Preparing for the New Year

For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned. -Unknown

When we aren't making blizzards in our new DQ Ice Cream maker....

We are prepping for 2013.

Jars of mixes,mixes,mixes.

I credit  Redfly Creations for most of today's flour mayhem!

Sleep in Heavenly Peace

One of my favourite parts of Christmas Eve is when we sing Silent Night.

The candle is lit from the Christ Candle on the Advent Table and then

one by one... 

the flame travels from candle to candle

until...

the church is ablaze with the truth--light belongs in the darkness

Silent night, holy night

All is calm all is bright

Round yon virgin Mother and Child

Holy Infant so tender and mild

Sleep in Heavenly Peace 

Sleep in heavenly Peace

And after we say our goodbyes

and drive around town looking at lights on houses

and the big tree on the community square...

We head home to a Christmas candlelight dinner of tourtiere...

Finnish pulla and pickles from summer that we've saved for tonight!

After eating our meal and praying once more, we'll blow out the candles...

and sleep in heavenly peace.

How to Spell Christmas

Merry Christmas!

May you and your family have a brilliant day remembering the Reason for the Season:

Jesus!

God became flesh and dwelt among us

Glory to God!

Peace!

Good News to men on earth!

 

 is for the Christ child, born upon this day

 for herald angels in the night

 means our Redeemer

 means Israel

 is for the star that shone so bright 

 is for three wise men, they who traveled far 

 is for the manger where He lay

 's for all He stands for

 means Shepard's came

 

Christmas weekend

You can't get too much winter in the winter.

Robert Frost

Stocking Art

Hanging out with our babysitter watching my all time favourite Christmas movie: While You Were Sleeping

(it's on youtube!)

Creating Snow Art

Singing carols

Playing games

Reading stacks and stacks of books

Wrapping Gifts for a Friend

Christmas phone calls

Surprise visits to friends

Watching goofy parents dance to Carole King's Christmas album

Lighting up the cold, dark nights

with trails of light

And performing Christmas concerts in our living room

Wise Men Still Seek Him

We invited some friends over for a day to learn about the Wise Men from the Nativity.

We started by going for a walk and pretending to follow a star.

And we came bearing gifts.

We came home to a snack of 3 wise men,

a star,

and gifts of frankincense, gold and myrrh.

Then we decorated cookies,

while my best friend, Lolo B, made camel hump wraps and Iranian Stew.

Yum!

We read some different stories about the Nativity and Wise Men.

Through the Animals Eyes is a unique perspective on the Christmas story, including animals that inhabited the Middle East during the time of Christ.

The book There Was No Snow on Christmas Eve is a great book that sparked discussion on Geography and weather in the Holy Land.

We studied the differences between camels from the Orient and the Middle East.

We tried lifting the same amount of weight as a camel holds

(and multiplied it by 20!)

After reading about camels, we spent some time playing a game wearing clothes that did similar jobs like a camel`s body does. (ie. backpack for carrying fat that turns to water as it travels, etc.)

Here is a camel, complete with protective eyelids to block out the sand

Then we had a race.

You had to dress up like a camel, in all this crazy get up, and then race to the other side of the room

Tired out from our camel races, it was time to retire to the craft table 

Where we made camels, wise men and crowns of splendor

  

Time for science!

We lit some incense and discussed fragrance and worship.

Then prayed for peace in the Middle East.

We learned about how to give gifts like wise men give.

Gold-things of value

Frankincense-gifts that encourage worship and devotion to God

Myrrh- things for your body (myrrh was used to embalm bodies)--soap, clothes, or HUGS!!!!

Perfume time. 

We crushed up pine needles for one jar of perfume, another for cloves and another of sap from trees.

We`ll see in a few days what it smells like.

There may have been some cookie decorating going on.....

And finally, we made some gifts of bath salts to give away to someone special.

It was a wonder-filled day of Nativity learning!