Advent

Other than the regular advent calendars we've never really done "advent". This year I purchased the book "Jotham's Journey," which takes the reader(s) through advent by way of a story of a young boy's journey in the days before Jesus was born. We are enjoying reading of the prophesies of the Messiah and our own need for a Savior through this story.

We received these pretty ornaments from some very thoughtful friends recently (there are several more, all with different words/sayings). I intended to put them on the tree, but Mr. R had a great idea that we decided to go with. He thought it would be nice to have them hung up around the house in areas that we would see them regularly. The light switches were chosen as a place to hang them, and I must say that it has been delightful having them all over the house! I love the reminders of what we are celebrating this season!

Setting up the nativity- home school style

Miss E enjoyed setting up the Playmobile Nativity that G'ma and Grandad just sent.
Notice the shepherd in the field, with the angel bringing news of great joy?

The wise men are quite a ways off, since they will not be arriving for two more years. ;)

JOY!

This past week-end we went up to visit our dear friends the Joneses. We went up so that I could attend the "Woman's encouragement brunch" that CVP was putting on, but that was really just a good excuse to go up for a visit! The theme for the brunch was "JOY." The whole visit was a time of joy as we all shared some sweet fellowship with the Jones and "R" families who have become so very dear to us!

The visit started out with dinner and moved on to cupcakes!

The kids all had a great time playing together.

The moms took off in the morning for the brunch. Rebecca was one of three speakers at the brunch. She spoke on choosing the right words. The entire brunch was so encouraging and convicting. It was such a blessing to be able to participate with this wonderful group of ladies!

The dads held down the fort and put the kids to work while we were gone! Judging by the reports and the pictures they had a GREAT time!

We had some more sweet fellowship that evening including a time of singing Christmas Carols.

Getting ready (or waiting) to go to church in the morning.

Clips!

Thanks for another wonderful visit!

St. Nicholas Day

As long as I can remember my family has been celebrating St. Nicholas Day. I think it was something my Great Grandmother passed on to the family (who knows how long her family had been doing it! ;). I love seeing all of the shoes lined up!

The kids enjoyed finding their shoes filled with treats this morning.

We watched the veggie tales St. Nicholas DVD, it was OK. We also enjoyed reading a book about St. Nicholas. It was fun to compair the DVD and book; to talk about how it can be hard to compile an accurate history on a person. We talked about the common elements that seem to run through most tales of St. Nicholas. The main point- he was a man that loved the Lord and shared God's love through giving. We enjoy learning about him in this season of giving as we celebrate the greatest gift of all, Jesus!

The Streets of Bethlehem

A local church was putting on a "Streets of Bethlehem" nativity this past week. We went with a couple of other families (who also happen to be the bulk of our speech club), and we all had such a great time.

Some of them loved the line to get in so much that they went through it four or five times before even going in. (okay, maybe they were just being very kind and waiting for us while we tried to get a parking spot!)

They told the Christmas story in stages. When we first came in the skit was about the angel Gabriel coming to Mary and Joseph.

There were Roman soldiers.

Market place booths to "shop" at, some of them had activities like making a bracelet or leather working.

There were performers.

I was "dripping" with babies much of the evening!

Miss J has really warmed up to Mr. W in the past month or so. They were both blessed to have some special time together!

The last two skits were the Shepherds in the fields and then Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus in the stable.

This is what we saw as we walked away from the stable. A great reminder that we are not only celebrating the birth of our savior, but also remembering His sacrifice!

On the way out there was a tent full of goats. I think this was just about the most exciting part for Miss J and Miss C (though Miss J did enjoy seeing many angels too!).

We had some hot chocolate and a sweet time of fellowship together before heading home.

Pouring milk

Last night I asked Miss J to help me with getting drinks for dinner. She got the jug of milk out of the fridge and then asked if she could pour the milk. At first I thought "no", but then I figured that since it was only 1/4 full this would be a good chance for her to give it a try.

Yep, she poured a couple of glasses of milk for her siblings without incident!

Mommy- "How old are you Miss J?"

Miss J - "oh, I two and free quarters, but I amost ten"

Christmas Cookies for the troops!

No, not my family! LOL! We have a dear loved one currently deployed, so yesterday the kids and I spend the morning making cookies for Uncle D (and plenty for him to share!).

Her is a link to last year's cookie making fun!

I'm going to link this to Smockityfrocks.com since I found these cute little mice on her site last year. We had an assembly line going for these little guys; sorry no pictures though since my hands had quite a bit of chocolate on them!

Next we made "Minty Holiday Candy Cookies" these have become a favorite of ours after finding the recipe on orgjunkie.com years ago. The little ones always love banging up the candy canes for me (okay, they all do, but this is a great job for "littles")!

Minty Holiday Candy Cookies (this was originally intended for one of those cute jar mixes)

3/4 c sugar
3/4 c brown sugar
2 c flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c M&M's (use the red and green ones!)
1/3 c chopped peppermint candy canes

Mix all of these together in a bowl; then add to the mix

1/4 c butter

work this into dry mix with hands; then add

2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix this together (this always seems to work best when done with your hands)

Line baking sheets with parchment paper (DO NOT skip this! Remember all of those candy canes you put in?). Drop dough by rounded tablespoons full 3 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from sheet ASAP so they don't stick! Place on wire cooling rack. Enjoy!