Cookie Baking Night 10/14/19

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Carissa, Allison, Rylar, and Enzo.
We made one of our favorites: Pumpkin Patch Brownies.

The brownies were pre-baked for us by Aunt Katrina. We made the frosting. 

And frosted the brownies

Add the pumpkins

And added the vines (that's our favorite part)

Another year making pumpkin patch brownies at Cookie Baking Night and, as usual, a fun time was had by all. 

Cookie Baking Night 09/09/19

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Carissa, Allison, Rylar, and Enzo.
Tonight was Allison's Birthday choice (she turned 9 on August 20). For supper, she chose spaghetti (with no meat), french bread, strawberries, and blueberries (and chocolate milk). For her cookie, she chose "dirt cups".

First, we crush up some chocolate sandwich cookies.

Then, we scoop pudding into cups and layer it with the cookie crumbs.

And don' forget the gummy worms.

It was raining tonight, but we didn't want to miss what would probably be our last walk of the season to the local gas station for an ice cream treat. So, we got out the umbrellas and away we went. 

It stopped training on our way back. Hmm. I wonder whose carrying all those umbrellas?

In Cookie Baking Night News:

Clara (Katrina's Mom) went home to be with the Lord on August 23 (two weeks ago). She has lived here for the past 4 years. This was our first Cookie Baking Night without her. The kids were all very sweet and kind. I heard comments like "I miss Clara", "It's not the same without Clara", and "I'm glad we have her picture here because it feels like she's here with us in a way." This was a sad night for me, so their comments eased the pain a bit. They also had a lot of questions about Clara's last days on earth, and we answered them all to help them process it better. 

Clara loved Cookie Baking Nights. She loved them long before she moved in with us. She was the biggest blog fan and would comment on every post. When she moved in with us, she participated as much as she could on nights when she felt up to it. She loved just being near the kids. She also participated in a lot of the behind-the-scenes prep such as cutting out sugar cookies that we decorated later or unwrapping candy (a few days ahead of time) that we would use in one of our projects on Cookie Baking Night. 

She was (and is) loved and she will be missed.

Cookie Baking Night 08/12/19

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

Tonight was Enzo's birthday choice (he turns 6 years old in a few days). For supper, he chose pizza and strawberries and raspberries. For the cookie, he chose M&M cookies.

At Cookie Baking Nights, Larry and Clara always join us for supper, and then they head off to bed and we head to the kitchen to start making cookies. 

How many M&Ms go on each cookie? Well, that depends on who's making it. As you can see here, our philosophy on "how many M&M's" has a wide spectrum.

We continued our "walk through the books of the Bible" tonight with the book of 1 Kings. 

It's getting darker sooner now, so we try to get in as many walks to the local gas station as we can during the summer months. It's one of our favorite things to do. 

We ended the evening with lively game of Headbanz. It was a hoot. 

As usual, a fun time was had by all. 

Cookie Baking Night 07/08/19

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Allison, Rylar, Enzo. Tonight we made chocolate covered marshmallows. It's a crowd favorite.

First, we covered a foam block in tin foil, so we would have somewhere to poke the marshmallow sticks. 

Next, we put sticks into the marshmallows. 

Then, we decorated.

The finished product

It was a beautiful night, so we took a walk to the local gas station for a treat. 

Uncle Greg joined us. 

Another beautiful summer evening. Another Cookie Baking Night has come and gone. And ... as usual, a fun time was had by all.