Western Activity Day

After going back through old notes and things, I realized that I had been planning this activity day for the children since January!  Then started doing the physical work on it around the beginning of August.  Well, the day finally arrived this past Saturday.  It was for the children in our local church and the community. 

This party was a lot of work because we made just about everything.   As soon as you walked in the door, you entered a western town.  Complete with a bank, hotel, jail, and even a hitching post.

We had games, crafts, activities, a skit, of course we served lunch.

 

Road Sign

We had to have something for our robbers to hide behind.

Supposed to be rocks and bushes. 

My disclaimer, I am not an artist.

Then from there they went into the dining hall.

 Complete with a Chuck Wagon. 

We were going to do a covered wagon but that just wasn't working out.  We did have a wagon seat though!

 

 

Over in the other corner, we had a campsite complete with a campfire.

 

 

Ok, I believe that covers the decorations.

Now onto costumes.  First off, we broke it down into age groups. 

So, ages 5 and under were the little Indians.  When they came in, they made feather headbands to wear and got to play in finger paint.  (Sorry, no pictures)

Ages 6-12 were the cowboys and cowgirls. 

They received a hat, bandanna, and we made vests for them. 

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of our vest.  However here is what they looked like, minus the badge.  This is courtesy of Amanda at Dixie Delights.  She was kind enough to share her pattern with us.  They are made out of felt. 

 

Both groups made horses out of pool noodles.

 

The older children made Faux Leather Journals.

The small children made Indian pouches.

 

For games we had...

A Sack Race

Lasso Betsy

(this consisted of tossing 3 hula hoops over this poor cows head)

 

A Gold Rush

We had sand and gold coins mixed in.  They were each given tin pie pans with little holes punched in them.  Then a scoop of the sand and coins that they sifted through.

 

Cattle Round-Up/Buffalo Round-up

They were broken up into groups.  Riding their horses, they had to round-up their branded cattle (balloons) with paint sticks, and put them in the corral.

 

Horse Race with an Obstacle Course

We ran out of time and didn't actually do this one.

 

Shooting Gallery

When we went out to do this, a storm was blowing in so it was too windy to actually play this one.

 

Our skit was taken from the Bible story, "The Good Samaritan."  We put a western twist on it and made it into "The robbery on Jericho Road."  Everyone performed their parts great.  We had three robbers, Chick Toadrie, Bullfrog Jenson, and Upchuck Dickson.  There was the devil, an angel, a hotel worker.  The victim...Ronald Rodgers, and the three men passing by...Highland Mighty, Miser Lee Heart, and Sam.  Our pastor's wife did an excellent job transforming this Bible story into a western skit for us to use. 

 

Afterwards, the children made Deputy Badges.

 

Once they had them finished, there was a surprise visit by the sheriff requesting their help in rounding up the three robbers who had escaped from jail.  The children had a blast chasing after the adults.  They were even talking about it the next day.

 

The little Indians had fun making a bunch of noise on the drums and other musical instruments that we had.  Of course, we took them outside for that!  We taught them the song

"Jesus Loves the Little Children."

 

For Lunch we had...

Hot Dogs

Individual bags of chips

Brownies

Rice Krispie Treats

Bottled Water

Little Hugs (which was juice served in little barrels)

 

Here is a nifty tip that I came across on pinterest and it really does work!

That's right!  Hotdogs in a crockpot!

You simply stand the hotdogs up and cook on low for 4 hours. 

Do not add any liquid as the hotdogs produce some as they cook.

Next time you need hotdogs for a crowd, try this!

 

Well, that about wraps it up.  Thanks for stopping by, pardner.

 

 

 

Black Walnuts

It is amazing how something small and ordinary can trigger a flood of memories.  It has been a few days since I stated that we were going to take a walk down memory lane.  However, today when I went to town, something caught my attention and caused my mind to drift to days gone by. 

A neighbor, who lives a couple houses down from us, has a big walnut tree in his yard.  This time of year the walnuts are falling to the ground and some are getting in the road.  It made my mind go to my Granddaddy.  Now while I was very young when my maternal grandparents passed away, I still have some precious memories. 

They lived on a big piece of land out in the country.  There was a big pasture field and barn and another smaller field for the garden.  My Grandmother had a separate canning building and a huge kitchen.  I can picture her standing in there frying up something good on the stove or at the sink looking out the window.    One of the things I remember her making was fried biscuits.  Whether they were fresh or leftover, she would put some butter in the skillet and fry them up on top of the stove.  Might sound weird if you have never had them, but they were some of the best things you ever had. 

The garage was separate and off from the house.  Granddaddy had a light blue Dodge pick-up truck.  They lived on top of a hill and he wouldn't start it until he was going down almost to the bottom of the hill.  He would let it drift and get going.  He said it saved on gasoline.  Sometimes I would go to town with him.  For safety reasons he wouldn't let us ride on the back of the truck.  However, when we would get back from town and were almost to the house, he would pull over and let us sit on the back of the truck for the last minute or two of the drive. 

(Not his truck but something close to it)

So, back to the Black Walnuts.  He had 2 or 3 separate buildings for tools and workshops.  There was a big black walnut tree and I can't really remember where it was.  I think it might have been along the fence line separating the pasture field from the garden.  Anyways, sometimes the walnuts would be all around the bottom of the tree and we would go pick them up and take them into one of his workshops.  He'd sit down and put me on his lap.  We would sit there and crack them open and eat the walnuts.  Of course with it being the black walnuts, you would get a little dirty because the shells really were black.  I can hear him chuckling right now.  He was a large man.  Not fat or anything just a big man with big shoulders.  I remember as a kid thinking his hands were so big. 

Grandaddy had a swing on the front porch and he would go sit in it when his work was done.  Of course with me coming later in life, that meant that they were older too.  He would tell me we were going to play a game.  He said he would time me to see how fast I could run around the house.  He would have us "play that game" over and over again until we were worn out.  As a kid we just thought we were playing a game.  He sure tricked us!  He was probably sitting there in the swing just a laughing at us kids running around the house.  The whole time he was sitting still and resting while we were running and getting tired. 

Well that's enough for today.  The tears have already been rolling down my face from thinking about this, but it has also brought a smile to my face. 

Precious memories...they are priceless treasures!

 

(Pictures are courtesy of Google.  I did not take time to search through all of the boxes of photos that have not made it into scrapbooks yet.  Sorry.)

Friends

Earlier today, someone thanked me for being their friend. 
It made me think of this song which in turn brought a smile to my face.  It is a happy song.

"You've Got A Friend In Me"

You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
When the road looks rough ahead
And you're miles and miles from your nice warm bed
You just remember what your old pal said
 Girl you've got a friend in me
Yeah you've got a friend in me

You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You got troubles and I got 'em too
There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you
We stick together, we can see it through
'Cause you've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me

Some other folks might be a little bit smarter than I am
Bigger and stronger too
Maybe
But none of them
Will ever love you the way I do
It's me and you girl

And as the years go by
Our friendship will never die
You're gonna see it's our destiny
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me

 

 

 

Friends are a very important part of life. 

They can help you share in the joys and

help comfort you in the sad and difficult times. 

Life without good friends would be empty and lonely. 

 

Let your friends know you appreciate them. 

 

 

In Rememberance

Today marks the 12th anniversary of the terrible attacks on America.  Do you remember that day?  I was working at the credit union and I remember things came to an abrupt stop.  It was as if time itself stood still.  We were all in shock. 

Something that some thought would never happen, did.

We were attacked in our own homeland.

 

America took a very hard blow that day.

 

People all across the country came together.

 

Many lives were lost and tears were shed.

 

America was strong and she stood tall.

She didn't back down but stood her ground.

We banded together and fought back.

 

Freedom is not Free.

 

Many lost their lives.

 

Lest we Forget.

 

 

 

 

Labor Day

I hope you have had a nice relaxing day. 
I personally took the day off, well as much as a housewife can. 
So, tonight I just have a couple things for you.
One, I did a cake for a friend on Saturday.



Two, I tried taking an old recipe and putting it in the crockpot on Sunday.  Ray had told me that he was hungry for my spaghetti and meatballs.  Now, I make my own sauce so not a good recipe for a busy day like Sunday unless I do it ahead of time. 

Ray suggested the crockpot and I decided I would try it although I had my doubts.  Turns out it was very good.  Now I will say it was juicer than when I cook it for several hours on the stove.  I didn't have Parmesan cheese so we used shredded mozzarella and really, really enjoyed our meal. 

It is always great to come home from church on Sunday afternoons and have food ready.  Another great one that I will have to share with you later on is stuffed peppers in the crockpot.  Check back for that recipe later. 

In closing here is an email that my aunt sent to me.  Ray and I got such a laugh out of it I just had to share. 

My Favorite Animal  
Our teacher asked what my favorite animal was, and I said, "Fried chicken."
 
She said I wasn't funny, but she couldn't have been right, because everyone else laughed.
 
My parents told me to always tell the truth. I did. Fried chicken is my favorite animal.  I told my dad what happened, and he  said my teacher was probably a member of PETA.
He said they love animals very much.
 
I do, too. Especially chicken, pork and beef. Anyway, my teacher sent me to the Principal's office.
I told him what happened, and he laughed, too. Then he told me not to do it again.
 
The next day in class my teacher asked me what my favorite live animal was.
I told her it was chicken. She asked me why, so I told her it was because you could make them into fried chicken.
 
She sent me back to the Principal's office. He laughed, and told me not to do it again.
I don't understand. My parents taught me to be honest, but my teacher doesn't like it when I am.
 
Today, my teacher asked me to tell her what famous person I admired most.
 
I told her, "Colonel Sanders." Guess where I am now…  

Anyone hungry for fried chicken?  I sure am!!