We made the cupcakes today. Our church is having a carry-in dinner tomorrow after the morning service, so I knew I could spread the sugar around. Scott and I are still seeing who can lose 20 pounds first, so I don't need 2 dozen cupcakes sitting around our house! (I've lost 3 1/2 pounds so far. Scott is beating me at the moment - he has lost 7 pounds. Hey honey - want a cupcake?)
As you can see, the kids enjoyed this a lot. Elli especially loved being a part of the mixing and decorating. (She talked about it all day with her Dynavox! It was so cute.) It can be really challenging to include her in kitchen projects, but she really wants to be included and loves to help. In the past, I've tried putting my mixer on a chair to get it low enough for her to see into, but this was very unstable and messy. Today I realized that if I put her in her stander, she'd be able to see and reach things on our counter. This worked very well and helped her feel more a part of things than ever before.
I have to say, though, that cooking with three kids is utterly exhausting. We have carpet on one side of our counter, so I'm always aware of the potential for major messes when the kids are standing on chairs on both sides of the counter. And, to be completely honest, I have a really tough time just letting them be kids and make messes with food. God is definitely growing me in this area. I guess I have to work on enjoying the process of things, not just the product!
