My Turn!

It quickly became obvious to me, as I observed the Backyard School making cookies during their English hour, that there was one phrase each one of the children had down pat.

This phrase was, "My Turn!"

When it was time to stir, dump ingredients into the bowl or crack the eggs, each child excitedly called out, "My turn," raising a hand as high as possible. We had plenty of eggs on hand, so even though the recipe only called for two eggs, all six of the children got to crack at least one. Don't worry you expert bakers... we only used the two called for.

This was Elliot's first time cracking an egg, and he did a great, though rather messy job. We didn't have high expectations, so there was a rag handy for wiping eggy fingers.

The girls in the Forever Home bake often, so Elly was pretty confident breaking her egg. Doesn't she look like a professional?

Another English word the children quickly learned was, "dump." After filling a measuring spoon or cup with flour, sugar or cinnamon, the kids "dumped" it into the bowl. Hannah caught on quickly, but then again, she's also a baking pro.

After all of the ingredients had been "dumped" into the big mixing bowl, Joel got to be the first one to stir.

Of course, each one of the kids wanted a turn. "My turn!" Elly called out, and she got to be next! Everybody wanted to watch, especially the boys. They had never ever baked before, so this was an exciting day.

Finally, the cookies were done! Holly was so proud. She happily told everyone who would listen, "Look!" pointing to her cookie, "我做我做。好吃！" (I did! I did! It's Yummy.)

They kids did a super job, and word has it that they're making banana bread next week.

More pictures of cookie baking here.