Pumpkin Patch Cookies

We are big fans of the seasonal Charlie Brown shows that come on TV throughout the year. We own both "The Great Pumpkin King" and "Charlie Brown Christmas" on DVD. All the stores are starting to put out their Halloween/Fall items, and I came across one that I knew would be really fun for Sage and me: The Great Pumpkin Patch Cookie kit. It came with cookie cutters and all.

Travis is in Auburn for a few nights, so I thought tonight would be the perfect time to bake. This was a totally new scenario for Sage (and me for the first time in a LONG time) to actually BAKE in the world of "instant" everything. If I'm "baking" cookies, it's usually the premade-throw-'em-in-the-oven-and-eat-in-6-minutes kind. This involved a little more effort and a LOT more mess, which made for an extremely happy 5 year old.

She did it all too. She cracked the egg, measured out the butter, mixed the dough by hand (quite well actually)...and her FAVORITE part: rolling out the dough with a LOT of flour. It was everywhere. Then we baked them, and THEN she made the icing, ate a lot of it, and iced the cookies. The kit even had eyes to put on some and two "writers" to decorate the rest. We had a great time and watched the Great Pumpkin King before her bedtime. Jaggar tolerated it all. He did partake of the icing. :)

The kit: even the box is cuteFor the first little bit, Jaggar ate his own cookies in his chair. I know that he wanted to help with that flour though.

In a world where I am CONSTANTLY trying to keep things clean, this was a miracle in this house to have permission to get messy. She loved it.

She kept saying, "We need just a little more flour. What's it taste like? Oh...not bad."

To keep Jaggar from climbing up on the chair or table with her, I opted to just let her sit on the counter. It worked out well, and that was even MORE awesome to her. She is decorating here.

Masterpieces in the making

Meanwhile, to keep him occupied, I gave him some spoons. He did this for a while. Then he went upstairs and sailed them down the steps from the landing. I didn't really expect anything less. Oh, notice our dining room table? It's pretty high. He learned how to climb up onto those chairs while we were baking.

Finished work with the creative mastermind behind it all.

Aren't they fun?

She was proud. She said, "Can we do this again?!"

I told her to tell Jaggar "thank you" for being so patient while we baked. I will confess that this is a reenactment of the initial time that she thanked him. The first time, he had the sweetest smile, and I said, "Oh, that's so sweet. Let me get a picture." This was the best of the worst from the few that I took. He was completely over it and wanted her off of him. Now that I look at it, he's probably about to whack her with that spoon. Day in the life!