Creation Day 5

The girls completed Day 5 for their Bible Timeline Notebook.  

 

 We spent several days on Day 5.  Izzie created a magnificent lapbook on sharks!   

 

 The lapbook corresponded with The Magic School Bus: The Great Shark Escape chapter book.

Most printables can be found here...I did create and add a few more pictures. 

 

 

 

The lapbook is huge!  She had so much fun putting it together and we both learned a ton of information about sharks!

Advent Day 2

The girls were thrilled to see that Rose Cookie the Elf had returned from the North Pole with her official adoption paper and a letter from Santa. 

They were even more excited to complete the Truth in the Tinsel activity for the day! 

Day 2: Crown

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."  Isaiah 9:6

    

    

Izzie and Mac's annual picture in front of the Christmas tree!

We spent the afternoon at a local pottery shop, where the girls were able to visit with Santa's helper and paint a few special pieces of pottery.

Enjoying a few snacks before the excitement started!

There were several different ornaments to choose from...both girls decided to paint a stocking.

The girls were super excited to see Santa!  This was their FIRST time ever seeing Santa, talking to Santa, and setting on Santa's lap.  So, there was a lot riding on this event with Santa.  Unfortunately, they quickly noticed that Santa was young and skinny and wanted to know where the "real" Santa was!  We explained that Santa has many helpers.  I must admit that I was very disappointed in Santa.  This local business really had a lot of hype in their advertisement about painting with Santa, so I was hoping for a more look-a-like Santa than the owner of the business! 

Santa's helper gave each of them a goodie bag and a book, which delighted them!

In addition to the ornaments, the girls created a handprint plate!  I've been wanting a plate with both of their hands for awhile now.  We used their thumbprints as the border.  We decided against a holiday theme plate, so it can be displayed all year. 

 I love the simplicity of it! 

We had a wonderful family fun-filled afternoon!

Advent Day 1

For the last few days, we've been decorating the house for Christmas!  I always look forward to putting up our Christmas tree each year and I love seeing all the homemade Christmas ornaments from previous years!  The girls are bursting with excitement too!  There's just so much magic during this season and it's so special to see it through the eyes of little ones.  

We participated in the Truth in the Tinsel Advent experience last year and the girls really enjoyed reading the scriptures and creating the ornaments and crafts.  I wanted to participate again this year, but didn't want to do the same activities from last year...we truly don't have enough space to create and display all the ornaments, again.  So, we're participating and will be tweaking along the way. 

   

 

Day 1:  Candle

"When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, 'I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.' "
John 8:12

Izzie created a dry bean candle holder last week at Coop, so we decided to make several smaller ones for today's Advent activity.  

If you're curious to see our last year's Advent Day 1 candle activity, click here.  

We've never celebrated Christmas with Santa.  My husband and I made the decision years ago, when Izzie was just a baby, not to incorporate Santa into our Christmas celebration.  Times have changed.  The girls are super excited about Santa this year, thanks to Christmas cartoons and young friends.  The girls know and understand that Christmas is about birth of Jesus Christ, so we've decided that it will be okay to participate in Santa activities this year too.  We're jumping in with two feet! 

Last year, we created our own Christmas tree count down.  

Inspiration and printables can be found at Mama Jenn. 

However, this year we're using my husband's childhood Christmas count down calendar.  We're still using the cards from Mama Jenn.  

In addition, we added a new member to our family, Rose Cookie, the Elf.  

Yes, we're participating in Elf on the Shelf!  Rose Cookie made her first appearance and the girls were beyond excited!  It was amazing how quickly they began to correct their own behavior because Rose Cookie was observing them.   

We spent the afternoon at our local library creating Gingerbread Houses with friends! 

      

    

 Later in the evening, we headed downtown to watch their first Christmas parade! 

     

I love this time of year and I love making memories as a family!