Awards! And Cupcakes!

By: Sadie Spencer (Main Character in the novel Love Finds You in Hershey, Pennsylvania by Cerella D. Sechrist)

Well, what do you know? I won a blog award!! With a cupcake on it!! And Kylie says to add, "With SPRINKLES!"


Check it out:

Um...now the dilemma is that Kylie wants me to make the cupcakes - "just like the picture"...

I'm a professional. I can do this.

Right?

Right. =/

(To find out more about Sadie's skill - or lack thereof - with desserts, read the novel Love Finds You in Hershey, Pennsylvania by Cerella D. Sechrist)

* Special thanks to Lori for gifting Sadie with her blog award!

Queen of Hearts

By: Sadie Spencer (Main Character in the novel Love Finds You in Hershey, Pennsylvania by Cerella D. Sechrist)

I used to loathe Valentine's Day.

It all began in the second grade when my attempts to woo seven-year-old Nicholas Kunkle went disastrously awry.

For Valentine's Day that year, I crafted my own masterpiece of a card.

I may have gone a teeny bit overboard.

When he opened it, red glitter poured from the envelope and dusted his Reebok sneakers like ruby sand. He wasn't impressed.

Then one of the googley eyes I pasted onto my hand-drawn heart popped off so my creation looked more like a lopsided Cyclops instead of an expression of undying affection.

After Nicholas tossed the card aside, he tore into the pack of conversation hearts I had included in my offering.

Grams always told me that the way to a man's heart was through his stomach.

She lied.

Nicholas tossed a palmful into his mouth and ended up choking until Mrs. Ebersole came and administered the Heimlich maneuver.

Nicholas wouldn't even share my brownies at lunch after that.

Jasper, being my best friend even at that tender age, tried to make things better during recess. He gave me one of those cute little boxes of chocolates - the ones with a plastic tray and four tiny, chocolate-coated candies inside. It was really sweet of him.

But when he tried to kiss me on the swings, I punched him and somehow managed to knock him out cold. This earned me three weeks of detention for injuring two boys in one day. (Jasper did try to defend me, but the evidence was all in favor of a conviction.)

After that, I swore of Valentine's Day exchanges for quite some time.

And to this day, every time I pass a display of conversation hearts...I shudder.

(To discover more about Sadie, Jasper and the time he kissed her on the swings, pick up your copy of the novel, Love Finds You in Hershey, Pennsylvania by Cerella D. Sechrist)

Sweet Snacks on Snowy Saturdays

By: Sadie Spencer (Main Character in the novel Love Finds You in Hershey, Pennsylvania by Cerella D. Sechrist)

There are days when I just do not believe my daughter is normal.

Don't most children want something WARM when they come in from an afternoon spent cavorting in the snow? You know...hot cocoa or chicken noodle soup?

Not Kylie.

No, she doesn't ask for something hot and fortifying after playing outside in sub-zero temperatures. She wants SWEET ICE - a cold, sugary snack that leaves her tongue painted in multi-colored hues and her cheeks pink with happiness.

In the event your own children are abnormal, here's how it's done:

First, you'll want to mix up the flavoring. It's simple - only three ingredients.

1 envelope Kool-Aid (Kylie likes cherry or grape the best)
1 cup hot water
2 cups sugar (I know - I never claimed it was healthy)

Mix these together, and I like to store the syrup in a plastic squirt bottle. Just use whatever you have handy. Now...

Using a clean bowl, collect some fresh snow.

Gather the syrup flavoring, along with whatever cups you'd like to serve the Sweet Ice in (Kylie and I prefer tea cups!)

Fill the cups with tightly-packed snow and squirt as little or as much syrup over it as you like. (Kylie likes a lot. Of course.)

Bundle yourself in a sweater and enjoy with your child. (Then compare your tongues to see who has the funkiest colors!)

(To learn more about Sadie and Kylie's mother/daughter adventures, pick up your copy of the novel, Love Finds You in Hershey, Pennsylvania by Cerella D. Sechrist)