Journaling Through the Bible: A Fire from Heaven

One of the most difficult books of the Bible for me to read is that of Job. So much of the story saddens me: Job loses his livelihood, his animals are stolen and killed, his servants are killed, his children are crushed, and his good health turns poor. This is heartbreaking, especially since Job has done no wrong.  

An image that struck me from this reading -- of Job losing his property and children -- is that of the fire coming down from heaven and burning up the sheep and servants. I envisioned an upside-down fire coming from the heavens (from the clouds). 

"While he was still speaking, another also came along and said, 'The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I alone escaped to tell you!'" 

Job 1:16 NKJV 

I think the most important lesson I take from the book of Job is that God is bigger than us. He has a plan and while it may not always be clear to us, it does not need to be because we can trust Him. 

I am reminded by one of the Veggie Tales songs that I sing with my children when they are scared, "God is Bigger." 

"God is bigger than the boogie man.
He's bigger than Godzilla
or the monsters on TV.
Oh, God is bigger than the boogie man.
And He's watching out for you and me."
Veggie Tales: "Where's God When I'm S-Scared?" 

It may not seem like God is watching out for us while reading about Job's trials but in the end we see how God loves Job and even Job agrees:

"I know that You can do everything,

And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You." 

Job 42:2 NKJV 

I joined this week with Journaling Through the Bible at Kids, Crunch, and Christ.

Veggie Tales-Themed Birthday Party

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Over the past year or so, our children have begun watching Veggie Tales. As the series has quickly become a favorite with our son, we celebrated his fourth birthday party with the Veggie Tales.

Food

Cheesy Chicken and Rice 

I based my dish off of Mandy's Recipe Box's Slow Cooker Cheesy Rice and Chicken Casserole.

BBQ Ranch Drumsticks 

I based my recipe off of The Frugal Girls' Crockpot BBQ Ranch Drumsticks Recipe.

Burgers and Hot dogs 

We had to have Mr. Lunt's Cheeseburger at the party for guests.

Crackers and Cheese 

My 4 year son and 2 year old daughter enjoyed the tray so much at her party in April, they requested it at my son's party.

Veggie Tray

Mr. Twisty's Twisted Cheese Curls  

Goliath's Pickled Potato Salad

I usually like making potato salad for our family parties.  This was a perfect chance to make a different version.

Bob the Tomato Cake 

Games and Crafts

"Where is my hairbrush?"  

The fantastic thing about this version of 'pin the tail' is that there really is no wrong place for the children to pin the hairbrush.  (Especially since Larry doesn't have any hair.)

Pin the hairbrush on Larry

Decorations

In the past years our children have helped prepare the house for their parties and this year was no exception! They helped make decorations for the party.

Moe and the Big Exit Coloring Page

Various Coloring Pages 

Coloring Pages of Junior, Larry, and King George and his Ducky

I decorated balloons as characters from the show to decorate both inside and outside the house.

Balloons 

I painted paper towel and toilet paper rolls to create characters from the show to decorate the kitchen.

Veggie Tales Toilet Paper Rolls 

I prepared materials for the guests to make their own Veggie Tales Stained Glass pictures to take home.  Unfortunately, we did not have time to make the craft.

Veggie Tales Stained 'Glass' craft 

Veggie Toss

I recycled the box I painted for my daughter's party as a hay bale and turned it into a basket.  We purchased some cheap, plastic fruits and veggies for the children to toss into the basket. 

I used my teen's Veggie Tales toys to decorate the dining room table and the living room.  (My littles love being able to play with these figures.) 

Pirate Ship

Castle

Resources 

Veggie Toss Idea 
Twintough's Instagram Photo of Larry, Bob, and Peas Desert
My Dirty Apron's Veggie Tales Party 
Mom's Quest to Teach Veggie Tales Balloons
Mom's Quest to Teach Veggie Tales Toilet Paper Rolls
Mom's Quest to Teach Veggie Tales Stained Glass Craft 

Our son received a Larry plush for his birthday.  My daughter promptly decided she wanted it and my 4 year old son gave it to her.  So sweet.  

  

I linked up with the following blog(s):

Crafts: Veggie Tales Cardboard Tubes

This post contains affiliate links. For more information please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

For my son's fourth birthday party, we held a Veggie Tales themed party.  As there are not many options for decorations, I created a lot on my own.

These cardboard roll Veggie Tales characters can be made with or without your children's help.  I painted them all myself but your child could easily do the painting and even the decorating depending upon their age.

Materials

• clean cardboard tubes of various sizes
• paint 
• paint brushes 
• construction paper
• markers 
• scissors 

Laura, Mr. Nezzer, Mr. Lunt, and Madame Blueberry 

Steps

1. Gather your materials.

2. Paint your rolls (depending on which characters you want to create, you will need different colors).
Green: Larry, Peas, Mr. Nezzer, Pa Grape, Archibald, Petunia, Junior, the scallions
Red: Bob
Orange: Laura, Jimmy, Scooter, the Peach
Blue: Madame Blueberry
Yellow: Mr. Lunt and Jerry

3. After your rolls are dry, draw faces on your characters.

4. Cut out needed materials for your characters and attach them to the dry, painted rolls.

Larry, Bob, and the French Peas 

We used our characters as decorations and after the party the children have been playing with them.  After almost two weeks, they are still in pretty good shape considering they are just cardboard.

Jimmy and Jerry Gourd

Pa Grape and Archibald 

Petunia and Scooter 

Resources

I saw this image on Pinterest and thought, hey I can make those!
My Party Ideas - Veggie Tales Pinterest Board.
Official Veggie Tales Webpage

We have enjoyed all these movies together as a family!

I linked up with the following blog(s):

Crafts: Veggie Tales Balloons

This post contains affiliate links. For more information please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

We celebrated my son's fourth birthday with a Veggie Tales themed party.  Since their party items are a bit harder to find and those I did find, were a little too expensive for our budget, I made a lot of decorations for his party myself.

These are our Veggie Tales Balloons.  I used 7 inch and 9 inch balloons.  We also made others for the porch including Jimmy and Jerry Gourd.

Larry Cucumber 

Bob the Tomato 

French Peas 

close-up of Mr. Nezzer 

Pa Grape and Mr. Nezzer 

Scooter and Archibald Asparagus 

close-up of Archibald Asparagus

Mr. Lunt

Junior Asparagus 

The characters who wear hats (like Mr. Lunt and Pa Grape) as well as the asparagus were a little more complicated to draw.  Mr. Lunt was especially difficult as he doesn't have any eyes because they are always covered up by his hat, hair, or something else in the cartoon.

Resources 

Little Lamb Gallery Inspiration's Veggie Tale Party 
Crafty Geek Mom's Veggie Tale Party 
My Pinterest Party Ideas - Veggie Tales 

Here are some Veggie Tales items for your little one.  (P.S. I really liked Celery Night Fever.  Very funny.)

Looking for more Veggie Tales posts? We also created cute stained glass to decorate the windows, cardboard tubes, as well as other decorations and games for our son's birthday party.

Crafts: Veggie Tales: Stained Glass

This post contains affiliate links. For more information please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

Since our toddlers are really enjoying the Veggies Tales series, we decided to create both Bob and Larry as stained glass art for the windows. They also looked great for our birthday party.

There are several examples online but I wanted to use the materials we had in the house so our creations are modified.  

Materials

• red tissue paper
• green tissue paper 
• glue 
• permanent markers (black) 
• overhead transparencies 
• scissors 
• tape 

Steps 

1. Draw or trace your characters onto one sheet of the transparency paper. (I recommend just tracing them all in black.  The tissue paper will add the necessary color to your creations.) 

2. Tear or cut the tissue paper into small pieces.  Your children can help you with this step if you wish. 

3. Spread glue onto the reverse side of the transparencies.  (You want your image to be opposite.)

4. Attach the appropriate color tissue paper onto the transparency.

5. After it is dry, you can cut it out. Trim it to cut off the excess paper.

6.  Attach a second blank sheet onto the back to create more stability. 

Resources 

I Can Teach My Child's Bob and Larry (Stained Glass)

Veggie Tale's Official page had a link to templates on their page (I used their stained glass activity and their coloring pages as templates. They change what free activities are available, so check back often.) 

   

I linked up with the following blog(s):