I have been trying to write this post all day. The kids have been at Camp Primo: Snow Jam {that’s their winter retreat. Last year was Camp Primo: Winter Wonderland} the last two nights.

Anywhoo, this morning after I slept in (till 9:30!!) I got up, poked around some blogs, ate breakfast and then cleaned out my closet (!!). After that I settled down to take advantage of some kid-free writing time. Just as I finished uploading the photos my mom calls and says that it is time to pick up the kids–hours earlier than I expected. So, I tucked away this post and picked up the kids. Once we got home I put them to bed early and settled on the couch (with my sick and feverish husband) to write. Within 5 minutes, I hear Asa whining. I could have sworn he was asleep. The longer he whined, the more I listened. Finally I realized I needed to check on him.

I walked in his room and smelled vomit. This is bad enough but the day before Camp Primo he had thrown up ALL NIGHT. Every ten minutes I was changing his clothes or wiping his mouth. I laid in the bed with him and jumped at every noise he made. He was fine the day of Camp Primo and made it all the way through their adventures (just wait till I tell you about it!) back home and even ate a little dinner. I guess he was just saving up all his sickness for the comfort of home.

*sigh*

And now as I went to preview this post? My husband just threw up.

So. The awesome post I was going to share? It’s going to have to wait till later.

{What do you do when your whole family is sick?}

The blog has been too quiet! Last weekend, our family went to Savannah to visit my husband’s grandmother (remember his Grandfather died a few months ago) and to a family reunion. Our internet access was limited sometimes impressing your kids (and family) means not running around the house with your laptop in the air trying to bootleg someone’s internet!

So, I missed sharing some Thanksgiving-ish things to share with you. I hope we get to them before Thanksgiving–wait, that’s like in TWO DAYS! Can you believe it? Then it will be Christmas! The Monday after Thanksgiving I’m going to introduce our Advent activities. I’m really excited about what we’re going to do–it’s different from the Advent ornaments we’ve done the last two years. Hopefully, I’ll even have a supply list for you so you can get everything before I post about it!

Now, back to Thanksgiving! Yesterday we stopped at the bookstore to find a Thanksgiving book. Why? Because all the smart moms already checked all the Thanksgiving books from the library. Well, we never found the Thanksgiving book at the bookstore because I got distracted by the Christmas books at the front door! They were all on sale and I found the most fun books—My First Christmas Mad Libsfor $1. How great is that?

Well, this book me the idea of making a Thanksgiving Mad Lib. Of course, Lydia has no idea what nouns and adverbs are, so I had to be a little more creative. But the key to a good Mad Lib anyway is not just saying “noun” but helping your kids be creative by saying “a person, place or thing found on the bottom of the ocean” or “an activity you might do in China”. It makes for much funnier stories! And make sure you don’t clue your kids in on the theme of the story, you don’t want to sway their responses. It’s funnier to tell them the title after they’ve given you their words.

Here’s one that we made:

A Thankful Thanksgiving Letter

Dear {family member’s name}:

On this Thanksgiving Day I want to tell you how thankful I am for you. Thank you for always playing {game} with me. When I think about you I {something that happens when you have a cold}. You are so {describe a dog}. Every time I see you, I want to give your {body part} a big hug! It always makes me happy when you call me by my pet name, {funny name}. You are truly the best {family relation} a kid could ask for! I love you more than {something in a trashcan}!!

Yours truly,

{your name}

Lydia thought this was the funniest thing ever–especially when we wrote the letter to her cousin (and best friend), Nora. Lydia wants to make one of these for everyone in our family for Thanksgiving! That might be a cute card/gift for them!

Here’s one more that made us laugh:

Our Thanksgiving Traditions

Every year on Thanksgiving my family eats the same thing. First, we have {breakfast food} with butter. Then, fried {fruit}. We also have {food} with gravy and {food you get at Disney World}. And the main course is a stuffed {bird} with gravy! After we eat, we all lay down on the {furniture} and watch {TV show}–it’s such a great Thanksgiving tradition! Soon, my {family relation}, {funny name} brings out the {object found at the zoo} and we eat dessert! {Funny word}, I love Thanksgiving!

We laughed and laughed after this one–Lydia said “parrot” for the bird and “Buford” for a funny name, so eating a stuffed parrot with gravy and having a family member named Buford had her in gales of laughter!

I had this great plan of making it a really good printable for you so you could just print it off and do it with your kids. Alas, Photoshop Elements is eluding me. So, just grab your mouse and copy and paste the above stories into Word or some text editing program. Then print it off and have a little silly fun with your kids today!

The autumn leaves are falling thick and heavy around here. Our yard is full of them! Those fall leaves make me want to go on a hike! Not necessarily because I love to hike, but because I love crunching those leaves under my feet!

Here’s a fun outdoor hiking activity to do with your kids–one that will get them thinking about Jesus!

First grab your kids and tell them to go on a scavenger hunt through the house for hiking supplies. Depending on the ages of your kids, you might get some interesting ideas. Lydia would grab her walking stick from Camp Primo. Asa would probably grab a book. Or a stuffed animal.

Once they’ve brought back their goods, talk about what they picked and why (hiking boots for protection? first aid kit just in case? water bottle for hydration?). If they haven’t brought a flashlight, try to lead them to thinking of a flashlight.

Ask them to imagine hiking in the woods in the dark. No moon. No stars. Just darkness. Talk about how hard it would be–you’d be unable to follow the path, you’d get lost, you’d bump your toe on a root, you could even run into a wild animal!

Then explain that our life is kind of like a hike. It’s a big journey. God’s planned this journey for us–He knows the ending. In fact, he’s preparing a place for us right now! But guess what? This world is really dark. Dark with sin. Dark with deception. Dark with distractions.

What kind of flashlight could ever lead us to what God has for us? This is the perfect time to open up the Bible and read Psalm 119:105

Your word is like a lamp that shows me the way. It is like a light that guides me.

God’s Word is what leads us. The Bible shows us where to go. The Bible gives directions for the life God has for us. But even better? The book of John tells us the Jesus is also called the Word AND the Light. The psalmist knew God’s Word led us like a light. But after Jesus came to earth to be a man, we get to see this scripture in the flesh!

When we follow Jesus, the Word, the Light we will actually SEE and KNOW what God’s plans are for us. Isn’t that what we want for our kids?

Once you’ve had your mini-sermon, take your supplies and head outdoors for a brisk hike! And if your kids are old enough, do it after the sun goes down!

This post was inspired by an old notebook I ran across–it was full of object lessons and other teachings I’d handwritten (!!) when I was a Children’s Pastor. I saw it and thought it would be perfect to do as a family activity. Would you be interested if I shared some of those writings and lessons–and modified them for family use?