Cookies of uniform size bake more evenly.

Place cookie sheet in center of the oven on middle oven rack.  Do not let the cookie sheet touch the back or sides of the oven wall, these areas are hotter and will cause uneven baking. 

Let cookie sheets cool between batches.  The dough softens and loses its shape on a hot baking sheet.  

Cookies are delicately browned when done.

Cookies should be stored in a container after cooling.   

For longer storage, you can freeze cookies

This recipe is from my son's preschool and it is really easy to make.  

2 cups flour
1 cup salt
2 Tbsp. cream of tarter
2 cups water
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
Optional:  food coloring, unsweetened koolaid, glitter, vanilla, peppermint, or another scent


1.  Mix dry ingredients thoroughly (including glitter, if desired).  Place in a heavy saucepan.  
2.  Combine liquid ingredients (including food coloring), then whisk together with dry ingredients.  
3.  Cook and stir over medium heat until dough is too stiff to stir.  Add scent if desired.  
4.  Turn out of pan and knead until smooth.  Store in Ziploc bag or airtight container.  

-After making this recipe for several years, I increased the amount of cream of tarter to 2 Tbsp. and it makes a nicer stiffer dough that is still easy to work with.  

Homemade Baby Wipes

1 Roll of Paper Towels – cut in half horizontally

2 1/2 Cups of Water

2 Tablespoons of Baby Wash

1 Tablespoon Baby Oil

1 plastic container large enough to hold half the paper towels (with lid)

Remove the cardboard center from the paper towels. Place 1/2 of the liquid ingredients into the container.  Put the lid on and shake.  Place 1/2 of the paper towels in the container, put the lid back on and shake some more.  Let it sit for 15 minutes. When your ready to use the wipes, just pull from the center of the roll.


I saw this recipe on 2 Wired 2 Tired, a blog that I follow and decided I had to try it.  It was easy to make and is a lot less expensive than buying Pampers wipes.  
I have been using these wipes for about a week now and I really like them.  I love the way they smell and they are so soft.  I feel like they clean better than regular baby wipes too.  I put them into a ziploc bag until I went to the store and purchased a plastic container.  I am going to mix up the liquid and put it in a spray bottle too for use with cloth wipes since I use cloth diapers a lot at home.  

A friend of mine posted this on facebook.  I thought it was so funny I would share. Sometimes we just need to laugh.

11 Step Program for those thinking of having kids 
by Amy Lawrence

Lesson 1

1. Go to the grocery store.

2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.

3. Go home.

4. Pick up the paper.

5. Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2

Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...

1. Methods of discipline.

2. Lack of patience.

3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.

4. Allowing their children to run wild.

5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.

Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3

A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...

1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)

2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.

3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.

4. Set the alarm for 3AM.

5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.

6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.

7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.

8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.

9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive)

Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4

Can you stand the mess children make? To find out...

1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.

2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.

3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.

4. Then rub them on the clean walls.

5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.

6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5

Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.

1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.

2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.

Time allowed for this - all morning.

Lesson 6

Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.

1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.

Leave it there.

2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.

3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.

4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 7

Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

(I just experienced one of the most miserable grocery store trips ever last weekend.  We had been out of town and needed to stock up in a big way.  I had my 16 month old with me who constantly stood in the cart seat.  I kept sitting him back down and he kept standing up.  I spent most of the shopping trip holding him in one arm while pushing a really heavy cart with the other and checking off my grocery list and using coupons all at the same time.  I don't know how other Moms do it.  About half the time he was crying and I just kept going.  He was mad that he couldn't chew on all of the items in the cart.  He almost got the frozen peas open.  I will say I met many sympathetic eyes in the store - they must have been there too at one time.  Faith - Home Ec @ Home) 

Lesson 8

1. Hollow out a melon.

2. Make a small hole in the side.

3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.

4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.

5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.

6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.

You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.

Lesson 9

Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.

Lesson 10

Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 11

Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'mommy' tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

This is all very tongue in cheek; anyone who is parent will say 'it's all worth it!' Share it with your friends, both those who do and don't have kids. I guarantee they'll get a chuckle out of it. Remember, a sense of humor is one of the most important things you'll need when you become a parent!