June Misc

Chef Cody

For his birthday, Cody was thrilled to receive a "Baking Book for Young Chefs" cookbook from Grammy and Papa. He excitedly flipped through the pages and marked several recipes that he wanted to try. He made three different recipes in just over a week. The cookbook was set up in a way that Cody could read and follow many of the steps on his own. The first recipe he chose was Jam Thumbprint cookies. This was a bit complex for his first recipe, but he did a great job!

 

Cody loved the taste and was so proud of the cookies he made! He even asked to bring a few over to Grammy and Papa's house right away so they could sample his first recipe.

Next, Cody tried out a snack recipe called S'more Banana Boats.

What a unique snack! Cody LOVED the topping on these banana boats but wasn't a huge fan of the actual banana part-- ha! Definitely an interesting recipe to try.

Cody's next recipe was for Chewy Gingerbread People. I realized too late in the game that, despite owning over 50 cookie cutters, I don't have any great gingerbread men shapes. Bummer! Cody was a great sport about it and decided to use two different cookie cutters--a bear and a flower--instead. He found the process of rolling and cutting out the dough a bit tiresome. ("You mean we have to roll out the dough AGAIN?") He stuck with it to the end, though!

The next day, after the cookies were fully cooled, Cody used frosting to add some decoration to his gingerbread cookies. After all this work, unfortunately, Cody decided he didn't like the strong taste of molasses and couldn't even down an entire cookie. Nevertheless, he seemed to still be proud of what he had made!

Creator Jaden

One day, Jaden spent quite some time building with Tinker Toys to come up with this beautiful building/castle. Gotta love these timeless toys!

Rain-Loving Adley

This girl loves her umbrella and her rainboots! She wants to play with them rain or shine. So, when we got a light rain one morning this month, I suggested that we take our umbrellas out and walk in the rain. Adley didn't hesitate!

Puddling jumping was a blast!

Sign-Toting Grandkids

My mom continues to receive chemo infusions every other week, but due to the coronavirus concerns, our family can't accompany her to these 4+ hour sessions any longer. So, during one of her infusions this month, I decided to surprise her with some parking lot visitors. We had an appointment that morning less than 10 minutes from the cancer center, so it was easy for us to stop by and "visit." I had the kids hold signs saying We Love You (which unfortunately didn't turn out quite dark enough!) and stand just below the cancer center building. I called Mom and asked if she could find a nearby window. The nurses helped her walk down the hallway with her IV bags, and then we were able to see one another out the window! We loved being able to surprise Grammy and add a bit of cheer to her infusion day.

Cousins Serving Others

My sister regularly signs her family up to help prepare items for their church's food pantry. This month, she asked our kids to join in too. My kids love any excuse to play with their cousins, so they readily agreed. We spent the first part of our morning packing bags full of beans, then rice, and then organizing oatmeal packets.

The kids all worked hard...

...and accomplished a lot!