Thanksgiving Party

Today we had what I hop to be the first annual homeschool Thanksgiving party. A friend and I decided we wanted to do a fall party of some sort so we decided to do a Thanksgiving party. I remember doing them as a kid in our homeschool group and thought it would be fun to do one of our own. It was quite the undertaking to plan a put together a party for 20 some children, but we made it through and I think everyone had a good time.

To start off the event we had my friend Candy talk to the kids about what it means to be thankful. She then taught them a song to memorize Psalm 118:1.

Next, we played relay games. These included a 3legged race, spoon carrying relays, and a bean bag relay. The older ones enjoyed it. The little ones were a bit bewildered, however.

Then came the crafts. There were three stations: placemats, pilgrim hats, and Thanksgiving bracelets. I was in charge of the bracelets.

I found the idea from http://www.littlegiraffes.com/thanksgiving.html. Each bead represented something from the "first Thanksgiving."

Last but not least, we feasted! Everyone pitched in and brought food to share. Soup, bread, pinwheels, fruit, and dessert were what we feasted on.

All in all, I'm glad it is over but it was a good time. Praise God!

A favorite Recipe

My hope is that someday this blog will be exciting and interesting like all the artsy craftsy blogs I read. But until then I thought I'd share one of my favorite recipes ( also a favorite of friends who've tried it). This is the best darn granola bar recipe I've tried. Well actually I kinda made this one up myself, with the help of a cook book for ingredient ratios. My kids beg for them every day (especially if they know there are chocolate chips in them!) for a snack. So here it is!

2 cups Oatmeal (not quick cooking)
1/2 flour (I prefer wheat)
1/2 cup dry milk powder
1/2 ground flax seed
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup dried fruit or choc. chips (you could also omit this and put in peanut butter)
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup honey
1 egg beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
Combine dry ingredients in one bowl. The wet in another. Combine and spread evenly in 9 X13 pan. I prefer a metal pan they tend to come out crumbly in glass pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 16-18 minutes. Allow to cool and then cut into bars. I store mine in the fridge but you don't have to.

Church Wrong

So my husband and I got this flyer in the mail from a local church with the title Church Right? They were going to start a study on what the Bible says church is supposed to look like. Out of curiousity we decided to give it a try.

We could tell the minute we walked in the door it was a place we probably weren't going to come back to. It was that old familiar feeling of walking into a big click no one was interested in opening up to new members. The worship was lame as well. All songs where the same 4 lines repeat over and over and over. Aggghhhh!!! Can't song writers come up with meaningful none repeating lyrics???

The sermon wasn't too bad but once again Christ was barely mentioned. Mostly just about us and how we need to try harder. If he had just brought it back to Christ it might have actually been good. When will pastors get the clue that church won't be relevant until they stop trying to be cute and entertaining and start preaching the Gospel!!!!

Creative Candy

After trick or treating this year, we decided to do some fun experiments with the "reject" candy, rather than just throwing it away. First we took the wrappers off the Tootsie rolls, taffy, and gum drops, and then put them in a pile on a cookie sheet. Then we put them in a 365 degree oven for about 10 minutes. What resulted was a big blob (that got smoky in the oven) of melted candy. The kids wanted to save it but I threw it in the trash. Then they spent the next hour or so putting various other reject candy(and some not so reject) in cups of water to see what colors the water would turn. I think they enjoyed this experiment more than they usually do the candy!