At Considerable Cost

 Now that I'm Catholic, I can share the whole story with my children:)  I'm not sure why Mama made a big deal out of Valentine's Day for me.   In elementary school, she and I would make sugar cookies the night before.   During my senior year of high school, I worked in the child development lab of our Home Economics department.   It was a working preschool for children of teachers and others in the community.   Mama felt like she knew each child from the stories I brought home.   She and I decided to make special cookie stacks for each child on Valentine's Day.   They were a huge hit and I like to make them for my children, too.   Sometimes we share them with friends and neighbors, but this year, I did well just to make them for us.   The recipe and instructions are here .   I love the simple sweetness of Valentine's Day in the elementary years.   I have fond memories o...

In a previous post , I mentioned baking an apple pie for Clare's Kindergarten teacher.   I packaged it in a pretty basket which had a beautiful apple-themed wooden lid.   It turns out the teacher loves baskets and has a red kitchen! For the assistant in Clare's class, I filled a pretty star-shaped candle holder with Hershey's Hugs and Kisses candies.   A note attached that read, "Hugs and Kisses to a Super Star," completed the gift. Summer vacation was the theme of the gifts Emmeline gave her third grade teachers.   I found cute personal-size cooler bags at our local Kroger and got a fantastic deal on insulated cups.   I used the bags as gift bags.   A hand-written note from Emmeline and me, the cup, along with a little tissue paper, and the gifts were done. One last gift was for the dear woman who stands on duty every day in the car-rider line.   She calls the name of your children into the wal...