advent reading day 3: the ark

advent reading day 3

It was a new beginning in God's world.  It wasn't long before everything went wrong again but God wasn't surprised, He knew this would happen.  That's why, before the beginning of time, he had another plan - a better plan. A plan not to destroy the world, but to rescue it - a plan to one day send his own Son, the Rescuer.

scripture reading: a new beginning, genesis 6-9, JSBB pgs 38-47*

symbol: an ark or rainbow, a sign of God's promise that He will not destroy the earth with water again

*we are using the jesus storybook bible by sally lloyd jones for our kid-friendly readings.

advent reading day 2: the fruit tree

advent reading day 2

scripture reading: the terrible lie, genesis 3, JSBB pgs 28-37*

symbol: a fruit tree, representing adam's and eve's choice not to trust God and to eat from the forbidden tree

Before they left the garden, God whispered a promise to Adam and Eve: "It will not always be so! I will come to rescue you! And when I do, I'm going to do battle against the snake. I'll get rid of the sin and the dark and the sadness you let in here. I'm coming back for you!

*we are using the jesus storybook bible by sally lloyd jones for our kid-friendly readings.

advent reading day 1: the dove

and so begins our advent reading and advent tree decorating for 2015.  advent means "coming" and reminds us to reflect and think upon Christ's coming to earth for us. please join with us in reading God's Word as we look expectantly towards Christ's birth.

advent reading day 1

scripture reading: the story of creation, genesis 1 and 2, JSBB pages 18-27*

symbol: a dove, representing God hovering over the deep, silent darkness as he was making life happen

God looked at everything he had made. "Perfect!" he said. And it was. But all the stars and mountains and oceans and galaxies and everything were nothing compared to how much God loved his children. He would move heaven and earth to be near them. Always. Whatever happened, whatever it cost him, he would always love them. And so it was that the wonderful love story began....

praying your first day of advent reading is just the beginning of a great family tradition for you!

*from The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones

advent ornaments

some of those interested in following along with our advent readings have expressed fear and trepidation when it comes to crafting the ornaments.  so i thought it would be helpful for me to include a post that shows what each ornament looks like.  i promise, they are very simple!  most are made from felt and yarn that we already had on hand.  others are ornaments we already had or some we've picked up over the years with the advent tree in mind.  i think the quainter they are, the cuter they are!  my favorite is the rainbow coat!

however, if crafting is not your thing, i also think it would be fun to have each child draw a picture of each bible story and then at the end staple it all together and you have a cute picture flip book from advent!

and don't feel like you have to have all 25 ornaments ready to go on december 1.  our first year doing this found me making the first half and then finishing out the last half as i had time. make it fun!

so happy to celebrate this time with my family and with you!

preparing for advent...get your ornaments ready!

advent is just around the corner and the anticipation is building in our home. and we're super pumped to share this advent with baby salsa who might even get into the hanging-the-ornament-action this year!

what is advent?  advent (from the Latin word adventus meaning "coming") is a season observed in many Western Christian churches, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. Christians believe that the season of Advent serves a reminder both of the original waiting that was done by the Hebrews for the birth of their Messiah as well as the waiting of Christians for Christ's return. (from Wikipedia)

we celebrate advent by doing an advent tree.  what is an advent tree? the idea of an advent tree comes from Isaiah 11:1-9, where God promises a discouraged nation that the glory they remember from david's time will come to them again. they will have another king from jesse's family, in whose reign the whole earth will know God. christians see that promise fulfilled in Jesus, and so we put up an advent tree and decorate it with reminders of how God prepared the world for that Kingdom. (taken from Darcy James' book Let's Make a Jesse Tree!)

each day, starting on december 1 and ending on december 25, i will share the scripture that we read as a family and the ornament that is hung on the tree with you in hopes that family and friends would join with us.

we crafted our advent reading plan to perfectly coincide with our favorite children's bible, the Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones.
if you have young kids and don't have this bible, you must walk out of your house, get in your car, and drive to your nearest bookstore to buy it. right now. seriously. and no, i am not being paid to say this. this bible is the sweetest one i've read. each story points towards Christ and is so good!

so here is our reading plan for this advent, along with the coordinating ornament.  some of the ornaments are simple, crafted from felt, that noodle and i made together 7 years ago while burrito was at school.  others are hallmark ornaments or other ornaments that we've picked up over time.

so the reading plan is this:

dec 1 creation genesis 1-2 pgs 18-27 dove
dec 2 the fall genesis 3 pgs 28-37 fruit tree
dec 3 the flood genesis 6-9 pgs 38-47 rainbow
dec 4 tower of babel genesis 11 pgs 48-55 tower
dec 5 the promise to abraham genesis 12-21 pgs 56-61 stars in the sky
dec 6 abraham and isaac genesis 22 pgs 62-69 ram
dec 7 jacob, rachel and leah genesis 29-30 pgs 70-75 stalks of grain
dec 8 joseph genesis 37-46 pgs 76-83 a rainbow coat
dec 9 moses and the burning bush exodus 3-13 pgs 84-91 a burning bush
dec 10 moses and the red sea exodus 14-15 pgs 92-99 the split waters
dec 11 the law exodus 16 ff pgs 100-107 stone tablets
dec 12 joshua and jericho josh 3-6 pgs 108-115 trumpet
dec 13 david's anointing 1 sam 16 pgs 116-121 david the shepherd boy
dec 14 david and goliath 1 sam 17 pgs 122-129 slingshot
dec 15 david the shepherd psalm 23, 51 pgs 130-135 lyre
dec 16 naaman 2 kings 5 pgs 136-143 a heart
dec 17 isaiah isaiah 9 ff pgs 144-151 crown
dec 18 daniel in the lion's den daniel 6 pgs 152-159 daniel and a lion
dec 19 jonah jonah 1-4 pgs 160-169 fish
dec 20 the prophets neh 8-10 pgs 170-175 party hat
dec 21 john the baptist matt 3 pgs 200-203 a shell
dec 22 mary and the angel luke 1-2 pgs 176-179 an angel
dec 23 journey to bethlehem luke 1-2 pgs 180-181 a scroll
dec 24 the shepherds and wise men luke 2, matt 2 pgs 184-188 the three wise men
dec 25 jesus is born! luke 2 pgs 182, 190, 192-198 baby jesus

i would love for you to join us in doing this. this is our 7th year to do an advent tree and it makes this season so, so sweet!  it takes a commitment of time, which just means less opportunity to be assaulted by consumerism in the malls. it takes a little bit of effort in making or securing the ornaments. however, it is so worth it and so rewarding! the boys loved taking turns hanging the ornaments on the tree, and the excitement and expectation builds as more and more ornaments fill the tree, until christ is born and christmas is here!

happy advent!

noodle is 10!

noodle you are 10!

i remember turning 10 and thinking it was a big deal to be "two hands." i am so glad God gave you to us because we need you in our lives!  we are all so high strung and you are so laid back.  while that can aggravate us at times, you are exactly what we need!

it is such a joy to watch you grow up but i really wish time would slow down just a little!  you are my sweet lover and you give the best hugs and snuggles.  we are alike in that neither of us are morning people, and i'm jealous when you get to sleep in but i am up with salsa, ha!

here are a few things about you right now:
you love all things technology.  if i don't know how to do something technical, i know to ask you!
you are laid back and sweet and chill.
you like playing sports outside with the neighborhood kids.
you love bread.  seriously.  you have been known to only eat bread for an entire meal.
you love art projects and you love to draw.  i'm really impressed with your skill.
you think about others and you are very sweet.
you are self-motivated and want to make all good grades at school.
you like to set goals and you meet them.
you are so thoughtful, even spending your own money to buy me a cookbook (expensive!) at the book fair.

you were our baby of the family for almost 8 years but you slid into the role of middle child with ease.  you make our family fun and relaxed and i love you for that!

salsa's 2nd birthday: at the farm!

we celebrated salsa's 2nd birthday at a local farm.  he loves all things animals so i knew this would be a hit.  2 year old birthdays can be a little challenging:  they need a little more activity than a 1 year old party but they are not quite old enough to play party games or participate in anything too structured. and i couldn't resist ordering this adorable shirt from etsy for him to wear on his big day!

let me just say a farm party is perfect for this age!  and you know what else i realized...a farm party is great when you have kids from a wide range of ages.  burrito was the oldest one there at age 11 and the youngest was just 6 months younger than salsa.  and let me let you in on another secret...i think the adults had a great time too! :)

the sign that greeted us as we arrived

we held the party on a saturday morning because august in texas is HOT.  it was for a couple of hours which was plenty of time to see the animals, play on the playground, eat cake and open presents.  i found this local farm online on accident and i am so glad i did.  it was one of the easiest, low maintenance parties we've done.  i just did simple decorations...cow print tablecloths on 4 picnic benches, little hay bales as centerpieces and a farm-themed cake from a local supermarket!  i bought cowboy hats for the kids to wear on the hayride and they were able to keep them as party favors.

cousins

we let the kids play on the playground and see the chickens until everyone arrived.  then we loaded up on a trailer led by a tractor for the hayride.  we went around the farm and saw pigs, goats, chickens, a horse and farm dogs.

checking out the chickens

all loaded up and ready to see the farm

we brought bite size apples and carrots to feed the pigs and goats.  we divided these up into baggies so that each child had their own food supply.

feeding the pigs

this was definitely a goat farm and they sell goat milk in their little farm store.  there was one boy goat and lots of girl goats.  and they were all excited to see us with our apples and carrots!

they even had two baby goats born the day before so all the kids were able to pet a brand new baby goat!

salsa with the baby goat

after the hayride and feeding all the farm animals, it was time to feed ourselves.  i ordered this cake from a local grocery store and was really happy with how cute it turned out!

singing "happy birthday"

pretending to blow out the candle that would not stay lit :)

then we let the kids play and roam the farm while salsa opened up his presents.  by the time he was finished though, he had several spectators.

happy birthday salsa!  it was so fun to share the farm experience with you and all your little friends!