Thursday, December 27, 2012

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.

Monday, December 24, 2012

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!


 
C - is for the Christ child, born upon this day is for the Christ child, born upon this day


H - for herald angels in the night for herald angels in the night


R - means our Redeemer means our Redeemer

I - means Israel means Israel
S - is for the star that shone so bright  is for the star that shone so bright 


T - is for three wise men, they who traveled far is for three wise men, they who traveled far 


M - is for the manger where He lay is for the manger where He lay
A - 's for all He stands for 's for all He stands for

S - means Shepard's came means Shepard's came
 

Sunday, December 23, 2012

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

Thursday, December 20, 2012

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!