Good Shepherd Garden Party:: Week 3

We celebrated our third GSGP on Sunday (Good Shepherd Sunday, Novus Ordo Calendar). I kept it much the same as last year's week 3 party, changing just a few things. We enjoyed it as an early dinner while the sun was still high in the sky. The weather this weekend and especially yesterday was just glorious. The best Colorado weather we've had this year I think. So it was nice to be able to enjoy our party and then still have plenty of time to enjoy the outdoors. 

It hasn't been all sunshine in our home, though. Mark brought home a flu from work and it is slowly and painfully making it's way through our brood. Little Man has it pretty bad and he's been so miserable. Poor baby. :(  Archangel was asleep in the recliner with a fever while the rest of us ate, so even though he was there with us, he missed much of it. Later today we have dentist appointments for 4 of the kids, but I'm going to try and get Little Man in to be seen by our family doctor. Just incase he might have an ear infection. I saw him pulling at his ear last night in the tub. *sigh*

Anyway, let me get on with our party....

~Week Three~

The Heavens Tell God's Glory!

Hummus & Pepper Sun

(The Sun: Psalm 19 1-6)

Like last year, I decided to do the hummus dip sun with pita bread slices and bell pepper slices as the rays instead of cupcakes. The kids love hummus and pita bread and Mark and I enjoyed the bell pepper slices. Plus, we already had the chick peas, since I bought extra for the pasta dish. I saved making cupcakes for the "wind" as you'll see below.

Whipped Topping Clouds

(The Cloud: 1 Kings 8:2-11)

The kids formed their own clouds with whipped topping on a piece of parchment paper. We made sure to mark them so they could know which was theirs.

Raspberry Ginger Ale and Perrier & Crushed Ice

(The Rain: Matthew 5:43-48, and The Hail: Job 38:28-30)

Lightning Bolt Straws

(The Lightning: Job 28:20-26)

Thanks to Charlotte's printable we had lightning in our drinks! :)

Please see Week 3's Plans for the printable link.

Windy Cupcakes

(The Wind: Ezekiel 37:7-10)

I'm not sure you get what I was going for here...my husband was a bit confused on what this was supposed to be, lol! I told him the cotton candy on top was representing the wind's motion. Can you see it? Maybe,  I was a little too "creative" on this one.  The kids seemed to get it. 

Rainbow Fruit Kabobs

(The Rainbow: Genesis 9:12-15)

This is always a favorite with the kids!

A word of caution, though. Remember to take away the kabob stick promptly after the child has removed the fruit onto his plate or an impromptu sword fight might break out. ;)...maybe it's just my kids?

Lightning and Thunder Noodles

(this can also represent The Lightning listed above)

We enjoyed this as our main dish. We all love garlic and with all the sickness going around I made it extra garlic-y by adding a third clove. We might have been stinky afterward, but our tummies were happy.

Our calendar with the stickers so far:

I ended up following Jessica's tip on laminating the stickers to make them last longer. I'm SO glad that I did. It really didn't take that long to do, either. Even the cutting out of all the stickers went fairly quickly. We stick them to the calendar with blue tack and it's working nicely. Now we store the symbols in an envelope marked with the name of the weeks theme. They get stored in the binder I put together last year with the party plans, the booklet that came with the calendar along with any other additional recipes that our family has used in the party menu to replace some of the suggested menu items. 

Wishing you all a very blessed 4th week of Easter!

Please visit Catholic Cuisine for this weeks Good Shepherd Garden Party link up!