Friday, February 6, 2009

Valentine Cookies

Its cookie time at our house. Aprons are donned, the hungry vultures gather, circling the kitchen, waiting for a morsel of dough. Anika reads the recipe and measures. This is her homework for our fractions unit. Juliette scrapes spoons and bowls and generally waits for my back to be turned so she can snatch more tastes. Haylie is interested in the artistic part of the enterprise and she is big enough to roll out and cut the dough by herself.

Why do we do this when it is easier to do it ourselves? The end product would look so much cuter if the mom did it.
Well, Anika and Juliette are taking the heart cookie cutters and starting with small to large, are placing them over their heart and reciting how the Grinch's heart grew ten sizes that day. That sight alone is worth the mess. Then, full of confidence and joy, they report to me that Anika is the chef and Juliette is the cook. Anika tells me she is just about ready to grow up and take care of a family she knows so much about cooking. Oooh, that's a fun thought. My girls puttering about the kitchen, creating flavorful things for others, nurturing their bodies and souls. My mind is caught by the beauty of the thought.

As Haylie finishes her cookies, she makes plates of her creations and covers them with plastic wrap. I come into the kitchen and ask what she has done with the cookies. "One plate is for my ski instructor, one for maybe my other teachers and I don't know who else." Ooooh. Another fun thing about cookies. My thoughtful girls know at this tender age how to use their gifts to bless others. Anika and Juliette have already decorated a plateful for Aunty Melody and Gary Taylor. "Does Gary like sprinkles?" Anika asks. "I doubt it." I reply. "O.K. Here is one with hardly any sprinkles for Gary."

I think we'd better do this more often.

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