I am an Oklahoman by birth, a Texan by current living situation, but claim the world as my playground.I love to travel and hope to someday soon take our family on adventures to far off lands, where we can share God with others and experience all the wonders He has created.
I am a mother of 5 crazy, homeschooling children ages 10 & under, wife to an amazing man, and daughter of the King of the Universe!I enjoy reading, making my kids laugh, cooking, all things natural, learning to play guitar and dusting off my piano skills.One day I hope to run again, but until then I’m learning patience.
Every year, our family looks forward to celebrating the Easter story and helping our kids understand what it truly means! It’s a time of mourning our sinful nature but joyfully accepting Christ’s amazing sacrificial gift of forgiveness and love.
When I contributed to the Oklahoma City Moms Blog, I wrote about a couple of our Easter Traditions. These traditions help our family focus on Christ’s sacrifice for us during the Easter season. In this post, I detailed how to make resurrection cookies and shared some wonderful videos and books we use.
If you have never made resurrection cookies before, you are in for a special treat. These cookies are deliciously scrumptious! Also, the preparation process helps connect Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection with actions and scripture neither you nor your children will forget. Check out this post to find resources to help explain why Christ chose to die on the cross.
Resurrection Eggs– This is so much fun! We hide a few eggs with money (because we were bought at a price) or candy (to remember this sweet gift). We also hide these resurrection eggs. Each resurrection egg contains a symbol of the Easter story. After the kids gather all the eggs, we sit down as a family to open our eggs. The kids get excited about what we found, and then we use the Resurrection Storybook Cards to tell the story. As we read the story, we have the child who found the item we are discussing hold it up and show it off. We even have the kids retell the story by putting the found items in their proper order.
Celebrating Passover – This is a tradition we started several years ago. Celebrating Passover has given us a whole new understanding of how Jesus is the perfect sacrificial lamb. He is the ultimate sacrifice. Read the powerful story of the Exodus and share with your children how amazing God truly is and how He sent Jesus to redeem us from the bondage of our own slavery–sin!
You might even check around the city you live in to see if anyone is hosting a Passover meal you could join. I highly recommend celebrating it with a group of Christians or Messianic Jews because then you get the true understanding of how the Passover points not only to Christ’s first coming, but his second coming as well!
Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper aka communion during the Passover meal!
There are so many fun ways to celebrate Easter and Christ’s Resurrection.
What are your family’s favorite traditions?
How do you bring the focus back to Christ’s sacrifice?
Toni was born and raised in a small town in Oklahoma.She graduated from East Central University with a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Economics.After college, she returned to her hometown to marry her best friend, Charles.Toni is a stay at home mom to their three teens, two boys and a girl, whom God led them to homeschool.Her goal is to raise her children to love and serve the Lord.They live on a farm where they grow produce to sell at several farmers markets.She also plays the piano at church and teaches piano.
Last year, I wrote about my family’s crazy Black Friday experience. Believe it or not, it gets better every year. We have some great times together and create some fun Black Friday memories!
The last several years, my sister-in-law and I have insisted that we are not staying out all night. Somehow, my adult niece always manages to keep us out all night. Once, we even managed to get a trampoline in the minivan with five people. And last year, we finished shopping by 9:00 a.m. and I got to have three hours of sleep before going to have lunch.
Thanksgiving started as usual. Everyone got to be together, and of course, we ate more than we should. We got the newspaper ads out. We highlighted everything we thought we might want and organized our game plan. Then things got interesting.
I have never had an iPhone. I am an Android user! “What does this have to do with anything?” you ask. Well, I was introduced to Siri and the fun began. Have you ever asked Siri, “How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?” So by 3:00 am, we are asking Siri everything from “Tell me a joke,” to “What is the meaning of life?” And we did not just ask once; we asked each question multiple times. Siri will give multiple answers. We let Siri entertain us every time we got back in the car.
Around 6:00 am, I knew my Black Friday post would post so I looked it up and read it to everyone. Of course, then we had to sing “Dumb Ways To Die.” I believe this will be our new Black Friday tradition. We had so much fun rehashing previous escapades.
Different and Quirky
We were afraid that one tradition was going to change last year–our pizza buffet lunch. There were more people to feed, a sluggish economy, and higher prices. We had previously decided we would forego the pizza and have leftover Thanksgiving dinner. Somehow, we found out that they were doing a Black Friday buffet special. That saved the day! We were able to go and have our traditional pizza. I know it sounds weird, but it is something we have done for years. It’s what we do. It’s different and it’s quirky, like our family!
Of course, the weekend was not without incident. There was an impending ice storm. My oldest son left after we got back from eating pizza so he could get back to college before the storm (That’s another story). We, unfortunately, did not. By the time we were ready to go, it had gotten pretty bad towards our home. We decided to stay another night (I had packed for it, just in case). We got up the next morning, called friends to check on the roads, and headed out. The closer we got home, the worse the roads got. Fortunately, we made it home without incident and a lot of prayers.
What Black Friday Memories Will We Make This Year?
I do not know what this Black Friday will bring, but I am up for the challenge. Now my family knows that what happens on Black Friday will be written about the next Black Friday. They need to work hard to give me new material.
I am an Oklahoman by birth, a Texan by current living situation, but claim the world as my playground.I love to travel and hope to someday soon take our family on adventures to far off lands, where we can share God with others and experience all the wonders He has created.
I am a mother of 5 crazy, homeschooling children ages 10 & under, wife to an amazing man, and daughter of the King of the Universe!I enjoy reading, making my kids laugh, cooking, all things natural, learning to play guitar and dusting off my piano skills.One day I hope to run again, but until then I’m learning patience.
Disclosure: We have partnered with Family Time Training, in order to bring you a great giveaway that your family will benefit from spiritually. We have used these Bible Activities in our own family and all opinions are 100% ours. Enjoy!
God is fun and creative! He has provided so many ways for us to dig into His Word so it will plant in our hearts and grow! Sometimes, we mistakenly think that having a Bible study has to be boring. Family Time Training proves this myth wrong.
If you were anything like my husband and I when we first had children, we wondered how in the world we were going to teach them Bible principles at home. We started with songs and bible stories from children’s bibles.
Then we found Family Time Training and it gave us an amazing tool in our Bible teaching toolbelt. Like God, it’s fun and creative and helps God’s Word stick in our kids’ hearts. Not to mention ours as well.
What’s so great about Family Time Training?
1. They do all the planning for you.
Yes, all you have to do is pull out a lesson, read over it, gather the materials and you are ready to go. They even put in bold the main phrases parents should say, so it makes preparing for a Bible lesson very easy, especially if you don’t have time to prepare a Bible lesson during the week.
2. It helps bring your family together so you can plant the Word of God in their hearts!
Sometimes, the hardest part of studying the Bible with our kids is just getting in the habit of doing it. Family Time Training suggests picking one night a week that you have an easy dinner so you can quickly come together afterwards and have fun studying the Bible. Of course, you can always choose to do it another time, like on a Saturday afternoon or whatever suits your family best.
3. They make it FUN!
Yes, fun and studying the Bible can go together. It doesn’t have to be dry and boring. With Family Time Training’s activities your kids will not only have fun but they will learn about the Bible in such a way that sticks.
4. Lessons that Stick
Because the lessons have fun activities, kids typically remember them more easily. We could be driving down the street and a topic comes up. In trying to relate it back to God’s word, it’s easy to say,
“Hey, do you remember when we wrapped you up in toilet paper (or did such and such activity)?
Do you remember which character in the Bible you were pretending to be when we wrapped you in toilet paper? Yes, Lazarus.
Well, did Lazarus need help getting unwrapped? Yes!
Why? Because he couldn’t do it by himself.
Your right and there are times in life when we can’t do things by ourselves. From whom should we ask for help? Right! God.
5. Easy to find exactly what you need!
Family Time Training does have physical workbooks for all ages, but my personal favorite is their Total Access. Total Access is an electronic database that allows you to search through over 300 activities in seconds to find the perfect one you need.
Do you want to do a Bible lesson on Abraham? Just type in his name. Or maybe you want to find a lesson that will help a certain child with a bad habit…type it in and voilà, there it is.
Watch how easy this is….
6 – Very Affordable!
Total Access so awesome and easy to fit into the budget. For only $6/month or $60/year, you can quickly access as many activities as your family needs. A congregation can even purchase a yearly membership for $400, which allows ALL of it’s members unlimited access to the activities.
Yes, Family Time Training’s goal is to make it easy and affordable for family’s to be able to teach their kids Biblical principles and values in the home!
FREE gift for you!
The Chocolate Milk Activity
Family Time Training graciously agreed to give you my favorite Bible activity to for free! There are many reasons why the following activity is my favorite:
#1 – It introduces kids to the “stirring” of the Holy Spirit and how He acts in our lives. Truly, how many of us as adult have a difficult time explaining to other adults about how the Holy Spirit works, let alone explaining it to our children?
#2 – It uses chocolate milk! And come on, who doesn’t like an activity that involves chocolate milk.
Sign up right now, to get a FREE activity in your email box every month.
Team Curriculum
Family Time Training has also developed a fantastic team curriculum for training groups of people who are passionate about investing in the lives of children and passing their faith on to the next generation.
The Lord our God, the Lord is one.Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates. (emphasis added)
Family Time’s activities make this goal of teaching our children and pouring God’s wisdom into their hearts easy and fun!
Toni was born and raised in a small town in Oklahoma.She graduated from East Central University with a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Economics.After college, she returned to her hometown to marry her best friend, Charles.Toni is a stay at home mom to their three teens, two boys and a girl, whom God led them to homeschool.Her goal is to raise her children to love and serve the Lord.They live on a farm where they grow produce to sell at several farmers markets.She also plays the piano at church and teaches piano.
BLACK FRIDAY! Those two words either bring fear or joy to your heart. You are either one of them or one of them. Everyone has a strong opinion on it one way or the other. There is no in-between.
I love Black Friday! Some of you may think I’m crazy. I may be, but I love it. There is just something about getting out early and braving the weather and the lines to get that incredible deal. I am a bargain shopper! I also love the rush of getting in the crowds and trying to get that last box of Legos for $10.00 or that new digital camera for $50.00. Several years ago, I got up at 3:00 a.m. to drive 30 miles to stand in line to get a dual portable DVD player for our van. (Yes, I know I’m showing my age because nobody buys those things anymore.) Three in the morning is nothing now. We get going at midnight!
Well, we actually get started before midnight. This exciting event now takes place at my sister-in-law’s house. Thanksgiving is spent there in Tulsa, almost three hours away from where we live. We awaken early Thanksgiving morning and travel to their house. As all of our families have grown, it has been wonderful to have to add so many tables. I know that is the true meaning of this holiday: to be thankful for what God has given us and to be with loved ones–but we all love Black Friday!
After our incredible meal, the “girls” all sit around the table with the newspaper. This is a sight to behold. I am not going to give away all of our secrets, but I will share an overview of what transpires. Needless to say, we are very organized. We start with the first ad, circle what we want with bright markers and initial it, then pass it around the table. When everyone has finished, we go through and put them in order of store opening times. Then we check for duplicate items and find the best prices and make our list. We then make sure we have our shirts ready or make our new ones. Yes, we print up matching shirts for all of us! We don’t make new ones every year. We’ve even had strangers stop us and even take pictures with us in our shirts.
Most recent T-shirts
Back side of T-shirt
We try to take a nap! This does not always happen–most of the time it doesn’t. Okay, that may be wishful thinking. But, we do try to get things ready. There have always been four of us. This consists of my sister-in-law, niece, niece’s husband, and me. The niece’s husband is a 300+ pound former college football linebacker (you should see him in a bright pink shirt) so he is there for “protection” – and comedy relief. The last couple of years, we have started adding to our group. My sister-in-law’s granddaughter (She is not my great-niece because I am not that old. Only old people are “great” whatevers.) was allowed to go because she had turned sixteen. And now my daughter is counting down the years until she can go.
We all have our respective jobs! I am the “Bargain Hunter”. I search out the the items that we did not find quickly. I also pick up things for a friend who hates Black Friday shopping but wants some of the bargains. She even calls to check in with me to see how things are going. I will admit that Black Friday shopping is much easier with the invention of the cell phone. I often wonder what the increase in usage of cell phones is on that day.
We have a great time! We go from store to store. We also make several pit stops. I do not know if you have a Quik Trip where you live (I don’t), but I believe that it is the best place while Black Friday shopping. They have giant drinks, the best hot snacks (regular or breakfast), and of course clean restrooms (women’s and men’s, and women do go to the men’s when no one is around). I also get very “punchy” when I get tired. Around two or three in the morning, I start laughing at everything. This is where the nephew-in-law comes in. He starts with all the dumb jokes to see how much he can get me laughing. My favorite is still, “Two men walked into a bar; the third one ducked.” Think about that one. I also learned about YouTube from him. My favorite is “Dumb Ways To Die”. Apparently, this is an actual public service announcement from Australia. That makes it even funnier.
Sometimes we take a nap in the car! This we actually do. If there is a store that only one person needs something from, two go in and the rest of us take our nap. Somehow, we make it through the night and finish up by no later than 10:00 a.m. We then go home, take a nap, then go out for pizza. This is as good as Thanksgiving dinner. We go to a buffet. Yes, Thanksgiving dinner one day followed by pizza buffet the next day!
I missed this event last year. Our van broke down one hour from our house. By the time we got towed back home it was late. Our other vehicle had bad tires so it could not make the trip. My son’s car only seated four and we are a family of five. We were stuck at home with nothing but the desserts. Have you ever cooked a Thanksgiving dinner in two hours? I did, and it was actually good and completely gluten-free (my husband has a true gluten allergy).
I did take my kids shopping around 9:00 a.m. when my friend called to see how it was going. Of course, I got a lecture of why I did not call and tell her we were broke down and didn’t make it to Tulsa. They would have towed us home and we could have come over for dinner, etc. I had several of those offers and that overwhelmed me. My niece even called and said that it was not as much fun without me. My sister-in-law told me that they even discussed meeting me in Oklahoma City to do our shopping. Our nephew offered to come and try to fix our van. For Christmas, my niece gave me one of the gifts that we would always go to the mall for. She had picked up an extra one for me. We were truly missed! Of course, we did learn a lesson: when you miss Thanksgiving, they plot against you. That is another story for another post. I will get even with at least our nephew.
Our traditions have evolved over the years, but last year reminded me just how great my family and friends are. We get out in all the craziness, but we enjoy being together and being there for each other. I would not trade that part of our family for anything.
Do you have a Black Friday story to share?
What are some of your favorite Thanksgiving traditions?
I am an Oklahoman by birth, a Texan by current living situation, but claim the world as my playground.I love to travel and hope to someday soon take our family on adventures to far off lands, where we can share God with others and experience all the wonders He has created.
I am a mother of 5 crazy, homeschooling children ages 10 & under, wife to an amazing man, and daughter of the King of the Universe!I enjoy reading, making my kids laugh, cooking, all things natural, learning to play guitar and dusting off my piano skills.One day I hope to run again, but until then I’m learning patience.
Are you unable to attend the Bible Journaling Workshop event but want to participate with us anyway? Perfect! We have just the way to do that and have the Bible Journaling Workshop supply list ready for you!
Meeting in Isle 15! McKenzie & I had such a fun time planning out what all to use during the workshop.
If you are not attending the live event then you will need the following supplies:
1. An Open Heart
The coolest thing about Bible Journaling is not so much the artistic aspect but the meditating on a verse and seeing it come alive in a whole new way. Praying for understanding, insight, and wisdom while dwelling on His word plants it into our hearts so that it will blossom in our life and not only on the paper.
2. A Bible or a Journaling Bible.
Yes, you can use your everyday Bible, but many choose to purchase a Journaling Bible because it has wide margins,which allows more room to create.
Periscope is an app Twitter has created to watch LIVE streaming videos. So what you see is what we will be doing. You can ask questions or just send us some love.
If you are on Twitter then start by following Creating a Great Day @Create_GreatDay
Once you are on Twitter, all you have to do is download the free Periscope app your phone. When you open the app, you will notice that all the people you follow on Twitter who have a Periscope app will automatically show up. It will even notify you with a bird tweet any time someone you follow is live on Periscope.
We will tweet out the web link to our Periscope broadcast, so you can watch it from your computer as well. You can watch it up to 24 hours after it’s aired.
4. Scrap paper, a journal, or photocopies of pages from your Journaling Bible
This will be used to practice on before you ever put anything into your Bible, so any piece of paper will do. Recently, I saw someone made copies of their Bible Journal so that they could create a rough draft before putting the final product in their Bible and I thought that was a brilliant idea!
This is really all you need but if you would like to add the extras that we will have at the workshop you can as well.
6. Watercolors & paintbrushes
7. Craft paint
8. An old gift card
McKenzie will show you a really cool trick on how to apply paint to your Bible using one of these cards.
9. Crayola Twistable Crayons
McKenzie prefers to use these instead of colored pencils because they have a soft touch on the Bible pages and won’t rip through them.
10. Stamps & ink pads
11. Tags
Tags can be used for many different things including tabbing your Bible Journaling pages.
12. Washi tape
Again, for Bible Journaling all you really need is an open heart and a pen. Meditate on God’s word, let it soak into your soul, and express itself in your life as well as on paper.
May you be blessed by this workshop! We look forward to having you participate.
Remember, it all happens on Saturday morning, October 24 from 9:30am – 12:00pm central time.
What are you most excited to learn from this workshop?
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