Gideon: A Homeschool Bible Study & Make Bake Create Party

By far, our favorite homeschool activity is doing history studies. We've had a Titanic Tea Party, made an Egypt Map Cake, and more! One of our favorite resources is Mystery of History. We've been using it for our homeschool Bible study time for about eight years now and we totally love it! Yesterday, we did the MOH lesson on Gideon and had so much fun with a couple great projects.

I read them half the story of Gideon in Judges 6, and then we did project number one: making clay pots. Some of the kids didn't recognize the significance yet, but they had fun putting them together while I talked about what Gideon's people would have used clay pots for. Everyone got two lengths of modeling clay and creatively formed them into unique vessels.

After that, I read them the rest of the story of Gideon's defeat over the Midianites and they learned that Gideon's army broke clay pots to intimidate the enemy army and defeat them. We talked about how God helped Gideon weed out warriors---one way was by having them take a drink from the river to see whether they would remain on guard while being bent down. Michael and Elisha demonstrated how much quicker it would have been for the "lapping" guys to jump up than for the kneeling men.

Finally, it was time for my big surprise! Everyone headed outside and I gave terra cotta pots to four of the kids. You know what's coming, don't you?!

Everyone raised their pot and yelled, "the sword of the Lord and Gideon!"....

SMASH!!! Yeah, it was awesome.

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#ad Southwestern Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas #SummerofGiving #shop #cbias

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser. All opinions are honest and are my own.

If you ever want to really bless me, bring me a meal. Many times, friends have brought our family food after the birth of a baby, during or after a move to a new place, or sometimes, just because. I absolutely love it! This is also one of my favorite things to do for others and I try to always be available when I hear there's a meal list going around for a friend in need. Recently, I heard about Tyson's partnership with Champions for Kids on a project called, Summer of Giving. Every time you purchase a specially marked bag of Tyson products, they'll donate a meal to a child in need. Ending hunger is an important goal for Tyson and they're dedicated to making people aware of the hunger problem in their own communities through their KNOW hunger campaign. 

I use these bags of Tyson Grilled & Ready chicken pieces all the time in recipes. They're convenient, they taste great, and the price is good. Walmart had Grilled & Ready varieties on rollback for $5.97 this weekend, so I decided to take advantage and buy some for one of my favorite sharing meals: Southwestern Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas. A friend of ours has been in the hospital, so we wanted to deliver a hot and flavorful meal to encourage her and make her night a little easier. Both Tyson and Walmart are local companies here in Northwest Arkansas, and I'm proud to partner with these companies that give back in this excellent initiative to end hunger nationwide. Walmart has promised to feed 5 million kids this summer and I'm glad to have my purchases go toward that commitment.

We first had this meal when someone brought it to us about 10 years ago after I'd had one of the kids. Since then, it's been one that I love to share with others. The Southwestern Style Chicken Breasts Strips are perfect in these enchiladas because they've already got some of the seasonings needed to make the dish taste great.

I've learned a couple tricks for transporting food in the car. Instead of putting the dishes on the seats where they tend to tip and spill, lay a towel on the floorboards of the car and let the dishes ride flat. Always pack your meal into dishes that the recipient can throw away so she doesn't have to try to arrange getting them back to you. I like to include a dessert or breakfast for the next day, as well. When we first moved to a new town about 12 years ago, one of my happiest memories was a neighbor bringing over a batch of warm chocolate chip cookies. She'd lined them up in this cute wooden caddy and it was such a special thing. I try to always make chocolate chip cookies for the people I'm delivering a meal to, as well, because they meant so much to me back then.

These enchiladas are super easy to put together and they freeze well. Pair them with Spanish rice and beans with cheese for a delicious, tummy-satisfying dinner.

Southwestern Sour Cream Enchiladas

4 cups cooked, thawed chicken pieces

1 pkg. taco seasoning mix

2 cups cheddar cheese

10 flour tortillas

1 cup sour cream

1 can cream of chicken soup

Shred chicken, then stir in taco seasoning and cheese. (If you're using the Tyson Southwestern Style chicken, just use half the taco seasoning and save the other half for your Spanish rice.) Fill tortillas, roll them up, and place them in a greased baking pan. Mix sour cream and soup together well and pour on top of enchiladas. Bake at 350º for 30 minutes.

What are some of your favorite foods to deliver to friends? I'd love to hear about how you bless others with the gift of a meal. 

#SummerofGiving

#CollectiveBias

Celebrating Military Heroes with Coffee-mate Glazed Cookies #CMSalutingHeroes #shop #cbias

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser. All opinions are honest and are my own.

If you’re like me, you love seeing brands promoting patriotism and celebrating the USA. Coffee-mate has decorated these two flavors of liquid coffee creamer, French Vanilla and Hazelnut, with stars and stripes, and will be offering them exclusively at Walmart through Independence Day. I had the opportunity to try some out last month and used these flavorful creamers to make a fun treat to share with our teens while we talked to them about the importance of Memorial Day.

Our children come from a long line of brave military veterans. Unfortunately, most of them have passed away and are no longer here to share with us the adventures and heartaches of military life. That’s why it’s so important to my husband and I to help them understand the reason we observe Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Veterans Day. We want them to honor those who have sacrificed time, comfort, even their lives, to ensure we can continue to live in peace and prosperity here in America. 

As the kids have gotten old enough to understand, it’s been fun to share our military heritage with them. Recently, I took our two teens to our town’s Veteran’s Memorial which honors local servicemen and women throughout Arkansas’s history. It really blessed me to see them excited about this part of our national history. 

Lynzie was especially excited to see this quote from Thomas Paine’s, Common Sense, as it’s a passage she memorized several years ago and she’s really taken the message to heart. 

Later, we spent some time around the table, looking at photos of loved ones in uniform and sharing memories that were passed down to us. I made some coffee and cookies and really enjoyed sharing this special time with my teens. 

Jamie cherishes several fun stories that were passed on to him about his grandpa . He never had the chance to meet him, but he still feels a special connection as they look very similar and had similar interests. This photo shows his grandpa (left) with one of his buddies during World War II.

Here are a couple photos from my side of the family. Here’s my Uncle Bud in his VFW cap. 

This newspaper clipping is one of my treasures. It shows my Grandpa Henry and his friends signing their enlistment cards at a Portland, Maine recruiting office. This would have been sometime in the late 1940s. My grandpa saved this in an album that he gave to me just before he passed away.

I used both flavors of creamers to glaze my cookies. I made chocolate cookies and glazed them with the Hazelnut creamer, and I made French Vanilla glaze to drizzle on these oatmeal ones.  It’s so easy to make dessert glaze with Coffee-mate creamers. Just mix 1 cup of powdered sugar with 2-4 TBS of creamer and whisk until smooth.  It’s a quick way to add a little extra flavor to any sweet treat.

I'm so blessed to have these men of integrity and honor, like my Uncle Gary who fought in Viet Nam, in my family tree. I wish that we could have these family heroes right here at the table with us, sharing their memories and allowing us to thank them for their honorable service. I am thankful, however, that our families passed on their stories to us so we can do the same for our children. Do you have military heroes in your heritage? How do you keep their memories alive? I’d love to hear your stories!


#CMSalutingHeroes 
#CollectiveBias

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