Esther

In our Bible lesson today we talked about Esther. It was such a fun little lesson.

After we'd completed all of our other school work, the boys cut strips of brown yarn that I then tied onto two longer pieces of yarn. The bigger section with all the attached strips could then be wrapped over their ears to make it look like a beard. They had so much fun running around with their new beards! Then we made a special cookie dough that needed to be refigerated for a couple of hours before we could complete our special Bible lesson cookies - to be eaten at tea time, of course.

Once lunch was finished and our cookie dough chilled, we completed our tea time cookies. We made Hamantaschen, which are fruit and nut filled cookies that are made in the shape of Haman's hat. These are typically eaten as part of Purim, which is a celebration of Esther and the ancient Persian Jews' victory over Haman and his plan's for their annihilation. The boys wore their beards and crowns (neither wanted to wear the three pointed hat that represented Haman) and ate their cookies while I read to them the story of Queen Esther. Amy, who is still fighting illness, did not want to eat her cookie. And Alex wasn't too fond of the filling, though he devoured the outer section in no time. But Nathan and I both found the cookies - in their entirety - to be absolutely delicious! I have to admit... I ate two. And I could have eaten more if I hadn't forced myself to stop. But they really are so delicious while warm. Mmmm....

The kids are now finishing out their Bible lesson with a viewing of one of our favorite videos: Veggie Tales Esther, The Girl Who Became Queen. Thanks, MFW, for a fun lesson on Esther!

Hamantaschen cookies: We used apricot preserves, Goldens & Cherries, Craisins and pecans for our filling. Yummy!

Alex and Nathan as King Xerxes (Nathan took off his crown already)
Amy as Queen Esther (we keep our costumes simple :) )