Visiting Friends

The children were very excited that their friends the Delanos were coming to stay with us. Their Mom & Dad had to attend a class out of state so their children stayed with us. Our friends had moved away 1.5 years ago and we've only been able to visit them twice. So it was a real treat for them to come and stay with us for 10 days. I tried to plan the most exciting Advent activities while they were here. But I think they just like hanging out together the best.

One of the fun days we had was when we had a Snow Day. The night before I read stories about Snow Days and Snowflake Bentley. The next morning the windows were covered with that spray snow. I put fake sparkle snow in and on different decorations throughout the house. Jack got to pick the pocket that morning and pulled out candy snowflakes. God blessed us with a beautiful day too. It had been in the 80's and that day the highest it got was 60 degrees. I bought the snow that grows from Steve Spangler science website and they played in the snow. They also ate snowman popcorn which is popcorn, marshmellows and pretzel sticks. Emma and Elyse also got a BIG surprise...got to go horseback riding!

Another fun day was Gingerbread Day. We went to the Gingerbread Extravaganza and then came home and made gingerbread men and women. Because it was raining and the little ones desperately needed a nap, the kids got to watch Night at the Museum 2.

We went to the zoo and spent six hours playing and looking at animals. Of course we did some school too. The Delanos are learning about Africa so Stacey showed them pictures and told them stories about being a missionary in Africa. The girls dressed in traditional African clothing that Stacey use to wear. The older children had to do an Animal Investigation sheet on an African animal they learned about at the zoo. While we were in the kids zone the children found they monkey bars and put palm leaves on them and pretended they were huts. One was a cooking hut and the other was the sleeping hut.

Tonight the older girls were surprised when we invited another one of their friends over for a sleep over. I kept telling them that someone was coming to the house to surprise them. They couldn't figure out who it was. What a great surprise! They all screamed with joy when they realized their friend was standing on the front porch.

God has really given me grace during this time taking care of seven children. Especially a couple of evenings when I was here by myself putting everyone to bed. I have prayed that I would be patient with so many and He has been faithful. I am not saying every moment of the day went smoothly because it didn't. But, we did laugh a lot, have tickle time before bed, give lots of hugs, play chase, and play Monster hide and seek. Included are some pictures of our time together.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I just love Christmas! It's my favorite time of the year. Saturday I cranked up my Harry Connick, Jr. Christmas CD and the girls and I took out all the Christmas decorations and decorated the house. We set up a little table top tree in Kelson's room. The girls put up the tree in their room and we put up the big tree in the living room. I can't wait to add the ornaments to the tree on Saturday. When the girls take their ornaments out of their boxes we talk about what each ornament means. They get an ornament or two every year that represents "their year". It's like a living scrapbook. We laugh, we cry, we hug and laugh some more. It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Soccer Season Over

The Upward Soccer season is over. At the last game the girls decided to dress up their little brother in a tiger costume and make him the mascot for Emma's soccer team...The Tigers. Before they begin the game the parents and grandparents make a tunnel and the teams run through and high-five everyone. The announcer said Kelson's name and he ran through growling. It was hilarious! The girls were sad to say good-bye to their new friends. Upward Soccer is such a great program. I highly recommend it to anyone. Here are some pictures of our soccer season.

Visit from Auntie & Uncle

We had a pleasant visit with Auntie Kristen and Uncle Dan a couple of weeks ago. One day we went to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island. We are learning about sea turtles in our Apologia science class at coop. We saw injured turtles and watched the doctor do procedures on them through a big glass window. The center had many hands on activities for all ages.

Afterwards we went back to Amelia Island Plantation and played on the beach until dinner. While at dinner you could look out the window and see a fake shark hanging up on the boat docks. (Couldn't resist taking a picture.)

We had a relaxing weekend going to the kids soccer games, playing basketball, catching lizards and riding bikes. Hope to have them come back soon to visit with the rest of their family.

Gearing Up for Christmas...Our Advent Plans

It's almost time. December 1st will mark the beginning of our advent activities . A few years ago I found a way to incorporate the teaching of history behind the traditions of Christmas with our annual activities off another blog site. So I incorporated what she did and made little notes for each pocket that explains a certain tradition associated with Christmas. Along with each note there is an activity or gift that supports that tradition. The Advent calendar I use has big pockets and I bought it off E-bay. It's a Pottern Barn Advent calendar. The girls are already asking, "When will we start our Advent calendar?" Some times I have to buy new items for the pockets like candy canes and nesting dolls. Other times I just reuse the same things for the same pockets each year. Every year we buy a book for Christmas. So I try to buy one that we would read during our Advent time so I don't have to get it from the library.

Please note: I found the history behind most of the traditions through a unit study prepared by Karen Caroe in 1998. The original unit study can be found here. Since then, Kathryn Martinez has updated the unit and greatly expanded it. You can find her complete advent unit covering all the symbols of Christmas along with Bible verses, activities, recipes and links for additional online resources here.
And there is also a great book called The Adventure of Christmas: Helping Children Find Jesus in Our Holiday Traditions by Lisa Whelchel.

Here is our 2009 Calendar:

Christmas Tree-Dec 1
Give Russell Stover chocolate marshmallow Christmas trees from Hallmark.
Discuss the significance of the Christmas tree.
Read the story of The Three Trees and watch the DVD.
Read The Legend of the Christmas Tree.
Put up our Christmas tree and/or decorate our tree in the front yard for the animals by stringing berries, pieces of fruit, handing birdseed on peanut butter pine cones. Then watching the animals feast.

Gifts For Needy-Dec 2
No gift.
Explain that we are so blessed but there are some children who do not receive gifts. Sometimes they can only count on receiving gifts from strangers.
Read Silver Packages by Cynthia Rylant
Go to the store and buy gifts to donate to Angel Tree project.

The Nutcracker-Dec 3
Discuss history of the nutcracker. Get Clara the Nutcracker or put marzipan candy in the pocket. Go see the Nutcracker Ballet. Read The Nutcracker by E.T. A Hoffman. It is the whole story of the Nutcracker which most people don't know. Color from the Nutcracker Ballet Coloring book by Dover coloring. Listen the the Nutcracker music on the way to the Nutcracker and back.

Christmas Carols-Dec 4
Discuss the significance of Christmas carols.
Give CD with Christmas carols on it.

Ornament-Dec 5
Explain tradition of ornaments.Leave their ornament for this year under the tree. Every year we buy our children an ornament that reflects their year. When they are older they will be able to have ornaments that tell a story of their life and use them on their tree until they have children. Decorate tree with ornaments. As the children pull their ornaments from their box I tell them a story about why the ornament was chosen for them.

St. Nicholas-Dec 6
Discuss how St. Nicholas was a man who loved Jesus.
Read The Legend of Saint Nicholas.
Give gold coins like Saint Nicholas left in stockings.

Stockings-Dec 7
Discuss the history of the tradition of stockings.
Give out stockings.
Read The Legend of the Christmas Stocking.

Candles-Dec 8
Discuss the significance of candles at Christmas time.
Give girls candles to decorate with beeswax shapes and give as gifts to neighbors and family.

Jingle Bells-Dec 9
Discuss significance and history of bells. Give bell necklaces and bells to jingle.

Babushka-Dec 10
Discuss Russian tradition of Babushka.
(Try to get a copy of Babushka by Sandra Ann Horn and Sophie Fatus.)
Read The Littlest Matryoshka. Watch the making of nesting dolls on U-Tube.
Give nesting dolls.

First Day of Hanukkah-Dec 11
Read Festival of Lights: The Story of Hanukkah.
Play Dreidel game.

Oranges-Dec 12
Explain the significance of oranges as Christmas.
(Try to get a copy of An Orange for Frankie by Patricia Polacco.)
Give oranges.
Make orange pomander craft with oranges and cloves.

Hot Chocolate for St. Lucia Day-Dec 13
Discuss the Swedish tradition of St. Lucia.
Give hot chocolate and serve it with cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

Snowflakes/Snow Day-Dec 14
Snow flake candy. Have a fun day playing in fake snow.
Read Snowflake Bentley.

Candy Canes-Dec 15
Read The Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Walburg and James Bernardin and watch DVD.
Give candy canes.

La Belfana-Dec 16
Discuss Italian tradition of La Befana.
(Try to get a copy of The Legend of Old Befana by Tomie dePaola)
Hide small gifts and candy in shoes.

Gingerbread-Dec 17
Give Gingerbread cookies or gingerbread house to decorate.
Go to gingerbread house exhibit.
Read Jan Brett's The Gingerbread Baby.
Read It's A Gingerbread House by Vera B. Williams.

Animals and the Nativity-Dec 18
Give nesting doll Nativity set from Oriental Trader.
Discuss how the fact that Jesus was born in a manger surrounded by animals shows how he humbled himself to come to Earth.
Read Clopper the Christmas Donkey
Read Tales from the Manger by Chonda and David Pierce.
Go to zoo to see animals.

Christmas Cookies-Dec 19
Explain tradition of Christmas cookies.
Give new Christmas sprinkles.
Make Christmas cookies for cookie exchange.

Angels-Dec 20
Discuss the significance of angels at Christmas time.
Make angel ornaments to give to our neighbors.

Give a Gift-Dec 21
Explain the significance of gift giving at Christmas.
Give each girl a Target gift card and take them shopping for their siblings.

A Poinsettia-Dec 22
Read The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie dePaola.
Give poinsettias to neighbors.

Yule Log-Dec 23
Discuss the French Canadian tradition of the Yule log.
Give Ho-Ho as a mini Yule log.

Christmas Eve -Dec 24
Read from the Bible the Christmas story.
Go to church. Open one present.

Here are some pictures of last year and what we did during this time.