On Sunday, Mary Anne came over after we had lunch. She goes out with her family for lunch after church unless she helps us before then. Mom and Dad had just left at the time.
"Kristy's on her way with her mom," said Mary Anne.
"Okay," I said.
"D.J. will need to be his best behavior while he's out if he wants to help out," said Mary Anne.
"Mom already told him," I said.
"Good," said Mary Anne.
"Being left out will be his punishment if he's bad," said Kayla.
"We can get the kids ready," I said.
"We can split into teams when we get to the store to make it faster," said Mary Anne.
"That's a nice idea," I commented.
"I don't trust D.J. with Mario, so I'll take him with me," said Mary Anne.
"Good thought," said Kayla.
Mrs. Brewer and Kristy came 10 minutes later. We went out to the van. At the store, we split into teams. Mary Anne and Kristy decided to take D.J., Roberta, Berta while Kaylee and I got Mario, Bert, and M.J. Mrs. Brewer offered to go with Mary Anne and Kristy to help out. We were done in 10 to 30 minutes. We went back to the house. Mary Anne said D.J. actually behaved for a change.
"We can let the kids handle the ingredients while the rest of us handle the stove and baking sheets," said Kristy. "I don't think their parents let them handle all that."
"That's what I'm thinking," said Mary Anne.
"Mom don't want them to burn themselves, so Kayla and I can handle the potholders to get the stuff, too," said Kaylee.
"I'll preheat the oven," said Kayla.
"Are you able to help us even after you took us shopping?" asked Kristy.
"I'm free. Watson is out of town for business for the day. Your older brothers are out and my mother offered to watch David Michael and Emily Michelle. She was giving us a break," said Mrs. Brewer.
"Okay," said Kristy.
Kayla got the oven ready while the kids helped bake stuff. We decided to make chocolate chip cookies, gingerbread cookies, and brownies.
"We can let the kids put icing on the gingerbread cookies after we let them cool," said Kayla.
"Good idea," I agreed.
"Can we decorate whatever we want?" asked Mario.
"Sure," said Mary Anne. "Any color is fine."
We let the kids pick out their own food coloring added to white frosting while the gingerbread cookies were baking. We had a fun time. Everything was done by 5:00 pm.
"I'll treat the younger kids for dinner as their reward for their hard work," said Mrs. Brewer.
"Okay, that's what we were thinking. I told D.J. that he would need to be good for that part, too," said Kayla.
Mrs. Brewer took us out for dinner at Friendly's. We tell the kids they can get ice cream if they eat all their meal- we do it that because D.J. has the habit of wasting food most of the time and he knows Mom & Dad don't go for that. They don't reward him for that part. And, at home, she doesn't let him leave the table until he was done with his meal. Surprisingly, he did finish his meal this time, so the kids had ice cream.
After we finished, Mrs. Brewer brought us back home on her way back with Kristy. The kids did their own thing until Mom and Dad got home 30 minutes early.
"How did everything go?" asked Mom.
"We had fun. The kids had a great time with baking stuff," said Kayla.
"That's good," said Mom.
"Mary Anne's going to keep them at her house to save us time tomorrow," I added.
"We got the tins to put the pastries in," said Kayla.
"She had just left to do that," I said.
"Okay, that's fine," said Mom.
She paid us and gave us money for Mary Anne. Kayla left to pay her.
"Mom and Dad got home just after you left," said Kayla.
"Okay, great timing," said Mary Anne. "I was just going back just in case."
"You don't have to now," said Kayla.
"Tell them that I thanked them and I'll see you both tomorrow in school," said Mary Anne.
"Alright," said Kayla.