Advent book for kids

One Wintry Night by Ruth Bell Graham.

This is really two stories in one. First story is about a boy who goes out walking in the woods in the mountains. The weather gets bad and he makes it to a neighbor's house. He ends up spending several days as they are snowed in.

While he is there the lady of the house entertains him with the story of Christmas. She starts with creation and Adam and Eve. After all, if sin hadn't entered the world there would be no need for a savior. To truly understand the meaning of Christmas we have to understand why we need a savior in the first place. I love how she walks through many of the important events of the Old Testament. Then she gets to the birth of Christ. But she doesn't stop there as that is just the beginning. She talks about his death and resurrection. This is a great book that will really tie in the true meaning of Christmas for children. We really enjoyed reading this book. The pictures in the book are marvelous too.

Call Me Mrs. Miracle by Debbie Macomber

A wonderful, delightful book. The book is based on the fact that guardian angels exist and play an active role to help people. Emily Merkle is just such an angel. Her name on her name tag gets missed spelled and she becomes Mrs. Miracle. And she works to bring the spirit of Christmas and love into Jake and Holly's lives. The book starts each chapter with a quote from the characters of the book. They are really neat and fun.

Here are a few:

Exercise daily - walk with the Lord. - Mrs. Miracle

If God is your copilot, trade places. - Mrs. Miracle (I loved this one!)

Lead me not into temptation. I can find the way myself. - J.R. Finley.

Coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous. - Mrs. Miracle.

She also includes a couple of recipes. The one for sugar cookies looks very good.

This was just a great book to get in the Christmas spirit. I hope you will read it. It is very enjoyable.

Advent book - The Candymaker's Gift

by David and Helen Haidle

The Meaning of the Candy Cane - (this is from a card that I got - this attaches to an actual candy cane so that you can pass the meaning on to others).

"Many years ago a candy maker wanted to make a candy that would symbolize the true meaning of Christmas - Jesus.

The hard candy was shaped like a "J" to represent that Jesus is our rock of all ages. The candy was made of white to stand for the pureness of Jesus. The red represents the blood that Jesus shed to save us from our sins.

So the next time you see a candy cane take a minute to remember the real meaning of Christmas."

This book tells the story of the candy maker wanting to come up with a candy that would explain about Christmas to the children in the village whom he loved so much. He prayed to God for a solution and as he talked to his Granddaughter the idea came to him. It is a wonderful book and at the end the author lists the meaning of the candy cane with bible verses to go along with the meanings.

Here are a few of them -

Hard Candy

This reminds us that Jesus is like a "rock," strong and dependable.

Read Psalm 31:3

Peppermint Flavor:

This reminds us of the gift of spices from the wise men.

Read Matthew 2:11

Cane:

This reminds us of a staff used by shepherds in caring for sheep. Jesus is our "Good Shepherd."

Read John 10:1-18, 27-30.

This is really a great book to talk about the meaning of Christmas - Jesus.

Wonderful book. Enjoyable story and there is a recipe for Candy Cane Cookies at the end. This would be a fun project to do.

Advent books

I just wanted to share a few of the books that we enjoy reading during Advent. These are all wonderful stories. Hope you enjoy them also.

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski. This is really one of our most favorite books of the season. Jonathan is a grumpy man because he is sad. His wife and child died and he is grieving. Jonathan is a woodcarver and it is through the carving of a nativity set that the healing begins.

Bright Christmas An Angel Remembers by Andrew Clements

Many times when God has wanted to send a message to the people on earth He has sent angels. The story of Jesus's birth is told from by an angel. Very nice story.

This is the Star by Joyce Dunbar

Rhyming poetry. My son really enjoyed this one and started to say the lines with me.

Josie's Gift by Kathleen Long Bostrom

A very nice story that takes place during the depression. The father of the family has recently died and it is the first Christmas without him. Things are tough, money is tight. Still, this family is better off than many in the depression era - they have a farm and food. Josie really wants a blue, store bought sweater for Christmas. Her mother is not sure she can afford it. In the end, Josie sees a family that is without shelter and has very little - all they have they are carrying with them. It is through meeting this family that Josie realizes how much God has blessed her. She learns that "Christmas is not about what we want. It's about what we have." And being thankful for what we have. It was a very good story.

great meal - Tortellini with Fresh Vegetables

A friend of mine posted about a new meal she made. I tried it tonight and it was really, really good. Here is a link to her blog click here. Give it a try. It was very good!

A Treasury of Christmas Miracles by Karen Kingsbury

These are true stories that show God's presence in people's lives. It is a very touching, warm hearted book. (Okay - be sure to have a box of tissues close by when reading it!) I really loved this book because I like to know that God reaches down and helps us in tangible ways. Some times they are just little, small miracles and sometimes bigger miracles. But they are miracles and I love knowing that miracles are possible. That they still happen. And that God is actively taking part in people's lives. These stories re-affirmed that for me. It was a very good book and I hope you will take time to read it this holiday season.

Tree of thanksgiving (or Thankful Tree)

We read this book which was just delightful. Then we read Psalms 92 and talked about that. Then we made a thankful tree.

Here JJ is hard at work writing "Give thanks to the Lord" on his thankful tree.

He is 'thankful' (and excited!) he is done!

We then hung up the tree. JJ came up with things he was thankful for and we wrote them on leaves and taped the leaves to the tree. Throughout the coming week we will continue to add things we are thankful for. As I thought about it our tree is the opposite of what happens in fall. In fall the leaves fall off - ours the colorful leaves keep adding to the tree! It is a neat, visual reminder that we have much to thank God for each and every day.

Waiting for Christmas - Advent story for kids

Waiting for Christmas

A Story about the Advent Calendar

by Kathleen Long Bostrom

There is an author's note at the start of this book explaining how and when the first Advent calendars came into being. Very neat information. The story told in the book is based on the tradition of how the first Advent calendars started. It is a very cute story. A wonderful read. Aimed more at younger children.

At the end of the book are five suggestions for creating your own Advent calendar, chains, and pictures of art wall. Great ideas. I recommend getting this book now so that you can utilize the ideas and be ready for the coming Advent season. Great suggestions. One I will share here because my youngest wants me to do this for him. All my children love the Advent calendars that have the chocolate candies in them but my youngest is allergic to dairy. He can't eat that chocolate. He is such a good sport - he asks if he can be the opener and they can be the eaters. Isn't that the sweetest thing. Children who live with allergies, I find are so used to not being able to eat certain things that it just become accepted to them. It has just always been that way for my youngest and he just knows that is how life is. I do try to do things just for him (to the point where the others actually comment on why is it all about what he can eat! Moms can never win!)

Anyway, the one idea from the book for an Advent calendar is to make a treat calendar. Tie twenty-four pieces of candy or cookies onto a piece of cardboard that has been decorated for Christmas. Remove one treat each day! Since we would make this ourself we could ensure that only things JJ can eat would be on it. I am thinking of doing this one this year! I will take a picture if I get it done. We first have to do our Thanksgiving Tree. More on that in a day or two!

a gift from my husband

What a wonderful day.

I was suppose to take my son to hockey late this afternoon. My husband made it home from my older son's hockey game early - he actually had time to fix the leaky faucet in the kitchen. And then volunteered to take both kids to their evening games. I love to see them play but sometimes it is a treat have some Mommy time. And that is the gift my husband gave me this afternoon and evening. Roughly 6 hours of Mommy alone time! I read a whole book. Did some laundry and just had time to myself. It was fabulous! Thank you, my dearest hubby!

A Plain & Simple Christmas by Amy Clipston

A wonderful Christmas story about the power of forgiveness. Very heartwarming story about the reconciliation of a family. The youngest daughter of the family, Anna Mae, leaves the Amish community to marry an Englisher. Her father is the Bishop of the Amish community and he feels betrayed that one of his daughters left the Amish faith. Being the Bishop he feels this reflects badly on him and his teachings. He feels betrayed and hurt by her actions. Anna Mae didn't do it to cause pain but because she truly loves Kellan, her husband. He is a good, Christian man - but not Amish. It is a quick easy read and a very enjoyable book.

I am not sure about the 'rules' of shunning though. Found that interesting. In this book, it states that "the shunning tradition dictates that we can't eat at the same table as she does and we can't conduct business with her. It says nothing about visiting with her...." p. 110. In other words, they were allowed to talk and have contact with the shunned person. I guess I didn't realize this was the case. I thought shunning was more along the lines of completely not acknowledging the shunned person at all - no contact. No reading their letters. No correspondence. No seeing and visiting them. That was not what was indicated in the book. So now I am curious - do different Amish communities have different rules regarding shunning? What are the rules? I guess I will have to do a bit of research. Anyone have any insight on this?

Art class - Ancient Greek Architecture

This art class ties in with our history studies. She taught them about Ancient Greek architecture. They learned about the column types - Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. They were to create the facade of the building using foam core and paper.

zoo class

Our local zoo has wonderful classes and they are simply wonderful to homeschoolers. We really appreciate them. And the classes are so affordable. This class is for 1st through 4th graders. It was called Animal Body Coverings and it taught them to distinguish the types of coverings that mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish have.

Fun book for Thanksgiving

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Alison Jackson

What a fun book! My 7 year old and I read the book and then we made Pumpkin Pie Bites (basically bite size pies --- so they could swallow a pie too!)

Don't they look delicious!

This was such a fun book and a fun activity --- but (don't laugh) the child I did this with is actually allergic to dairy. So he couldn't eat the pumpkin bites. I made the pie crust from scratch instead (the recipe called for refrigerator ready to roll pies). Since I made it myself I knew there was no dairy in the crust - so I made extra. Then I let JJ roll it out, cut it into strips. He put cinnamon and sugar on them --- and baked. Mmmmmm Mmmmm good! That was JJ's treat and he was very happy with it.

Putting the cinnamon and sugar on is quite the process and totally fun when you are 7!

Recipe for Pumpkin Pie Bites

I made my own pie crust dough.

8 oz. cream cheese, room temp.

1/2 sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Use a cookie cutter to cut out 24 round shapes from each pie crust. Make sure the dough is rolled very thin.

Press dough into mini muffin tray. It is recommended that you use a 24 cup mini muffin tray - make 12 at a time, alternating cups to make sure pie crusts don't overlap each other. I only had a 12 cup mini muffin tray and just decided to go for it. I made all 12 at once.

Apply egg whites from one egg to the top edge of each pie.

Mix cream cheese, sugar, canned pumpkin, remaining 2 eggs, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice together until thoroughly combined.

Spoon mixture into each pumpkin-shaped pie crust.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes --- I don't know what was up on this --- but mine took closer to 30 minutes each.

Remove pies to cool and repeat. Place muffin tray in the freezer to cool it quickly for re-use. (I didn't do this. I actually washed and dried the tray - then re-used. Maybe a bit of anal-retentiveness there but hey!)

This is the site I got the recipe from - click here

One of the best things about making fun treats is sharing!

JJ is all set - he took some of the wonderful treats plus Whipped Cream to our dear, sweet, wonderful neighbor. We hope they enjoyed them.

The Christmas Bus by Melody Carlson

This is a really fun read. I enjoyed it alot. Melody Carlson is a Christian and writes from that perspective.

The story takes place in Christmas Valley. It is a small town in the mountains. They named it that to attract tourists to their town as there isn't much in the way of industry to create jobs. The bus belongs to a very, young, but poor couple, Amy and Collin, that show up in the town. They get stranded as their bus breaks down. Amy is very pregnant. They have no job and are very short on money. It is interesting the emotions that take place - first the town is critical of the bus because it looks out of place and they don't like it in their town. They question the type of people that would own such a bus. Very negative emotions. Then, after listening to her husband's sermon in church, Edith feels that the town is being called to offer assistance to the couple - for the couple is no different than Mary and Joseph had been at the time when Jesus was born.

It is really a delightful, enjoyable book to read. Great moral lessons. My favorite part from the book when many from the town realize that God can use someone that is unexpected and unconventional to touch our lives.

Great book to read during Advent Season

(Okay I guess I have to admit I am rushing the season a bit - but I find we have to start early. We have 3 boys all in hockey and I never seem to find time to get everyone together for our Advent readings. We tended to do it only 3 days a week instead of the 7. I was literally going all through January to finish the books. I decided to allow our 'anticipation' of the coming of Christ, i.e our family Advent time, to be longer than traditional Advent. This way we get in all the wonderful readings! We, therefore, start in November. My husband teases me about being like the retail stores! Pretty soon I will be decorating in October like they do!)

We just read a wonderful book called The Light of Christmas by Richard Paul Evans. He is the same author of the Christmas Box (another great read).

This story is very endearing. It is about a boy, Alexander, that walks to town to see the Keeper of the Flame come to light the torch. On his way, he sees an old man lying in the snow - cold and alone. Alexander can't be late as the gates to the city will close. He would then miss the ceremony. Alexander gives the man his extra cloak and a sip of his hot cider to warm the man. He knows he can't lift the man himself - so he heads into town to find help. No one from town will leave to help as they would be locked outside the gates and miss the ceremony. The boy decides he has to go back to help the man himself.

This story is very much like the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37. Our family read the Light of Christmas and then followed that up with the reading from the bible on the Good Samaritan. It was a wonderful lesson. My kids enjoyed the book. The book is very colorful and very nicely illustrated. Kids (and adults) will love it. I thought the lesson was wonderful.

Advent reading for kids

This was an amazing book. We did this as a read aloud and talked about it as we read. It has some recipes included and at the end of the book the Christmas story is told from selections of Matthew and Luke. The main story is about Timmy who is in the foster care system. He comes to live with Mary and David Holmes. Everywhere Timmy goes he takes a shoe box with Running Shoes marked on it. Everyone wonders what is in the box but Timmy doesn't want to talk about it. When Timmy is finally able to trust God and have faith in Him - he is then able to turn his box over to Jesus. What a heartwarming story. Very endearing. Lots of good things to discuss with the kids.

And the recipes look fabulous. Great ideas to follow up with and talk about while making the various Christmas treats. She talks about her favorite Christmas song being Handel's Messiah. She give the history of the song and how it was created in 24 days - which is (in her words) "nothing short of miraculous". Below is Handel's Messiah - Hallelujah Chorus.

This next one is Handel: Messiah, For unto us a child is born

some up close shots of the butterflies

They really are so beautiful. God really is amazing - so many various colors and designs. It is hard to get such great shots out in the wild - but with so many butterflies in a confined space - I got quite a few good shots.

field trip to the museum

Our local museum has a butterfly exhibit and my kids just love it. It never gets old for them.

They love that the butterflies will land on them.

science experiment

JL (middle child) has been enjoying being in the position of older brother and teaching his younger brother how to do the experiments. The idea of this experiment was to put in tablespoons of salt until the egg floats. It was very fun.

Kids asked me after - 'what do we do with the egg?' Hmmmmm let me think?! Breakfast anyone? Just kidding - it was thrown out. :)

The Christmas Dog by Melody Carlson

A very, warm-hearted Christmas story. A stray dog works in the hearts of all to bring together a neighborhood, plus a grandma and her granddaughter. I just love Christmas stories. This one is a quick read but a nice story. The dog on the cover of the book is just adorable - isn't he!