"Okay already... I said Alpaca!"

If you can just imagine this setting....

Some guy, from New York or Jersey, is getting out of the cab, and hollers across the street, "Okay already. Alpaca!" The muffled reply, "What? Youse goin' somewhere? You'll packa what?"

But that is NOT quite what I meant... An Alpaca is a special type of animal, not some slang word. This year, for Christmas, I receieved a very cherished gift. A warm and wooly cloak, made from Alpaca. The Alpaca is something likened to a llama, and is a native of Peru. It is a stout little fellow with LOTS of hair to share! They weigh about 120-175 lbs., and eat mainly hay and grass. Occasionally, they will eat tree leaves. In fact, 1 cow will eat as much as 10 Alpaca! These special beasts are 1-2 feet shorter than the average llama, and have long flat ears instead of curved banana-shaped ones.

The Alpaca's wool-fiber comes in about 52 natural color shades!

Today, it is illegal to slaughter an Alpaca for it's meat. They are only bred for their wooly-fiber to make coats, sweaters, hats, socks, mittens and other wearables. The Alpaca fiber contains microscopic air pockets which give it powerful insulating value - which makes it ideal for human clothing. The Alpaca wool is similar to sheep's wool, but it is three times warmer, it is also silkier, and much lighter, and it bears very little lanolin. This makes Alpaca wool nearly hypo-allergenic! (Lanolin is a greasy yellow substance that acts like a water-proof skin ointment for wool-bearing critters.)

Europeans began spinning Alpaca wool in the late 1830's after several attempts to work with the silky stuff. Today, we have all sorts of amazing products to keep you warm and wooly in the weather to come.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpaca

http://www.alpacanet.com/store_main_alpacawear.cfm

Jesus, with Skin on ~

My goal in teaching, is to show my children "Jesus, with skin on"! Now, this sounds rather odd, but I was challenged by a Sunday school teacher to do this very thing. His father had passed away, and as this man stood in church, he could find not one "bad" thing about his father. He never showed anger, never yelled, never spoke harshly...his home was always open to anyone and everyone, and he shared Jesus constantly. He helped others by giving what he could, and finding others to help in what he could not do. This man was no super-human hero, but he was "Jesus, with skin on"! I am sure he had his faults, but his son didn't see that. Instead, he saw a man who not only read the Bible, but lived it the exact way that Jesus did over 2,000 years ago.

So, as I walk into class each day, am I prepared for the questions that will come? Am I ready to face the hurts and pains, the frustrations, the fears, disappointments and other issues that come into the lives of these little ones? How will I react? Who will I turn to? What feelings will I have - but more importantly... How will I react to these little ones? Will I be a "Jesus, with skin on"?

The Elusive Apple Raisin Turkey

When you are hunting for Thanksgiving treats, put away your gun, and get to the store! Bring home some apples, toothpicks, raisins and a few olives. On a clean paper towel, place the apple, stem down. Take 6 toothpicks, and spear about 12 raisins on each. Insert each toothpick into the apple, near the "bumps" on the bottom, which is now facing up towards you. Arrange them like the tail feathers on a turkey. Then take one toothpick, and one olive. You will need to use the toothpick to pull out the pimento. Unfold the pimento carefully, and insert 1/2 of it back into the olive. Place the olive on the toothpick, pimento downwards, like the gobbler of a turkey. Now place the toothpick with olive head on your turkey. Place the turkey on the table for a cute decoration, and enjoy!