Cookie Baking Night (02/14/2022)

 It's been  a month since our last Cookie Baking Night. We had to take a little COVID break, which is something that has visited most households within these past two years of a global pandemic. All are well now and ready to celebrate.

Since we didn't have a Christmas party this year, and that is usually the Christmas gift for our nieces and nephews, we decided to celebrate with a Valentine's party and what better day to do that than on Valentine's Day. 

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night and in attendance this evening: Carissa, Allison, Rylar, Enzo, and Abigail. 

And what do you do at a Valentine's Party? You hand out Valentine's of course. 

Do a Bible lesson (okay, that might not be at all Valentine's Day parties, but it is part of this one). 

Decorate heart-shaped cookies

And make some Valentine's cards. 

We also played the dice game for small prizes, but we were too busy to take pictures of that. 

Another Cookie Baking Night AND Valentine's Day has come and gone and, as usual, a fun time was had by all. 

Cookie Baking Night (01/10/2022)

 Tonight was the first Cookie Baking Night of 20222. In attendance this evening: Allison, Rylar, Enzo, and Abigail. Tonight we made M&M cookies. 

The secret to M&M cookies is that you put very few candy pieces inside the dough, and you put most of them on the outside of the cookie.

We sharpened a few pencils and then worked at sharpening our drawing skills using a book called "Drawing Animals by Shape"

We finished off the evening with a game of Pictureka, while Abigail contentedly played with Care Bear dominoes. I'm not sure she realized we were there actually. 

As usual, a fun time was had by all. 

Cookie Baking Night (11/22/2022)

 Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. It's our first Cookie Baking night since August. We had a planned break away from it because I was working long hours on a project at work that was scheduled to slow down in the end of September and we had an unplanned break (pun intended) because I broke my arm in early October and had to have surgery done to repair it. The surgery was about 6 weeks ago now, and I may be getting the splint removed soon. Time to resume Cookie Baking Nights. 

We also delayed a little longer because Abigail (youngest sister to Allison, Rylar, and Enzo) turned 3 in August and was about to embark on the journey of Cookie Baking Nights at Aunt Katrina and Uncle Greg's house, so we wanted to make this as smooth of a ride as possible for everyone involved.  She started tonight. 

So... In attendance this evening: Carissa, Allison, Rylar, Enzo, and Abigail. Tonight was also Rylar's birthday choice. He will be turning 10 years old soon. For his "cookie" he chose chocolate dipped marshmallows. 

I was amazed by how everyone seemed to instantly mature overnight. All of Abigail's siblings and her older cousin were very willing to show her around and help her get acclimated to what we do here on Cookie Baking Nights. 

We tried something new for Bible time tonight. We've been working through "The Jesus Storybook Bible" for a little while now. The new part this time is that I purchased everyone the coloring book that goes along with the stories and they received a new box of crayons. This revolutionized the attention span of all in attendance. I read the stories/lessons, and they colored and followed along and asked questions. I think this is going to work out well. It makes Aunt Katrina very happy. 

We also had some fun sticker books to try out this time. 

Towards the end of the evening, we introduced Abigail to one of our favorite games, Zingo. And, as usual, a fun time was had by all. 

Cookie Baking Night (08/23/2021)

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Carissa, Allison, Rylar, and Enzo. 

Tonight was Allison's Birthday choice. 
She just turned 11 years old.  For supper, she chose spaghetti, French bread, and strawberries. For her "cookie" she chose Chocolate Covered Strawberries. 

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Papa-Larry (my dad) and Allison are working together to butter the bread and cut the strawberries. 

They were able to chose chocolate or white chocolate to dip the strawberries in. Allison is a chocolate lover, so it is was regular chocolate all the way for her. She and I are kindred spirits in this way. I have a word for white chocolate. I like to call it vanilla. 

The rest of the gang are not as chocolate-inclined as Allison and I, so they chose the white chocolate.

Not sure what was going on here. Looks more like a chocolate covered strawberry conglomeration

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After treat making, we walked to the local gas station for a treat and sat outside enjoying the beautiful summer evening. 

We tried a new game tonight called "Scrambled States of America". If you learn geography by playing it that might just happen by accident, but it was definitely a fun game. Allison really liked it. 

As usual a fun time was had by all. 

 

Cookie Baking Night 08/09/2021

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Carissa, Allison, Rylar, and Enzo. 

Tonight was Enzo's birthday choice. He turns 8 years old in a few days. For his "cookie" he chose: Fruit Parfaits. I must say, to my recollection, that is first. Oh, I should clarify. That is fruit parfaits with bananas, blueberries, and strawberries. 

For our parfait base we used vanilla pudding, which the kids had a fun time making. 

Now, it's time to build those parfaits, which they all enjoyed doing. 

Afterward, we took a neighborhood walk to the local gas station for a treat.

We finished the evening with Enzo's (current) favorite game, Pictureka. I think part of the joy of this game for him is that he comes out as the winner most of the time. If you saw the way that we played it, you'd be surprised that anyone came out as a winner on a consistent basis. Our version is very random. 

Other Cookie Baking Night, another birthday choice (they do grow up fast) has come and gone and, as usual, a fun time was had by all. 

 

Cookie Baking Night (07/12/2021)

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Carissa, Allison, Rylar, and Enzo. Tonight we made Smores. In lieu of a campfire we used the over broiler with mini marshmallows and chocolate chips. 

After making our Smores, Uncle Greg joined us for a walk to the local gas station for a summertime treat and then played some yard games with us in the backyard. 

A beautiful summer evening and the last one we'll be spending with Uncle Greg for awhile as he'll be out of town, working, for the next few weeks. We're glad he was able to be with us tonight. 

As usual, a fun time was had by all.