Fireworks Day and S'Mores

Tomorrow we celebrate our nation’s birthday. I know this because my Little G has been counting down the days since last month. She is so incredibly excited about the 4th. Not because it is the day we celebrate being free and independent. Or because we honor those that risked their lives long ago so that people could live in a nation where freedom and liberty are so central to its existence.

Roasting the Mallow

Nope, she is excited because we make s'mores and watch the fireworks. Last year was the first year we took her to see fireworks; it was the first year hubby hadn’t had to work that night in a long while. She loved every second and yelled “kaboosh” the entire time.

Fireworks Through Trees

She loves the tradition of the day and the time we spend together as a family. That is why every day for about a month she has reminded me that fireworks day was coming.



So tomorrow in celebration of our nation’s birthday we will make s’mores and watch the fireworks and enjoy the moments we have together as a family.

Resurrection Garden

Last year we made a Resurrection Garden during Holy Week for Easter. This was such a fun activity that everyone of us enjoyed. This year the kids asked if we could do it again. Without hesitation I said yes.

Here is what you need so that you can make your own Resurrection Garden with your kids.

1 wide, flat, clay pot or other suitable dish
1 small pot (or a cup will work if you don't have a pot)
1 roundish rock to fit over the opening of the small pot
little pebbles
6 twigs or short sticks (3 long and 3 short)
hay or straw (optional)
glue gun
dirt or potting soil
grass seed
water (in a spray bottle works best)

We glued the twigs to make 3 crosses and wrapped small pieces of hay around the middles.

We placed some dirt in the bottom of the pot and placed the small pot sideways off to one side for the tomb.

Then we built up the dirt around the pot to make a hill and we sprinkled grass seed all over the hill of dirt.

We put the crosses on top of the hill and then made a path around the base of the hill and into the tomb pot.

Then we placed the rock in front of our tomb.

Our little garden had a prominent place on our dining table. A few times every day we would spray water on the seeded hill. It was so fun to watch as the grass started to grow. Mowing this little patch of grass required using some little scissors.

On the Saturday night before Easter when I was putting out all the Easter goodies, I moved the rock over to the side. When they woke up they saw that the stone was "rolled away" and that made them very excited.

After Easter our garden had a special place on our porch and Little G watered it every day.

This activity was so much fun to do last year. I love this hands on activity that is becoming a tradition in our family. The kids are excited to do this again this year and I am excited to see how God is going to use it to reveal yet more of Himself to the kids and even me.

And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. ~ Mark 16:6 ESV

Christmas Planning 2012

Thanksgiving week is upon us already and that means I am seriously planning for Christmas. Each year, we spend the month of December studying all things Christmas. I make it a point to make sure that Jesus stays the center of everything we do while having all the fun we can have. We take a break from doing "normal school" and focus our attention on the eternal while throwing in some math and reading along the way. By this time in our school year the kids are ready for a break from the norm and I am ready to give them what they need. We spend the entire month doing crafts, baking, watching movies, snuggling with good books and making sure we rest.

I have been scouring cyberspace checking out all the fun ideas for nativity scenes, lapbooks, games, and of course Advent. Every year I do a post that links up to the great ideas that I find. Below are the links that I have found this year. Some links are from posts past but many of them are new. I have just covered the very tip of the iceberg of Christmas ideas here, but hopefully it gives you a good start. This is such a long post, I have broken it into several smaller sections to make is easier.

 Lapbooks & Unit Studies

Every year, we do a lapbook and or a unit study for Christmas. It is the perfect way to get our school in and do fun things at the same time. The kids love them and I always enjoy doing them with the kids.

Christ is Born Lapbook – This is a quick little lapbook that is perfect for 2-4 year olds. The pieces go in a little pocket so the kids can act out the story over and over again.

Twelve Days of Christmas - We had a lot of fun putting this lapbook together a few years back. While there is no real evidence that the twelve days of Christmas has anything to do with the Bible it was a great way to help the kids remember some basic info like the books of the Bible, Fruit of the Spirit, Apostles and more.

The Legend of the Candy Cane - We really enjoyed completing this lapbook last year. Studying candy for Christmas and yet keeping Christ as the center is a win, win.

The Nativity Lapbook – This lapbook is great for elementary ages. It covers the whole Nativity and includes some parts from the movie if you want to use them. I used elements from this lapbook a few years back when we did an all-inclusive CHRISTmas lapbook. 

Names of Jesus Unit Study – A unit study of the names of Jesus. I really like this idea. 

History of Christmas Carols – This is a unit study about the history of several Christmas carols and hymns. It looks fascinating and something those who enjoy music and studies like that (that would be me) would have fun doing. 

Jesse Tree Devotional - Ann Voskamp has this free Jesse Tree devotional on her site for this year. I have never done Jesse Tree with the kids but this really looks amazing. I have been thinking about doing Jesse Tree for a few years now but just haven’t gotten to it. 

 

Advent

Growing up I didn’t do Advent. I didn’t even know what Advent was until I was an adult. We have been celebrating Advent in some form for the past few years. Last year we lit candles for the first time. This year, we plan on doing it again. Lighting a candle is a way of being intentional in how you celebrate Christmas. And since we want Christmas to be much more than presents and stockings we have over the years made a point to read the Bible and talk about how Christ came and why Christ came and focus our hearts on the Savior.  I have found that Advent has been a great tool in helping us keep Christ in the center of Christmas which is what I want. Advent starts on December 2nd this year.

Inductive Advent Bible Study - We did this Bible Study last year and it was so awesome. All of the kids enjoyed some component of this study and all of us got something out of it. If you have older kids I highly recommend this study. There are some elements for the younger kids also so the whole family can do this study. It has been updated for this year. I am thinking about doing it again. I know that we will get something new out of it each time.

Advent Treasure Hunt - This idea looks like fun. Every day the kids have to find the day's activity that is hidden somewhere inside or outside the house. Just the idea of hiding our daily verse and activities gets me excited about doing this.

St Margaret Mary Advent Calendar – I don’t normally link to something I am not able to fully check out first but I am totally intrigued and curious about what will be under each day. It says no peeking so I guess we will just have to wait until it’s time.

Advent Story Printable Book – I have printed this out for all of my kids to do at some point. I really like it. While you are on that site, explore, she has several Christmas activities and teaching ideas oh, and color pages. 

Felt Advent Calendar - This is a tutorial on how to make your own felt advent calendar. There are a lot of steps but it is so totally cute. If I had time I would make this, maybe next year. Seriously this is so cute.

Advent Activities – This is perfect for the little ones. There are so many great little activities to do and they focus on Christ.

 

 

Nativity Scenes

Tradition in our house is to make a Nativity Scene for Christmas. In years past we have all made some part of it and then we put the whole thing together. Often it is like a giant mural on a wall.  Two different years, we actually left the scene up on the wall until Easter, partly because I just never took it down and partly because the kids were just so proud of it. Last year we did something totally different, each of the kids made their own Nativity scene. I found so many different printable and DIY Nativity Scenes we were not able to do them all last year. We haven’t decided what we will do this year.

Nativity Scene Board - I have used these for bulletin board figures, or you can even put them together in a manila file folder and use them like you would a folder game. (Top right picture below.)

Nativity Scene with Toilet Paper Rolls - This one was made by Miss K last year she really enjoyed it and it turned out so cute. (Bottom right picture below.)

Make Your Own Nativity Scene - Little Man made this one last year. It's small and compact, perfect if you don't have a lot of room to display it. (Bottom left picture below.)

Nativity Scene Display – Miss H made this one last year. The figures are cone shaped, the animals we had to brace a bit to keep them standing but it still turned out adorable. (Top left picture below.)

Paper Doll Nativity Scene - This one is cute and gives you the instructions to make a diorama like Nativity Scene. 

Birth of Jesus Nativity - This one has two versions, one with and one without the Wise Men. 

Nativity Craft - This is really cute with little terracotta pots. Perfect for those who want to do more than just cut, color and paste.

Paper Nativity – This one looks sweet and pretty simple.

Spool Doll Nativity – Oh my goodness is this cute. It is perfect for an older kid who has moved beyond just coloring some paper.

Nativity Scene from a 2x4 – Okay so this one is for an older for sure. I know that a younger could totally help with making it. I love this. It can be played with over and over and is so incredibly cute.

Nativity Scenes 2011

 

Games & Activities

What is the Christmas Season without games and activities? It’s part of what makes the month of December so fun. Here are some resources for you.

Christmas Bible Printables - This site has puzzles, mini books, verse cards and so much more. If you want simple activities for a 3-6 year old that are Christ centered this is where you go. 

Christmas Folder Games - There are so many Christmas themed folder games on this site. We love playing folder games and what a better way to keep the learning going but by a folder game that is in the shape of a candy cane or Christmas tree?

Nativity Pre K Pack – This is a free packet full of things for your preschooler. Patterns, matching, cutting practice, and prewriting practice.

Nativity Pack – Here is another Nativity pack for 3-5 year olds. This one is also totally adorable.

Advent Activities – She has such great ideas all year round.

Nativity Dominoes – These are so adorable.

Nativity Finger Puppets – These would be fun for a little one.

My hope and prayer is that this post inspires you to do some intentional parenting during the hectic Christmas season that is upon us and remember to focus on the eternal. What do you do to keep Jesus the center of Christmas? Let me know in the comments, I am always looking for new ideas.

I participated in 31 Days along with over 1,000 other bloggers
hosted by the Nesting Place.
What happens when life gets in the way of blogging?
Posts that were supposed to go up in October being posted in November. 
Or any homeschool post becomes a 31 Day post.

Packing Shoeboxes

Do you know about Operation Christmas child? They give shoeboxes to children around the world who basically have nothing. In those shoeboxes are simple items that we take for granted like toothbrushes and soap. They also have school supplies and toys or other fun things. Whatever someone feels led to put into the shoebox. These are items that we take for granted but to these children they are needed treasures. I love that meeting this simple need opens the door for such a greater impact in a child's life. They get an eternal treasure also, the love of Jesus. And that is the greatest gift anyone can receive.

The junior high group packed shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child a few weeks ago and I dropped them off at our collection site yesterday.  I am so amazed at how many boxes our tiny group was able to fill. I challenged them to bring in items all throughout the month of October for the boxes and then we put everything together to fill as many boxes as we could. I was really thinking we would be able to fill somewhere around five boxes and I was so amazed and blessed that we had enough items to fill 18 boxes!

That is 18 young people whose lives will be touched by receiving a little box filled with simple items like pencils, pens, toothbrushes and a pair of socks plus fun things like stuffed animals, yo-yos, puzzles, and so much more. (It is crazy how much is able to fit in a shoebox.) We actually put an umbrella and a rain poncho in each of ours also. We used the little plastic shoebox sized containers because those can be really useful to whomever receives them. I registered the boxes online so that we could track where they would end up and we know that they will bless a child in another part of the world. It is such an easy way to be able to touch the life of someone you would never be able to have any impact on otherwise.

There is still time if you want to impact a child’s life through a shoebox. Just go to the Operation Christmas Child  to find all the details. Collections for this year go through the 19th of November. But then there will always be next year if you miss the deadline.

We will be praying for the children that are going to receive those boxes and for their families. I cannot wait to see where our boxes will end up. I know that God will use each box in a mighty way.

P52 Challenge: Made With Love

This week's Project 52's theme is: Made With Love

Every year, we decorate gingerbread men at Christmas time. This year, we never got it done, I baked the cookies but time got away from us. So, I froze the cookies for a later date. ((Side note, do not freeze gluten free gingerbread cookies. When my gluten free batch thawed, they were as hard as rocks and I had to chuck them. I am baking some today for my GF eater.)) Who says gingerbread men are only for Christmas?

The kids take their time creating their masterpieces. They each only had five cookies to decorate this year and they took over an hour to get them done. But that is okay, it was so much fun and we always have a blast spending the afternoon making edible works of art.

Watching them reminded me how we are God’s masterpieces. We are works in progress and He is nowhere near finished with me. He takes His time with us and lovingly molds and shapes us into something beautiful.

Psalm 139:13-16 ESV
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

Ephesians 2:10 ESV
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Philippians 1:6 ESV
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

This post is linked to P52 Week 2 at Life With My 3 Boybarians.

The Leaning Tree

I am in the early stages of putting away the Christmas decorations. It is such a bittersweet moment for me. All of the memories made, and fun that was had is now over and a new beginning is here. I find myself lingering every year, just wanting to keep everything out just a bit longer, but alas I know it cannot be. I must lovingly wrap up each item and store it away for 11 months until next Christmas season.

This year’s memories include all of the kids making their own Nativity Scene to put up in the house. We had one by the tree, one on the chest in the living room, one on the dining room wall and one in the media/play room. I love that pretty much anywhere you were you would see a reminder of why we as a family celebrate the season.

Our tree this year did not fall over as it did last year. For this I am so thankful. However it is leaning about 12 precarious degrees forward. It started out straight when we put it up. But every day it seemed to tilt just a little bit more than the day before. As I have been nervously watching the tree God keeps reminding me how easy it is for us to tilt in our walk with God, losing our focus on what is important. Just like it is so easy to lose focus during the craziness of the Christmas season.





I have been reflecting back on all the festivities of this past Christmas season examining how well we kept our focus on the Lord and all that is important in the midst of all of the fun activities and presents. For us, we have several gift-giving sessions with all of the family. When you have a large family, getting everyone together is almost a miracle in itself. In the middle of the packages and ribbons and bows with all of the oohing and aahing, did the focus tilt? That is where I am right now.

Every year, I want the focus to be on Christ. Why He came, and what He did and how important that is. I think we did really well not losing focus and I am praying that next year will be even better.

Christmas & Advent Planning

Did you realize, Advent starts in just one week and Christmas is in 5 short weeks! Are you ready? Do you know what you are going to do to prepare and celebrate? I'm getting there. I have so many things I want to do I probably should have started doing them yesterday. Not kidding. I know I can't fit them all in but there is always next year. A few years ago, I posted a bunch of Christmas Activities that I found around the web. Since some of those links I am sure are not working and there are so many new links out there, I decided to post an updated list for you to get ideas. Since I was scouring the web anyway, I thought it would be nice to share. 

You're welcome.

Advent Calendars, Activities, Lapbooks and Lessons

Online Advent Calendar - TeachingMOM put this calendar up in 2008. I have used it as a guide every year. I love how much stuff she has for each day. I start the activities on the first day of Advent and adjust the amount of activities each week to last until Christmas.  She also has an Advent Verses Chain you can print out and use. We have also done this yearly and discuss the verses throughout Advent season.

Advent Coloring Book - DLTK has a great Advent coloring book that all of my kids have done. This is a great book for preschoolers through 1st or 2nd grade. Even older kids who enjoy coloring can appreciate this book.

Advent Coloring Pages - Ministry to Children has a cute little Advent Coloring Book that looks like fun for the younger ones. It is simple and can be a great beginning for Bible lessons during the Advent season.

An Inductive Advent Study Guide - This is a really neat study guide that can really be used with any school aged child I think. An inductive study is a great way to really dig deep into the Word.

Printable Nativity Scenes

Every year we make our own Nativity. The kids paint pictures of all the people and animals and angles and we assemble it together up on the wall like a bulletin board. The kids love doing this every year and each year I try to use different print outs to keep it special. We also change up the painting method and sometimes add glitter glue, cotton balls, sponge paint some of the animals or whatever else we can think up to make each year a little different than the last. Here are some of the sites I have used in the past and links to stuff I am thinking about for this year. I want to make several and have them displayed all over the house this year.

Christmas Nativity Scene - DLTK has a great scene to print out that I have used parts or all of in years past. She also has these adorable Christmas Girl Angels and Christmas Boy Angels that seem to make it on the wall each year.

DIY Printable Nativity - Catholic Icing has one of the most adorable Nativity Scenes. I am sure this is one of the scenes we are going to make this year.

Make Your Own Nativity Scene - This is a really cute Nativity Scene that looks easy to put together.

Scrapbook Printable Nativity Scene - This is a great little Nativity Scene at ScrapbookScrapbook.

Paper Doll Nativity - This cute printable set is for paper-dolls. I love that it uses a box like a diorama and hay. So fun.

Printable Nativity Scenes - This one is unique as it has two scenes. One when Jesus is born with the shephards visiting and then a second with Jesus as a toddler and the magi visiting. This one is basically a print and assemble the last page of this has a bunch of facts about Jesus' birth and the Nativity and how tradition isn't always the way it was.

Nativity Scene Clipart - I have used this clip art to help make our scenes up on the wall before.

Lapbooks, Mini Books and Unit Studies

Christ Is Born Lapbook - This little lapbook is geared towards young ones. It is a cute little folder that you can put printed pieces in to make a little scene they can play with.

Nativity Lapbook - We used several elements of this lapbook a few years ago and really enjoyed it.

The 12 Days of Christmas Lapbook - We did this lapbook a few years ago and the kids loved it. It puts Biblical meanings (though they are not the official meanings) to each of the twelve days. It's an enjoyable lapbook geared more for elementary aged kids.

Legend of the Candy Cane Lapbook - Do you know the legend of the candy cane? It's pretty cool. I'm going to do this with the kids this year.

Other Activities and Printables

Christian Preschool Printables has so many fun things from games to mini books to crafts and everything in between.

Homeschooling 4 Free has so many links to so many great ideas. I thought I would add this link in for anyone who still needs some more ideas for home, or Sunday School.

File Folder Fun has a great collection of free folder games for Christmas. Just print, cut, glue and play. My kids love folder games and I have made more than I can count. I will be making a couple of these too.


I might have gone overboard but I think there is something here for everyone. With having every grade from kindergarten to junior high, I was trying to find something each of my kids would enjoy.

All About The Food

We celebrated the Independence of our country yesterday like every other American. BBQ, food, swimming, family, food, friends, food, traditions, food, fireworks and (did I mention?) food. I don't know about you but every holiday I realize just how much Americans love food.

I was in charge of dessert at the family BBQ so I made two yummy desserts. I made lemon sugar cookies decorated like citrus slices. I got the idea and technique from The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle. I made my own lemon cookie recipe because all of the recipes I had were for drop cookies but not for rolled. I really wanted rolled lemon sugar cookies so that I could make them totally cute. I'm making these again and I'll share the recipe with y'all so you can enjoy these yummy little bites too.

Then I also made a star studded Blackberry Cherry Cobbler also with my own recipe for the topping. I couldn't find just what I wanted so I modified two different recipes to make the dough just right for what I was going for. I know I'm kinda nuts and a total control freak. I wanted to make sure the stars maintained their shape while baking. I think it turned out pretty cool but the stars started soaking up the juice from the berries so they were purple. I love purple but it wasn't quite what I was going for. Next time I will make sure they stay more on top of the fruit. I'll be making this again soon too. The girls asked me to make it again almost immediately after eating it.

Then after dinner we had our traditional s'mores. For anyone who lives under a rock and doesn't know what a s'more is, let me educate you. Well, actually Ham Porter from the Sandlot explains it so eloquently so I'll let him educate you.

Alrite now pay attention. First you take the graham, you stick the chocolate on the graham.

Then you roast the 'mallow. When the 'mallows flaming... you stick it on the chocolate.

Then cover with the other end. Then you scarf. Kind of messy, but good!

I love celebrating my country's birthday. I am so thankful for those men and women and even children who risked everything to establish this country. And what Jefferson said 235 years ago is still true today.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. ~ Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776

This post is linked to Sweet Shot Tuesday

Christmas & Advent This Year

It’s December already. I really can’t believe that this year is coming to an end. This year for Christmas we are not doing much in the area of our normal traditions but something we did last year we are doing again this year and that is Advent. Last year I found a great resource of verses that we read through every day until Christmas. We did this as part of our school time while we were making our Christmas lapbooks.

Nativity Christmas 2008

This year, we are reading those same verses again but this year we are doing them during family devotion time. We decided that this was the most important activity we could do to celebrate the birth of our Savior. Advent is all about the preparation and expectation of Christ’s birth and preparing for Christmas by reading verses about His birth and what it means. We have made a commitment to sit on the couch as a family and read through the verses for the day discussing them and talking about what they mean. Little G is still way too young so I have a color page for her to color while we read and I am reading to her from her little picture Bible. So, that is what we are doing this year for Christmas. We aren’t doing extra baking and we aren’t decorating or doing almost anything. (The not decorating is because of some life circumstances that I will blog about later.) I am certain that God is allowing this year to happen the way it is so that my kids will be able to have a full realization of what the true absolute meaning of Christmas is. I pray that your families will also come to the full realization of what Christmas is really all about; the gift of our Savior who came for one purpose, to die as a perfect sacrifice for our sins on the cross.

I thought I would share some of the great links I have found that help us with our Advent readings and preparing for Christmas.

TeachingMom.com - She has very long list of resources for Advent. I am using her Advent verses chain for the verses we read. She also has a great link to the history of Advent.

Advent Squido page - This page has several links to information and fun activities and ideas.

The Season of Advent - this site has so much information about the history and the meanings of the candles, wreath and traditions.

Mama Archer - A blogging friend of mine who has an amazing blog. She wrote a beautiful post about Advent celebrations in her family.

Christmas At Our House

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Or as Miss H says, “CHRIST-mas.” She started saying that the other day, it is really cute. Overall, our focus at Christmas time has always been Jesus. This year it was more than ever. We spent two weeks just studying God’s Word and scouring scriptures. However, we do have many fun traditions that I thought I would take some time to share. Maybe give you some ideas for next year.

Jingle the Christmas Bear

 

This is Jingle our little Christmas bear. He is only about three inches tall and the kids play hide and seek with him from the day after Thanksgiving until Christmas morning. We hide him throughout the house sometimes all you see is the tip of his hat and other times you see all of him. It is always fun when the kids are about two. They always seem to be the first to find him and they get so excited about finding him. It is way too cute. Here he is hanging from the lights. He was there for about 6 hours when at dinner, Little G started laughing uncontrollably and yelling, “Jingle, Jingle!” For some reason, she decided to look up.

Our Nativity Board

Another tradition we have is making a Christmas nativity bulletin board. I split up all of the characters between the kids to paint. Then we put it up on the wall. The kids love being able to show visitors their masterpiece and every year it looks a little different.

 

Eying the Presents Under the Tree

Every Christmas Eve, we go to Daddy Reg’s parents’ house for dinner with friends and family. Usually there are between 30 and 40 people. We eat a ton of food and hang out for a while. Then we all sing Christmas carols. After singing some carols, people share Christmas memories. Then, I read the Christmas story from Luke 2. Several years back it became my job to read it and I do look forward to it each Christmas Eve. Then we pray for friends, family, and whatever is laid on our hearts. Afterward we hang out for a little while longer, grazing on the Christmas cookies and everyone trickles out. The family stays and we all gather around the Christmas tree for gift giving. We have a large family, and when everyone is home for Christmas, this can take a few hours. It is such an enjoyable time. This year, the older kids were given clues to what their big presents from Papa, Grandma and the Uncles and Aunts. They open little gifts with clues attached. It was so much fun to watch them figure it out. They get to go on a weekend trip to a childrens museum, aquarium and more with all of them. The kids are so excited about it.

Reading The First Clue that led to many more.

 

 Putting the clues together. Still many more to go.

On Christmas morning, the kids do stockings, and a few more gifts. Then we just hang out and be family. This year, we watched both Narnia movies. And every Christmas night we have soup and rolls with Daddy Reg’s family coming over. I love cooking for many people and this is the perfect time to spend more time with family.

We had a busy but very fun week. Today we relaxed and took a much-deserved rest.