Bugs

We've been very busy lately.  I've been lovingly tending to my garden all summer.  And then I had to process all the vegetables I harvested.

I had forgotten how much work that is!

That's left me very little energy or brain power to write on my blog.  My poor little readers, few though you are.  I have neglected you, and I'm sorry.

So I have a cute story for you today.


Yesterday, Pirate Baby and I were running lots and lots of errands.

One of them led us to the post office.  Our post office is a cute old building with  lots of old wood and charm and even gates on the windows for when they're closed.

And it echos.

Which means everyone hears EVERYTHING that happens in there.

As I was standing in line waiting my turn (which in this little town means waiting for one person), an Asian beetle landed on my finger.

After the major infestation that we had of them last year, they are far from my favorite bugs.  

Plus, it startled me.

So I flicked it off my finger and it landed on the floor.

I pointed it out to Pirate Baby.  "Look!  There's a bug!"

He grinned and watched it run around.  We laughed as it scurried as fast as its little legs could carry it across the floor.  

Next thing I knew:

CRUNCH!

Pirate Baby stomped on it.  Then, he pointed at the bug and said "Bug dead."

...and that's when I noticed that the clerk, the customer being helped, and the new customer who had just come in behind us had all turned at the sound and were now laughing.

That's my boy!

*Edited* - Note to self - look at previous posting before publishing new blog entries.  I repeated my words and my pictures in this entry.  Sheesh!

Babyhood

My poor neglected readers.  This last year has been super busy - in good ways, thankfully!  I've had so many things going on that my poor little blog has gone ignored.  I had a moment in regards to my precious little boy that I thought I would share.

But first I have to show you how much this child loves our pets.  Especially the kittens.  I think he likes that they're little enough for him to pick up.  ...unfortunately for them.  There is a lot of "Pirate Baby, be gentle with the kitty."  "Pirate Baby, don't hold the kitty by his neck."  Pirate Baby, don't throw the kitty.  Put him down SOFTLY." 

He's catching on.  I had to grab the camera and catch this sweet moment of him snuggling with one of the kittens.  I was so proud of how gentle he was being.  

That's pure joy right there.  ...from the child.  The kitten has very clearly had enough snuggling and is saying "Help me!"

We have been blessed with the most wonderful cool days almost the whole summer.  I'm talking high 60's, low 70's.  I believe it's our reward for the very long winter we had this year.  Great temperatures up until this last week, when it suddenly jumped to a very muggy, humid 90.  This weekend, it was much too hot to send the kids outside, so I sent them upstairs to play in their rooms.  

Pirate Munchkin decided to play dress-up with her little brother.  (I'm so glad she didn't put him in one of her princess or fairy costumes.)  Isn't Pirate Baby the cutest little pirate ever?

I have a lot of friends who have kids around the same age as Pirate Baby.  Potty training is a regular topic now.  Most of the kids are either in the middle of or have even mastered it by now.

My son?  Not even interested yet.

We're not the only ones.  One of my friends from church has a little boy who is 2 weeks younger than my boy.  She was so glad to know that we weren't there yet either.  She has asked her youngest (who has the most incredible blue eyes you've ever seen, by the way!) if he wants to use the potty.  He looks at her and says "No.  I a baby."  

I've mentioned to Pirate Baby that one day he'll use the potty like the rest of us - preparing him for the idea when he's ready.  But he really doesn't care.  He likes to be in the bathroom with his father or me, but it still seems to just be about companionship.  

I'm in no rush.

When my Pirate Munchkin was his age, I had her little sister's diapers to change as well.  With all those diapers in the house, potty training was a much bigger priority then.  But this time?  Meh.  What's another diaper?  

Yesterday, as I cupped my son's perfect little chin in my hand to look at his sweet face, I realized something.  While life has a tendency to rush by, I've been greatly blessed.  The last couple of years have passed by fairly slow.  I waited 11 years for this little boy, and his babyhood has been a long, beautiful gift.  So if he's not ready to be a full-fledged Big Boy yet, I'm good with that.

I'm glad to have my baby be a baby for just a little bit longer.

The Kitty House

It started with this guy.
Captain Kitty

(using Pirate Munchkin as a pillow).

We had a bit of a mouse problem, so we got another cat to help out.  

(She doesn't have a pirate name yet, so you'll just have to admire her cuteness without a name.)

We were told she was a good mouser, but she just laid around all the time.  

We figured we had a "dud" cat.

Turns out, cat pregnancy is much like human pregnancy - very little energy!

When she started showing, we figured our male must have knocked her up as soon as she came to live with us.

Nope.  The kittens came two weeks early - Captain Kitty isn't the kitty "Baby Daddy".

Aren't they cute and tiny?  

There were 3 originally.  Sadly, the solid gray kitten didn't make it through the first night.

The two tiny, newborn kittens quickly stole our hearts!

They've been growing, as kittens tend to do.

They'll be 6 weeks old on Monday, and they're extremely playful now!

Here's our little female, taking a moment from killing my hand to pose adorably. 

Our very fluffy and very ferocious little male.

I often say of him "He's so fluffy, I'm gonna die!!"

We were concerned at first with letting Captain Kitty near the babies.

We had heard male cats will try to kill kittens - especially ones that aren't theirs.

As you can see, we didn't need to worry.

He lets everyone just crawl all over him. 

He loves the kittens and they love him!

There was the update.  

Now I have to tell you a story.

*Disclaimer:  The weak of heart may want to skip this part and go back to looking at the cute kitten pictures.

Tonight, I was watching a movie.  Captain Kitty was curled up on my lap sleeping, like he usually does at night when the house is quiet.  Our little mama cat was hunting something.  I figured it was just a fly, but she was really intent about it.  At one point, I heard some rather violent pouncing sounds coming from the corner of the room - almost behind the couch.  A few minutes later, she ran past me.  

I didn't think much of it until I heard the squeaking noise coming from the bathroom!

The sound woke Captain Kitty, and we went to investigate.

Mama cat had cornered a mouse!

I quickly assessed that she had discovered the mouse behind the couch, caught it, and for some reason carried it off to the bathroom.

Thank goodness, because I could shut the door and make sure it was dealt with in that smaller space!

Let's not even discuss how disturbed I was by the concept that the cat had caught a mouse in my living room!  Not in the basement or the attic where I knew we already had a mouse problem, but in my living room!  Where my kids play!  The room right next to my kitchen!

{shudder}

Anyway, I shut the door and stood guard in front of the doorway.  The gap under the door was the only place where I could see it having room to escape.  

Captain Kitty stood by and watched as our little mama cat chased the mouse back and forth around the room.  A few times, I had to scare it away from the door as it tried to head my way {shudder again}.  Eventually, the veteran mouse hunter seemed to get annoyed with her that she wasn't getting the job done.  

I realized I could almost hear the conversation going on between them:

Captain Kitty:  Here.  Let me help you.  When the mouse holds still, he's hoping you'll think he's dead and that you'll leave him alone.  You need to poke him so he'll move.

Mama:  Like this?

CK:  Yes.  Sometimes I little smack on the head is good too - like this.

(as the mouse scurries back and forth across the room)

CK:  Okay, now you're letting it go on too long.  He's not getting tired enough.  So you grab him like this,  (picks the mouse up with his mouth) ann holth him tight in yo teef like thith.  (puts the mouse down)  Now you try.

M:  Crud.  He got away again.  Hang on.  (she catches the mouse and holds it gently in her mouth) Like thith?

CK:  I don't think you're crushing down enough with your teeth.  Put him down and let me look at him.

(she puts the mouse down and it runs off again)

CK:  That's what I thought.  You need to hold tighter so you can feel his little bones crushing.  Let me grab him again and I'll show you.  I'll just injure him a little so you can get the idea.  You'll want to do it harder than this when you do it next time.  (he catches the mouse again)  Now.  You wanth to squith him with yo teef fo a few secondth.  (puts the mouse down).  See how there's a tiny bit of blood and he's laying on his side like that?  I only hurt his leg.  He's playing chicken.  He'll run again in a minute.

(mouse runs away)

M:  Okay.  I see.  (chasing the mouse around the room)  Even injured, this guy is fast!

CK:  That's why you have to make sure they're really hurt before you put them down.

M:  Got him!  (grabbing the mouse)  So I'm squithing him tighter.  I thee whath you mean!  I can feelth hith bonth bweaking.  (dropping the mouse)  How's that?

(mouse is alive, but clearly very injured)

CK:  Very good!  So now you can play with it if you want or just eat it right away.

Captain Kitty sits by and watches Mama play with the mouse for a while, tossing it in the air, kicking it, biting it for - I'm not kidding - a good ten minutes!  I've never really witnessed a cat killing its pray before, but I'd heard what it was like.  It was really brutal.  Once I knew the mouse wasn't going anywhere, I debated leaving the room, but I was afraid she would take it out of the bathroom and leave it somewhere.  If she wasn't going to eat it, I wanted to be able to flush it.  Plus I was morbidly fascinated.  So I stayed. 

Meanwhile, Captain Kitty was still watching her play with the mouse, and started looking annoyed again.

CK:  Seriously, are you ever going to eat that thing?

M:  (growling)  If you're going to act like that, I WON'T save you part like I'd planned.

CK:  I'm just saying!

M:  (growling again)  No.  Get out.  This one is mine.

And that's when I took Captain Kitty and left the room - closing the door behind us.

I'm proud to say when she started meowing at me to let her out of the bathroom, I was surprised to see that she hadn't left a single trace of that mouse anywhere in the room!  Good girl, not making me clean up mouse guts!

And who says living in the country is boring?

Projects

Sorry for the implied bad language here, but I'm pretty sure that's what my cats were thinking about me the last couple days.

It all started with a printer.

Our cheapo printer died - because it was cheap.  My really nice printer/scanner/copier/fax was obsolete.  So as a combined Mother's Day/Father's Day gift, my mom got us a new printer/scanner/copier/fax.

Which meant I could FINALLY get around to doing a project I've wanted to do since I wrote this post last summer.  (A collection of the pictures my sister took on her honeymoon in Paris.)

I love how it turned out:

I hadn't fully decided where I was going to hang it, but I needed to get it hung somewhere.  My new kitty (have I mentioned the new kitty yet?  I need to do that) is really good at jumping up on counters and knocking things over.  I didn't want the glass to get broken.  So I hung it up over the lovely 80's plaid wallpaper in the dining room.  

The wallpaper the landlady told me I was more than welcome to take down.

The wallpaper that had a little torn spot.

Right by where I was hanging the picture.

The spot that I started picking at last night.

And didn't stop until I'd pulled all the wallpaper off the walls!

The before picture.  Don't mind the bare bulb hanging from the fan there.  It had a weird wicker basket looking shade that drove me crazy.  I'm going to be replacing it eventually.  But there is the lovely plaid wallpaper.

All I was peeling off was the front half of the wallpaper - the decorative part.  But it came off really easy!  What was left was the glue side of the paper that made the room look the walls had once been white, but 30 years of heavy smoking had yellowed it.

Blech.

I probably should have taken a mid-project picture at that point, but I didn't.

I was telling my mom about the remaining paper and my plans to remove it.  She said "No, no.  All you need is hot water in a squirt bottle and a plastic scraper."  So while the kids were outside playing, I went to work.

I worked one strip at a time, spraying hot water on the whole thing, then gave it a few minutes to soak in.  Then I started scraping and peeling.  It worked like magic!

The entire project from the time I worked on it last night plus today's work was only about an hour and a half!

And now it looks...

...worse than it did with even the yellowed paper.

Double blech.

But that's okay.  Some paint will fix that.  But I can't do that until I get my garden planted.  So we have to live with the weird multi-colored walls for a week or so.  We'll live.


Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go start digging my garden!

Homemade Mayonnaise

 We currently only have one reliable vehicle.  My beloved old Blazer has issues and sits in the driveway most of the time.  Unless I have a lot of errands to run, I'm pretty much home all the time because Surfer Pirate needs the pickup to get back and forth to work.

Which has kind of forced me to be creative when I run out of things.

One day when I wanted to make sandwiches, I realized we were out of mayonnaise   Luckily, a few years ago, my mother had put together a cookbook with her favorite recipes in it, and I was pretty sure there was a recipe in there for homemade mayonnaise.  I had made it once years ago, just for the novelty of it, but I never really had a NEED for it.

Mom learned how to make it at a church function back when she and my dad were still married.  He loved it so much that as far as I know, it's STILL the only mayonnaise he uses.

It's seriously easy and inexpensive, so I thought I would share the recipe:


Blender Mayonnaise

2 Tbsp Vinegar
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Mustard
1 Egg
1 Cup Oil

 Get all your ingredients together because this goes REALLY fast.

Put the vinegar, salt, mustard, egg and about 1/4 cup of the oil in the blender.

Start blending on your highest speed.

Slowly pour in the rest of the oil while the blender is running.  It will get very thick as the oil is added.

Pour it all into a jar, and you're done!  It will thicken a little as it cools in the refrigerator.
This recipe makes about a 1 1/2 cups of mayo. 

Just make sure you always keep it in the fridge as soon as you're done using it.  With no preservatives, it will will spoil very quickly!

Country Girl?

I always believed I would thrive living in a small town.  I get claustrophobic in traffic and don't like crowds.

But even more than small towns, I always wanted to live in the country.  My ultimate dream was to be so far away from my nearest neighbors that I could stand on the roof and not see them.

I have that now.

And I love it.

But let's face it.  After 30+ years of living in cities, living in the country for a few months isn't going to make a lot of difference.

Case in point:

I made a quick run into town to get snacks for my hard working man.  As I was headed down our dirt road, I saw an animal on the side of the road.  It looked like it was eating something.  I had seen a badger about a mile and a half from our place last fall and wondered if that's what this was.

Whatever it was, it was pretty brave.  A truck driving right past it didn't even deter it from its meal.

I really wanted to see what it was, so I slowed down, checked to make sure no one was behind me, and started backing slowly up the road.

When I got there, it hadn't moved.  I turned the truck so the headlights were shining on the animal, and then opened the door and stood out the door to look at it.  (I wasn't taking any chances on being attacked by an angry badger!)





Dead raccoon.




But was it really dead?  Was it just injured?  Was it going to lunge at me?

So I grabbed a couple of rocks from the road to throw at it.

Yup.

It was dead.



So... um... yeah...

That's me.

The brave "Country Girl" throwing rocks at a dead raccoon.

Lots of Love

That's my Mommy when she first became a mommy.  That's her holding my sister way back in the very groovy and funky early 70's.  I would use a picture of her holding me as a baby, but I don't have one on this computer right now.

And yes, I'm 37 years old and call my mother "Mommy."  Why?  Because she is The Best Mom Ever.  You can try to argue that and say your mom is The Best, but you would be wrong.  And considering how many of my friends are trying to get my mom to adopt them, I'm not the only one who shares that opinion.

Considering that I have ZERO concept of time these days (what year is it now?) I totally forgot that Mother's Day was coming up this soon and didn't leave money in my budget to get anything for my sweet mom.  Normally, I would buy her a corsage.  It's a traditional thing.  On Mother's Day, my mom wears a fresh, pretty corsage to church.  And I feel bad that I can't afford to do that for her this year.  She deserves something special.


Although, she did buy us a new printer as a combined Mother's Day/Father's Day gift this year.  Maybe I could print some paper flowers and make a corsage?  What do you think, Mom?

It wouldn't get there on time for church this Sunday, but it's the thought that counts, right?


Instead, I will give her my words.

My mom had grand plans for her future when she was younger.  She wanted 12 kids, and she wanted to be home with them all day.  But that's not what happened.  She married my dad and had two kids.  And then they divorced.  She found herself as a single parent, trying to raise two kids and pay the bills all on her own.  No chance to be home all day with us, baking cookies and reading stories to us.

And even though things didn't go the way she planned, I think she did an amazing job.  My sister was a National Merit Scholar and went on to follow Mom's footsteps choosing teaching as her chosen profession.  I was an honor roll student and provided my mom with the two cutest grandkids there ever was!  (Don't argue.  I already proved my point about my mom being The Best.  I know what I'm talking about.)  I also have followed my mom's footsteps in being able to live the dream she always wanted.  I'm home all day with my kids, baking cookies and reading stories to them.

Through the years, my mom always did great things for my sister and me.

Like making Apricot Tapioca Pudding for us.  Which is definitely a genetic thing because Surfer Pirate and Pirate Munchkin don't like it, but Pirate Baby and I can't get enough!  It's amazing and delicious and now that I'm thinking about it, I might have to make some today.

She took us to Jackson Hole, Wyoming every summer to visit our grandparents.  As an adult, I know she did that because she couldn't afford to take us other places, and she needed the support and love of her wonderful parents.  But to us, that was the greatest adventure!  We got to drive through Yellowstone Park, with all of its magnificence.  We got to go swimming in the lakes in Teton Park.  We went to the Shoot-Outs in Downtown Jackson.  We made forts with the neighbor kids out of the bushes near the houses.  Grandpa would get us tickets to ride the Alpine Slide.  We stood on the deck with our cousins watching the fireworks every 4th of July.  I can't even imagine a better place for kids to spend their summers.

She always listened and always had good advice.  Some of my very favorite memories were of the times the three of us would pile on to Mom's bed and just talk for hours.

My mom taught me the love of reading.  She read to me when I was growing up, and I read to my children.  She could often be found sitting quietly in her room, with a book in her hands.  I too can often be found off by myself with a book in my hands.

She taught me that my Heavenly Father loves me.  She taught me the importance of being faithful to your beliefs even when life gives you challenges.  She taught me how to serve others.

My mother taught me how to love.  She taught me how to cherish my children.  She showed me through her own wonderful example what a mother is.


I'm sorry I wasn't able to send you to church with gardenias or orchids this year, Mom.  But I wanted you to know just how much I love and appreciate you.  Your love and support have gotten me through so many tough times, and I am PROUD to call you My Mother.  My Sweet Mommy.  My Best Friend.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!  I love you!

Nine? How is this possible??

My crazy, silly, fun Pirate Muchkin is 9 years old!  How did this happen?

She's also apparently part reindeer, but that's beside the point.

I thought I might show some pictures of her through the years so you can see how much fun it is raising this little girl.  Plus, I've hardly done any pictures of my kiddos on here lately, so it's about time, right?

Also, you'll have to forgive me for the gaps in this collection of pictures.  I'm limited to just what is on this computer right now.  I haven't moved everything over from my old laptop yet.

Wearing my sandals.

Laughing.

This is one of my favorite pictures.  She had been in her room for a while and was much too quiet.  I went to check on her and found her like this.  I have no idea how she managed to get Raggedy Ann onto her back like that!

The Raggedy Ann & Andy dolls were made by my mom.  My sister made the quilt.  Don't you just love her little piggie tails?

I love those little feet!

Her 3rd birthday.  (Wow that was a crappy camera!)

 Cute little girl in a polka-dot dress.

My brown-eyed girl.

Little Princess

So grown up with her first backpack!  (Back then, she called it her Pack-Pack.)

She loves animals (especially her cat)

...and her little brother.

I love you, my little rock star!

Just my thoughts...

My mind has been heavy thinking about some very serious things lately.  Our country is in a point of some major political upheavals.  I'm concerned about a lot of things, but I'm only going to touch on one of those issues today.

First of all, I am NOT a political person.  I don't get into political debates, and I pretty much only vote every four years when the time comes to elect a President.  But I watch.  I've been deeply saddened by the way my beloved country is straying farther and farther from the way it was set up by our founding fathers.  The national debt has skyrocketed to terrifying heights, corruption and favoritism is running rampant, etc.

There is a current issue that has been a really big deal in the social medias these days.  I got sucked into another political debate recently - with the gun control issues after the school shooting last December.  I posted things on facebook that went along with my beliefs, and I got some flack from some of my friends about it.  That's when I stopped.  I had figured that my friends would handle those things the way I do.  If I don't agree with something, I just scroll past it.  If it's something I agree with, I might Like it or even repost it.  No debates, no stress, just stating my opinion.  I forgot that people don't always think and react the way I do.  I learned my lesson.  When it comes to heated debates, I'm out of it.

Does that make me a chicken?  Maybe.  But I've seen too many friendships end over differences of opinion.


Anyway, with the current issue of Gay Marriage, while I'm avoiding posting my opinion on facebook, I can't stay completely quiet on the subject.

I struggled for a long time trying to weigh out my feelings on the subject.  I listened to both sides of the argument, but I kept finding myself somewhere in the middle.  But WHERE in the middle was I?  It really boiled down to a single word to me.  "Marriage."  What did I personally think marriage was?  How did that influence my opinion on this very difficult subject?

Then, I was on facebook one day, and discovered that a friend of mine was online.  This was my opportunity.  You see, my friend is gay.  He is in a very committed, loving relationship and has been quite vocal about the gay marriage issue.  So, I brought up the discussion with him.

Heterosexual versus Homosexual.  Gay versus Straight.  There are different terms for the different sexual orientations.  In your opinion, is the issue about the word "Marriage" itself, or would you be content with a different word?

He told me that he uses the term Marriage because it is the most understood term, but he would be perfectly happy to have a Civil Union.  He told me that in his opinion, a Civil Union is where the government would protect him and his partner just as if they were a heterosexual couple.  Things like being able to be on each other's insurance, the ability to make decisions regarding medical issues, that kind of thing.  He feels that churches should have the right to decide if they are going to perform marriages for gay couples or not - but as American citizens, any consenting adult should have all the same civil rights as anyone else.

That was it.  That was the first thing in the whole debate that rang true for me.  Civil Unions!  THAT'S what I believe in.  I believe the government should give the same rights to all US citizens - no matter their sexual orientation.

I know there are members of my church who would disagree with me on this, but I have searched my conscience, and I feel perfectly comfortable with my beliefs in this.  I see marriage and civil unions as two different things.  If there are churches who want to perform marriages between two men or two women just like they do for a man and a woman, that's their business.  But I think the government should treat us all equally.  The Declaration of Independence says:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

ALL men (or People, for the policially correct) have the right to persue happiness.  I have always read that to mean that we have been given the right to persue what it is that makes us happy - as long as what we are doing is not damaging to someone else.  Obviously, if your version of happiness means shooting people in the foot, that's not a good thing.  But if you just want to have a quiet peaceful life with someone you love, what's the harm in that?  My happiness in this world revolves around my beloved husband and our two beautiful children.  My friend's happiness revolves around something just as simple.  If my friend has the ability to join in a legal union with his partner, who are they hurting?  They'll go about their day, doing their jobs, taking care of their pets, creating beauty in the world (you should see my friend's plants!), and most of all - loving each other.

Why should he be punished just because he isn't physically attracted to women?

It's simple.  He shouldn't.

Hawaiian Pineapple Cookies

I've been reminded periodically that I've left my readers hanging about something for a while.  I mentioned in this post that life has taken me in different directions and I haven't gotten around to explaining what that meant.

Once we got done moving, life started settling down for us.  Between the peace of not having to look for housing anymore and having some of our financial worries settled, my stress level was much lower.  Stress is paralyzing.  I spent so much time in front of my computer in the past because I was so stressed I couldn't function.

On top of that, our old house was very compartmentalized.  If I was in the kitchen, I couldn't see what the kids were up to in the living room.  So in order to keep up with what my very busy toddler was up to, it was really easy to justify sitting in the living room with him all day.  With my laptop sitting right next to my chair, it was even easier to play with my computer for hours at a time.

In this house, I have a clear shot from the kitchen into the living room.  So most of the time now, I will go online for a little while in the morning when I wake up.  I might check in again around lunchtime.  But for the most part, if the computer is on at all, it's in the kitchen with me.  I watch a lot of movies or TV series on Netflix when I'm in the kitchen so I stay focused on staying in that room.  I don't have the stress I had before, so I have more motivation to keep the house clean and organized.

Which also means I've done a TON more baking and enjoying my time in the kitchen creating things.

One day, I REALLY wanted cookies.  But I didn't want the same old chocolate chip or peanut butter cookies I usually make.  Several years ago, my mom put together a cookbook of all her favorite recipes.  I decided to peruse through it and see what new recipes I could try.

These Hawaiian Pineapple Cookies have quickly become one of my very favorites.


The recipe is originally from a cookbook called A Pinch of Salt Lake by Amy Bowman.

Hawaiian Pineapple Cookies

1/2 Cup Shortening
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Egg
1/2 Cup Drained Crushed Pineapple* (save juice)
1 tsp Vanilla
2 Cups Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Cup Chopped Nuts (macadamia, pecans, almonds, etc), optional

Frosting:
2 Cups Powdered Sugar
2 Tbsp Butter, softened
1/2 tsp Vanilla
2 or 3 Tbsp Reserved Pineapple Juice (or more)

Topping:
3/4 Cup Flaked Toasted Coconut

*I only had pineapple chunks on hand, so I threw them in a blender for a few seconds, then squeezed the pineapple through a sieve to drain the juice.

 A quick note on toasting the coconut.  It's really easy, but needs to be done cautiously.  Bake the coconut on a cookie sheet for 7 to 12 minutes.  Stir it every 2 to 3 minutes to make sure all the coconut is toasted evenly.  If you're like me, you'll want to toast a LOT more than you'll need for the cookies.  I can't stay out of the stuff!

 Put all the cookie ingredients together in a large bowl and mix well.  Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheets.

While they are baking, make the frosting.  Put all the frosting ingredients in a small bowl.

Mix until fluffy.  

Frost the cookies.  If the frosting is too thick, you can heat in the microwave for 20-30 seconds and then stir.  Then, dip the cookies in the toasted coconut.

Try not to eat the entire batch in one sitting.  It's really tempting, I know.