Literary (documentary) and archaeological evidence of Jesus

Literary (documentary) and archaeological evidence of Jesus

There is very good historical evidence outside of the Bible that Jesus lived. More than thirty extrabiblical sources mention Him within 150 years of His life. And they don’t just mention Him, they corroborate numerous details spoken about Him in the New Testament.  http://www.alwaysbeready.com/extrabiblical-historical-sources-corroborate-the-bible

We can learn quite a bit about Jesus from historians who were not Christian.  http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/jesus-historical-jesus/did-jesus-exist/ 

In addition to classical pagan sources chronicling the life of Jesus and His followers, there are also a number of ancient hostile Jewish sources describing Jesus.  http://coldcasechristianity.com/2014/is-there-any-evidence-for-jesus-outside-the-bible/

Blueberry Delight

This is my husband's grandma, Loda Fay's recipe. It is absolutely delicious. His family calls it "blueberry pie" but it's not really pie (and I have found variations on the internets that call it Blueberry Delight), thus we will call it so. 

2 bananas

2 cups flour

2 sticks butter

1 cup pecans, chopped

1 pk (8 oz) cream cheese

1 lb (16 oz) box powdered sugar

1 can blueberry pie filling

2 tsp lemon juice

2 envelopes Dream Whip, prepared per pkg. directions

Preheat oven to 400. Mix flour, butter and pecans together and spread in 13x9 baking pan. Bake at 400° for 25 min or until lightly browned. Cool. Slice bananas and place atop crust.

Prepare Dream Whip according to package directions. Cream together sugar and cream cheese. Fold in Dream Whip. Spread over baked crust on top of sliced bananas.

Mix 2 tsp lemon juice into blueberry pie filling. Top cream cheese filling with blueberry pie filling. Refrigerate at least 5 hrs before serving.

Xbox Party at the Video Game Place

So, he wants to have his birthday party at Game Plan Entertainment again this year. Of course Mommy can't bear to repeat a theme, so this time, we have Xbox as the theme instead of Minecraft. So it's green and black instead of green and brown. Huge difference. Huge.

I ordered controller-shaped cookie cutters from Etsy (I'm not going to give the source, because the 3D printed edges weren't sharp enough and they were very unsatisfactory) which turned out really cute. My son actually asked that we have cookies as favors, saying THEY WERE REALLY TOO OLD FOR PARTY FAVORS. This kid is awesome. 

Yeah, we really went all out with decorations this year. Go ahead and Pin It, you know you want to.

The boys had fun, playing inside on a gorgeous fall day.

And this is pretty much what they did the whole time. Not that much different from being at home. LOL

Minecraft Party at the Video Game Place

 W wanted his Minecraft party to be at Game Plan Entertainment. I had quite a time finding square paper plates, and had to go to Party City, my least favorite party supply place (because they are jerks about coupons and returns).

Food labels, check.

 Square cookies with creeper face, check.

 Square cake labeled "cake", check.

 This was my view the entire party. I don't think they even played Minecraft, but whatever.

 At least he learned how to use a rifle with a scope. This is Texas, after all.

Gift bags were made using a cardboard template and a permanent marker. I tried having the birthday boy help. Yeah, that didn't go well. I ended up taking over the job myself.

Your kid just used up his entire allotment of screen time today, you're welcome, parents!

Ballerina Party

Little girl had a ballerina party at our house. I made a tulle wreath by tying lengths of tulle around a straw wreath (still wrapped in plastic).

I took small gift bags and added ribbon and gathered tulle. We put some goodies inside.

I found a ballet shoe pinata on Amazon but then didn't have the heart to let them smash it. So I just sprinkled the rings and necklaces on the floor.

I ordered the cupcake picks from Etsy and then repainted them using nail polish because the colors were dull. Yes, I realize that's insane.

Cake has buttercream frosted roses. I viewed a YouTube video and it was quite easy to do.

Tutu and ballet shoe cookies.

I bought the dress form from Hobby Lobby (best craft store ever!) and spray painted it gold. (Her room is pink and silver, so I repainted it after the party and displayed it in her room atop the armoire.)

I gathered a tutu (which I had removed from an old tutu dress) and tied it around the form. I bought the least expensive pointe shoes I could find on ebay. The backdrop is vinyl tablecloths cut in strips. I bought the tulle balls from Michaels.

Yes, the tissue paper balls aren't even but that was the only space I had. I made the table skirt from vinyl tablecloths. The ruffles are strips of vinyl that I ruffled on my sewing machine and taped onto a white vinyl tablecloth.

I really liked the pink and gold color scheme that Little Girl picked out.

Harry Potter Party - Great Hall floating "candles"

Great Hall with floating candles made from rolled 8x11 paper and "wicks" made from yellow paper. I don't know if anyone even looked up. LOL

DIY Harry Potter wands -- a better way

In the past few weeks planning for W's Harry Potter party, I've read dozens of blogs about DIY Harry Potter wands. I decided to use dowel rods (of varying diameters) and hot glue. I got the best glue gun of all time for this project, featured in HGTV magazine last month. In a word, awesome. The clouds parted and the angels sang. I've been using a cheap mini glue gun for years. This is bliss. 

I used a marble at each end of the wand, to lessen the chance of eyes being poked out. 

After they were dry, I painted them with M's acrylic poster paint, in varying shades for a natural look. 

They all looked different, which will be fun for the kids. 

For the girls' wands, I used gems for one tip and painted them purple. 

I will finish all the wands with a coat of Mod Podge glossy. Tomorrow. Right now I'm exhausted.