Our Family. . . in miniature

This will be one of C's homemade Christmas gifts this year. (I made one extra little girl, just so there's no confusion!) I thought she could be one of C's cousins or a friend. I really enjoyed making these and I will eventually make more to represent our extended family. She will love playing with these in her little wooden dollhouse. The house came with a little family but, in my opinion, they are not very cute. So I thought these wooden figures would be more fun and a little more personal as well.

Scissor Time

One of C's "tivities" for the week is using her toddler scissors to cut strips of paper. I used thick card stock instead of regular paper so it wouldn't be as likely to bend while C is trying to cut.

It is quite a feat for a 2 1/2 year old to get everything coordinated and working just right to accomplish a fine motor skill such as cutting. It has taken C some time to learn the proper way to hold the scissors and the paper, but she is very persistent and highly focused with this activity. (I can't say that for most things at this age, but this seems to be the exception.)
She absolutely loves using her scissors! Every time I go to cut something with my scissors, she runs to get hers and generously offers her assistance.

And she snuck away to cut some more. . .

Our Jesse Tree

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. -Isaiah 11:1

I am finally finished! As my Uncle Kenneth would say, "Praise God!" I am thrilled that I was able to complete the ornaments before the start of Advent and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed making them. I LOVE crafting and painting, so this was a perfect combination of the two. I found each image online (based on the scripture passages that we are using for our tree) and used graphite transfer paper to trace the images onto the wooden ornaments. Then I hand painted each one using acrylic paint (and a very tiny brush) and finished them off by outlining each image in black. I also painted the backs of each ornament black so I could easily write on them (see below). Here are days 1 through 10:

Days 11 through 20:

And days 21 through 27:

My husband and I are determined and having been praying for God's grace and guidance to instill in our daughter a biblical focus on Christmas rather than the secular perspective that our society is so easily caught up in these days. It is important to us that we teach C the true significance of the Christmas season. I researched family Advent traditions and the Jesse Tree seems to do a beautiful job of spotlighting the major events/ figures in the Bible leading up to Jesus' birth. The Jesse Tree is a way of telling the story of Jesus' genealogy and the history of God's plan for salvation. It starts with the story of creation and ends with the birth of Jesus on Christmas day, with such important stories as the fall of man, the flood, the chosen prophets, and the lineage from Jesse to Jesus in between. There is an ornament and Scripture reading for each day of Advent. We will use this tradition (along with others) to teach C the Old Testament lineage of Jesus and it will also serve as our count down to Christmas and the celebration of Christ's birth here on earth.

We will start on the very first day of Advent, November 29th, which makes 27 ornaments total.
On the back of each ornament I wrote the central figure in each scripture story, the scripture passage(s), and the order in which they will be read. For the next several years, until C is able to fully grasp scripture from the Bible, we will use her child's version of the Bible.

I am still in search of the perfect Jesse "tree" to hang our ornaments from. What I have in mind is very specific and it may be that I don't find what I'm looking for this year. Not a problem! I will continue to look for what I want (or make it myself) and we will just hang each ornament on our Christmas tree for now.

Here is the handmade Advent "box" that C will open each evening at the dinner table.

We will light our Advent wreath candle(s) and C will open the Advent box to find the Jesse Tree ornament for the day, an Advent prayer, her Bible (to read the coordinating scripture), and a sweet little treat to help count down the days until Christmas.

And here is the wooden box I made to store all of our ornaments in from year to year.
I am so excited and feel God blessing us in our effort to teach our precious child in His ways. My hope is that someday C will look back on our time during Advent with fond memories and appreciate the time we spent together as a family in anticipation of the birth of Christ.

Today I am Thankful for. . .

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!

Worship the Lord with gladness.

Come into his presence with singing.

Know that the Lord is God!

It is he that made us, and we are his;

we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

and his courts with praise!

Give thanks to him, bless his name!

For the Lord is good; his mercy endures forever,

and his faithfulness to all generations.

-Psalm 100

New Owners!

We are proud new owners of two Schwinn Sport Mountain bikes! We were very proud of ourselves for installing the child seat without too much stress on our marriage. We are now enjoying the family time together as we try to get a ride in at least twice during the week and once on the weekends. C and I go out during the day as well for short rides or to get to play dates in the neighborhood. It's awesome! No car keys or car seat to fiddle with. I remember the feeling I had riding bikes as a child, so I can only imagine the exhilaration C must feel with the wind in her hair and not a care in the world. I love how children teach us so beautifully how to truly live in the moment.

Happy Riding!

Harvest Tub

Here is C playing with her harvest/ Thanksgiving sensory tub. . .

This tub includes popcorn kernels, pipe cleaners, scarecrow and leaf beads, silk leaves, various wooden boxes, paper quarter rolls, and a scooper.
And here she is enjoying a rubber stamping "tivity." Ah, the joys of being two!
And, yes, this ink is washable!!!!

And this picture is for you, Mom and Dad! Here is our BEAUTIFUL Hibiscus plant! We get blooms just about every other day. C reminded me that it needed to be watered yesterday. Every morning she looks out the back door and gives me an update. We usually end up having to go outside to check out the new blooms, buds, and withered flowers from the day before. She is in love with this plant! And it serves as a beautiful reminder to me of your love for C and of God's amazing creation.

Muffin Tin Monday with Patterns

Well, today's Muffin Tin Monday wasn't exactly in a muffin tin, but it did include a muffin. Does that count? I've been working with C on patterns and recognizing her numbers lately, so I wanted to do something related to this theme.

Our pattern-themed, "wanna be" muffin meal from today included: an ABCB pattern with pomegranate seeds, cheese stick slices, and blueberries; a carrot and black olive AB pattern, a one and a two shaped almond butter and honey sandwich on organic multi-grain bread; and a homemade gluten-free blueberry and honey muffin.
C was very interested in the patterns and even told me what would come next in each one! Daddy has recently been working from home (yay!), so she had to run into the office and show off her lunch to him as well.

Happy Muffin Tin Monday!