Cookie Baking Night 07/11/16

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Emily, Carissa, Alli, and Rylar. Since we have more members in our immediate household than we used to, we've added more birthday choice nights. Tonight was Clara's (my mom's) birthday choice (she'll be celebrating 70 years in just a few days). For supper she chose a dish my Scottish (paternal) grandmother used to make frequently. We always called it potatoes, hamburger, and beans, for lack of a better name. It is boiled potatoes, browned hamburger with bullion added, and pork and beans. Each element is put in its own dish on the table but layered on one's plate and sprinkled with Worcestershire sauce. For her cookie, she chose the Molasses Crinkle. (Sorry, I'm working on my skill of taking pictures of everyone in attendance, especially the birthday people, but I haven't perfected it yet. It's a work in progress).

For tonight, for our Bible time, we returned to the book God's Names by Sally Michael. We spent a long time talking about what it means to have a name and what our name says about us (including our given names and nicknames). We learned that the Bible has more than 200 names for God, and if we count all the names, titles, and nicknames of God, there are over 700 names. God's names tell us about Him. The name we learned about tonight is Elohim, which means Strong Creator. It's fitting that the first name we learned tells us that God created the world, and the first verse in the Bible tells us the same thing: Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." We're looking forward to learning who God is through learning His names. 

Hmm. I made the mistake of leaving my phone on the table for a few seconds, and the teen and tween went selfie crazy. Lesson learned. 

Clearly, as usual, a fun time was had by all. 

Cookie Baking Night 06/27/16

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Emily, Ethan, Carissa, Alli, and Rylar.
It was birthday choice (she turns 11 in just a few days). For supper she chose: Chicken Alfredo, tator tots, and berries with cream. For her cookie: Dirt Cups.

We also took a walk to the local gas station (Uncle Greg came with us) for an ice cream treat. 

For our Bible time tonight, we tried something new: Memorization. We started with Psalm 23. It was disastrous. Concentration was low and attention was wandering. We will regroup and come at it differently next time. God's Word is worth the effort of hiding it in our hearts, so we won't give up that easily (at least this aunt won't). 

Despite a few less than warm and fuzzy moments, as usual, a fun time was had by all. 

Happy Birthday, Greg!

Today is (my husband) Greg's birthday. Phrases or words that describe Greg: Computer whiz, smartest man I know, eternal optimist, patient (the patience he shows with me is the characteristic in him that most makes me want to be like Jesus), funny, interesting, adventurous, one who is rarely found without something on his head at a family gathering (this picture is one of the rare cases where it happens to be a hat).

Happy Birthday, My Love. I praise God for you, and I'm ever so glad you were born!

Cookie Baking Night 06/13/16

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Ethan, Carissa, Alli, and Rylar.
Tonight was Uncle Greg's birthday choice (his birthday is on Wednesday). For supper, he chose Chicken Pockets and for his cookie he chose Molasses Crinkles.

It was a lively night and time got away from us this evening. We managed to get the cookies baked and read our Bible lesson (Leading Little Ones to God: #32 "Jesus Came From Heaven") and before you knew it, it was time to go. But I assure you, as usual, a fun time was had by all. 

Cookie Baking Night

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Emily, Alli, and Rylar. Tonight we made strawberry-rhubarb crisp.

First, we had to pick the rhubarb, so we headed to the backyard. Rhubarb grows best in an area where it's shady and wet. We've had a lot of cloudy, rainy days lately, so the rhubarb is perfect for the picking.

This is the first time the youngest ones have picked the rhubarb. Rylar was a little skeptical about it. When I told him we were going to use it in our dessert, he said, "That doesn't look like something you can eat." He sure did enjoy the process of picking it though. 

We brought it in the house and cut it and cleaned it up.

Then we added a few strawberries and some sugar and added a topping and it was ready to bake. 

We spent most of our time tonight picking rhubarb and preparing the dessert, but we did have enough time for our Bible time. Tonight we read lesson 30 from Leading Little Ones to God by Marian Schoolland. It was titled "God's Angels Watch Over Us" which brought us through the story of Daniel in the Lion's Den.And we also read the lesson from Daniel 6:16-23 in the Bible. We talked about how much Daniel trusted God and how he refused to bow down to anyone else even if it meant he would be thrown into a den of hungry lions. God sent His angels to protect him. God is trustworthy and worthy of praise. 

Another Cookie Baking Night has come and gone,. As usual, a fun time was had by all. 

P.S.

Here's my standard strawberry-rhubarb crisp recipe

3 cups chopped rhubarb

3 cups strawberries (frozen or fresh)

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla (or flavored liqueur or flavor extract of choice)

Place fruit, sugar, and extract in 9x13 inch pain and toss together until coated.

Topping: 

1 pkg oatmeal cookie mix (dry)

 1 stick (1/2 cup) softened butter

Mix together topping until crumbly and sprinkle generously over fruit mixture until it is completely covered. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until topping is golden brown and fruit mixture bubbles up on the sides. 

Serve warm with vanilla or strawberry ice cream on top

Enjoy!

Cookie Baking Night 05/02/16

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

Tonight, the action started right away. For supper, we had french bread pizza (sliced french bread, pizza sauce, toppings, bake at 350 degrees about 10 minutes, until cheese is melted). Everyone had the opportunity to make their own and choose their own toppings. It was a hit. 

For our cookie tonight, we made M&M cookies with white chocolate chips. 

The secret to M&M cookies is to skip putting any M&Ms in the batter. Put all the M&Ms on the outside of the cookie. That way they remain visible and they don't bake into the batter. My secret recipe for M&M cookie dough, a package of sugar cookie mix. 

After a lively Bible time (Leading Little Ones to God), we went for a walk. It was a beautiful night and we had some energy to burn off. 

As usual, a fun time was had by all. 

Cookie Baking Night 04/04/2016

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

The evening started with a lively game of Zingo

followed by a little homework doing by Ethan 

And then on with the baking. Tonight we decided to use up the bananas from the freezer and make some banana bread. When it was pointed out to me that banana bread is not a cookie, I suggested we focus on the "baking night" part of Cookie Baking Night this evening. The kids laughed and then recounted all the other things we make from time to time that are not actually cookies (like pumpkin patch brownies, dirt cups, etc.)

We made two kinds of banana bread, cinnamon-walnut and chocolate chip. 

Here's Aunt Katrina's tip of the day with banana bread. Line the pan with parchment paper before you pour in the batter. When the bread is done baking, you can lift it out of the pan by the parchment paper. That leaves you with an easy-to-clean pan and an easier way to cut banana bread. 

Tonight was filled with special treats for us. We went on our first walk of the season to the local gas station for a treat (something to drink tonight, a little too cold for ice cream yet) and Uncle Greg came with us! It was a fun time. 

Our Bible time this evening was a sweet time as well. We read from Leading Little Ones to God by Marian Schoolland. We read lesson 28 titled "God Cares For Us". This lesson took us back to the life of King David when he was a shepherd. We talked about how David took good care of his sheep as a shepherd. We also learned how Jesus called himself the Good Shepherd. He takes good care of his sheep, and we are his sheep. When we got to the part of the lesson where we would read from the Bible, our text tonight was Psalm 23, and I asked my mom, Clara, if she would recite it for us, as I knew she had this one memorized. She was concerned she wouldn't remember it all as her memory is not the same since her stroke last year, but she recited it perfectly. It was a great lesson for us to see how God's Word hidden in our hearts remains there and stands the test of time and illness. God is truly faithful!

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside the still waters.

He restores my soul.

He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil, for you are with me;

your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever. 

Tonight's Cookie Baking Night was filled with sweet moments and sweet treats and, as usual, a fun time was had by all.