Charming Cookie Tester

I have a dang cute cookie tester living in my very own home. Weston's green t-shirt reads, "Mom's Offical Cookie Tester." He takes his job seriously but still manages to smile through all the testing.

Hayden's Choice: Pizza or Hot Dogs

Hayden wanted Dominos pizza for dinner one night and I told him that we could get pizza IF he would call in the order. I thought it was just the right time to introduce something new, exciting and a little terrifying into Hayden's life. He sat with the phone in hand making every excuse as to why he just COULDN'T do it. "I don't know the person I'm talking to," or "I might make a mistake," or "I'm so scared," or "I'm not old enough." I soothed his anxiety the best I could and gave him rational answers to his concerns like, "It's easier to talk to someone you don't know, because they don't know you either," or "if you make a mistake, I'm right here," or "don't think about being scared, think about the delicious pizza," or "you're old enough and you're strong enough to do hard things. YOU CAN DO IT." I added that if he preferred we could have hot dogs. I knew this choice was a no brainer because Hayden isn't in love with hot dogs. To my surprise he almost conceded until he found out that when I said we could have hot dogs, I meant just hot dogs....we were all out of buns. Hayden got a devious look on his face realizing the power he would have as the Pizza Orderer (important titles MUST be capitalized) and said, "I could order 20 pizzas!" I said that he could do that, but that I would be paying for ONE of those pizzas and he could pay for the rest. Hayden got up the gumption and made the call. He did a great job and I am so proud of him for not giving in to fear!

Some of My Favorite Things

I wrote my own version of "Favorite Things" from the Sound of Music:
Choc-o-late creamy filled Oreo Cakesters,
Chocolate dipped Almond Joys are quite the tasters,
Brussels mint makes my taste buds want to sing,
These are a few of my favorite things,

Milk chocolate bliss with a melt-away center,
Jumbo red vines that are ever so tender,
Rhodes cinn-a-mon rolls and dongs with a ding,
These are a few of my favorite things!

When the juice spills,
When the kids fight,
When I'm going MAD,
I simply go taste test my favorite things,
And then I don't feel.....
Soooooooooo bad!
Rob and I were browsing at the BYU Creamery on 9th East and came home with a couple oldies and a couple newbies. I have such lovely memories of my childhood travels with my parents. My mom would often buy Pepperidge Farm's Milano Mint and Brussels Mint cookies for road trips. They were a special treat. I have seen Milano Mint in Wal-Mart, but I haven't seen Brussels Mint in....well, I can't remember seeing them since I moved from home 13 years ago. You can imagine my surprise and delight when I spotted them on the shelf. I immediately snatched them up excited to share the memory and the cookies with my husband and kids. Rob was eying the Cakesters and the Almond Joy cookies. He did a little snatching of his own and we commenced a taster's table in the van on the way home. I crunched into a Brussels Mint cookie and stated that I always loved these cookies as a child. He munched a Almond Joy cookie saying, "I always loved these cookies. I have loved them for the last 30 seconds."