Katrina's Musings (A Visit With A Friend)

My young friend, Katelyn, and her family were in town visiting last week (they moved to North Carolina about two years ago). It was a fun day. We made a visit to a chocolate shop in the twin cities area and then had lunch together. I think I was supposed to be with her for about an hour or two, which we managed to cram into about 4 hours (too many things to catch up on). I'm grateful for the relationship God has given us, and I look forward to seeing what He does in Katelyn's life as she moves from girl to teenager to young woman.

Cookie Baking Night 06/09/14

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

The long Minnesota winter has passed, the temperatures are rising, school is out for the summer break and we decided to celebrate with that summertime classic, the s'more. 

No time for a campfire? No worries. You can make these in the comfort of your own kitchen in no time flat. 

You'll need some chocolate bars, unwrapped and broken into graham cracker sized portions. 

Don't forget the graham crackers and the marshmallows. You can use the large marshmallows. The kids and I like to use the mini marshmallows (it gives them a little more to do in this project and I find the marshmallows toast more evenly that way).

After you've lined the graham crackers on a pan and covered them with marshmallows, pop them in the oven on the broiler setting for about a minute and a half (just until the marshmallows are toasted). 

Top each marshmallowed cracker with a chocolate bar and pop them back into the oven for 2 seconds to melt the chocolate just a tad (seriously, no more than 2 seconds). Then finish them off with a graham cracker on top and you have yourself the classic s'more. Quite yummy. 

Tonight we continued reading in our new book, Training Hearts, Teaching Minds by Starr Meade. We're still on Question #1 "What is Man's Primary Purpose?"

Answer: Man's Primary Purpose is to Glorify God and Enjoy Him Forever.

I like this book. It creates a great platform for discussion. I look forward to exploring it deeper with the children. 

Tonight I recruited my little Cookie Baking helpers to help me with a few craft projects I'm helping to prepare for the upcoming VBS program at our church. 

Ethan cut lengths of ribbon for me. 

And the girls set themselves to the project of cutting lengths of cord into 7-1/2 foot increments. Alli held one end against the tape measure while Carissa stretched out the cord and then cut it. After cutting the cord, Alli would take the cord and hang it on the banister and then run back to the tape measure and enthusiastically say "Let's do one more!" (I must say she's been my most exuberant VBS project helper to date). 

I wish we had time for many more projects but alas, the evening had to come to an end and, as usual, a fun time was had by all.