1000 Words

 1000 Words

1000 Words

 1000 Words

Making Muffins

 Here's my muffin maker!

Chef de Cuisine

 Yesterday afternoon, Tracey came home from school and promptly finished all her homework for the rest of the week.  Then she and I did her spelling practice together.  Then, she started asking if she could make something in the kitchen.

She occasionally asks if she can create something in the kitchen, and the answer is usually "No" because I don't think food is something a 7-year-old needs to experiment with.  Food is expensive, and we're not going to start poking around in the kitchen hoping a weird combination will taste good.

But yesterday, she came to me with a cookbook in hand.  She had a princess cookbook that she will occasionally ask if we can use to make something and my response is usually "no" because we don't have either the ingredients or the time - usually both.

But yesterday, she had chosen a pudding, whipped cream, and blueberry parfait.  She asked if we had each of the ingredients, and we did... and she asked if she could make that recipe.

And finally, I had no reason to say "no".

She made the pudding, and 30 minutes after it chilled, she assembled the parfaits, and ALL of siblings LOVED her creation - pudding whipped cream and thawed frozen blueberries -- even Brady could have one.

I still have a hard time knowing what to do with my incredibly grown up daughter who is maturing and developing into her own person, every day.  She has her own interests, her own determination, and an incredibly inventive and creative nature.

Baking With My Girls

 My girls are ALWAYS asking me to help in the kitchen... and I struggle with when they can help me, and when I just need to quickly get food made and on the table.

The compromise is usually baking.  I finally confessed to the girls that I don't like cooking, which is why I don't really want help when I'm cooking.  I DO like baking, and I'm okay with some help when I'm baking.

So last weekend, all the Mountain Miller ladies donned aprons and helped make pumpkin cookies.  I have to stop and take time to appreciate at times that these are my three girls -- Tracey, Caroline, and Lee Lee and they are all old enough to actually have girl adventures.

Gingerbread Houses

We made gingerbread houses this weekend.  What fun!

 

Little Thanksgiving Chefs

After two days of cooking and baking we enjoyed a relaxing Thanksgiving and delicious meal.

The twins especially love to help in the kitchen -- Caroline really enjoys it and if Caroline is having fun, Howard is not far behind.

Learning

Learning from the best...

Baking

The kids have been helping me with a lot of baking this week and its been a lot of fun... hard to snap pictures while we bake, but I have a few from my phone and Memaw's.

 

Buckeye Balls

We have recently eliminated Tracey's nap each day -- which, I'll be honest, is bittersweet.  Tracey has always been a good napper -- I've never had to fight her about taking one.  So, that means that every day for nearly a year I have had a solid two hours in the middle of the day when my three kiddos are napping.  It was a beautiful time of the day to either be productive or to rest myself.

It also meant that bedtime was a struggle because Tracey wasn't really tired until 9:00 or so at night.  By eliminating the nap, she is exhausted by 7:00pm, which is great except when she melts down at bedtime because she is so tired.  We are still adjusting, but overall I think it was a good move and I think she will adjust over these next few weeks.

Now that Tracey is up during that time, she and I get to do some big girl activities together.  Sometimes we read stories, sometimes she helps me with laundry, sometimes she watches a little television while I nurse Addallee... and the past two days, she and I have made Buckeye Balls together.

Monday she helped me mix all the peanut butter ingredients, and then yesterday she helped me dip all the balls in chocolate.

It was a lot of fun because it was one of the first times she REALLY helped with an activity like this -- not all the buckeye balls are totally dipped, but she actually did them herself, which is so special.  We are going to give some of these cookies away as parts of Christmas presents, and Tracey will honestly be able to proudly say that she helped make them.

Here Tracey is with all our ingredients on Monday ready to make the peanut butter balls.

Here she is on Tuesday, giving me a Thumbs Up after we dipped our first batch in chocolate making them Buckeye balls.

And... after all her hard work, this great little baker got to lick the spatula!  Yum!

Have you started on Christmas cookies yet?

 

Cookies

"Oh... when you set this plate of cookies in front of me, it wasn't for me to help myself?"

Does it make me a bad mother that I took a fast picture before I put her back in her highchair (with the seatbelt buckled from now on)?