Cookie Baking Night 05/14/12

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Emily, Ethan, and Carissa. 

We made Peanut Butter/Marshmallow Squares (a tasty little treat with butterscotch chips, nuts, peanut butter, coconut, and marshmallows). Pictured above: When Emily tried to scoop the peanut butter into the bowl, it became a "peanut butter lollipop" on her spoon.

Carissa showed us her "cat presentation" that she made for school (complete with fancy display board and props). She did a very nice job.

We read lessons 68 & 69 from Leading Little Ones to God. Ethan and Emily read from the Bible for us.

And we finished off the evening with a lively game of bocci ball in the cool of a beautiful spring evening. 

As usual, a fun time was had by all!

Cookie Baking Night 04/30/12

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Ethan and Carissa. Tonight we made M&M sandwich cookies (with colored frosting between them). It was a fun project and the kids seemed to enjoy it. But, between the preparing the dough, making the frosting, cooling the cookies, and frosting the cookies, it took up our whole evening. We made it through only the first paragraph of our lesson from  Leading Little Ones to God when it was time to leave. (And Carissa was really hoping we would have time to weed the flower garden--as was I with such eager volunteers at my disposal, but alas maybe next time). 

As usual, a fun time was had by all. 

Cookie Baking Night 04/16/12

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Emily, Ethan, and Carissa. We made a traditional seasonal treat this evening (traditional for Cookie Baking Night, anyway): Spring Bird Nests. This is  definitely a kid favorite. They always have fun making these and eating them. 

 Here's the recipe:

1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 bag chow mien noodles
Colored candy eggs

Melt the butterscotch chips, choc chips, and p-nut butter in the microwave until smooth. Add chow mien noodles. Mix until well coated. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto waxed paper. Decorate with candy eggs (p-nut or almond M&Ms will do in a pinch). Chill to set. Enjoy!

We also read from "Leading Little Ones to God" tonight. We decided to read two lessons each night since we're nearing the end of the book. Since we meet only every other week, and we read one lesson a week, we've been reading this book for 4 years now (and I should note nobody's complaining about it--the kids always remind me if we haven't read our lesson yet and they make sure I save time for it). We read lessons 66 (The Father Will Help If We Ask Him) and 67 (The Holy Spirit Helps Us) tonight Ethan and Emily took turns reading from the Bible for us. Tonight's lessons were followed by some good Spiritual discussion with the kids (my favorite part).

As usual, a fun time was had by all.

Cookie Baking Night 04/02/12

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Ethan, Emily, & Carissa. Yesterday was Emily's Dad's (my brother's) birthday. So, for the cookie this evening we made chocolate chip cookies. (Rob's always asking me, "Why don't you just make chocolate chip cookies?"--so tonight, for him, we did). 

Hmmm, I clearly wasn't watching the flour measurer closely enough this evening. Looks like not quite enough flour got into the cookie dough. Well, they weren't pretty, but they did taste good. 

We also managed to squeeze in a walk around the neighborhood (first one this spring--woo hoo!). And we read from Leading Little Ones to God by Marian Schoolland. Tonight we read lesson 65 titled "We Need Help to Live for God". Emily read 1 John 1:7-2:1 for us.

As usual, a fun time was had by all!

Evangelism Focus--Easter 03/30/12

On the days leading up to Easter, I have returned to my "Easter Packs" for evangelism during this time. Each "Easter Pack" contains a gospel tract, a note written by me, and a couple pieces of candy, all packaged in a Ziploc bag with a flower sticker on it. A couple weeks before Easter, I make sure I have several packs made up. I keep a box of them in my car, and I keep several of them loaded into my purse at all times. As I'm running my errands, I hand one to the attendant at the counter and say, "Happy Easter! This is for you." It's that easy. I encourage you to give this idea a try around holidays. Everyone seems to be willing to accept a greeting and a token gift around special days of the year.

 The "Easter packs" are pictured below.

Here's the text from the note I included in each pack:

Did you know that Easter is about more than colored eggs and candy? Easter is celebrated because it is the day that Jesus rose from the dead. His life and death were predicted (in the Bible) hundreds of years before he was born.

In the book of Isaiah, it reads, "Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one-- to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity [sin] of us all." (Isaiah 53:4-6).

I have provided for you a gospel tract with a little more information about this event in history and its ramifications. I simply ask that you consider this information today and ask yourself, "Is it true?" If it isn't true, then reject it. If it is true, then it demands a response.

Thank you for taking the time to read this today. Happy Easter! May it be your best one ever.

Cookie Baking Night 03/05/12

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Emily, Ethan, and Carissa. We made candy treats using Hershey Hugs, pretzels, and M&Ms. Here's how:

First, unwrap the Hugs (I highly encourage cookie projects with little kids that involve unwrapping candy-takes a long time, and they feel quite accomplished in the end).

Next, line up pretzels (square or twists) on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet.


Then place a hug or kiss (chocolate candy) on top of each pretzel and place in a slow oven (200 degrees) for 5-6 minutes, just until the candy is "melty".

Next, place an M&M on top of each chocolate covered pretzel and gently press down.

We tried out the newest M&M flavors tonight, mint and raspberry, dark chocolate (we highly recommend these, and the mint seemed to be slightly more popular than the raspberry).

Let cool (I usually place them in the refrigerator for a few minutes), and you have yourself a tasty little treat.

We also read from Leading Little Ones to God by Marian Schoolland. Tonight we read lesson 64: "God's Children Look for What is Coming" and Emily read 1 John 3:1-3 for us from the Bible. Good discussion involving what it means to be a Christian and what can be expected from living life as a Christian came out of tonight's lesson. This book has been well worth the read. I'm very glad we've been systematically working through it (and at one lesson every other week, we've been in the book for about three years now).

We also managed to squeeze in a few rounds of Mickey Mouse Uno. As usual, a fun time was had by all.

Evangelism Focus 03/02/12

Yesterday, I was listening to the Christian Worldview radio program. The host, David Wheaton, asked one of his guests (a former drug dealer and drug addict), "How did you hear the gospel?" The guest said this, "I was on my way home from work on the bus and a man shared the gospel with me." (which was the seed that led to this man's conversion to Christ).

Hmmmm. Ask yourself the question I've been asking myself ever since hearing this program, "Shared the gospel with any strangers lately?"