December 20- Bring Treats to the Neighbors

Things just get busier and busier the closer it gets to Christmas.  I plan well in advance, I prepare early, and yet I still end up feeling very busy.

Today's scripture was Matthew 14: 15-21.  In this passage Jesus feeds the multitude with the loaves and fishes.  We see that Christ had the power to perform miracles and had compassion for others.

This year, rather than making a lot of different treats to give to the neighbors a couple of friends and I had an exchange where we each made two goodies and  then traded, so when we were done there were six different goodies for each plate.

The girls helped me make some chocolates, peanut butter balls, and fudge and then after our swap with friends we arranged some plates.  I asked the girls to each pick a friend from church that they would like to bring some treats to and then we dropped some plates off to some of our other neighbors.

It was snowing and cold, but we bundled up and dropped off our treats on our way the Lily's dress rehearsal for her dance recital.

December 14- Elf Night

Another fun day as we countdown to Christmas!  We started the day by reading our daily scripture which today came from Luke 2:42-49.  This is where Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem as a boy and his parents found him a few days later in the temple, learning from the scholars.  Here we see that Jesus sought learning.

Today we watched one of my favorite Christmas movies, Elf.  We also read the book Elf: A Short Story of a Tall Tale which was really cute and all about how it is our differences that make us special.

 For our refreshments during the show we followed the four food groups of the elves; candy, candy corn, candy canes,

 and chocolate syrup mixed in with their milk.  Some days we just don't quite manage a good picture, oh well.  Here are my crazy kids.  And don't worry, Gideon didn't get chocolate milk, just some water with a bit of apple juice.

 In other news, Gideon's first tooth broke through today.

December 12: Painting Snowflakes

We were home bound today.  Charlotte is running a tiny fever and the car started making noises last night on our way home from dance class so I'm not packing my kids into it until Tyson has a few minutes to look it over.  I'm just not willing to risk breaking down in freezing temperatures with my 3 little ones in the car.  It is probably something minor, but I"m being careful.

We started on our calendar early today.  I guess that is what happens when you skip preschool and there is time.  Our scripture for today came from Matthew 3: 13-17.  In this passage Jesus approaches John the Baptist, asks to be baptized, and in doing so fulfills the will of the Father.  Christ was perfect, he had no need for baptism to redeem him from sin, however he set the path to follow and submitted to his Father's will.  Christ was obedient to God's laws.

Today for our activity we painted snowflakes.

 I let the girls pick out their favorite snowflakes for a font that I had and then cut them out in vinyl.  I put the vinyl on some 8x10 canvases and put out 4 different shades of blue for them to paint with.

 Lily set right to work.  She started by painting all around the vinyl snowflake, but not touching it at all.  It had to explain to her that she needed to cover all of the white and that it was okay to get paint on her snowflake.  Charlotte on the other hand started out painting all over her snowflake, but had no desire to do the area around it.  It took some convincing and even then I did a tiny bit of spot filling for her.

  When they had covered all of the white canvas, I pulled off the vinyl snowflakes.  Charlotte was very upset with me at first for pulling off her snowflake, she cried, she wanted it to stay on.  Some cuddling seemed to make it all better.

 After they were dry I took them outside, sprayed some spray adhesive on them, sprinkled some glitter, and then sprayed them with some clear sealant.  Charlotte was eager to mix the various blues together, much more than Lily, and I love how the color turned out.

They are now hanging on the wall in the girls' room.  They are loving them and had fun picking a place for them to hang.

We did most of our activity during Gideon's nap, so he sadly doesn't appear in any photos.  I'm excited for next year when he will be old enough to really get to participate.

December 10- Grinch Night

Today was one of those days where even though we got up early and jumped into our work right away, I was seriously concerned that there was going to be time to get everything essential done.  Big due dates for big projects and I was a bit overwhelmed.  We made it though.  Everything that had to be done got done and so by 7:00 pm I could breathe again.  Thankfully the activity that I had planned for today was an easy one.

Before Tyson left for class we selected our star for the day and read our scripture.  The scripture came from Luke 6: 12-16.  In this passage Jesus selects his apostles from his many followers.  We learn from this passage that Christ was a leader.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas has always been one of my very favorite Christmas stories so tonight our advent activity was readying the story and then watching the movie.

We sat up to the kitchen table and while the girls ate their who-pudding and Gideon munched on a cracker I read them the story.  Lily was confused at first.  She asked how anyone could steal Christmas.

 After we were done with the story we headed downstairs and turned on the old animated movie. I've always loved the way that Boris Karloff narrates the story and I was excited to share it with my children.  Gideon played with the DVD case and was perfectly content while the girls and I sat and watched.