Cookie Baking Night 10/19/15

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Emily, Ethan, Carissa, Alli, and Rylar. Tonight we tried a "Pioneer Woman" recipe called Spreads. It's basically a butter cookie recipe that you spread into a pan, bake, and then spread melted chocolate on it. We made a variation where we spread chocolate chips on one-half and sprinkled mini M&Ms on them and spread butterscotch chips on the other half and sprinkled mini Reese's Pieces on them.

Rylar cracked his first egg (at Cookie Baking Night, anyway) a few weeks ago, and now he's a little pro and offers his services at every opportunity.

While our treats were cooling, we read from Leading Little Ones to God by Marian Schoolland. Tonight we read chapter 15 titled "God Made All Things Good", and we read from Genesis 1:20-25 about how God created the world. In this society of prefabricated, premade, pre-assembled items where the children think their food comes from a grocery store and not the earth that God provided for us, it's good to keep the knowledge in front of us that we have a Creator who is also our Sustainer, and He is Good!

The finished product.

The birds have become a popular item now at Cookie Baking Night. Here Ethan is feeding Peanuts a piece of bread (which she was not so subtly hoping for all through supper). 

You might have noticed Emily was absent from the pictures above where we made our treats. Tonight she was here in name mostly. She arrived with a headache and spent the whole evening in bed, opting out of supper and asking "could we please not walk to the gas station tonight" (which all the kids have been begging me to do one last time before the cold weather sets in). When Carissa heard this piece of information, she said, "Whoa! This is serious." 

So, another Cookie Baking Night has come and gone, each one different in it's own right.

As usual, a fun time was had by all (well, maybe all but one)!

Cookie Baking Night 10/05/15

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Emily, Ethan, Carissa, Alli, and Rylar. It's that time of year again. We made our fall classic treat Pumpkin Patch Brownies.

Best part: Putting on the pumpkins and the vines.

Everyone has their own style

While the brownies were cooling, we read from Leading Little Ones to God by Marian Schoolland. Tonight we read chapter 14 titled "God Has Many Names". We talked about the importance of a name. In our lesson, we only scratched the surface of the many names ascribed to God in the Bible with Mighty One, Father, Lord. We read from Exodus 3 in the Bible, where God calls himself the great I AM. We learned that with this one name He is telling us that "He has no beginning", "He has always existed" "He does not change" "He will always be the same" We also talked about His name JESUS , which the Bible tells us is above all names. The Bible also tells us that someday every knee will bow at that name. This name also tells us that He is our Savior.

I love to study the names of God and to teach them to my nieces and nephews because they tell us so much about the character and nature of the faithful God we serve. 

We rounded out the evening with a few lively games of Zingo and Pass the Pigs. As usual, a fun time was had by all. 

P.S.
One other highlight of the evening was visiting the two newest members of our household, Rusty and Peanuts, two little cockatiels that moved in with us shortly after my parents did. The children love to watch them. Near as I can tell, it's better than T.V.

A trip to the Fair (Iowa)

In early August, Emily and I took our annual trip to Iowa to visit Greg during his two-week stint working at the Iowa State Fair.

We checked out the place where Greg was working for the week. 

The audio-visual production trainee

A little fair time.

Emily and I rounded a corner in the Art exhibit building and came across this site. As Greg was posing near this picture, a lady stopped us and asked us if that was a picture of Greg when he was a child. We chuckled. 

Emily's first experience with a pay phone. It was a novelty for her. She had to make a call to "Papa". She had no idea how to use the phone. Oh, how times have changed. 

Emily and I always have a good time on these road trips, and as she has gotten older the trip has changed. The conversation is deeper, and the experience is richer. 

Though having Greg away from home for so long in the summer is difficult for our family, I'm grateful for the opportunities it has afforded us to grow in the knowledge of Christ and in our relationships with others (like road trips with a niece). God is an amazing God who uses even the most unlikely of situations to show himself Great. 

Cookie Baking Night 09/21/15

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Emily, Ethan, Carissa, Alli, and Rylar. Since we're on the cusp of Autumn, we decided to make Fall-themed cookies this evening. We went with "caramel apple" and "pumpkin spice" cookies.

After our time of cookie baking, we spent some time reading "Leading Little One's To God" by Marian Schoolland. Tonight we worked through lesson 13, "God is Faithful". Emily read Joshua 21:43-45, and we witnessed through the Scriptures how God was faithful to keep his promises to the Isrealite people, how He moved the waters of the Jordan river to allow them to pass through it on dry land. And we talked about the promises God has made to us in His Word and how he keeps them.

We also squeezed in a walk on this beautiful end of summer evening.

My mom joined us at the table as we rounded out our evening with a game of Pictureka. 

As usual, a fun time was had by all. 

Cookie Baking Night 08/24/15

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance: Emily, Ethan, Carissa, Alli, and Rylar (and a few other special guests joined us for supper). Tonight was Alli's birthday choice (she recently turned 5 years old). As is our usual custom here at "Cookie Baking Nights", the birthday girl/boy gets to decide what we have for supper and what we make for our cookie that evening. For supper Alli chose macaroni and cheese, french fries, strawberries, and blueberry smoothies to drink. For her cookie, she chose the "butterfly cookie".

My mom and dad and Diana (Ethan and Carissa's mom/Greg's sister) joined us for supper this evening. We had 10 around our dining room table tonight. It was also a joy to have Greg around the table this evening as he returned from his 2-1/2 week trip to Iowa just moments (literally) before we started gathering around the table. 

Awww

Since the request was "butterfly cookie" we made cut-out sugar cookies in the shape of butterflies (and daisies and tulips)

While the cookies were baking in the oven, we sorted mini M&Ms into separate bowls by color. This might be my favorite activity of all time. Each child was given a bowl of assorted M&Ms and everyone picked a color they wanted to find. They found as many of their assigned color as they could for about 3-5 minutes and then passed the bowl to their neighbor and started over with a new bowl. This activity produced contented silence and deep concentration for about 20 minutes amongst 4-14 year olds across the board. It was an amazing sight to behold. 

Next came the decorating. We frosted the cookies with white frosting and used the M&Ms to outline designs in them. 

I think they turned out to be pretty cute. 

Lately, the birthday celebraters have been given an additional choice at the end of  the evening of either watching a movie or taking a walk to the local gas station for an ice cream treat. For Alli, the ice cream treat won out tonight. 

Again, can we all say, "Awww"

The gang with their treats

Diana brought tiaras for all the girls this evening (left over from a work event earlier that day). You might have noticed the two older girls wore theirs all night long, even to the gas station. 

As I mentioned earlier, my parents joined us for supper tonight. That's because they live with me and Greg now. As I mentioned in earlier posts, my mom had a stroke in early June and has been in a rehabilitative care facility, recovering, until a few days ago. Upon Mom's release from Rehab they moved in with us so I can assist my Dad-Larry with Mom's care and so they are closer in proximity to all their children (both of my brothers live close to our house). 

That being said, we have moved into a new phase in Cookie Baking Night history. I wasn't sure how the kids would react to this change but after the initial curiosity wore off they went on with business as usual. As you can see from the picture above, my mom thoroughly enjoyed it. She no longer has to be a spectator via the blog only. She wheeled into the kitchen for a few minutes to watch the action for herself. 

My mom and dad also joined us for our Bible time this evening as we read from "Leading Little Ones to God" by Marian Schoolland. Tonight Emily read lesson 12 for us titled "God is Almighty". Once she got past the word "Nebuchadnezzar" it was smooth sailing, and everyone listened with eager attention. 

I read Daniel 4:34-35 at the end of the lesson. I love this prayer that King Nebuchadnezzar prays after God humbled him by removing him from his kingdom (and his sanity) for a season to remind him that he was not greater than God. 

"At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, 

for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, 

and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; 

all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, 

and he does according to his will among the host of heaven 

and among the inhabitants of the earth; 

and none can stay his hand or say to him, 'What have you done?' " Daniel 4:34-35

I think it's a fitting prayer and reminder for this first Cookie Baking Night with a new normal of my parents living in our home and as we rest in His sovereignty and wise dealings during this time. 

So, another Cookie Baking Night has come and gone and, as usual, a fun time was had by all!

Cookie Baking Night 07/27/15

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

While I finished supper, Ethan led Alli and Rylar in a game of Sequence for Kids. 

Tonight we made our traditional summer time favorite: The Hamburger cookie. First we unwrapped the mint patties

Then we colored white frosting to look like ketchup and mustard

Then we spread vanilla wafer cookies with the "ketchup" and "mustard" and put a mint patty in between them to resemble little hamburgers.

It was a very hot and humid night, so we went outside for a little water balloon fun. 

Uncle Greg joined in the fun. 

After the water balloons, we went for a walk in the neighborhood. Everyone wanted to hold Ethan's hand, so I was left with the job of the taking the picture. 

We also read lesson 11 from Leading Little Ones To God, titled "God is Holy". Ethan read Psalm 99 for us. It was a full night. 

As usual, a fun time was had by all.