advent day #2 - prayer chain

Tonight, we made prayer chains so that we can pray specifically for a different person throughout each day until Christmas.

We cut red and green construction paper into strips.


Then, we wrote the names of who we wanted to pray for on the strips. Ivy said who she wanted to pray for then I would write the name on a sheet a paper so that she could then write the name correctly on her strip.



Then, we alternated the red and green strips and made them into the links of the chain by taping the ends together. Of course, we did need to put a sticker on each one of the strips before we could turn them into links.


Our final product...

Before bed, we continued working on our memory verse - our words to remember tonight are "FOR GOD" and then we read a short passage from the book of Micah providing prophecy of Jesus' birth nearly 700 years before Jesus was even born!

And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of hte LORD his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. ~Micah 5:4

ivy's thoughts

I have found great joy in listening to the way Ivy talks, imagines, thinks, and explains things. (And, if I've found this much joy in hearing her little thoughts, I can only imagine what I'll be like when Owen and Letty join her in talking! I can't wait!) Here are some of Ivy's "pegs" to hang your hat on:

* "Mom, I can't fit any more food in my belly until some of it goes into my skills."

* "I think the money for God goes through a tunnel right up to Him in Heaven to use."

* "How does Webby (a local cattle farmer) get the meat out of the cow's stomach for us to eat?"

* Completely out of nowhere at the lunch table:
Ivy: "Mom, if the statue told me to bow down to it, I wouldn't 'cause I'll only bow down to God."
Mom: "That's good to hear, but what if someone would tell you that you would get hurt very badly if you didn't bow down to a statue. What would you do?"
Ivy: "I wouldn't bow down to it cause I only bow down to God."

* The reason she had to come over to Daddy and Mommy's bed to sleep in the middle of the night: "My pillow wouldn't let me sleep. The princesses were having a tea party and were spilling tea all over me and were talking way too loud!"
(Please understand that Ivy has a princess pillow case to cover her pillow.)

advent day #1 - thank you cards

For our first day of our Advent Christmas season, our family spent the evening listening to Christmas music and writing thank you notes and cards to our families for ALL of the gifts they so generously and graciously gave to us over the Thanksgiving holiday (our Christmas time with our families). As we always are, we were SPOILED by our families...spoiled not only with material things but spoiled with the time we got to spend with them and by their love.

Even Nathan wrote his own words of thanks which is a HUGE deal because he believes that you only need to tell the person thank you and that should be enough. :)

Ivy and Owen enjoyed coloring pictures to go in some of the packages. Ivy also enjoyed dictating her notes as her Mommy wrote her words down in the cards. She also signed her name and wrote some of her "own" words of thanks, too. Letty was our supervisor only wishing she could get some of that paper into her mouth.

And here are the packages ready to be mailed.

Later in the night, we read John 3:16 and started working on memorizing that verse. Tonight's word to remember was "FOR". Happy December 1st!

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.

~John 3:16

advent calendar

Ever since I read our friends' blog about using an advent calendar to read Scripture every day in the month of December leading up to Christmas as a way to prepare and focus their hearts on the real reason for the Christmas season...

AND ever since we were led to leave our "old" church a few months before the Easter holiday this past year and, especially during the time of finding another church to attend, the Lord led me to be more intentional in teaching our kids His Word at home by preparing Sunday School lessons of the events leading up to and including Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection which, in turn, REALLY prepared our hearts and minds like we've never experienced before for the Easter holiday...

AND ever since reflecting back to my own family's holiday traditions and remembering the times when my sisters and brother would help my Mom spread the red felt cloth on the mantle above the fireplace and then place the handpainted ceramic nativity set that my Grandma painted out on it but never putting Baby Jesus in place until Christmas Day...

I have desired to plan, prepare, and do an advent calendar with our family to start a new tradition in our home.

Although Owen and Letty are still a little young to totally understand the tradition, we are starting our new advent tradition this year. I originally wanted to make our own advent calendar but could never really get my hands on the exact materials that I wanted so I found a really cute box on Etsy.com. (It's a good thing we decided to buy an already-made calendar this year as I would have NEVER gotten the box done in time! Lately, there just seems to be too much to do with too little time to do it in.)

We have planned to do some sort of Christmas-related activity and read Scripture pertaining to Jesus' birth every day. We have also planned to take the entire 25 days to work with our kids to memorize John 3:16. Did you know that John 3:16 (NKJV) has exactly 25 words in the verse?!? Although I believe Ivy will memorize the verse before December 25th, our goal is to work on one word of the verse a day and understand the meaning to this verse! We pray that this advent tradition will provide us with a time to be together as a family and to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas - our Savior's birth!

We are really looking forward to starting and continuing this new family tradition. Perhaps, this is a tradition that our kids will carry on with their own children and that they will learn to reflect and focus on the real meaning of the holidays we celebrate.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.
~John 3:16

welcome home

I have TONS to blog about but very little time. I just don't know how some people/mothers do it! Well, we returned home from a 10-day vacation visiting our families for the holidays. Now, look what I have to do...

LAUNDRY and PILES of it!!!!

Welcome home...welcome home!