Cookie Baking Night 11/24/14

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Emily, Ethan, Carissa, and Alli. Tonight was Emily's birthday choice (she turns 14 at the end of this week). For supper, she chose Hamburgers, Cheese Fries, and Strawberry/Mango Smoothies. For her "cookie" she chose chocolate mousse (made with marshmallow fluff - it was a specific requirement that the chocolate mousse be made with marshmallow fluff/creme and contain Oreo cookies). So we used this recipe from the Kraft website. It was pretty good.

The kids started with a game of Zingo while I finished up making the birthday supper. 

After we made the chocolate mousse, we added mini Oreo cookies and whipped cream in little fancy cups. 

The finished products. 

As usual, a fun time was had by all!

Bible Lesson: For our Bible lesson tonight we took a little detour from our usual book and talked about a couple Christmas carols and what they mean. We focused on "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and "Joy To The World". The children really didn't know what the carols meant or what some of words in them meant. They said they "just sing them". We talked about phrases like "herald angels" (messengers), "peace on earth" (peace with God), "reconciled" (make right, restore relationship). We read from Luke 2:10-14, which is the Bible text that the first line in the song comes from. 

We read the song verses (and tried singing it) from "Joy To The World", and we read the Bible verses that inspired that song - Psalm 98. 

My hope is that when they are out moving and breathing in this world and they hear those songs (hopefully, they hear those songs) that it causes them to think of Jesus and make much of our great Savior. 

I'll leave you with the words from each carol (the verses that we covered tonight) to ponder for yourself. 

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Hark! The herald angels sing

Glory to the newborn king

Peace on earth and mercy mild

God and sinners reconciled!

Joyful all ye nations rise

Join the triumph of the skies

With angelic hosts proclaim

Christ is born in Bethlehem

Joy To The World

Joy to the World! The Lord is come

Let earth receive her king

Let every heart prepare Him room

And heaven and nature sing

Joy to the World! The Savior reigns

Let men their songs employ

While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains

Repeat the sounding joy

No more let sin and sorrows grow

Nor thorns infest the ground

He comes to make his blessings flow

Far as the curse is found

He rules the world with truth and grace

And makes the nations prove 

The glories of His righteousness 

And wonders of His love

Birthday Musings 11/21/14

This weekend, we celebrated the two older nieces' birthdays. Emily and Kylie's birthdays are one day apart, and they are one year apart in age, turning 14 and 15 respectively. They are both cousins and best of friends. They don't live that close to each other in proximity (about an hour and a half apart), so anytime they can be together for an extended period of time, they are very happy. 

Emily, Kylie, and Aunt Katrina 

Emily, Kylie, and Uncle Greg

I picked them up on Friday night. And we spent Saturday doing crafty things, like making necklaces. 

We also made a trip to my favorite local bakery for some fancy birthday desserts. 

It was fun to spend time with them both in these ever changing teenage days. I'm grateful to God that he has allowed me a relationship with them both and pray He draws them unto Him. 

Happy Birthday, Girls!

Babysitting Musings 11/15/14

Last night Greg and I did some babysitting for the youngest of our nieces and nephews: Alli (4), Rylar (2-1/2), Enzo (1).

Soon after arriving at our home, Enzo decided he needed to free his feet from the tyranny of socks. Apparently wanting to keep one hand free for other things, he found the perfect place to keep the sock that was in his hand (his mouth). This is the kind of thing that parents are appalled by but aunts and uncles find to be very funny (thus, the picture). 

After dinner was over and everyone was changed into their pajamas, we brought out the toys (something new to our household, toys that is. We've managed to survive 19 years of marriage without them and babysit children countless times, but for some reason, toys now seem necessary -- so off to WalMart I went). 

The Mickey Mouse tool set was pretty popular. Everyone wanted to try on the hard hat (with Mickey ears). 

And I mean everyone. 

Oh yeah, the safety glasses too. 

                          

Enzo was so enamored with the hard hat that he would burst into giggles every time he was around it. I shot a short video to try to capture his glee. 

The blocks were also a popular toy. 

Just taking a little time to enjoy her masterpiece. 

When Greg and Enzo weren't exchanging hats and giggling, they just hung out together on the couch, relaxing. 

Or on the floor. 

Or on a chair. 

We're grateful to God for the opportunity to spend time with these little ones and to have a role in their lives. May He call them unto Him and may their lives (and ours) bring Him glory. 

Cookie Baking Night 11/10/14

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Alli. We had a pretty big snow storm today (and still snowing). We got about 9 inches of snow before Cookie Baking Night started. Alli and her daddy (Dan) were the only ones who braved the elements and conditions this evening (I was surprised we had that many, actually).

The evening started with Alli buttering the garlic bread we had with our lasagna for supper. She did a great job. I think she's going to take after her mommy (Deena) in the cooking and baking area of life. She's a natural. 

Tonight we made a classic; the peanut butter cookie. 

We went old school on these little beauties and even flattened them down with a fork making a criss-cross pattern (Alli liked that part). 

For our Bible lesson this evening, we returned to the book we used last time it was just Alli and I together for the evening: Devotions for Little Boys and Girls (Old Testament) by Joan C. Webb. Our lesson was titled, "Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall" from Genesis 1:14-19. It was a fitting evening to talk about the four seasons and the fact that God created them all (along with the sun, moon, and stars). Alli enjoyed answering the questions at the end of the lesson and even sang for me a lovely rendition of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."

As usual, a fun time was had by all!