Appreciation!!

Yesterday, I walked into my classroom and to my surprise this was sitting on my desk..

The nicest thank-you gift from one of our assistant principals. 

It's perfect, right?!?

Seriously, I was so touched by what a sweet and thoughtful gesture it was.  It's rough working at the school I am at and appreciation for the work that ALL of us do is few and far between.  So, it was nice for my work and effort (which I sometimes feel like is mostly in vain) to be acknowledged.  It was just the boost I needed to finish the school year with full-steam and just the motivation I needed to make more of an effort to tell more people in my life how much I appreciate them. 

Who do you appreciate?

Maggie "I'm a Lemon" Wise...

....happens to be the cutest kid on the planet.  And, she happens to have a cupcake named in her honor!

As you all probably know, I like to name my cupcakes.  However, any old name just will not do.  I like for the names to sort of happen organically.  Like, the chocolate cucpake with peanut butter icing became the "Peanut Butter Pamela" after my mom's friend, Pam, took the bowl of leftover peanut butter icing home with her after my Dad's birthday party.  In my mind, anyone that loved the icing that much deserved to have a cupcake named in her honor! Or, for example, "The Brandy" cupcake was inspired by my friend, Brandy's, yummo chocolate chip cookies.  So, it was only fitting that I name the lemon cupcakes that I make "The Maggie".  Maggie loves to sing a song that basically has three lyrics, which happen to be....I'm a lemon!  Maggie loves to perform this song and is pretty darn cute doing so.  So, rightfully so, the lemon cupcake was named for her cutie patootie self.

Maggie "I'm a Lemon" Wise, came over this week with her equally adorable mom, Helen, and decorated some cupcakes with me.

I was working on an order of birthday cupcakes.....

Maggie was working on cupcakes of her own...

Success!!!

Maggie is no stranger to this blog.  If you haven't already seen her, you can check her out here or here.

Thanks, Maggie & Helen, for a fun girl night!! I triple loves you both!!

Kitchen Cupcakes

A while back, my fantastic cousin, Angie, asked if I could make cupcakes for a wedding shower she was helping to host.  The shower was a "kitchen gadget" themed shower.  For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what kind of cupcakes to make.  However, things changed one fateful trip to Hobby Lobby.....my Nana and I were perusing the aisles when we stumbled upon some stamps.  That's all it took - I was inspired.  A little cardstock and stamp pad later.....

Whatcha think?

(a big thanks to Angie for the pics!)

Cupcakes & Leadership

I was asked to teach a class on leadership & team builing to a group of people going through a leadership class through the town of Vivian.  For the past month, the students have attended a different class each week on topics including government practices, health care, community organizations, etc.  I was super excited to help out by teaching this class for a couple of reasons: 1. Vivian is my hometown.   2. I think community involvement and service are crucial!!!  As I was preparing for my class, I tried to think about what topics and activities would be most effective in helping to educate the students about leadership styles and would also help to foster collaboration and team building.

After much thought, I realized the most important element would be to make cupcakes for the class! :)

One of the activites was to list characteristics of an effective vs. ineffective leader.  This is what one of the groups came up with.  To be quite honest, it made my heart very happy! :)

Needless to say, they enjoyed the cupcakes and hopefully learned a little something about leadership too!

Facebook Shmacebook

If you haven't already, check out The Cupcake Queen's facebook page here.

Happy Monday!

Please Pray....

..for my sweet Kaylee.  Pray for peace for her little mind and calm for her sweet spirit.  Pray for her to feel safe, protected and loved.

containers & cupcakes

It seems as though I am on a never-ending quest to "get my life together".  So much so, I have dedicated an entire day out of the week (Sunday) for just that - getting my life together.  Normally, this means laundry, cleaning, ironing and grocery shopping......you know, all the things that I loathe.  Now, truthfully, sometimes "get my life together sundays" turns into "sleep in, lay on the couch and watch movies sunday", however, this  past Sunday was pure victory in the form of containers for my ever-expanding cupcake supplies.  Oh, how I strive for organization and rarely achieve it.  Which is why this, my friends, makes my heart happy:

Also, I have learned a little organization makes the whole decorating the cupcakes process much more pleasant.  I made these birthday cupcakes this week and enjoyed having everything exactly where I needed it.  And, they are pretty cute, if I must say so myself!

Maybe one day I'll get the million bottles of sprinkles I have adorning my cabinets organzied.....

one day....