Proud Mama!!

After 6 years of working with my kids in 4-H, I have searched for a lot of different things on the internet related to 4-H. .from project ideas to service ideas to public speaking ideas.  In the way of public speaking, I have found very little!! I want my blog to be helpful to people (in addition to keeping my far away family informed of our crazy lives).  So I decided to do some posts this week highlighting the kids' 4-H talks that they have prepared.  I usually write the talks and then the boys practice and perform them. .though Tristan is coming to a point where he will start doing both.  My littlest man has been a great trooper and so I decided to post his talk first.  Tonight we had our 4-H day. .where the kids perform talks, demonstrations, singing, instrumentals, or readings. Devin LOVES to be up in front of people (Yeeeees!!) and was excited to do his demonstration on spooky spider snacks.  He gave it last night at our 4-H meeting and read the whole demonstration (when he actually had most of it memorized). So I told him that I planned to turn his paper over so he couldn't read it since he already knew it (mostly to see what he would do).  He replied "OK". .so we did just that. He had the paper on his work tray but it was turned over. .and you know. .he did just fine without. .maybe better than any other 8 year olds I know (and maybe I am just biased!!). But. . .he beat his brother Grant and got the 3rd highest blue ribbon in the junior divsion. And we are pretty proud!!  The other boys did well too. .but their stories will be for a different day this week. .when I can manage to get them on here.  Hoping that anyone needing ideas for kid speeches or talks will feel free to use our format and do your own thing with it!!

To those of you that could care less and are signing off now. .just letting you know that Jeremy started my shadow box using the old glass kitchen cabinet door from my great grandparents homestead that we picked through over Thanksgiving. .I hope to show photos soon of how it turns out. .and the cool antiques that I get to showcase in it!! I also received word last week that my bathroom remodel will be a go NEXT week!! EEEEEK!! So after I cleaned yesterday. .I took the "before" photos. .and I can't wait to see the "after" photos!! Not to mention that I have seeds started under the grow lights. .and we are eating tomatos from the greenhouse. .So TONS going on here. .would love to blog about it all. .but simply not enough time!! Stay tuned!! But for now. .hope you enjoy Dev's short little demonstration on spooky spider snacks!

            

I sure work up a big appetite when I spend all day in school. If you do too, you’ll enjoy this quick and easy snack that you can make yourself when you get home from school.

Hi, my name is Devin . .this is my 2nd year in 4-H and my 2nd year in the food project. I’m pretty good at fixing my own afterschool snacks and I wanted to teach you how to make these spooky spider treats.

First you need round butter crackers. .two crackers for each treat you make. Next you need peanut butter, chow mein noodles, and raisins, dried cranberries, or mini chocolate chips to make into eyes.  Spread one cracker with as much peanut butter as you like. Peanut butter is high in protein. .this helps our muscles to grow. .it also contains healthy vegetable fats which helps keep you full until supper time. Next you put 8 chow mein noodles on the peanut butter for legs. .4 on each side. Chow mein noodles are little fried noodles used in Chinese cooking. They belong to the grain group. You should eat about 6 ounces from the grain group each day. These make the perfect squiggly legs, don’t you think?  Place the second cracker on the top. .pressing down lightly to make them stick together—Be careful here. .you don’t want to break your cracker—so make sure you use enough peanut butter to help them stick.  I’m using these dried cranberries for eyes because I think the creepy red color looks cooler!! Put a little bit of peanut butter on the cranberry. . .like this. .and stick it to the top cracker. Repeat with another cranberry to make the eyes.

There you have it, a spooky spider snack. These are great, nutritious snacks. .but they are even better when you make them for treats around Halloween time. .and they make good party snacks. So ask your mom to buy the ingredients if they aren’t already in your kitchen. .She will be impressed that you know how to make your own healthy snack! Are there any questions? If not, that concludes my demonstration. Thank you.

Thanks for stopping by today!! Have a great week!