Nov. 17, 2007 - Thankfulness, Cookies and Babies singing the Hallelujah Chorus!!
This morning Christian was complaining about something which brought on a lengthy discussion about thankfulness. I was impressed with all of the scriptures that were pouring out of me! It's amazing how they come to you at the right moment (usually...).
Fast forward to later in the morning. We were playing at the park and a couple staying nearby came over and asked if they could share some cookies with us. We went over to their place and had some cookies. Caleb saved his for later (he wanted to eat it at the park for some reason). After he finished his cookie we began talking about how nice it was of them to have invited us over. Caleb said he was very thankful that they had shared their cookies with us. He said he wanted to do something nice in return. He decided we should bake some cookies to take over to them to show them how thankful he was. So, after his brothers were asleep, we baked the cookies. I completely expected that he would change his mind about giving them away and decide we should keep them - or at least most of them (faithless mother that I am!). When the cookies were finished baking, he made a note to go with them and asked me to put them on a plate. I told him he should maybe try one of them first to make sure they tasted OK (it was kind of a thrown-together, last minute, homemade recipe). He agreed to this and said I should try one too. He also decided to save one for each of his brothers and his Daddy (who will be back tomorrow night - yippee!), but he packed the rest of the cookies up with the note and took them over again. It was so sweet to see him walking over there, head held high, plate of cookies and his note in his hands. Unfortunately they weren't home so he brought them back and waited until they were before taking them again. He came back Beaming! I wish I'd taken a picture! He said, "Mommy, they LOVED them!!" I asked him what made him decide to do such a nice thing for people he hardly knew. He told me that he remembered what I had talked about in the morning (thankfulness) with Christian and that he was very thankful that they had given him a cookie so he wanted to show them that. So, apparently some of what I say gets into their hearts. Even though I wasn't talking to him about thankfulness (and actually had no idea he was even listening), he learned something great!
The Note (he spelled most of the words without any help!):
(Translation: I am sending some cookies because I am thankful
for the cookies you gave me. To Tom and Wendy)
The Picture Caleb Drew on the Back of the Note:
I am so proud of him! He's not the sort of child who usually takes a lot of time to think past himself (and his Mommy), despite the constant teachings I've been trying to administer ("Do to others what you would have them do to you", etc.). I felt like this was a huge step. We talked about how good it feels to do something nice for others.
Tonight he decided he wanted to do something nice for Daddy so he made him a nice picture (which Christian promptly picked up and started writing his newest words on - Fat, Gas and Bum - Caleb was NOT impressed, lol).
Here is the recipe for our Rainbow Cake Mix Cookies (which actually tasted quite good!):
1 box Rainbow Sprinkles White Cake Mix
1 egg
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup water
1 tsp. almond extract (vanilla would work too)
Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix all ingredients. The dough will be very gooey / sticky. Try to spoon the gooey gunk nicely onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for 12-15 mins. until bottoms are light brown and tops look "done". Cool. Taste. Share.
And if you're looking for a little humor today, check out this video:
Baby Sings Hallelujah Chorus
It's hilarious!! (At least I think so... but I'm easily amused at times!)
Have a great weekend everyone!
Comments
Dec. 2, 2007 - Cookies
Posted by MaliaR
I love your post! Sometimes they really do get it.
Malia Russell, www.homemaking911.com
