My Class

Here are some of my Sunday School class. Hi, guys! I love being your teacher!!!

This quarter our theme is Exploring God's Word and we are comparing the delving into the Bible with spelunking (essentially cave exploration.) I wanted a cave in my room, soooo....I transformed the center third of the room into a cavern. We sit in it for the lesson portion of the class. We turn out all the lights, shut the blinds on the window, and learn by lantern light. So cool!

The back wall is a backdrop I painted several years ago. See the stalactites and stalagmites? I really love this backdrop. Then, I used black and brown craft paper to form the dark recesses and additional rock formations. The small gray stalagmite is made out of some kind of insulation foam and spray paint.

So, have you every heard the little saying about how the way to keep stalactites and stalagmites straight is that stalactites have to hold on "tight" to the ceiling, while stalagmites "might" one day reach the top? Well, I had one today to add to that. You remember that stalactites have a "c" in the spelling because they are attached to the ceiling and stalagmites have a "g" in the spelling because they are on the ground. Pretty cool, huh?

Okay, lesson over, moving right along...

The back wall and ceiling is all in craft paper. See the lanterns? They are going to be attendance prizes. If a child attends every Sunday this quarter they get one. 5-9 Sundays gets a compass/whistle combo thingy. 10-13 Sundays gets a mini-flashlight.

See my bats? I need to make more. Bats are great. They get a horrible rap for being nocturnal, but they are really kind of cute. Think a squirrel with wings. Plus, they eat lots of bugs. I don't like bugs. Bug eating bats = awesome.

Here's my store. The kids get play money each week for various things. Once a month they get to shop. I try to stock candy, toys, and things like body wash, lotion, perfume, and cologne. Kids at this age (8-11) are really starting to get into all that smelly good stuff and they love picking their own. I have to do a major re-stock once a quarter and then just pick up a couple things here and there before each shopping day.

One of the bulletin boards and kids. Hi, Andrew!

They're Here!

The bugs are here! And I have to say a big thank you to the really nice guy from Fed Ex that tracked my packages down and then personally delivered them to my house yesterday afternoon. THANKS!!!

Aren't they really kinda cute?

They really are...until....

You turn them over. Then the cuteness starts to diminish. The molded gummy underside looks very much like the real thing. (Okay, so in a pic it looks not, too bad...IRL it looks worse, maybe because you get the whole gelatinous effect. Eeewww!)

And then you bend the body just a bit at the neck and suddenly the two hard crunchy shell pieces kind of pop apart and underneath there is this gooey marshmallow filling that looks suspiciously like, ummm.....guts.

Would you like to know how hard it is to get past the mental issues this brings up? You KNOW it is all candy, but at the same time...

The kids had no such issues. They loved them. Which was the whole point anyhow.

If you are interested in adding these to your next bug themed event, just go to http://www.orientaltrading.com/ and enter "candy bugs" in the search box. Viola!

Oh, and these things are really much bigger than I anticipated. I was thinking an inch or so...they are more like 1.5" by 2.5". Very cool.

Check out the slightly crunched head. Yummy!

Or not.

I don't exist....

Fed Ex does not like me. I promise. That *has* to be the problem! UPS, USPS, etc, etc never have this problem.

Well, okay, UPS had this problem once...but we talked and they fixed it and we haven't had this problem again.

Fed Ex has this problem ALL the time and while I am prone to exaggerate from time to time this is NO exaggeration.

I don't exist. Fed Ex cannot find me. My bugs...remember the ones from yesterday...never arrived. Why? Because my addy doesn't exist. At least it doesn't according to Fed Ex. *sigh*

I talked to these really nice customer service people last night and they referred me to a really nice guy that works in the distribution center in charge of my package. Pretty much all that I can be told is that since my directions are on file with them, once my package is undeliverable they will check the card on file and get my directions and follow those. The next day.

I don't understand why they can't just make those directions mandatory. This happenes every single time we get a package via Fed Ex.

Sooo....if you need to send me something, send it via UPS or USPS or carrier pigeon, or message in a bottle tossed into the ocean...just don't send it Fed Ex 'cause according to them I don't exist...until tomorrow.

Bugs, bugs, bugs....

Bugs. I am so excited over a bunch of bugs. Yes, you heard right: bugs.

But, not just any bugs. These are realistic crunchy candy bugs with marshmallow guts. Lol! They actually look kind of like cockroaches, but, that just adds to their awesomeness factor. At least I am hoping it does for 9 and 10 year old boys and girls.

They are scheduled for delivery sometime today. Hooray!

So, why am I so excited over bugs? Well, you see, I have a lesson for Sunday School this Sunday on a guy who ate bugs. I have always thought it would be so much fun to have "bugs" for the kids to eat when I teach this lesson. The last time I had a lesson over this guy (John the Baptist, btw) I forgot to order the bugs in time. :(

I remembered this time. :)

I'll post pics as soon as I get the goodies!

Cake Pops

Have I mentioned that I love Bakerella? http://bakerella.blogspot.com/

I haven't? Well, not really surprising since this is just the 6th post I've blogged.

Well, Bakerella is awesome! I love her cakes and stuff. It is all just too cute. A few days ago, maybe more like a couple weeks ago, or week and a half ago, anyhow, she posted these adorable cake pops on her site in the shape of Hello Kitty! My twins *LOVE* Hello Kitty! I decided that these pops would make adorable treats for their birthday. (Yes, I know their bday isn't for another 7 months, but I have to get prepared.)

Here is one of my practice pops. I haven't put any eyes on, and the whiskars are in blue, not black, but I haven't gotten to Hobby Lobby for a black one, so just pretend they're black, okay?

It isn't too bad though. Especially for a first timer.

If you want to see some really gorgeous ones go to Bakerella's site. Be carefull though, I'm warning you, you may find yourself licking your computer screen. Just don't say I didn't warn you!

What to do for breakfast on a cold, rainy day?

This is my new theme for blogging...."What to do?"

Just kidding.

But, really, the question begs an answer....what to do? Especially, when there are 5 hungry children to be fed.

Hmmm....Homemade strawberry jam. A cold morning. 5 hungry, clamouring children...biscuits. A match made in heaven.

Okay, so maybe just a match made somewhere in E. Texas...but it could be heaven. Especially now that the temperature has dropped back down to where it belongs in March. Not where it has been, which belongs somewhere in May or June. But, I digress...

Biscuits...

Even better, though....

My cowgirl agrees.

So does the Princess Pirate.

Mmmm...what to do with jam?

So...back in February I made a bunch of strawberry jam...and Crangelo Berry Jam...and Strawberry Marmalade.

That last one is my personal favorite.

What to do with it all?