally settled into our new (old) house. It is a wonderful place so cozy and homey. We really made an effort to make it comfortable for our 3 children, since Nebraska winters can be long and if you let them dreary. A home is made of people, but our house is a great accessory. Bill and I painted Emily's room an adorable pink and it's a place that she loves to be. Wil and Bob's room is blue and has a sports theme. Perfect for two brothers sharing a large space.
After spending nearly our entire Dislocation Allowance redecorating (okay carpets are a necessity) the relic of a house we chose, it was time to joyously shop for Christmas presents! What is a girl to do when she has so many people that she loves and cares about but little money to spend. Then my close friend sent me a daily email about getting into the "true" spirit of Christmas. It's not about the amount of money you spend but the time and thought you put into the gift. It really hit home with me. I love to make things, but I always feel like the people I give them to are totally weirded out by my kindergartenesque creations.

I knew that I was going to have my husband work on our family Christmas card. We live so far away from our friends and family, I like to send pictures so that they can remember what we all look like. We posed outside the parade grounds on base after the tree lighting ceremony. All the kids decked out in their Children's Place Rugby Sweaters... I love those things, every year we buy a set and voila a matching group of kids for all their casual winter activities.
The pictures turned out great and I found a card style I liked. My husband being the graphics whiz that he is created the layout and did the printing for me. All I had to do was add the stamps! Wow was that a time saver. I thought for a while there we were going to be sending out New Years cards....
So now on to the gifts. Hmmm. Well the first place I always go to get inspiration if the craft store. I love it. I could spend days in there looking at the same things figuring out different ways to use them. Of course nothing was really gift worthy. My sister in law wanted plain white dish towels. Any one who knows me knows that I don't do plain white anything. So where do you find that? Right, Linnens and Things. While I was there I saw this adorable apron. It said domestic goddess on the front and it had rhinestone lettering, it was black and pink. Totally me. I wanted it so bad! And then I had sticker shock. 29.99 WOW, I mean for as much work as that little china boy put into making it, I am sure that he deserved the 29.99, but I was not willing to pay that much. So I set off for the craft store. I found plain black aprons. Roughly $5.o0 each and then I found iron on sayings and patches. I made three of these. One for my mom, one for my wonderful sister in law and of course one for me. I am the one with three kids and no dishwasher, I truly NEEDED an apron. ha ha ha. Finally I made something someone would actually like.
Then it came time to embellish Jamie's towels. As I said before, I don't do white. So I used some of the same iron on patches and made some adorable, still white, but a little fancy dish towels. I thought they were really cute.
Remember those pictures we took for the Christmas card. I used those again too. I picked up some glass picture frame coasters at penney's on black friday for 5.95 each set. I then put the pictures from the tree lighting ceremony inside, and those too made great gifts for the ladies in our life. I hope they like them. :)

So now my confidence is soaring. I decided, okay Bill's in a new office, we definitely need to start out on the right foot. So I begin my annual baking. And I bake and bake and bake, until I can't bake anymore. I made candied and spiced nuts, old fashioned chex mix, my girlfriend's late mother in law's Texas trash, and of course sugar cookies. I decorated them like I never knew I could. I was so proud. I wanted to show them off to everyone.







That is where I am at now. I am addicted to sugar cookies. I love to make the dough. I love the smell when I roll them out. I get so inspired by the different shaped cookie cutters, and the best part is watching my children smile in amazement when I present them with a cookie I made just for them. They love them. At least that's what they have been telling me. If you would like me to make some for you for your next celebration or party, please just let me know via email at jlagesse@gmail.com and I will be happy to be in touch. As I said it is a labor of love for me. I am going to move on to cakes next. Wil has a birthday coming up and has already been through the wilton yearbook. Hopefully my experience with cakes will match that with cookies.

Here are some pictures of the cookies I sent to my little brother, Matt for his birthday. He is a huge spurs fan. My favorite is the little basketball player, I hope he was yummy!