Advent Activities

I LOVE this time of year! I love the JOY of the season, I love the intentional time we have together as a family, I love reaching out to others, I love traditions, I love switching things up and starting NEW traditions!

What I DON'T love: supplies, messes, and prep work.

So I choose our daily advent activities with that in mind. Each year I come up with a few new ideas and add them in. Some ideas for YOU...

Decorate the Christmas tree.

Make a popcorn garland.

Make an ornament and add to the Christmas tree.

Read about candy canes and then add some to the tree.

Have a candy cane hunt!

 

Make a craft with Mom.

 List what you are grateful for.

Decorate an ice cream cone Christmas tree. (the kids' favorite!)

Bake Christmas cookies.

Deliver cookies to someone you want to bless.

Cook a big brunch.

Invite friends over for hot cocoa and cookies.

Clean out toys to give away, including a favorite item.

Prepare and mail out Christmas cards. (assembly line style)

Send a sunshine box to someone who has had a hard year.

Mail encouraging cards to families who have lost someone this year.

 Donate items to local collection drive.

As a family buy something for a third world community. 

 Visit nursing home residents.

Candy cane bomb a parking lot.

Prepare a care package for a single mom.

Go shopping for Christmas exchange.

Make a Christmas card for your teachers.

Prepare gifts for teachers.

Bake and deliver something to your neighbors. 

THANK your mail and/or UPS carriers.

Drive around looking at Christmas lights.

 Go on a driving Christmas scavenger hunt around town.

Attend a Christmas program. (aka the kids' school music concert)

Sing Christmas carols around the piano.

Unwrap a new book to read. 

Pick one of your received Christmas cards and pray for that family.

 Learn about how Christmas is celebrated in another part of the world.

 Camp out by the Christmas tree tonight.

Watch a favorite Christmas movie. 

Put on music and have a coloring party.

 

Fill out a Christmas mad lib

 Play Christmas dice game.

 Play Christmas-themed Pictionary. 

Play "Name That Tune" with Christmas hymns and songs.

Write a Christmas poem together.

 List how many words you can make using the letters in CHRISTMAS.

Have a family spelling bee with Christmas words.

Burn off some holiday treats and do 50 jumping jacks.

Have a living room dance party to fun Christmas music.   

Spend time repenting by reading Psalm 51.

Read and act out nativity story.
Watch The Nativity movie.

Read the story about JESUS. 

How we do Christmas

I LOVE the Christmas season!  I think it gets more and more meaningful and fun as the kids get older!  

Here is what we are doing this year...

We kicked off the season in November by participating in Operation Christmas Child.  The older two each packed a shoebox for another child their same ages. This year I remembered to print tags online so we can track what country our boxes are delivered to! It will be exciting when we get that email! Next year Carter will be old enough to understand more of what's going on and help pack a shoebox as well.

As you probably already know, each night/afternoon this year we've been doing an advent activity from our calendar, and we are LOVING this tradition.  I like that I can secretly switch the cards around sometimes if I'm feeling too lazy for what was originally assigned.  These have been a fun way to keep the meaning of Christmas simple and true.

I also wrapped all our Christmas books that we hadn't seen since last year and  each night we open and read a new book.  Some of them are even library books and those are numbered for a specific date so they can be opened and returned.  And a couple of them are actually nativity puzzles, just for a fun surprise, cuz we love doing puzzles!  

After we open the Christmas book, we also read a few stories from the Jesus Storybook Bible, starting all the way at the beginning. Every story connects to Jesus and is perfect to read again this time of year, reminding us why we NEED a savior, why we are so thrilled that Jesus has come!  The kids LOVE these stories and beg me to keep reading, saying with great excitement how they "love the Bible!!"  

As for actual Christmas and presents, we don't do Santa so we actually haven't even been talking about presents AT ALL.  But this year for the first time I am doing "something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read" for each of the kids.  So I FEEL like I'm really only getting the kids one main present and even that one isn't extravagant.  We fill stockings with little things and on Christmas Eve they'll each get a new pair of slipper jammies. We rarely buy actual jammies for jammies, we do a lot of tshirts and sweats, so new jammies is special.  

And that's it!  But so wonderful!! 

Christmas Calendar

The idea started brewing last year but at the time I just couldn't find what I was looking for, and I ran out of time to get it together before Christmas season began. So here I was again heading into this year and collecting some new ideas of what I wanted to make.

A Christmas calendar. 

With pockets that include a daily family Christmas activity. 

Instead of a countdown I decided to make it forward like a calendar. Countdowns are tricky to keep track of what day you're on, and this will make it easy to continue if/when we miss days.  I don't want to put the pressure on to do something EVERY SINGLE DAY, because with that adds stress and guilt and that ruins the season faster than anything. But it's there for us to TRY to do every day.  To make fun family memories.

Besides mini photo books, I'm also in love with sewing felt.  It's so quick and easy--you don't have to worry about edges and hems. It's like paper crafts but instead of gluing you use the sewing machine. These were inspiration, but too much work in my opinion.  Too much detail for my skill level.

this was last year's idea

And here is what I created.  Though I still need to add the word Christmas at the top area somehow. Not sure what I want to do with that. But at least it's ready for use.

I put this completely together in part of an afternoon. Super easy and quick. It's just simple and functional but that's my style.  The scrap I cut off of each row so it fit the black piece was just the size I needed for the hanging tabs at the top.  Here's a peek at what some of the cards are in each pocket. There are tons of ideas for these on Pinterest. But this is what I thought was a good mix of serving others, learning the true meaning of Christmas, and simple holiday fun.

Download PDF HERE.

I got out my pocket calendar so I could see what we have going on each day and placed the cards in pockets accordingly.  Can't wait for December to arrive!

P.S. The Christmas Board Game is THIS.

And the Christmas dice game is something like this:

Update: And here is the finished product!! Hooray!  I'm already getting a few new activity ideas for next year... like doing Advent candle lighting and reading on each of the Sundays, or picking a common carol and studying the lyrics or doing copywork with them, or decorating the tree in portions, starting with lights and gradually adding and learning about some of the symbols we put on etc.

How can it be?

... that there are only 3 weeks til school starts???  Wow.  This summer has been so great, so full of wonderful memories.

But there is so much yet to do!  And this 100 degree heat wave we've been stuck in is thwarting those last plans, like hiking and camping and trail riding and tree adventuring and park playing. There are books I want to read to the kids, soo many books I want to read to the kids. And just so little time.

And I'm wondering, why is it so hard to be intentional with our weekend time like we are in the summer??  So here I am, purposing that at least once a month we'll spend a day doing some adventure together as a family. It doesn't have to cost a thing, but there is much to explore and do just in our rural area. You just have to find it.

Live Simply.

Over the past year I've become pretty disgusted and saddened by the craze of our nation with electronics. Ipod, ipad, iphone, kindle, DS, data phones, video games, computer games. Anytime, anywhere. People, myself included, are becoming increasingly addicted to these things, distracted, restless, and unable to just BE. To wait. To find something creative to do. Or do nothing at all. To really be PRESENT with one another. We adults have been sucked into all this, and the kids, even the youngest of them, are falling right into the same trap. At play dates and birthday parties I hear kids asking to play video games and it's just soo sad to me!!  

Lately we have put all these things up. Kids used to wake up before us and play games on the ipod until we were up. Now I put the ipod up in the evening so they can't get to it, and they are encouraged to find something quiet to do or read instead. And in the fall I'll be downgrading my phone OFF of the data plan. I can hardly wait. I'm tired of the distractions, the restlessness, the constant need to check Facebook cuz I'm bored. The constant need to share a picture the minute its taken. It's ridiculous. Can we not simply just enjoy the moment? Pictures are important. But the need to share immediately is not. Now it's not that we're COMPLETELY anti-technology, but it's a treat around here, and I like it better that way.

Anyway.... done with my rant now... the point of this post is that I got inspired by Pinterest to use an old window pane as a picture frame. I was bummed that we didn't really have anything and then I realized one day when digging in the shed that we DID! And quickly my idea came together...

I started sorting through old pictures and chose my theme to be "Live Simply" featuring the simplest and most wonderful moments of life. Each of our children being born, picking flowers, blowing dandelions, splashing in puddles, swinging from a tree branch, sandy toes, sunsets, and of course some pictures of our family together. 

This frame used to be our front door until the wind caught it and busted it from the rest of the door. I wiped the glass windows but the rest is exactly as it was. Not repainted and hardly even cleaned. The pictures are just taped.

It's hard to take a picture of the whole thing because of all the reflections from the windows on the opposite wall so there's a bunch of pictures to see everything up close...

Thoughts for the coming year.

My main goal: to live in the PRESENT.

* Less computer time.

* More reading.

* Less time in my phone.

* More time playing.

* Less girls nights.

* More dates with my own husband.

* Less time on techy gadgets.

* More family time.

* Less time sitting on the couch.

* More time being diligent with house work.

Several months ago I was appalled when I saw a young toddler watching a small portable DVD while waiting at a restaurant table. I mean REALLY?!  I see all sorts of kids with their own personal Nintendo DS wherever they are! We now have phones with internet and we check email or text or whatever while waiting at a stop light or at the doctor's office or at dinner with OUR OWN FRIENDS. We have vehicles with movie players, TVs at treadmills, news screens at gas stations. Can any of us really just SIT and BE anymore? Do we adults have attention span to focus on ANYTHING?! And what are we teaching our children when we allow them to fall into the same trap??! *Heavy sigh* When our kids were infants I refused to use those toy bars that strap to the car seat handle, toys that strap to shopping carts, or buy suction toys for the high chair.  I'm all about having small toys in a bag for when they're absolutely needed, but right from the beginning I didn't want our kids to think they needed entertained 24/7.  I want to instill in them the ability to SIT, to be creative, to play imaginatively, to observe their surroundings, to love books, to love art, music, family time. It starts when they're young and it continues to today. I also know that sometimes when the kids are really getting crazy and out of control, that's when they need something structured, an activity like water colors or play dough or a board game or just going outside.

So in those moments when  you normally would get restless, instead of getting on those techy gadgets, make memories and laugh with your family!

While You Wait...

For frozen pizza to cook...

...have kids color their own "toppings" on the cardboard backing.

At a restaurant...

...play I Spy or search for certain shapes. (little ones)

...make up a story going around the table, each person adding a sentence at a time. (older ones)

At an airport (or a city bus stop though most of us really don't do that in our daily lives)...

...make up stories and names of the people you see and where you think they might be going.

At the doctor's office...

...plan ahead and bring a small tote of books and have children look quietly at them if there are not already toys provided in the waiting room.

... if you're alone, bring a book or magazine for yourself and enjoy the moment to read.

* What other ideas do you have for creating fun family memories out of a moment of boredom?

* How do you limit kids' time on techy gadgets?

* How do you limit YOUR time on techy gadgets?

This year

... We are not doing the Jesse tree and devotions. Not that I don't like it or that we won't do it again, but I'm just trying to simplify and pear down activities that cause me to feel stress or like a failure if we don't get to it each day.  

... We ARE opening a new Christmas book each night.  I totally stole this idea from my friend Amanda after we visited her house.  Instead of bringing out the stack of Christmas books with all the other Christmas decorations, I wrapped each one in tissue paper.  (THAT took longer than I thought it would!) And most every night we open a new book.  The kids haven't seen them since last year, so it's a fun surprise to open each one.

... I don't have ANYTHING figured out for Christmas cards or letters!  I LOVE you all, but I kinda just don't feel doing them this year!  Anyone else like that some years???

... The kids are having loads of fun playing with these cards I pulled out again from last year! This time we did tricky patterns so instead of it just being the picture itself, it was detail like animal-person-animal-person, or blue background-red background etc

What are your traditions for this year??

Family Christmas Board Game

I wanted to make a little Bible trivia game about REAL Christmas facts and the Biblical meanings of traditional Christmas symbols such as the candy cane or Christmas tree.  If you answer your question card correctly, then you move ahead.  I made several of the questions multiple choice for little ones, but if you have older kids you can delete the answer choices and just leave it for open answer.  Use dimes for your game pieces and place small stickers on them to tell whose is whose.

DOWNLOAD and print on cardstock for durability:
Game Board
Question Cards
Answer Sheet with Bible references

This is a pretty short game, you can probably easily play 2 or 3 times through.  I played it with Hannah to make sure I set up the game right and you didn't finish in only 2 turns or something, and it was pretty fun!

Family Fun: Fall Scavenger Hunt

Hannah's preschool teacher asked my friend Nikki and I to organize a fall scavenger hunt for families to come and do together.  I wish I could show you pictures of the event but it's not until next week and fall is ending soon and I wanted to get this post up so you could maybe USE it!  Me and my Type A, chart-loving self decided it would be fun for kids/families to not only find items but examine them as well, filling out a chart as they go with details including color, texture, measurements, and so forth, trying to include all the senses if possible.  And since this is a family event, I want the scavenger hunt to somehow MAKE something in the end, as a way to preserve the memory of doing that activity together. So most of the items will get used to make a fall mobile afterward.  We are going to set up the string and other supplies so families can make their mobiles THERE, otherwise they're probably more likely to take their stuff home and then forget about it.  Here is the scavenger hunt list, DOWNLOAD HERE (there is a little more than what's pictured here).

And here is a picture of what your mobile will sort of look like!

I'm excited!  I think it will be fun for the kids!  Let me know if you do it!

Our Family Top 10

My friend Randi did something sort of like this for their Christmas card.  I thought it was a cute idea and it's still been in my head so I thought I'd follow that same idea to describe our family...

10 years since I graduated high school.
9 states Kevin and I have lived in combined.
8 minutes we live from town.
7 days a week we do family time.
6 years we've been married
5 gallons of milk we drink a week.
4 "farm" cats.
3 beautiful crazy heads we call our children
2 years we've lived here in Nebraska.
1 God we love and serve.

Do this about your family and leave it in the comments!!  =)

Jesus-'O-Lantern

As I was browsing kids lesson ideas for our upcoming MOPS meeting, I came across this great gospel demonstration using a pumpkin:

A pumpkin is round and shiny on the outside, and its skin is tough and hard to puncture. It looks perfect and wonderful. Sometimes we like to pretend we're all wonderful and perfect. (Read aloud Isaiah 66:2.)

The slimy stuff inside the pumpkin reminds me of our sins -- the things we need to confess and say, "I'm sorry, God, for..." When we ask God to forgive us for all the wrong things we've said, done, or thought, he forgives our sins. (Read aloud Isaiah 43:25.)

As we scrape all the slimy stringy stuff away, the pumpkin becomes clean inside. Jesus cleans our hearts, too, when we confess our sins. (Read aloud Psalm 103:12.)

Next we can begin to carve our designs in the pumpkins. Let's carve designs that can remind us of God, such as a heart, cross, fish, or butterfly. As we carve, the pumpkin slowly transforms into something new. We change too when God works in our lives. (Read aloud 2 Corinthians 3:18.)

Finally, we can put the candle inside the pumpkin. When we light the candle, what happens? (Read aloud 2 Corinthians 4:6.)

When we have Jesus in our lives, it's like having his candle inside us. We shine the light of Jesus so others can see and know him. (Read aloud Matthew 5:16 and John 12:46.)

We don't have the means to do this at the church, but it would be a great one to do with our kids here at home after we make our annual trip to the pumpkin patch!

T - 4 Days

...til Eli starts preschool! 
...til I start toting all the kids back and forth from town twice a day, three days a week.
...til I start having to finagle Carter's morning nap so he can hopefully stay awake 'til we get back home.
...til I either go grocery shopping with just two kids, or have to rearrange my grocery schedule.
...til I get to spend loads of one-on-one time with Hannah.  {I'm thinking of doing tea time with her.}
...til I can maybe officially do potty training with Hannah, maybe.  =)
...til Eli gets to really be a big boy and have something to be so proud of!

I'm so excited and anxious and nervous!  A whole new life is coming.  T - 4 days!
 

Pictures!

Alright, because I have so many favorite pictures from our vacation I'm trying a slide show this time.  It's just a simple one, I didn't add captions, the music is just one of the default songs.  But anyway, it at least gives you a glimpse into our trip!  Enjoy!

Digital slideshow customized with Smilebox

Vacation.

Colorado.  Family. Perfect weather. Camping. Cabin style. With AC and mini fridge and our own bathroom. Cool morning walks around the lake.  With my two youngest boys. Playground.  Fishing.  Paddle boats. Bumper boats.  Swimming pool. Family.  Hike in the mountains. Picnic in the mountains. Rattle snake.  Dreams of next year. Campfires. Smores. Ice cream social. Porch swing.  Date with my hubby.  Batting cage.  Go karts.  Air hockey.  Rainy afternoon.  Card games.  Family.  Sweet tea.  Charcoal.  Yummy food.  Croaking bull frogs.  Bumper boats again.  Campfire.  More smores. Sticky hands.  5:30am.  Baby still on central time. Baby bunnies.  City park.  Family.  Cooler filled with snacks.  Van full of books and toys.  Home.

Aside from Carter staying on central time during our  whole trip and being on a different schedule from the rest of us and being super fussy through nearly every meal and our entire hike through the peaceful mountains, our trip was wonderful.  Really wonderful.  It was so great hanging out with all our family, relaxing by the lakeside with plenty of fun things to do at our fingertips.  The kids did great on the 9hr drive both going and returning.  Already can't wait for next year!!

Me and my babes.

Eli just turned 4 yesterday, Carter turned 6 months last week, and Hannah's almost 2.5, so I thought now's such a great time to get some family shots. And yesterday morning being overcast was a PERFECT time to do pictures (cuz then you don't have to worry about too MUCH sun or shadows) I plopped the kids down for some sibling shots and then at the end hopped in for a few pictures too. Love the tripod and camera remote! Then after Kevin woke up we managed to get just a couple family pics. But for now here's the kids and me!

Well if she said it, so can I!

I'm going to be an aunt!!!!!! My sister-in-law is pregnant!!! They just found out this morning, so she's due the end of November/early-December, and I couldn't be more thrilled!!! Read Holly's thoughts HERE. We are so thankful and will continue to pray for a smooth pregnancy! All I can say is Yay, Yay, Yay!!!

Christmas Countdown Calendar and Jesse "Tree"

Last year at this time we were in the middle of moving and didn't have our normal Christmas tree. So we were borrowing a small Charlie Brown style one and made ornaments following the Jesse Tree tradition. This year I wanted to make a Christmas countdown calendar and I realized we could incorporate our Jesse Tree symbols all into one. We're following these devotionals, using these symbols, and at the end of the day instead of putting the symbols on a tree, we put them over one of the numbers on our countdown calendar. Seems to be working well and is a great way to end the day!

the calendar I put together just using a large white piece of paper and red and green construction paper

calendar with symbols

What are your family's traditions leading up to Christmas??

Answer me this: This is the year!

Alrighty, friends, I really want your input on this one... Christmas is coming and with that comes Santa. We don't do Santa at our house, but Eli's old enough this year and already asking questions, I need to explain who Santa is. He's been seeing decorations/pictures of him around the stores and asking "Is that Jesus? Who is that?" I casually answer that it's Santa and then change the subject. I want him to know a) where the idea of Santa Claus came from, b) that he's no longer real, and c) that many people like to believe that he's real. And then we continue on with what Christmas is really about--celebrating the birth of Jesus. I want him to know the truth but not walk around blowing the cover to other kids! Of course this is something Kevin and I will have to sit down and discuss, but I thought I'd see if you had any advice to share! How do you explain Santa to your kids?

Yup, it's true!

We are indeed expecting Baby #3 due January 28! This one came as a little bit of a surprise but we are very excited nonetheless! I guess I'm about 13 weeks now (I'm losing track this time around!) and finally starting to feel a lot better. Not so much nausea, though menu planning is still much harder than usual. We found out just before Father's Day but I finally had my first real appointment this past Thursday and got to hear Baby's heartbeat. Strong and he/she was kicking around though I couldn't feel it yet. Already getting a little bit of a rounder belly. Since we already have one boy and one girl now, I think this time we're going to wait to find out this baby's gender until delivery! And hopefully that delivery will actually be in the hospital this time! =) So far all is well and we are very thankful but continued prayers are very appreciated!

There's a surprise on my blog!

That's right there's a surprise on my blog page, you'll have to click on over to see it if you're reading this a blog reader right now. Scroll all over and see who can be the first to find it! =)