Preschool Bible Study: Creation Day 3

by HJ Ozborn

This extra time at home is affording us even more opportunity to dive into Bible study.

It’s been awesome…but has also meant my needing to stay ahead of the curve with ideas and projects prepped.

Thank goodness I already had ideas jotted about the days of creation and preparing has required me simply to pull together the necessary materials (most of which I had on hand but some I had shopped for prior to pandemic being anywhere on my radar).

Today I bring to you Day 3: Water, Dry Land, & Plants!

Creation Day 3 Supplies Needed:

  1. Children’s Bible
  2. Small pot (or other container to plant a seed)
  3. Potting soil
  4. Plastic Spoon
  5. Seeds
  6. Water (we used a spray bottle to help control the watering action)

Creation Day 3 Prep Instructions

Preparation for this one was quick. Mostly a matter of gathering the supplies. I did ensure the pots were washed clean and had portioned out the soil required for the project, but other than that it was a quick supplies round up, tuck into a ziptop bag and storing in the ‘projects prepped’ bin.

Creation Day 3 Project Execution:

We started with reviewing God’s great work on Days 1 & 2:
-On Day 1 God said, “Let there be light!”
-On Day 2 God created a large expanse, he called it “sky”.

Then we kicked off Day 3, as per usual, with the short reading from our Children’s Bible (Genesis 1: 9-13) and re-iterated the following points:
1. God gathered all the water together
2. He created dry land
3. He planted and grew all the trees, flowers and other plants
4. He looked at all his work and decided: “It is good”

The kids then set to work transferring dirt from the bowls to the pots, carefully setting the seeds and covering them with more soil and finally, watering.

We discussed how God will tend to our seeds and make them grow if we are diligent to provide them the water and light (that God also created).

Then we stepped back from all our creations (Days 1-3) and declared: It Is Good!

Side note: we used pumpkin seeds for this project because they are large enough for the kids to handle without any struggle AND I’m going to piggy-back off this project with a lesson on the life-cycle of a pumpkin (which I’ll share more on later).

Creamy Green Chile Chicken Tostadas

by HJ Ozborn
Jump to Recipe (<--- your link to get right to the recipe deets)

Made this one a couple nights ago and my only regret was that I didn’t make a triple batch.

Or maybe it’s better that I didn’t because the evidence of my lack of self control when it comes to food right now isn’t weighing in my favor (no pun…or maybe pun…intended).

A couple thoughts and then I’ll turn you loose with it:

  1. if your chicken is already made, this one comes together super quick. This go-round, I didn’t have already cooked chicken to pull from the freezer so I did a 20 min in boiling water for a couple breasts, quickly chopped them up and called it good. A rotisserie chicken would work awesome as well.
  2. I made tostadas by baking (and flipping often) some small corn tortillas in the oven until they were my desired crispiness and browned – but you can definitely pick up the store bought variety (I think those are fried, though, so that takes away some points for “healthy” but I’m getting ready to load you up on cheese and cream so….I don’t know that healthy is the goal with this one anyway)
  3. This meal would have served super well with a side of Mexican rice (which we didn’t have) and I’ll be planning it that way next time.
  4. Don’t worry about leftovers. There won’t be any. We were just short of licking the pan over here…

This recipe adapted from One Pan Keto Recipes

Print Recipe

Creamy Green Chile Chicken Tostadas

A warm and crunchy tostada shell topped with creamy green chile chicken and a burst of avocado freshness is a quick and simple dinner that hits all the right spots.
Prep Time5 mins
Cook Time15 mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: celiac safe, Dinner, gluten free
Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/4 cup white onion chopped
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 3 oz cream cheese
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 can green chiles chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese shredded and divided
  • 2-3 cups chicken cooked and chopped or shredded
  • 12 tostada shells
  • 1 avocado chopped and sprinkled with salt

Instructions

  • heat oil and melt butter over medium-high heat, add onion and garlic: saute until soft
  • drop temperature to medium, add milk, cream and cream cheese and stir until all melted and combined
  • add cumin, chili powder and salt. Stir well
  • add green chiles, cheddar cheese and chicken. Stir to combine and adjust seasonings as desired
  • warm through and serve over tostada shells that have been warmed in the oven with a sprinkling of cheese. Top with fresh avocado

Book Review: Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine

by HJ Ozborn

Reading for pleasure is something I definitely enjoy but tend to fall in and out of doing regularly.

It’s the seasons of life, I guess.

This particular season of life is lending itself to the need for a distraction from the distraction…

It’s been said a million times, but we are in the middle of something quite uniqe. Very scary. Lots of unknowns. Shifting to survival mode (some of us more than others, pending who we are “locked down” with).

Right now life revolves around how I am going to keep my very needy kids entertained while managing the behaviors AND keeping my sanity.

Suffice to say that my thinking is more distracted now than ever. The usual routines are out the window including the way I generally keep our house adequately (but reasonably) stocked with food and other necessities. Forget my routines for keeping up with chores…those are long gone!

And so I’ve returned to reading for pleasure (versus reading for spiritual growth – which I’m also still doing but at a much slower pace because the focus is hard to come by).

Because the brain power for much else is also out the window – along with our “normal”.

Stillhouse Lake is my most recent read…and…wow!

Another psychological thriller with suspense sprinkled all along the way.

This one grabs you from the very beginning, leaves you in awe of how grotesque the evil in this world can be and in admiration of the lengths a woman will go to protect her children.

I know, I know…it’s fiction.

But let’s be honest – this isn’t such a far stretch from what could (and maybe is) going on somewhere in the world.

So you find yourself rooting for this main character and admiring what a bad-ass she’s become while rising above the circumstances.

And I’ve gotta tell you: I had a major detail figured out before the end BUT couldn’t put this one down without reading until the last words.

Because…wow.

PS: This one is part of the Amazon Unlimited for Kindle line-up (as are the other 4 books in the series – which I’m not yet privy to)…and if that’s not something you’re currently connected with, the price for kindle purchase dropped since just yesterday and you can pick this one up for just a couple bucks.

Worth. It!