Christmas Plan 2013

No, I didn't get tired of counting my many blessings and reasons to be thankful in November, I just wasn't diligent in continuing with the daily posting! That being said, I had an incredible time with God on the journey to discover His blessings in the everyday happenings of life. A journey that I wish to continue as we prepare to celebrate Christmas.

Christmas around our house has always been a time of connecting and focusing our attention on the reason for the season, Jesus.  I have been sharing our advent activities on my blog for the past couple years and am doing it again this year.  For sure you will see repeats from years past but I do try to change things up a little each year.

We've already begun our Jesse Tree readings for this year. We will light our first advent candle tonight as it is the first Sunday in the month.


 

Our daily countdown activities for this December are as follows:

1. Celebrate Christmas Past (look through old pictures)
2. Coloring book fun
3. Plan RACK (Light 'em up) activities
4. Shape Tracers
5. Spaghetti Dinner and Lights
6. Family Movie Night
7. PJ Book Day (take library staff treats)
8. Christmas Card Day
9. Homemade Hot Cocoa
10. Snowman craft
11. Christmas Tree Game
12. Paper Snoflakes
13. Carol at nursing home
14. Carol and celebrate birthday
15. Family Movie Night
16. Snowman Door Hanger
17. Candy Cane Craft
18. Christmas Puzzles
19. Bake and deliver neighbor treats
20. Legend of St. Nick with craft
21. Nativity Craft and activities
22. At home pedicure
23. Gingerbread day
24. Bake Jesus a birthday cake (attend Christmas Eve Service)
25. Christmas Day Celebration!

As far as gifts go, our family keeps it pretty simple and small.  The girls exchange gifts on Christmas Eve so they have something to occupy them during rehearsals for church. The kids get new pajamas after church on Christmas Eve and then wake up to a few presents under the tree. While I've always loved the idea of three gifts per child (just as Jesus received 3 gifts) we fall much more in line with this way of presenting gifts.

One new advent happening I am adding this year is marriage countdown activities. I've always done this with the kids but this year Justin and I will be counting down the days too.  I downloaded the marriage advent activities from The Generous Wife (on the right hand side of her site). I read her blog daily and am always encouraged in my walk as a wife.  Happy Home fairy has some cute ideas to keep your marriage fun, light and spicy during the holiday season. Check out her site for a ton of other great ideas too!

I would love to know what wonderful things you have planned or what traditions your family has for Christmas.  Please share so we can all gain new ideas and learn from one another.  Be blessed and be a blessing this Christmas season!

Christmas 2012

I have neglected this space for far to long.  In desiring to live an authentic life, one that focuses on what matters most to me, I have put this blog aside.  However, I do want to have some record of what goes on in the daily happenings of our little family and know that if even one person is encouraged by what they find here, then it is worth it.

Christmas!

We have tried, over the course of our girls lives, to make Christmas a memorable time.  Full of fun, family and of course, JESUS!  Last year we went through the Jesse Tree devotions and used an advent calendar with different activities every day in December.  We will be following a similar routine this year.  In addition, we will focus our traditional Sunday evening advent devotions on learning some Christmas carols.

After decorating the tree the girls set up their nativity.

Our Jesse Tree and Advent candles.

The girls also have a huge heart to serve our community.  Lydia in particular is a great helper and is always looking for ways to bless those around her.  While we serve dinner at the Union Mission this weekend (Dec. 1st) we will be caroling as well. If anyone is up to joining us, just let me know and we can work out the details.  All are welcome!

We will be spreading Christmas Hope and Joy throughout the community by using these RACK'ed cards and modifying them to be better suited to our needs.  My friend Lorrie made mention of this sight in her Advent post and there were some pretty great resources there for planning how you and your family can serve your community.

My friend Jennifer shared about how her family takes time to look through the Compassion Catalog for gifts.  I love it!  My mother bought Lydia blankets and Emma some chicks through World Visions gift catalog as those are both presents that remind her of them and give towards a need in the world.

I know how important it is for our children to see that Christmas is not primarily about material presents we get but about the Gift of God's love come down in the person of Jesus Christ.  I know that gift giving is often out of control this time of year, and though I am not a gift giving type person, I still have to battle the urge to give my kids more than they need.  I love this post I read on MODsquad blog about how this family is cultivating a new view of gift giving. It is so in line with my desire to give good gifts to my children but not focus on only the material things.

Mostly, at the end of the day I want to remember Christ is our Joy and our Hope.  Things get crazy, overwhelming and out of our control, but in the midst of it all, God is there.  He does not change and He is sovereign over all that happens.  I want to lift my eyes to Him this Christmas and give Him all praise and glory. 

Blessings!

Family Fun

PJ's are a must when we snuggle in for a movie or a good book!

Our family is so very much enjoying our celebration of Advent with some really fun activities thrown in. Last night we had family movie night and the movie of the night was "Snow Buddies". The girls loved seeing the cute little puppies and lets just say that Justin and I suffered through it for the sake of our children.  Not what we would consider quality entertainment here folks.  Other than that it was a fun way to spend a night with my favorite people in the world. 

December Fun

Here is the final list I put on the pull out cards in my homemade Advent calendar.  So far, the girls are having fun and I am pleased with the way they are listening when we do our Jesse Tree devotions.  Really feeling the peace and calm this year for the Christmas season.

December
1 - Tree Decorating
2 - Family Movie Night (FMN) - Rudolph (with special Rudolph chapstick from Target dollar spot)
3 - Serve meal at the Union Mission
4 - Decorate Christmas Canvas Bags
5 - Christmas Shape Tracers
6 - Window Clings (2 from Target dollar spot and Nativity set from Christmas Walmart Clearance last year)
7 - Color Bookmarks
8 - Jesus - paint over his name with q-tips
9 - FMN - the library has several good Christmas picks
10 - Paint Ornaments
11 - Dress Fancy for dinner tonight (even mommy and daddy)
12 - Hot Chocolate Treat
13 - Coloring book fun
14 - Nativity Puzzle
15 - Happy Birthday Jesus activity book
16 - FMN - library again
17 - Bake something yummy for neighbors and deliver
18 - Christmas bookies in PJ's
19 - Legend of the candy cane with craft
20 - Legend of the Christmas Tree - decorate ice cream cone Christmas tree
21 - Legend of Saint Nicholas with Santa craft
22 - Nativity craft
23 - FMN - Small One (my favorite from childhood) and The Very First Noel
24 - Make Birthday Cake for Jesus - Christmas Eve church service
25 - Christmas Celebration!


I found so many great ideas this year when searching the web that I have a folder full of ideas for next year already! I really am grateful to so many online communities that provide such great resources for free. Someone else's hard work is making it easier to focus on what is most important and do it in a creative way. Blessings!

Advent Celebration

We began our Advent Celebration last night with a family worship time.  We sang together and Lydia read the Bible reading for the first Jesse Tree ornament.  It was a wonderful time and it is my prayer that this time together will really focus our hearts on the reason we celebrate.  Jesus! Blessings to all of you during this season.

Jennifer Wilson - You are the advent calendar winner. Thanks for reading.

Christmas Advent

Now that you have taken a look into how our family is celebrating a Thanksgiving Advent of sorts I wanted to give you a sneak peak into our Christmas Advent. Each day in December leading up to Christmas we have a special activity planned.  Some are simple crafts, others are baking adventures and we also have some service projects in the mix too.  I made another simple calendar like I did for Thanksgiving and have the slips of paper with each activity written on it as a count down to Christmas.

I love spending time together as a family and I know that by planning out different activities for us to do together not everything will go according to my plan.  That's O.K.  (or at least I am learning to be ok with it.) I want my husband and my kids to want to be at home more than anywhere else in the world and for me that means taking time to think through how we can spend time as a family and planning fun activities.

Thanks to the internet I have no lack of ideas to fill 24 days with great Christmas ideas.  I have some friends that have a few really great ideas.  Check out how Lorrie and her family celebrate Advent.  Also, check out this great idea that Ashley and her family did last year.  In addition to all the fun activities I have planned we will be using Jesse Tree devotionals each night as a way to bring our attention to Christ's birth as the reason for the season.

I love spending time all year gathering supplies for the activities we do in December and hope that you feel inspired to  spend some time connecting as a family and sharing in the joy of the Christmas season.  If you would like to win a handmade (by me) advent calendar please leave a comment and I will enter you in the drawing.  The contest will end on Friday, November 25th, 2011. Please leave a way for me to get in contact with you so I can send it to you.  Thanks and many blessings to you!

Here is a picture of the advent calendar you could win if you leave a comment.

Advent Activities

I am excited about our advent activities this year. We are celebrating Advent with a Jesse Tree this year. The girls and I made a "mailbox" out of a paper bag and hung it on their wall. Each day they check their "mail" and I give them an ornament for our Jesse Tree. Being a paper crafter, I am making these myself but believe me when I say they are not elaborate.

I found inspiration for the Jesse tree here and she linked here for the devotions I decided to use. No pictures today of our first couple days but wanted to get the information out there for anyone who may want to do this before it is too late.

Blessings during this wonderful season!