A Family Tradition....Celebrating Advent!

We're celebrating advent! The Jesse Tree is a family tradition we do every year, but this year we're tweaking it just a little. 


Since we've already made our Jesse Ornaments from previous years, this year we'll wrap them up and place them underneath the tree. Each night one kid will get to unwrap the ornament followed by that night's scripture reading and devotional and hang it on the tree. Maybe the kids will even get to put on a little skit and act out the story for us. ; ) 


To find out more about the Jesse Tree read more HERE.

Reindeer Candy Cane

Did you know the first Candy Cane was originally used as a Pacifier to soothe crying babies?  Later, a German Choirmaster decided to bend the sugar sticks into the shape of a shepherd’s staff and each tot was handed one as they entered the cathedral during the Christmas pageant in hopes of keeping them quite.  Hundreds of years later, a candy maker from Indiana decided to improve on the idea by tying the treats in with the real meaning of Christmas. 

The legend of the Candy Cane is just one of many stories in the ADVENTure of Chirstmas by Lisa Whechel.  It is chalk full of fun crafts, stories, and etc…to help children find Jesus in many of our Holiday Traditions.  

 So, we’ve been making these fun little Reindeer Candy Canes for our friends on our street!  As I was sharing the story with the girls I pointed out that the red stripes remind us about the blood of Jesus and how he died on the cross for us.  I thought this would be easy for them to understand especially since they love singing the song, “Nothing But the Blood of Jesus.”

 However, I didn’t realize that Isabella had taken this so literally.  So when Elianna started screaming that the peppermint was burning her mouth Isabella told me, 

“Mom, get it out of her mouth!  It’s the blood!  

The blood is burning her!! She doesn’t like the blood…get it out!!”

 Awwh…from the mouth of babes! Too funny!  I got a big kick out of it and couldn’t help but wonder what God must think of all of this?!! 

**The pic above is one I pulled from the internet. I will update later with our pics!

Holiday Fun

Whew! Like many of you we had a busy, busy holiday season! We had a wonderful time with family and did lots of fun activities together!

One of the cool things we did was a family outing with Papaw and Ba-maw Carolyn to Moody Gardens . If you haven't been, it's definitely worth checking out and making a day of it!

Our neighbors told us about this great little place named Marios along the Seawall where the girls got a kick out of watching the chefs whirl Pizza dough into the air! Since coloring the kid menu is not always enough to hold them over before dinner, this was a great way to keep the girls entertained (especially since the service was a little slow).

Following dinner we enjoyed the Festival of Lights! Though we had a bit of a wait, we were thankful for the golf cart ride that took us through the miles and miles of themed holiday scenes; such as the town of Bethlehem below. This was another great tip from our neighbors!

Not only did the girls enjoy the cool display of Lights, but they enjoyed the 4D special effects movie clip from Polar Express. The special effects were complete with wind, snow, rumbling seats, etc… that made you feel like you were really on The Polar Express. The girls had a blast! Check them out in their stylish glasses! (As you can tell form the pics below, the girls weren't the only ones that enjoyed it!)

I've Been Elfed

We were elfed! Click on the link below.
Thanks Jen! The girls have been asking to watch it over and over again!
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1589131034

Trees, Toddlers and Ornaments!!

Within a week of having the tree up I have already grown so tired of chasing after the girlies and telling them to put the ornaments back on the tree. In fact, many of our glass ornaments were broken within the first couple of days of putting the tree up that I decided that our big tree in the living room would consist of nothing more than the kid friendly, non breakable, plastic ornaments!

Here are a few pictures of the fabulous job the girls did hanging up ornaments. I love how there is at least 10 candy canes on one branch and 10 icicles bundled up on another. The other half of our tree was completely bare so Papi and I had to help fill in the gaps when the kiddos went to bed. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to do much good because the very next morning all of the candy canes and icicles were rearranged again.

And just to give you an even better idea of what life has been like with two little ones this holiday season, here’s what I found on our tree the other day after the girlies had been tucked into bed:

Ha-ha! Ya gotta love it!

Here's what mommy's been working on. I decided to try my hand at making popcorn garland this year! My mother, sister and I decided to make a girls night of it! Of course, the little ones helped too even though they were more interested in eating it! We had a great time! The tree looks very festive, not to mention my whole house smells like popcorn...yummy!

Whew…this tired Mommy is off to bed!

Breakfast with Santa

Since Mommy was away this past weekend at a women's conference Papi took the girls to have Breakfast with Santa! The girls had a blast and kept Papi very busy; especially the little one who demanded being on Santa's lap throughout the whole breakfast! Papi had a real challenge keeping her away from Santa so that the other little boys and girls could visit with him too! Here are some pics of the girls with Santa!

Isa talking with Santa telling him it's Jesus Birthday! According to Tim, she wouldn't quit until Santa acknowledged that it was indeed Jesus' birthday.

The Grandkids

Jesse Tree-Creation Ornaments

Here are few more ornaments the girls made for our Jesse Tree from our story on Creation. Aren't they so cute!

Here is a video clip of Papi sharing the story of creation with them and some pics of the girls hanging up their ornaments on the Jesse Tree.

Ellie saying, "I did it!"

Before going to bed Isa asked me what story and ornament we would be doing tomorrow! Can you tell I'm enjoying this new little tradition we've started! Thanks again for the idea rocks in my dryer!

Celebrating Advent

I can't believe it's December already!! With the busyness of the season, I have been thinking through ways that I can help keep the real meaning of the season before my children. Not that I have anything against Santa or Frosty but sometimes these things can overshadow celebrating the birth and saviour of our Lord Jesus. The light, who takes away the sins of the world! 


In doing so, I came across two great ideas in celebration of advent! The first being the  Jesse Tree (I found this idea at rocks in my dryer)!

I had never heard of a Jesse Tree before, but as I read more about it I loved the idea of helping the kids see how everything in the bible points to the coming of our Saviour. 


I love the way  The Story Book Bible captures that truth: "You see the best thing about this Story is--It's true. There are lots of stories in the bible, but all the stories are telling one BIG Story. The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them."


Isn't that the truth! And such a simple one at that! ; )


The idea of the Jesse Tree comes from Isaiah 11:1 which says,
"A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots."

Jesse was the father of David, Israel's greatest king. Because of that, he is often thought of as the first person in the geneology of Jesus. To give you a little backdrop, God had promised a discouraged nation that a new King would rise up out of the family of Jesse to save them and rule the whole earth. If you've forgotten the story. Go back and read it. It's a great one! But more importantly, it points to the coming of Jesus; the fulfillment of that promise. It is decorated with reminders  or ornaments of how God prepared the world for the coming of our King Jesus who would reign forever and ever.


If you want to celebrate advent, the Jesse Tree is a simple and creative way the whole family can celebrate Jesus! My girls love it! Perhaps yours will too! 


Here's how it works:

To create our own Jesse Tree, we puchased a 4ft tree to display in our dining area. Beginning December 1st up until Christmas Eve, we will be reading a scripture/devotional each night that takes us through the Old Testament. 


As each story is told it describes the events OR members in Jesus' family beginning with the "root of Jesse" and ending with the birth of Christ. 


Following the scripture reading, we hang up an ornament that symbolizes that specific story. Sometimes, the girls will even act it out. Any chance to be dramatic and they're all over that!

For example, the first scripture/devotional read on December 1st is taken from the passage above, Isaiah 11:1. So, to symbolize the "stump of Jesse" we made an ornament of a tree. Below are the ornaments the girls made.

On December 2nd the story of creation is told. This is where your creativity comes in!  What reminds you of creation? Is it animals, the moon, the sun, a picture of a globe. You can use anything that helps you remember the scripture you read.

For the Jesse Tree Devotional click here.


For additional information on the history of the Jesse Tree click here or here.




Another great idea that I came across is.......

 The ADVENTure of Christmas. Here is another great way to celebrate advent and another great book by Lisa Whelchel! The ADVENTure of Christmas focuses on helping children find Jesus in our Holiday Traditions. 


It describes the significance behind each tradition such as hanging lights outside, the candy cane, christmas tree, ornaments, gift wrapping, etc…and describes how these customs relate to Jesus’ birth. 


For example, when hanging our Christmas tree I was able to share with the girls how the Tree reminds us of the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf. He died on a tree to forgive us of our sins so that we could live forever with Him. The branches remind us of how he stretched out his arms for us like the branches that need to be stretched out to hold our pretty christmas ornaments. The lights remind us that Jesus is the Light Of The World who takes away the the sins of the world.   


I had overlooked these simple explanations of our holiday traditions simply because I had grown accustomed to them. Have you?  In the ADVENTure of Christmas you'll even find simple ideas for little crafts to incorporate with each story. Take the time to reflect this season. May you see Christ in your Holiday Traditions and be captured by his love and beauty!


Blessings,
Mel