MFW Highlight Week 4 Creation to Greeks

Theme for our studies this week....

Farmers of the Nile Valley

Ancient Egypt was a long narrow country which stretched along the Nile Valley.  Villages grew along the Nile, because along both sides of the river the land was good for farming.  

Unification of Egypt

Upper and Lower Egypt fought a battle around 3100 B.C. and King Menes of Upper Egypt won.  He united both kingdoms and Egypt became one country.

The kids were given pictures of the two crowns that the Pharaohs wore.  I informed them that they would need to get creative and create their own making sure they could combine them.  I have to say I couldn't of done it.  I'm a mom that needs a pattern or instructions, but my kids pulled it off and did a great job!

Egypt Boats

Daddy, Hannah, Lauren and myself spent about an hour just making the above reed boat. This was messy and the reeds I bought were sticky.  I got about 4 cut wounds from this project. 

Rosh Hashanah

 We are a week behind on our feasts.  Last week I wasn't doing well so we only got around to the basics. 

In preparing for Rosh Hashanah we took some craft ideas from

Through the week we made our own apple and honey dish, Kiddush cup, and paper shofar.  All can be seen in the collage below.

The Hebrew word Rosh means "head" or "beginning."  Hashanah means "the year."  The name is only used once in the Old Testament.  Ezekiel 40:1 says, "....at the beginning of the year..."  The more common biblical name is "The Feast of Trumpets."  This celebration is intended to begin a new "spiritual" year.

We began the morning with me blowing the shofar and spoke:

"Awake, you that are sleepy, and ponder your deeds; remember your Creator and go to him for forgiveness.  Don't be like those who miss reality in their hunt after shadows, and waste your years in seeking after vain things which can neither profit nor deliver.  Look well to your souls and consider your deeds; let each one of you forsake his evil ways and thoughts, and return to the Lord, so that He may have mercy on you."

We will do this observing the ten day tradition of the High Holy Days along with each day reading one of the ten reasons for blowing the shofar.

The shofar is a symbolic signal to God's people that it is time for a spiritual awakening.  The bend in the showfar represent the human heart in true repentence bowing before the Lord.

The challah has a round shape symbolic of our desire for a full and round year.  Lauren made the challah dough and I braided it using the example from http://judaism.about.com/b/2011/09/21/how-to-braid-a-round-challah-for-rosh-hashanah.htm.  Ours didn't turn out quite as round, I couldn't quite figure it out. 

The honey cake was to celebrate the birthday of the world.  We thanked God for His creation. Hannah baked our honey cake.

The Hebrew word for carrots also means "to increase."  The carrots symbolize that God will increase our blessings as we walk with Him in the new year. 

Another tradition is to dip apples in honey.  This is symbolic of the hope that the year will be a sweet one.  Lauren made an apple plate for the apples and turned a red cup into a flower.  She then made a bumble bee out of foam and glued it to the flower.

Moments to Cherish....

• During family prayer Micah asked the Lord to provide food for the homeless and to send rain for mama and papa's farm.  Well God answered both those prayers that same day.  We happen to see one of our pastors place a request to help with a little of the prep work for a mission project the church is doing for the families who were affected by the fires in Bastrop.  They blessed us with the opportunity to serve with Jimmy, who was awesome with the kids, in labeling the food boxes.  The kids really enjoyed this and even asked if we could help every Thursday at the church.    We left so blessed!  Then later that day we saw Aunt Heather post on facebook that they were getting rain on the farm.  Praise God for answered prayers!
• Ok so this is kind of funny.  Every time Lexi has to go potty she pulls down her panties to her ankles, wherever she is, and wobbles to the potty.  I wonder if she knows it's easier to wait till you get to the potty before you pull your panties down. LOL 
• I woke up from a nap and found Hannah cooking in the kitchen.  She was working on her cooking class assignment.  She made homemade chocolate syrup.  It is not often Hannah wants to be in the kitchen, so I was thrilled to see her in there.