Countdown to Christmas...23 Days!

Today is officially my last day wearing the walking boot for even a partial day, so there is something to celebrate right there!

For dinner we are having pumpkin pancakes, and for activities, we are having Christmas, Christmas, Christmas, all over this place!

So far today we have read 10 pages from Hark! A Christmas Sampler, Read today's selection from The Jesse Tree, taking our ornament and candy out of our advent envelopes, and I now have a coloring page for each story we read.

We also read about Mexico in our Christmas around the World activities from Expedition Earth and made paper bag luminaries, using battery operated candles.

When we finished all of that, we just hadn't had enough (I know, right?) So we made hand print ornaments, another idea from Confessions of a Homeschooler. Here is the link to her instructions and pictures: snowman handprint ornament I actually used the acrylic fillable Christmas ornaments so that I wouldn't have to worry about them breaking during the creation or shipping process.

I went ahead and added the links for everything you would need to make the ornament crafts, and also a link for battery operated candles, so you would know what you are looking for but I found the candles 2 for $3.99 at Target, so the candles can be found cheaper. The book I haven't found anywhere but on Amazon so I bought it there myself.

Countdown to Christmas...24 Days!

So I didn't mean to go this many days without posting, but I have had a migraine for days now. I still don't feel 100%, but I am doing better.

Today my youngest son had an evaluation with a speech therapist and he will now have to start speech therapy. I was worried about it going in, especially since we chose to go through the school district for the speech in spite of homeschooling, but it all went smoothly. I am glad that he will be getting some help.

Despite all the chaos, this week has gone good for the kids. My daughter used her Christmas money to buy her second American Girl doll, Elizabeth.

My husband finally got his birthday dinner with his parents, including pumpkin pie, and I got our advent calender on the wall.

Tonight in addition to The Jesse Tree we read from Hark! A Christmas Sampler and The Mother Goose Book of Christmas Carols

Hark! A Christmas Sampler

I also put a red or green gummy Lifesavor in each envelope for each kid. We didn't get to do a Christmas craft today because I was feeling so sick. :( Maybe we will do two tomorrow? hehehe

Which reminds me: Here is a fun idea for a craft you could make for someone in your family, niece and nephew for Christmas. They are shadowboxes of their initials:

All I did was decoupage (collage) using modge podge

 magazine cut outs all over a cardboard letter that I bought from Hobby Lobby. 

After that I picked a complementary background color of scrapbook paper and glued the letter on. 

I placed the letter in a shadow box frame, and voila! A beautiful piece of wall art was made!

Are You feeling ADVENT-urous?

We are advent-ing it all over the place over here. We love it! I have never done it before, but I really wanted to make sure that Christ is the focus of Christmas for my children, like it was for me growing up. I don't want them to miss out on the true joy of this season. The joy of a new toy only lasts for so long. The joy of our Saviour is never ending.

That being said, celebrating advent can be a daunting task. There are 8 million ideas out there of how to do so, some of them expensive, some of them cheap, some of them easy, some of them time consuming, and everything in between? I am not wealthy, especially since every dollar I get this time of year I want to spend on someone I love, and I am also not the most crafty and industrious person in the world. So here is what is working for me.

First, we got 26 envelopes (that is how many days are in advent this year) and then we got out markers, glue, scissors, the day after Thanksgiving adds, magazines, and wrapping paper scraps. My children decorated the back side of each envelope (where the flap is), and I wrote the number on the flap for each day.

Next I got that sticky adhesive and I attached the envelopes to my wall. To make it super festive, I made them in the shape of a Christmas tree. In each envelope is a piece of candy, and then a bible verse or an ornament that represents a story from the book The Jesse Tree, which we are reading this year. 

I really like this book and their are a ton of ideas to make this more fancy (giving it it's own tree, making a tree out of wood and buttons, etc.) but in order to stay with my theme of keeping it simple, we just let our kids take turns adding the ornament to our regular tree.

This book is something our kids have really enjoyed. I also have been planning a lot of  activities, and plan to put a slip of paper with the activity in the pocket. A book that we are using with some activities, and also with ADvent ideas to go along with the activities I have planned is called the ADVENTure of Christmas. Our kids are really enjoying this, as well.









We are also using a free Christmas around the world lapbook you can find here.

Also, here is a link to another blog with ideas for The Jesse Tree. Confessions of a Homeschooler - Jesse Tree

And here is another link to advent activities: montessori advent blog

Also, here is a really cute wood and button Jesse Tree from Ramblings of a Crazy Woman: button jesse tree


I will post more later, my best friend is here for coffee now!