Happy Birthday Doodles

My sweet nephew Doodle had a combined birthday party recently.   His actual birthday is still a few days away but his Mom and her best friend decided to throw a combined party for their children.  And what a party it was..... balloons, popcorn, a jump house, hot dogs, cotton candy and cookies.   

Can you guess what the theme was?  A Circus Party!! And it was perfect.  I made some circus tent cookies to go with the theme.  

Here is a not so good shot of them all wrapped up.  

And here is another not so good picture..... ugh... I am still waiting on that camera tooth fairy!

I  also made some number three cookies because the birthday boy and girl were both turning three!  The three cookies were made with a chocolate cut out cookie recipe. The recipe was a new one I tried.  If I knew the source I would reference them here but it is a recipe I have had saved for a while.   There are no rising agents used in the chocolate cookies which I worried about, but the cookies turned out great.

This day was a special one not only because of the birthday boy, but also because I was able to spend the weekend with my favorite set of twins- my other nephews.   They are always so full of energy and bring me so much joy!

I plan on baking up some cupcakes soon so I can continue to find excuses to make and eat copious amounts of frosting. YUM!

Smiles,
Marci

Thank You!

This post goes out as a thank you.  I am thankful every day for the happiness that my new social work position brings to me.  I have loved meeting new co-workers, getting to know a new team and working with a great group of doctors, nurses, researchers and other social workers.  I also am appreciative of the attention and focus  that is paid to social workers during the month of March- or as it shall forever be called- National Social Worker Month.   So this post is a thank you- a thank you to all of the social workers out there.

This post is also a thank you to a great group of co-workers.  They surprised me last week with a surprise luncheon.

They gave me a surprise gift and it was filled with baking goodies.   They know me so well already!!  But I love it and love them for being so thoughtful.

And here is the cake that another co-worker made from scratch.  It was phenomenal.

A thankful Marci.

March is off to a good start.....

March is shaping up to be one of my favorite months.  First off- it is National Social Work Month.   I am proud to be a social worker and am thrilled to participate in the events planned at my employment.   I wish there were more ways that we could recognize and acknowledge the difficult and fulfilling job that social workers have.   I regret not taking the time to write Oprah and ask her to dedicate one of her "favorite things episodes" to social workers.  I love that she shared one episode with teachers- another difficult job that is often under-recognized.    But, trust me, social workers take the cake.....

Speaking of cake, I made some oreo cupcakes.  They were delicious.  I placed an oreo at the bottom of a cupcake liner, mixed up a white cake mix and topped it off with some homemade buttercream and some more oreos.   And let me tell you.  This butterceam was soooooo good.   I will share more one it later, because I may have fulfilled my-quest-to-find-the-perfect--frosting.   It was that good.

Here is a close up.  And yes my iphone pictures are lacking.   I would love a fancy schmancy camera so I could take pictures that would truly show how good these bad boys are.   So, tooth fairy if you are reading my blog- take note.   And I definitely think a root canal justifies a visit from the tooth fairy... Yep... It does.

Here are some goodies my friend and I baked up the other weekend for a cutie's first birthday.

The favor bags were adorable.  Between my sister, me and my BFF I know we could take on the baking and decorating world.

Next up is my adorable nephew's birthday party.  I will be baking up some more fun goodies for that party.  And my favorite twins in the world will be in town and I cannot wait for their smiles and giggles to fill up my heart.

But the best part of March- it means the end of winter and the beginning of spring.  Bring on the sunshine!

Smiles,
Marci