This recipe was given to me by Paula when I asked her if she knew of a good way to do something meaningful for Easter. I wanted something for  my grandkids to teach them something more than to search for jellybeans. Our kids were very interested and engaged in this.  If you want the kids to enjoy a hands on, meaningful,  and yummy activity try this one!

Ingredients:

1 cup of whole pecans in a ziploc bag (I had two kids so divided into two ziploc bags)

1tsp. vinegar

3 egg whites (don’t get any yolk in it)

a pinch of salt

1 cup of sugar

A large spoon,mixing bowl , wax paper, cookie sheets

Preheat oven to 300

Take the bags of pecans and let the children beat them with a large spoon to break them into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested, He was beaten by the Roman soldiers. Read John 19:1-3

Let the children smell the vinegar. Put one tsp into the mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was given vinegar to drink. (they can try it on a folded paper towel, touching their tongue to it, like Jesus did on the sponge and  hyssop) Read John19:28-30

Add the egg white to the vinegar (since it won’t work if the yolk is mixed in, I separated the eggs and did not have the kids do that ). Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life, to give us life. Read John 10:10-11

Sprinkle a bit of salt into each child’s hand. Let them take a tiny pinch and place it in the bowl, then taste what is in their hand. Explain that the salt represents the tears shed by Jesus’ followers and bitterness of our own sin. Read Luke 23:27

So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 cup of sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16

Beat with a mixer on high speed until stiff peaks are formed (12 to 15 minutes) Explain that the color white represents the purity in Gods eyes of those whose sin is cleansed by Jesus. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3

Fold in the broken nuts. Drop by the teaspoon onto wax paper covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus body was laid. Read Matthew 27:57-60

Put the cookie sheet in the oven. Close the door and and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus’ tomb was sealed.  Read Matthew 27: 65-66 .

GO TO BED! Explain they might feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus’ followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20 and 22

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter Jesus’ followers were amazed to fine the tomb empty and open. Read Matthew 28:1-9

He Has Risen!

I did this with my 9 year old and 6 year old grandchildren. I looked up Scriptures ahead and marked them, knowing that the attention span may not allow for me to look them up as they waited, but I was probably not giving them enough credit. They loved taking turns adding the ingredients, but I could not convince them to taste the vinegar! They really were excited about getting up in the morning to see what the cookies were like. They thought they tasted like marshmallows and had several!

Do you have any special activities you do with your kids for Easter? We would love to hear about them!

P.S.

(If you have nut allergies, you can use some chocolate bars that are cold, and can break them up in the same way and add those to the cookies instead, to get the rocky tomb idea, though I have not tried this.)

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Kids… They bring us tears, laughter, joy and heartache. We give them our hearts, our homes, our lives …

April is the month  in which we honor the children of our Military Families. These children sacrifice the time that they would have with a beloved parent ,as that parent works to defend our freedoms, our livelihood, our way of life as we know it. Without these brave warriors, we would not have the safety and privileges that we enjoy as a nation.

So , how can we help when these children,home waiting for a parent to return?How do we help them look at the year ahead missing that important person? How can we help as a Family is apart and the parent at home shoulders all the responsibility? Here are a few ideas, and I hope that you will post others that I have not thought of!

* The We Serve Too! books are great for starting conversations and honoring the feelings and lives of Military kids. Read the stories, and check the parent guides for good conversation starters. Here is the link to our website http://weservetoo.com/

* If you are not the parent or close relative of a Military Family, consider a box of books to be donated to the children of a nearby Military installation, school on post, or daycare center. The books are great for educating civilian children on the sacrifices made by kids with parents that are deployed or returning too.Local school libraries are another place that donations are appreciated.

* The Homecoming Box books make a great activity for a group of children or for one child. The book explains the Homecoming Box, and there are instructions in the back on making the boxes that become a family treasure.

* Host a Homecoming Box party or FRG activity and let the kids work together. It is always good to let the kids talk with one another as they share the same journey.

*Here is the link http://www.operationwearehere.com/Children.html to the childrens page on the website of Operation We Are Here. There are lots of resources on it , and I bet you will find some ideas here about things to do with the kids.

* Taking time to talk with children can enlighten you and also provide clues as to ways to honor them. Ask about school, friends, homework. Do they need  homework help, time away, an outing with one of their friend in tow? Maybe they need to practice their fast ball, get a ride to dance class, just talk to someone about what it is like missing an absent parent.

* be supportive by going to the school play, the science fair, the choir program. You will enjoy them more than you think, even if your kids (and maybe especially so ) if your kids are grown!

* If you are family, or a close friend, let them know that you miss their dad or mom too.

* Offer help or meals to the family. Not just “call me”, but ” I am bringing dinner, what night this week is best?” Supporting the Family helps kids feel secure.

* It doesn’t have to been hard, take a lot of time or money. An ice cream cone, a cute sticker for that child that sits behind you in church, a smile and a “thank you for your parents service” , can let a child feel the pride of being part of a Military family.

Please post an idea, so that many can make a difference for kids this month. April is a month to remember, honor and express our gratitude for the people who give so much.

In the words of a soldier: “If you help my child, you help me. Nothing is more important to me than that.”

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Well, our newest book is out and ready to guide those little hands into making a Homecoming Box of their own! The kids above have made their own boxes and are now using them to keep life stories in, until a deployed parent returns.  This new addition to the We Serve Too! series of books for Military Families is colorful fun, teaching children that they can make a family treasure .

The cover shows our two We Serve Too! kids (our grandchildren) looking quizzically at a decorated box. The story shows a group of children who have deployed parents learning the purpose and joys of The Homecoming Box.

I would love to hear from parents , teachers , counselors or FRG leaders  who decide to use The Homecoming Box activity. Paula and I have done a couple of workshops on these, and the kids come up with some really wonderful ideas. I know that the boxes make an impact and that Families can find new ways to tell the important stories of life as they face deployment, sustainment and reunion.

To see more about the homecoming Box, click here

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Almost Forever is a book written by Maria Testa.

I love this book. It is a remembrance stone in the wall of my life, though I did not experience this particular situation, others in my childhood came flooding back. The way it is written is so authentic to a child’s eye view , the thinking that kids do in the privacy of thier own hearts.

The book is written in the perspective of a 6 year old girl in 1967, as she and her brother experience the deployment of their father to Vietnam. The father, a medic, copes with his connection to family, as the family at home works to stay afloat. My experience as a military mom and grandma, allows me to say that this is a powerful, authentic, though short read, and the realities are all there.

As a child of divorce at this very age, I found myself again able to recall vividly the experience of a fatherless home, and the lonely ,unstable feel of it.

The mother in this book, like my own did, works hard to make it all work. I cannot give away the part that wretched my  heart most, but then perhaps it would be different for others  anyway. There are places where you think you know what is happening, to be surprised that you were wrong.

Written in a prose, the language is stark and powerful. There is no overt political commentary, but only what a 6 year old might pick up from what she sees around her.  At a park and her mother comments ” lucky kids, I wonder if they even know anybody in Vietnam.” You know they are protesters, but it is not said. The ending is one you will not soon forget.

The child’s eye view is so much more complex than people know. This book is universal , about life, and how we figure out what to do next when we don’t know what to do next. If you want to get a glimpse of the heart of a Military child, a read of Almost Forever, is well worth your time.

You will know even more clearly why we say We Serve Too!

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Wow, so much has been going on I realized my last post was about Christmas cookies! Sorry all!

Paula and I have been invited to go to San Antonio for an  Army National Guard Yellow Ribbon event the first weekend in February. That means we have lots of work to do to get ready.

We are nearly finished with our newest book The Homecoming Box, which we will be presenting there in Texas. It is going to print, we hope by the end of February, and so the San Antonio group will be the first to pre-view it.  I have had so much fun illustrating this one!

The We Serve Too! kids are growing at about the rate of our grandchildren. As I draw, I can’t help it, they have a life of their own and they are getting older.  I am able to hold back on the growth  somewhat with the drawings (wish I could keep the real thing small a bit longer!)

The kids now have a new batch of friends that are involved in making The Homecoming Box. Our granddaughter Devon decided to name them . I will have to introduce them to you by name when we unveil the book after printing.

We will have a coloring page up on the website of our good friends at Operation We Are Here with all the new kids pictured too, later in February, in time for Valentines Day. Check that in in addition to all the other wonderful resources they have there.

One that our kids have found is fun in the Brat Town Bugle. You can download pages that are like a family newspaper, and then the kids can fill in and send off to their deployed loved one. It is fun for the kids because they can choose what pages to do, sports, school, events, pets, and many others. Here is the link to their menu page for the kids: http://www.operationwearehere.com/Children.html

Happy New Year (OK, so it was two weeks ago…better late than never!)

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I am about to reveal to you a wonderful family recipe that was brought over from Scotland by my great-grandparents on my mothers side.

Not only are these rich and delicious, they are easy to make especially for people who are very busy (like parents who have a deployed spouse for instance!)

I have some in the oven now, and my fingers are literally sliding over the keyboard due to the amount of butter (yes I did wash, but this stuff is seriously buttery!)

Here is my Christmas gift to all of you who visit us at camo-n-kids and We Serve Too!

Scotch Shortbread cookies

1 cup of real butter (no, not margarine, you will miss the rich taste)

5/8 c. suger (10 TBSP)

2 cups of  white flour (this is not health food, loosen up and use the right stuff, you won’t be sorry!)

Mix this with your hands until you can make a ball, but don’t  over handle it.

I roll into small balls and use a cookie press, the flat ones with a picture on them,( dipping in flour first so they don’t stick). Rolling a ball and flattening with the bottom of a glass works too.

Oven is at 300 and you cook about 25 minutes (check that they get only a golden brown, not too dark)

That is it! These are rich and a couple is enough with a cold glass of milk.

Merry Christmas!!

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I have recently been made aware again, the power of writing , and the power that comes from that kind of expression. To talk about this way of making ourselves known, is one that we as parents ,grandparents , and teachers ,should ponder.

As a child ,writing became important in my own life, as I found a voice through those marks on paper. I found that I could move a heart, change an opinion, awaken an idea, explain the world from my own perspective (sometimes to myself!).

Here is a  poem written by : Leslie Slutzkey when she was in the 8th grade. As a young girl, her desire for freedom can be felt by many a young heart:

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We were invited by the Wyoming Air National Guard to participate in a Yellow Ribbon Program this past week!

Paula, Ramona and Beth, our We Serve Too! kids team,  traveled on to Wyoming this past weekend while I stayed home after a minor surgery. I was fortunate that they brought back pictures of all the fun! Though I missed out on the activities, the kids made some wonderful boxes, so we wanted to share with you the adventures of the workshop:

Here the kids begin work on their Homecoming Boxes. They have played the game of taking items out of our Homecoming box and hearing the stories of each one. Now they are taking time to carefully craft a box that reflects who they are , and is a special place to hold memories while they wait for deployed parents to return home.

Here are some of our participants showing off their finished boxes!

Another activity is writing their own book. We show the children a mock up  (the real way we plan a book) then we read them the storyline as they do the illustrations. We give lots of choices so that no one has a book that is the same. They love this activity, and then they endorse each others books with testimonials on the back  cover! This group got a sneak peek at our newest book that will be published the first of the year called The Homecoming Box.

Kids need to get some energy out , and an obstacle course is just the thing! They love rearranging the course themselves!

Another activity was an Afghan snack of grapes, pomegranates and naan…then they voted with a purple fingerprint on what the favorite was… pomegranates win!

The day ended with children singing The Creed of a Soldiers Child to their parents.

Each child took home a finished Homecoming Box, a copy of both We Serve Too! books on deployment and reunion, our ABC Military Coloring Book,Our new

We Serve too! Around theWorld Afghanistan Coloring Booklet and a Dog tag that says “I will be Strong and courageous”.  We hope that they will remember this day,and that their parents will benefit from this Homecoming Box craft that helps to keep Families connected.

Thank you Wyoming National Guard for inviting us to be part of this wonderful day!

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Paula and I have been working on a new series of coloring booklets for kids, to help them understand something about where deployed parents may be going. The series starts with Afghanistan and Iraq. There are other booklets to come showcasing other places like Germany, Japan and Korea. The name of the series? We Serve Too! Around the World, of course!

Our Afghanistan coloring booklet,is going to  press ,and will be available soon! These  can be used at FRG meetings, pre-deployment activities, or just to help kids explore and talk about where their parent is going. They can be used in school activities to help kids understand a culture other than their own. These booklets are unique, they also touch on why our Military is there and what their parents may be doing while deployed. Some things the booklets touch on: housing, language, food (a recipe is included in each one) , things kids do there, animals and some basic history of the region.

Here is a sample of We Serve Too! Around the World: Afghanistan!

Get out your crayons, and watch for our announcement of finished booklets! To order We Serve Too! books and resources go to http://weservetoo.com/website/

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My grandson just turned 6. His daddy, who is far away in Germany, asked me to find the perfect gift. You know how that is, the parent is far from home and wants the gift to be spectacular, since they are missing all the festivities. There is something about it too, that we think we have to make up for the lost time with something memorable.

I noticed when I got to the store that most of the toys I saw would last about 5 minutes. Our boy is like his dad used to be, full of energy and likely to toss something just to see what happens when it hits. I think that most boys fit this description. Toy manufacturers also know and it too and it seems they create toys that will require you to replace it with another one, the very day of the birthday party!
As I crusied the aisles of Target, I finally came to the conclusion that the child would have to get something real.

The end result of all this,was a real two man tent (29.95) and a canteen (5.95), along with a set of tupperware containers to make collections in (3.95) (you know, rocks, cool other stuff and with a few holes in the top …bugs!) So for about 40.00, (the cost of any of the plastic breakables) my grandson got a gift that could be used for years and would make a fine thing to sleep in when Dad gets home!

Our grandson was thrilled with the tent which was set up in our living room. He and his sister slept in it. Now I have to figure out what wonderful gift from Daddy my granddaughter will get for her birthday!

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