Easton Brooks is 3!

I always write my kids letters on their birthdays. It's just a tradition that I think will bless them later on in life. I usually read it to them and print it out for their journals. Here is my letter to Easton today, on his 3rd birthday:

(picture from his 2nd birthday)

(current)

Easton Brooks...

Can it possible that you are three?

Maybe it's because you are the baby in the house, but you still seem so little to assume the title of 3-year-old...

We have had so many fun, difficult, joyous and overwhelming experiences with you in your third year of life. What a crazy year it has been! There have been moments where your Dad and I have wanted to pull our hair out and check into the looney hospital because of your fits and anger. We have lost our cool, we have messed up, but ultimately we have entrusted you to God. We have had a substantial amount of joyous memories that make us forget all about the trials we have been through with you. We have had so many opportunities to praise God for the work He has done and is doing in you.

We praise Him that you are eating dinner, even salad! (those who know our struggle with this know this is a HUGE deal!)
We praise Him that you are going tee-tee in the potty!
We praise Him that the fits are considerably less and God is helping you with self control.
We praise Him that you are a great helper at cleaning up and cooking with Mommy.
We praise Him that you are becoming more of a friend to T & B and less of a destroyer, at times.
We praise Him that your personality gets bigger everyday and you keep us in stitches.
We praise Him that you are asking questions about God and sing to Him with all your heart.

Moving you from the crib to the bunk beds was a funny process and is still going on. One day last fall, you climbed out of your bed and were scared to death. I have no idea if you landed on your head or what, but you were shook up and never tried that again until the spring, when you began to do it every day. We set up the bunk beds for you and Beckett and we have gone through many phases:

Phase 1: E gets out of his bed 10 times a night every night
Phase 2: E gets out of his bed 2 times a night every night (thank God! I was having to sit outside of your door and constantly tell you to go to sleep)
Phase 3: Getting up into Beckett's bed and sleeping with him
Phase 4 (current): Finding you sleeping on the ground next to the door (when we ask you about it, you say that it's "too comfy." We don't know if you are saying the bed is too comfy so you have to sleep on the ground or the ground is too comfy so you are sleeping there.)

We have enjoyed all the talking you have done this year. I didn't think the personalities in our home could get any bigger until you started talking more. You talk non-stop and in the most precious way. You are the center of attention and you most certainly know it. Your Easton-isms have left us in stitches and yet we have captured so few of them in writing. Thank you for making our home a place of great laughter and fun. I have no doubt that you will be our clown through the years and I look forward to watching your personality continue to grow.

Happy 3rd Birthday, precious! Life is better with you in it - it's fun, it's unpredictable, it's entertaining and it's a blessing bigger than words could articulate.

I love you, Easton Brooks!

Love,
Mommy

Graham Cracker Houses 2011

We completed our graham cracker houses for this year and here is the round up! 

(if you are wondering what kind of "glue" we used, click here for the recipe)

Taylor Joy's M&M Outhouse

Meredith's Tabernacle of Praise

Allen's (perfectly symmetrical) Cottage

Kendra's Farmhouse

Beckett's Candy Land

Lindsay's Christmas Whataburger

Elizabeth's Gorgeous Garage

Easton had a good time watching and catching crumbs...

While we perfected our graham cracker village...

Such a fun tradition...

Another Use for Stockings

My family had never had stockings before this year. I guess I just hadn't gotten around to incorporating that into our holiday. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE stockings and the way my mom filled them was amazing, but I wanted the stockings to be special
                                                                                         
                                                                                                 and beautiful
                                                                                              
                                                                                                       and matching and...

we have been adding members to our family for the 3 years up until now.

So...all that to say - I finally made some!

And with the idea of continuing our thankfulness - this time towards each other instead of at Thanksgiving when it could be anything or any person- throughout the month of December we will write notes of thankfulness or making creative pictures for each other and put them in each others' stockings.

I encouraged the kids to think of something that they loved in one of our family members and write it down, letting them know. Or giving them the option of writing a note and making a gift for Jesus. These cards for Jesus will go under the tree in Jesus' manger for when he arrives on Christmas Day (yes, He will really arrive in a basket under our tree thanks to one of Taylor's old baby dolls).

The other cards that are in the stockings will be read by all on Christmas Day. This is the first year to do this, but I am praying that its a sweet time of reflecting on the blessings the Lord has given us in our family and in Himself and overflowing with thankfulness for those things.

His grace is so evident in the gifts that He gives, particularly in giving of Himself. I want my kids to connect those dots.

I will probably also throw some other fun items into their stockings as well. It's just too hard for me to see things in the dollar bin that I know they would love and pass them up!

I really hope this will be a meaningful tradition that bonds our family and points us toward our Savior. 

Easter Recipes, Ideas, Crafts

Last year I posted this about the things that we were implementing during the Lent season, especially the Easter weekend. Perhaps that may be helpful to you as you decide what to do with your kids on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. We want to always evaluate the things we are doing or desire to do with our kids to make sure they are age-appropriate and such, but after thinking it through have continued to do similar activities for our Easter traditions with a now almost 4 year old, 2 year old and 8 month old.

We will continue to do the Easter Playdough Mountain this year. Directions below:

Playdough Mountain:

http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1719_tell_the_easter_story_with_a_playdough_mountain/







We will also bake our Resurrection Rolls on Sunday morning, with this recipe, telling this story as we make it:

Resurrection Rolls Recipe: (the author of the recipe and story is unknown)

*Tip: Because I have heard of several whose marshmallow didn't totally disappear, I would suggest using a small one to ensure that it melts and there isn't confusion*

Resurrection Rolls

Here's a new twist on the Resurrection Cookie idea for Easter, both are recipes you can do with your kids/grand kids in order for them to understand the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This fun recipe uses Crescent rolls and a disappearing marshmallow!

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients:
Crescent rolls
Melted butter
Large marshmallows
Cinnamon
Sugar

Give each child a triangle of crescent rolls. The crescent roll represents the cloth that Jesus was wrapped in.

Read Matthew 27:57-61

1. Give each child a marshmallow. This represents Jesus.
2. Have him/her dip the marshmallow in melted butter. This represents the oils of embalming.
3. Now dip the buttered marshmallow in the cinnamon and sugar which represents the spices used to anoint the body.
4. Then wrap up the coated marshmallow tightly in the crescent roll (not like a typical crescent roll up, but bring the sides up and seal the marshmallow inside.) This represents the wrapping of Jesus' body after death.
5. Place in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. (The oven represents the tomb - pretend like it was three days!)
6. Let the rolls cool slightly. The children can open their rolls (cloth) and discover that Jesus is no longer there, HE IS RISEN!!!! (The marshmallow melts and the crescent roll is puffed up, but empty.)

Now read Matthew 28:5-8

Explain: At the tomb, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary saw an angel, who told them not to be afraid. No one had taken Jesus' body, but He Had risen from the dead! The angel told the women to go and tell the disciples what they had seen, that Jesus had risen from the dead. They were so excited, they ran all the way home to tell the disciples the good news! He is risen from the dead! Alleluia!

After that Jesus appeared in person to Peter, then to the 12 disciples and after that, to more than 500 people. Jesus' appearance to eyewitnesses, those who saw Him with their own eyes, would give support and prove that Jesus rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3-6).

By rising from the dead, Jesus proved once and for all that He was the Messiah, the Savior of the World, the Chosen One, and the Lamb of God. By dying on the cross and rising from the dead, Jesus did what no other had ever done before. As both God and man, He overcame sin, death, and hell. And now because of what Jesus has done, these things no longer have any power over those who believe in Jesus and allow His Spirit to lead and direct them. Rather than being slaves to sin and death, Christians ( those who love and believe in Jesus) are free to obey God and do good ( Romans 6:17-18). The Bible says in John 8:36, "If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed."

However, we will only obey God if we listen to the Holy Spirit our helper. He enables believers in Jesus to do the right thing. It is important that we read the Bible (God's Word) because one of the ways the Holy Spirit helps us obey God is by reminding us of what He says to us in His Word. God's Spirit will never go against his Word. In fact, when we read God's Word, we are listening to the Holy Spirit. Of course, you won't always do the right thing; the Bible says this ) 1 John 1:5-10). But that is why we need to continue to confess our sins knowing that God forgives us, based on what Jesus did on the cross. This is also a reason we need to spend time with other believers in Christ so they can encourage us in our faith.

May you have a blessed and meaningful Easter!

- Author Unknown -

Easter Crafting:

We also made some Easter treats to hand out to our neighbors this year. I actually got the idea from a Family Fun magazine, but they were making something similar to this just in the form of fun snacks. It's trail mix in the shape of a butterfly since we cinched the middle with a decorated clothespin and attached a pipe cleaner as antennas. I made a little tag in Photoshop and let the kids go to town. They had a blast making them, and I'm sure the big fun will be handing out their artwork to our neighbors and telling them about Jesus. We're also inviting them to watch the Passion with us at our house tonight.

As we were making these Taylor Joy said, "I'm just sad that Jesus is dead."  I explained to her that yes, it is sad, but the story doesn't end there. Jesus showed his power over death when he rose from the dead after 3 days in tomb. He is risen and that should make us very excited! He is faithful to do what he said he would do! She said, "But what if Jesus is dead in our hearts?" Blown away by her insightfulness and depth of thought, I told her that unless we realize that we need Jesus and He gives us faith in Him, He is dead in our hearts. He has to give us new hearts and make us new creations and we went on to talk about this verse that we used on the little cards we are going to hand out with the treats:

I am so thankful for the opportunity to be with my children all day and share Christ with them as we spend the day together, as we walk along the way, as we do crafts together, as we sit down for a meal and as I tuck them in bed. What an incredible blessing that is!

 (just had to slip in a picture of this cutie!)

Resurrection Eggs

Today is the day we are starting our Resurrection Eggs!

We thought it would be fun for our kids to open one egg per day for the 12 days leading up to Easter. Since the eggs tell the story of Jesus' life, death and resurrection, we will plan to review the eggs we've already opened on previous days and then be able to review all of them on Easter Sunday. It's similar to our preschool Advent calendar that told the story of Jesus' birth.

Ours are "homemade" since the branded kind are so expensive! We made them with our MOPS group for less than $2 a piece, as compared to $20! Here are some pics:

The things that we had to gather up were:

Palm Branch
Silver Coin
Cup (we used a little plastic communion cup)
Praying Hands (we used a laminated picture)
Piece of Leather
Thorn
Nails
Dice
Spear (we used a small lego sword)
Linen
Stone
Egg Cartons
Plastic Eggs

Here are the scriptures we are using with the items:

1. Palm branch

“Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them,’Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to Me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.’”


The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks (coats) and sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road."
Matthew 21:1b-3, 6-8

2. Silver coins

“Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, ‘What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?’ So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.”
Matthew 26:14-16

3. Cup

“Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying,’Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’”
Matthew 26:27-28

4. Praying Hands

“They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Sit here while I pray.’ He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death’" he said to them. ‘Stay here and keep watch.’ Mark 14:32-34

5. Leather Whip

“ Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged (whipped) Him.” 
 John 19:1

6. Crown of Thorns

“Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said.”
Matthew 27:27-29

7. Nails in the Cross

“So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.”
John 19:16b-18

8. Die

“When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
‘Let's not tear it,’ they said to one another. ‘Let's decide by lot who will get it.’
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said,
‘They divided my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.’ So this is what the soldiers did.”
John 19:23-24

9. Spear 

“The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.” 
John 19:32-34

10. Linen Cloth

“As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.”
Matthew 27:57-60

11. Stone

“There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.”
Matthew 28:2-4

12. Empty

“The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.’”
Matthew 28:5-6

It's not too late to make your own! This is a great activity for Easter Sunday if you can pull it together before then.

Tree of Thanks Placemats

After November's Tree of Thanks, where each family member wrote something they were thankful for each day during the month (we missed several), I decided I wanted to remember the things that we said.

Result?

Thanksgiving placemats!

Because of all the Advent festivities, these just got laminated (here in February) and ready to pull out next November. I photoshopped pictures of all of us with our name and a caption that says, "is thankful for..." and pasted all of the coordinating thankful leaves onto a piece of poster board. Then, off to get laminated, of course.

I think they turned out really cute and I think I might start making placemats for many different holidays throughout the year. You could definitely do something like this for Valentine's Day with the valentines that each family member received and maybe a quote, "Taylor Joy is loved..." and reasons why we love each family member written on scrapbook paper hearts.

More Valentine's fun to come...

Christmas Pictures in Review

We had a beautiful Christmas together.

We started off the festivities in Sachse with my family on the 23rd. Spending time with their Nanny, Papa and Aunt B was a highlight for sure. It was brief, but worth it. Nanny and Papa attempted to wrap a picture of the kids' new trampoline, but I'm pretty sure it was lost in translation. It came through loud and clear when Allen put it together the day after Christmas. They are loving it and I have to be quite honest, I like it myself. Practicing my old cheerleader jumps is pretty fun and Taylor Joy keeps asking me, "Mom! Who taught you to do that?" I'm not sure I'll be brave enough to try any flips anytime soon though. We are coming up on our 10 year high school reunion this year. Crazy how that silly thing called time flies!

We headed over to McKinney on Christmas Eve morning to spend some time with Mima, G-pa, Aunt Lizzie, Aunt Cathy and Uncle Ryan. It was way too brief, but so much fun. Notice the wonderful quality of my pictures below? Yeah? Yeah! That's what I thought. Thank Mima and G-pa for that. I think Cathy might win the award for most thoughtful gift this year. She got me this awesome book that I can't wait to dig into.

We headed to Frisco to see our friends Ryan and Cate for an excruciatingly quick 10 minute hello and gift drop-off in the SNOW! Yes, it was really coming down on our way there and back. Beautiful!

We came home to get settled back in and spend a low-key Christmas Eve and Christmas in our home. It was a fun night and day of fire burning in the fireplace, cold weather, sweet devotions together, yummy meals and blessing each other with thoughtful gifts. I am so thankful that we sat down before Thanksgiving and actually planned out our budget and gifts this year. I was able to make gifts for the kids and our family that were thoughtful and also useful and well received. I made capes for the kids since they love Word Girl and Captain Huggieface and love to pretend they are the Rescue Kids. I love it that it promotes them using their imagination, as opposed to another battery-operated toy. We also got them a tent with a tunnel that we thought they would enjoy since they love making forts. I made necklaces for Taylor Joy, family, some friends and myself. I was so blessed by our Advent time this year and hearing the kids recite the entire Christmas story on Christmas when we had gone through the whole thing. Taylor Joy's prayer on Christmas Eve was the most memorable thing about the entire day. Such a blessing to hear her articulate everything we have labored to teach her about Christ and Him coming into the world to save us from our sins. It was a beautiful day to remember the sacrifice that Christ made in coming into the world and to praise Him, not only for that, but also for the evidences of His grace that we have seen in ourselves and in our children in the past year. It was a tough year with lots of changes that took place, but nonetheless a praiseworthy year for the things the Lord did in and through us.

Here's a video slideshow of our Christmas:

Make a Smilebox photobook

Advent Scriptures for your Calendar

photo courtesy Arvind Balaraman

Here is this years' Duty Chronicles Advent Calendar...

Advent 2013

And in case you haven't seen, here are some ideas for Advent activities to do with your kids. The point being to spend quality time with them, not rushing around trying to get the right supplies or check this off your to do list. Add some to your family time together and just enjoy it!

Hopefully the Advent Calendar + devotional will help all of us to become more consistent in worshipping with our families each day. Let me know if you have any other fun ideas to reinforce Christ this season! Here are some great ideas that our family uses or that I have heard of other families using:

Christmas Card Prayer Box – make a prayer box that will hold your Christmas cards from last year. At family worship every night, have the kids choose one card from the box and  pray for that family.
OR
Christmas Card Prayer Sticks - we are utilizing these throughout the year and the kids love it! They even ask to keep some in their room to pray for them on their own. I love that!

Advent Wreath – a picture of ours is here as well as a description of the 4 weeks of Advent

This goes along nicely with the Advent calendar to reinforce the “waiting” period. We use battery-operated candles so the kids can take charge of doing this without burning the house down.

Kids’ Play – reenactment of the Christmas story, do a scene each day or reenact the whole thing on Christmas. Don’t worry about costumes, pull out sheets to wrap around yourself, grab a kitchen towel and keep it on your head with a headband or rubberband. Get creative! Your kids will love putting their costumes together!

Manger Ritual – putting Jesus in a “manger” on Christmas Day, empty basket under the tree until Christmas (great for small toddlers, with knowledge that you will explain “waiting” to them everyday)

Christmas Songs – O Little Town of Bethlehem, Joy to the World, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, O Come All Ye Faithful, Silent Night, Go Tell it On the Mountain, Angels We Have Heard on High, Away in a Manger, What Child is This (these are just a few well known Christmas/Advent songs). Focus on one song per week so that your kids can actually learn the words and tune.

Stargazing - pretend you are a Wise man, grab a constellation map and gaze at the stars. Imagine where the Star of Bethlehem would have been and talk about how bright it would have to be to guide you miles and miles to the newborn king!

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Toilet Paper Roll Advent Calendar

I've been wanting to make a tutorial since so many people have asked me specifics about how I made this last year. Well, after getting the Christmas stuff down from the attic this weekend, I decided to take it apart and re-number my calendar so that it would be a countdown rather than just the dates on the rolls.

So, here is your handy dandy tutorial...for making a toilet paper Advent Calendar.

Toilet Paper Advent Calendar

Materials:

25 toilet paper rolls
25 toilet paper sized pieces of coordinating scrapbook paper
several rolls of coordinating ribbon or tulle
stickers that number 1-24, plus an additional "Christmas Day" sticker (depending on if you are counting down or simply putting the dates)
Decorative accents (rub-ons, stickers, etc.)

Instructions:
1. Cut out papers to fit around toilet paper rolls so that they cover the entire roll. Tape the top piece.


Glue the wrong side of the paper.


And tape the end to secure it.


2. Cut pieces of ribbon or tulle about 6 inches if you want it to stick out and sort of "poof" at the edges (for tulle).

3. Tie two pieces together. Feed through one toilet paper roll, making sure the tied part is staying on the outside. Feed the other end through another toilet paper roll and tie the loose ends as tight as you can. If you fail to tie them tight enough you will be able to see spaces in between toilet paper rolls. Continue this until you have completed.





Make sure you are putting them in the order you would like. Last year I used the calendar starting with 1 and going up to 25. This year I decided I would prefer to start with 24 and end on Christmas Day (0), to make it more like a countdown.

4. To hang the Advent Calendar, I tied a piece of ribbon and fed it through the very top toilet paper roll so that the knot wasn't showing and hung it from a wreath hanger that is in our dining room.



It's just a fun and cute way to remember where we are (in relation to Christmas and how far away it is) and to let the kids feel involved in getting them out each day. It also serves to keep us consistent. My family goes through scriptures of Jesus' birth as well as prophecies that point to Christ. We ask questions to focus our day on Christ and sometimes we have an activity that reinforces what we have learned. We sing Christmas songs and pray as a family.

If you would like a very simple Advent devotional, here is the link to download ours.

Duty Chronicles Advent Devotional

Show some link love if you make this craft or use our devotional. Thanks!

Advent Crafts, Activities and Traditions

Here are some ideas for making your Advent/Christmas season more meaningful. Some are just plain fun, but you can certainly make wonderful memories doing them together!

Building Graham Cracker Houses – we’re going to make houses out of graham crackers, frosting and candies. We might even have a contest in which everyone will win some prize (most festive, tallest, cutest, most symmetrical…)

(picture and idea courtesy of my friend from MOPS, Ellen Palomo)

Graham Cracker House Frosting
3 egg whites (room temp) NO YOLK
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 box powdered sugar (confectioner's) 16 oz.
Some Ideas for decorative accents: Mini Shredded Wheat for the roof, Necco wafers, licorice strings, Lifesavers, candy cane sticks, gum drops, mini marshmallows, Red Hots, Hot Tamales, Sprees

In large mixer bowl beat egg whites, cream tartar as you slowly add sugar. Beat 7 minutes until smooth and thick. Store in tightly covered container. Can be made ahead if tightly covered and kept at room temperature up to two days. Makes two cups.

Lay a damp cloth over frosting as you work on houses as it will dry out quickly. Make frosting one batch at a time. If for any reason the frosting isn't thick, add more sugar a few spoons at a time. It needs to be firm but not so thick it can't spread. It dries on graham cracker houses quickly if made correctly.


Christmas tree ornaments – green triangle and brown rectangle construction paper glued together and decorated with markers, stickers, jewels, pearls, stars, whatever you have around. Punch a hole and tie with a cute ribbon at the top.

Talk about the symbolism: Greenery in the midst of winter symbolizes eternal life, which we are to receive from the One to Come, the Christ Child (Matthew 1:21). He has come to save us from our sins.

I’m going to make a garland out of ours and string them in places that don’t normally get decorated, like the kids’ rooms.


Watch Christmas Movies together – we love Boz Christmas, Veggie Tales Christmas, Muppet Christmas Carol, Miracle on 34th St.


Read Christmas Books – books we like or that have been recommended to us:

Who is Coming to our House? By Joseph Slate and Ashley Wolff
B is for Bethlehem by Isabel Wilner
Alabaster Song by Max Lucado
One Wintry Night by Ruth Bell Graham
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathon Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski
The Legend of the Christmas Tree by Rick Osborne
The Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Walburg
Jacob’s Gift by Max Lucado


Christmas Memory Book – take pictures, write about the holidays, where did we go, what was an unexpected blessing, trace your children’s hands, and pull it out to add to the next year. It’s fun to look back on!


Tree Trimming – play Christmas music while you are putting out your decorations, while you are trimming the tree, anytime after Thanksgiving have Christmas music ready to play. We love Denver and the Mile High Orchestra, Andrew Peterson, Mariah Carey (yes, I know…). Drink egg nog, hot chocolate, cider and enjoy the time together.


God’s Greatest Gift Wreath Craft – from Oriental Trading


Paper Plate Angel – we are doing this the day that we read about the angel approaching Mary and telling her that she will be “with child”


Cinnamon Ornaments – I haven’t made these, but know people who have. Combine 1 C. applesauce with 1 C. cinnamon and mix well. Roll out to ¼ “ thickness onto ungreased cookie sheet or heavy aluminum foil. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Peel away excess dough. Use a toothpick to make a small hole for ribbon. Bake in warm oven (about 200 degrees) for 2 hours.


GFA and Samaritan’s Purse Catalog – choose gifts together from these catalogs, perhaps have children save up money and use it to give as their “gift” to Jesus


New Pajamas on Christmas Eve


Christmas “crackers” – cracking them together, pictures with crowns
Buy them,
Or make your own and fill it with whatever you want
You could even make these and put your advent devotions in here and crack them everyday!


Christmas pickle – hiding it in the tree and having a reward for the one who finds it


Birthday Cake for Jesus – sing happy birthday, bake foil-covered papers into the cake with strings attached. Answer the question you get in your piece for reflection and sharing


“Boxing Day” – Dec. 26th to box up old toys to give to charity


3 Gift Guideline – Jesus was given 3 gifts, give kids the same amount

We are certainly not doing ALL of these. We will pick and choose based on what works for our family and the ages of our children. These are just ideas to get you thinking about how to make your Christmas season intentional in terms of looking to Christ as the focus of our season and spending quality, meaningful time with your children.

Just a reminder...

"May our decorations, gifts, festivities or lack of them - never block our view of him but always point us toward him." -Noel Piper