Saturday, December 17, 2011

Christmas Activities

I love so many things about December, even though I'm a warm weather kind of gal, there are just so many memories to make and so much fun to be had this month!


We are doing this awesome Advent countdown called "Truth in the Tinsel."
It was specifically written for little ones.  Each night we gather together for family devotional time and read specific verses from the bible and then complete a corresponding ornament craft together.  I love keeping the focus on the reason for the season!
We start off by moving our countdown tree marker!
Who ever is over gets to join in on the fun!  Grandma and Aunt Allie helped the boys make their candle ornaments on the first night.
Remembering that Jesus is the light of the world!
Originally, I thought this would be something I'd do with the boys during the day, but when I told Brandon about it, he wanted to be a part.  Exactly why I adore this man.
Crowns for King Jesus!
Angel Gabriel!

 I love how Kyler drew a circle on Mary's tummy since since she's pregnant!

Our little advent tree at home is out of control and still has many more ornaments to be added to it!  I LOVE doing Truth in the Tinsel with the boys and hope to make it an annual thing for us!
Here are just a few of the ornaments we've made lately.  There's the cd for Mary's song, Joseph, Joseph's pillow, the sun, and the name "Jesus."  We have fallen alittle behind on the daily schedule, but keep pluggin along.  We try to make it a priority, but there are some nights, especially on busy weekends, when we run out of time in the evening.

The boys really look forward to our family devotional time!
Here's reason number 794 that Brandon is an amazing father and husband! He stays up late with me doing my crazy projects like putting glitter puff paint on angel wings for Kyler's class party skit props.  Love him!
Here's Kyler's precious co-op friend, Gracie, whom he absolutely adores and I just adore her sweet mom.  Love making connections with other moms on the same homeschooling journey.
I had a blast at Kyler's class Christmas party at co-op, organizing the crafts and some of the activities.  Such cute kiddos!
Here's part of the skit where Kyler got to be Joseph.  They reenacted the nativity story as I read it aloud.  So cute!
Pin the nose on the snowman!
Ornament centers!
I practiced the ornaments I made with Kyler's class before hand with the boys at home, so we have all kinds of homemade ornaments this year!  Here are the sequenced candy canes!
Which turned into the perfect math manipulative for addition!
Pom-pom Christmas trees!
Paint shake (inside a clear ball) with a handprint outside!
Dylan's Christmas art!
I usually only make one or two sweet treats this time of the year because if it's here, I'll eat it!  My peanut butter white chocolate covered pretzels are a hit this year.  Using organic ingredients makes them even more amazing! 



Kyler looked through the Compassion Christmas catalog and picked out a chicken to donate to another family across the world in need.  It cost $16, so we decided to bake sugar cookies and sell them to raise the money.
We set up a sign in the mom's room/teacher's lounge at homeschool co-op and sold all the cookies we brought!
Kyler also sold cookies at grandma's house.
We made enough money to buy a chicken and a bible to donate to Compassion!  It was a great math lesson as well.  Ky worked on sorting, counting, and adding money.


I love snowy days at home.  We have been busy, BUSY and it was great just to spend the day at home with our first flurries of the season coming down outside.
 We made snowmen!
 
 
 The boys were dying to go ourside.  It took forever to get them all bundled up...
and ten minutes later, there was a huge pile of wet clothes on a muddied rug with red nosed children smiling ear to ear.  Totally worth it!
 I staying in and surprised the boys with warm cuddlies when they came in.  They had their favorite blankies, snuggly puppies, slippers, warmed rice bags, and hot chocolate.  
 We snuggled on the couch and read snowman themed stories.  I could not imagine being anywhere else and love being able to share these special moments with my children!  So very blessed.

We are just having so much fun with crafts and activities this year!

2 comments:

  1. What fun! I would love it if you would share at my sharing party at http://craftymomsshare.blogspot.com/2011/12/sharing-saturday-10.html. Thank you!

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  2. Such fun advent activities!!! I have heard so many people really enjoyed using that book! I wanted to invite you to link up to TGIF Linky Party - http://livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com/search/label/Linkey%20Parties - I know my readers would love this!! Merry Christmas,
    Beth

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