Welcome to our blog site for our student ministries small group!  Wow  – we really need a group name so we can actually give this blog a real name!  Put your suggestions for a name below, and that’s something we can discuss at the end of our next small group meeting – see our countdown  timer on the side…

Here are the pictures we took last Wednesday:

So girls, I’ve done my homework and posted these pics, here’s some hw for you:

– Make a comment on this blog post!  Just say hey or post suggestions for a name for our group – it can be almost anything we want, this is just for us, mainly so we have a name for our website!  But it should reflect or give a hint about our group’s purpose: our weekly journey getting closer to Christ.  Hoping to hear from ALL of you (spread the word to the girls whose email I don’t have PLEASE!)

Have a really GREAT Thanksgiving and remember to make time on your turkey day to praise and be thankful to Him for all of your life’s blessings!!

I haven’t done one of my board game reviews in awhile, so I thought I’d write about a little treasure we found at the Goodwill tonight and actually had time to play – Totally 80’s Trivial Pursuit.  Since my husband and I were both children in the 80’s, we thought we’d enjoy this version of the popular trivia game – even though I threatened to kick some butt since  between the two of us, I’m the one who’s chosen to fill her head with useless knowledge (most of which I’ve forgotten over the years anyway!), but what I’m trying to say is that I usually win the trivia games in our family.  So we start to play the game, and the pawns are in the shapes of various pop culture staples in the 80’s.  There is a Care Bear, a computer, a Trapper Keeper, and a CD – cute!  And I loved how the pie pieces are stored in the bases of the pawns when players earn them!  My only complaint is that there definitely should have been more pawns – can’t believe there wasn’t even a Rubik’s Cube pawn?!?  How about some Jelly Shoes?  A banana clip?  Cabbage Patch Kid?  Atari console?  The list could go on and on…  Here are the ones they did include:
But anyway, my husband did end up beating me, but I have two excuses.  1.  The kids came down in the middle of the game and kept trying to play with the pawns which was distracting and I  lost my focus.  2.  My husband is older than me, and therefore he remembers more of the ’80’s – haha!  Ouch!  Ok, so I’m a little bit of a sore loser –  rematch tonight?

(I guess this didn’t end up being much of a review.  It’s a Trivial Pursuit game, nothing new there.  But if you were around during the 80’s and enjoy getting quizzed about the decade of excess, you’re in for some fun!)

It’s time for me to officially make my presence known on Facebook.  If you watch the awesome NBC comedy “The Office”, then you’ll understand the reference in the title of this blog post involving a creative Halloween costume worn by Jim Halpert, a character on my favorite show – it was hilarious!

But back to me learning Facebook…  some time ago I signed up for a Facebook account (don’t even remember why), but then I stopped using it because it started doing freaky things behind my back – like randomly adding mere acquaintances and business associates as my Facebook friends.  That was NOT the way I had envisioned social networking!  But my youth group kids have been BEGGING me to join Facebook, and since I took pictures of them last week, we decided that my homework challenge is to get on Facebook so I can post our pictures.  So here I go, and the first thing I’ll be doing is looking for a way to NOT invite everyone on my email contact list to be my Facebook friend!

My husband and I have been enjoying this snack lately, and it’s healthy and easy to make.  You’ll need:

Apples – Type is up to you – we think Granny Smith tastes best for this.  I also tried it with Gala apples which are good, but I  don’t recommend softer varieties like Red Delicious.

Peanut Butter – We highly recommend natural peanut butter – Smucker’s makes some.  It’s a little more expensive than the standard variety like Skippy or Jif, but it contains only peanuts and a little salt – none of that other junk like hydrogenated oils, sugar, and who-knows-what-else.  The taste of real peanut butter is amazingly better than the junky kind too!

Grape Nuts Cereal

Basically, you just slice the apples, cover them with peanut butter(less if you’re watching your fat intake), and sprinkle with Grape Nuts – it’s really good!  And it’s great for a snack or light lunch for diabetics also because the protein in the peanut butter lowers blood sugar that might be elevated from the apples and cereal.  If you decide to try it, let me know what you think in the comments section!

Have you ever heard of the Dutch artist M.C. Escher?  His famous works depicted impossible realities, often based upon mathematical and spatial challenges.  Case in point, one of Escher’s most famous works, titled Relativity:

Let me guess, even if you’ve never heard of M.C. Escher, you’ve seen the above  picture, right?  But have you ever seen it in 3D?  Seems people have been recreating Escher’s art in Lego form, which I think is pretty cool!

How about more of Escher’s most famous works, done in 3D Lego style?

There’s a celebrity in Britian named James May who has a show on the BBC called “Toy Stories”.  Each episode centers around adventures he has with one of Britian’s best loved toys.  For the  episode about Legos (to be aired in the spring), he had a life-size Lego house built in which he lived for several days.  While the house itself didn’t look all that cool from the outside, it was fully furnished with Lego, including a working commode.  Here are some shots from the inside set to a groovy little song, “I’m living in a Lego house…” It’s a  shame that the entire project went to waste when they tore the thing down…  prospective buyers were scared off by the million dollars it costs to move a Lego house.