Milk and Cookies (A Fun Afternoon Surprise Treat)

Family fun never gets old. Every now and again, we love to slow down and do a fun surprise for our family to enjoy.

My family loves it when we treat ourselves to little things. Or when I surprise them by making a treat such as cookies. To us, cookies are indeed a treat. It is not something that is on the daily menu (who does). I tend to get the urge to make them on a causal Friday evening or so. One of our favorites being chocolate chip cookies, of course. During the Fall when we spend more time inside, it is always nice to have something that smells and tastes good in the house right? So I decided to bake some cookies and make it a bit more special by serving it with milk in cute milk bottles and laying them out on a table decorated with bits of Fall.

Sometimes we get so caught up in the daily mundane (chores, schedules, routines, work, etc) that we forget to sit back and do something fun at home. But when we do, we realize how much we needed it. We also realize that home is much more than just doing chores, making scheduled meals, creating routines, etc. Taking a break and doing something fun together amidst the chaos is always a welcome idea! When my husband decides to BBQ, we all get so excited because grilling is not on the everyday menu. So too, whenever I decide to make something special everyone gets so excited. Check out the smile on this kid’s face when she came home from school and saw this. Leave it up to the kids and they can have cookies everyday. Nope – teeth and health in view here kiddos!! But we love cookies and making them every once in a while is not a bad idea at all.

For the cookies, I used a regular cookie mix and baked accordingly. I think I must have gotten a sugar cookie mix by mistake. My intent was just to buy a regular cookie mix after my meager attempt of making them from scratch failed. Do they sell those without calling them sugar cookies?

Note: I don’t bake sugar cookies regularly. In fact, I don’t remember baking one since earlier this Spring or so (around Easter). It’s more of a holiday thing. I find them way to sweet especially if icing is added. I always skip the part that says “roll in sugar before baking”. That is just too much. So for these, the kids were only allowed one because I made them big and pretty with icing.

I love the cute milk bottles from the Target’s dollar spot. They tend to have all kinds of random things that usually catch my eyes. I bought them earlier this Fall because I knew they would come in handy for occasions like these. Two of the kids don’t care for milk. And I think the one who drank some likes it but does not necessarily love it. My husband will have a glass with pancakes and I will have an occasional glass when we buy the new gallons from the grocery. But having the milk in those bottles added something special to the table. It was tempting to drink rather than having it in a glass.

For the decor, I simply rounded up a few real pumpkins and faux flowers from around the house. I also added a “grateful” sign to the table. My sign is a mat from Target (dollar spot). I framed it using a big picture frame. I love the sign because it reminds me of the bountifulness of Fall and we want to teach our kids to be grateful. It was a nice addition to the table. This little surprise was such a simple act but something they appreciated. It’s the little things.

I have to admit that the cookies themselves were so tempting. But we all had to eat in moderation. All in all, it was a fun little surprise and and a break away from the ‘routine’.

What do you think of the idea? How do you make your family feel special? It would be fun to hear about what you do.