Christmas Pictures

Lydia has been wanting one of these for a long time and was very excited to finally get a purse to color.

Littlest Pet Shop - always a big hit

Perler beads - definite favorite

Both the girls got a decorate your own Littlest Pet Shop

Sparkle shoes and Twinkle Toes! (Thanks to a great clearance price this mama found)

Read along princess books and cd's

Look and find style book - very magical

More LPS

Emma can't be left out of the coloring fun

Gifts from Mana and Hoppy - Little Ponies and LPS

Lydia wants to learn how to sew so we are starting with this kit

Final Product

They did a great job - Lydia really does have quite the artistic eye

We had a simple and very blessed Christmas.  We are not huge gift givers and toys are not the way to my girls heart.  Quality time and the touch they both crave are far more suited to crafts and games than toys.  My Christmas gift this year was the tree you see in the background. Justin surprised me one day and went to Sam's and got it for me.  I love it! Justin and I rarely get anything for each other so it was a really nice treat.  Hope you had a fun Christmas and that you have a blessed new year.

Christmas Learning Fun

Here are just a few snapshots of some of the fun learning activities we have been doing around here this month.

Alphabet soup - yummy!

Boy, look at ALL that snow.

Rapunzel, Rapunzel let down your hair. Obviously we like dress up around here!

Now Mary, that's more like a pastor's kid, right?

Another, older version of Mary.

Not sure about this one....she said she was a cowgirl. Lasso and boots?

Roll and Build a Nativity from 2 Teaching Mommies.

Nativity Word search

Nativity timeline from 2 Teaching Mommies

Alphabet match, upper lower case

close up

Color words candy cane matching. Emma could read them all!

Day 20 of our Christmas fun days, decorating an ice cream cone tree.

Always some dramatic flair.

Notice: not all ideas to be an out of the box teaching mama lend themselves to good results. Dry erase markers on our fridge did not go well.

The math problems were answered correctly but the result on the fridge seems permanent.

Several different home remedies later and it is still there.

Be blessed!

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.

Gratitude Attitude

"Our fall was, has always been, and always will be, that we aren't satisfied in God and what He gives. We hunger for something more, something other." Ann Voskamp, one thousand gifts

The sin of ingratitude, dissatisfaction and discontent are nothing new.  They have been around since the Garden of Eden. Teaching the next generation to be grateful is also not a new idea but it is a practice that I believe to be of the utmost importance.  I know that I get whiny, ungrateful and discontent regularly and I need an attitude adjustment in my life before I lose all sense of the blessings I have in my life. 

Our society does not encourage gratitude.  Entitlement, self-importance and independence yes, but not gratitude.  It is my belief that gratitude goes beyond just good manners, although that is important and a great place to start. Gratitude is at the heart level and that is where I truly want to reach my children.  My life and the lives of those around me are so much easier when my kids have good behavior and show good manners but that is not my highest goal.  I want my girls to understand that to bring glory to God they need to have a deep gratitude in their lives that is much deeper than just their words and behaviors.  This is the only gratitude that can weather the storms that life has to throw at them.

In my post yesterday I talked about how we have been spending time over the last month learning how to control our whining.  This month we are trying to focus on the heart by practicing gratitude.  I made a simple Thanksgiving advent calendar which we will use.  Each night at dinner we will each say and then write down at least 1 thing we are thankful for that day.  It is a simple practice and doesn't take much time but will hopefully help our family focus on all the blessings God has given us and teach us to be grateful people. 

A simple canvas, chipboard letters and scrapbook paper. I am sure it could be more crafty but it will work just fine as it is.  This i placed right above our kitchen counter where we eat.

It is my desire to see my children grow to honor God through living grateful lives in a society that desperately needs it.  So, now it's your turn, how do you encourage gratitude in the children in your life? How could or has the practice of gratitude made an impact in your life? 

 Today's gratitude: That I have I have children who are enjoying a quiet rest time right now as I write this.  Selfish or not, it is definitely something for me to be grateful for today. How about you?