Looking forward to Easter

You read it right.  Easter. Christmas, the celebration of Christ's birth is over.  now it is time for us to begin looking forward to the celebration of his death on a nasty cross so that we could have an intimate relationship with God. 

Randy and I have begun preparing our home and family for the Easter celebration.  Okay, okay - so we have started in small ways.  The tree is still up (for today), there are still assorted Christmas goodies around the house.  We even have some more Christmas celebrating to do in the next week. 

Still, we have begun talking with the boys about the next celebration.  We want them to know that Christ's birth is a BIG deal.  Even more than that, we want them to know that his death means that we can live. 

As we are preparing for the next year in the life of the Crum family, we have laid out a course of study for the first 3 months of the year.   We will be exploring the gospels with the boys from January 1 through March 31.  Each week we are focusing on a different story as a family and will be learning it through a variety of formats - crafts, music, reading, games and more.  You are invited to follow along with us on my Friday posts. 

Here is our road to Easter schedule:

January

Jesus as a child

Jesus' baptism

Jesus calls disciples

Jesus loves children

February

Lazarus

Water into wine

Jesus heals the blind

Walking on water

March

Jesus calms the storm

Feeding of 5,000

Passover

Good Friday

Easter

Looking back on Advent

I can hardly believe that we have reached the end of the advent season.  We have truly been blessed this month as we have anticipated the celebration of Christ's birth as a family.  The advent calendar has given us purpose to our meal times and family together times.  It has helped us be intentional about remembering others and sharing the story of Christmas. 

My favorite activites from the last month:
*Christmas at the Farm - I love watching my boys experience the story first hand.  Manasseh has begged several times each week to go back. 
*Making Christmas ornaments.  The boys get so excited about art.  It is fun to help them complete projects.
*Collecting money and sending it to Heifer International. What a joy to work toward a goal as a family and bless other families around the world!
* Making presents for friends was a lot of fun too, the boys loved coloring wooden cars for some of their friends.  Their friends were blessed by them.  In fact, one friend added colors to his car and named it his "teamwork" car because Cassius had started it for him.
* The boys have loved every excuse to play with the nativity set and act out the Christ story. 

I am already looking forward to advent next year.  We have started talking about what activities we might add, and what we might change.  I urge you to begin considering practicing advent with your family next year.

Did you practice advent this year?  What are your favorite advent activities?

Advent Day 17

Do your kids love to play but sometimes need direction?  My boys would play all day long - jumping off of things, climbing anything they can find, rolling on the floor, tackling each other, etc.  They do play with their toys some, but they frequently need help to use them well.

Last night's advent was perfect for helping them practice using toys in a story-telling fashion.  Tonight they put the Little People Nativity Set up on the table and acted out the story of Christ birth.  They also had a lot of fun making up stories with the animals.  I love helping them learn the art of story telling through toys, through words, through song and art - any way they can practice it!  Here are a few shots from their nativity adventure.

I'm sure the safety guide would recommend that you do not put the manger on top of another manger.  It seems like a safety risk.  Apparently Mary and Joseph did not know better.

The horse was giving wagon rides to anyone that wanted them.  I especially enjoyed the turkey vulture getting a ride in the wagon.  Do you remember the part of the story where he swooped down to pick up the dead animal in the road?  Me neither, but in the boy's story there HAD to be a turkey vulture.

I also loved the positioning of the animals.  We had 3 baskets of food for them all to crowd around.  One of the camels and one of the donkeys decided that they needed a little nuzzling.

Have you used the Christmas story to help your children practice or learn story telling?  How have you done this with your children?

Advent Day 16

It's another "Candle Sunday".  This week our theme is "joy".  We talked about joy being like happiness.  They are similar because joy is actively choosing to recognize our contentment because of God's gifts in our life.  We talked about the gift of Jesus and sang "Joy to the World".  

We lit the candles together and remembered what each of the purple candles on our wreath stands for.  The boys prayed thanks to God for the joy that we have and for giving us Jesus.  To close our devotion time at the dinner table, they each got to use permanent markers (with very close supervision) to color an ornament that says "joy" on it.  They later put pipe cleaners through the small holes at the top of their ornaments and hung them pridefully on the tree!

Thank you God, that even in times of sorrow, you are our joy.  Your joy is my strength and when I have fear and doubt myself, I can rely on that strength to accomplish my daily tasks.  Amen.

Advent Day 15

He is our peace and our hope.  He is truth and love.  In him is life.  Apart from him is nothingness.  A meaningless existence.  

God, right now as we anticipate the celebration of your coming as a baby, we need your light more than ever.  Senseless tragedy has ripped sweet young children from their families.  Heroic adults have put down their lives to protect the children that you love so dearly.  God, our world does not make sense.  It is so filled with evil.

Be our light this advent Sunday as we light the candle of joy.  Remind us that we can delight in you even when we feel as though darkness consumes us.

Lord, I lift up the families of all those precious people who died yesterday.  I ask you to hold the other students and staff close to you in the coming weeks and months as well.  Be with the officers investigating this horrific event.  I pray that they see your light and feel your peace and love this holiday season.  Be with each of those effected through this tragedy.

I am so thankful tonight for my3 little men.  I'm grateful for a loving husband that points us toward you.  I pray that you help us continue to thrive in health and service.  God, even in the face of tragedy, let us not forget your blessings.  Hold us all close to you as we celebrate the birth of your son this season.

Advent Day 13, Heifer International

We started this project over a month and a half ago!  As a family we set to work making crafts that we could sell at a church craft bizarre so we could raise money to help impoverished families through Heifer International.  The boys decided that we would make a goal of raising $150 so we could buy a goat and a beehive.  That would help 2 different families and matches some of our own interests.

Tonight was the night that we counted our money and ordered the gifts to send to another family.  We did not have quite enough for a goat, so we had to alter our plans.  The boys enjoyed looking through all the options with daddy and picking out their gifts.

Next it was mama's turn to help them out.  I got to do the ordering of their selection.  Instead of helping 2 families, we get to send animals to 3 families!  The boys chose a flock of ducks, a flock of geese, and a beehive!  They were still so thrilled to be able to bless another family.

This might not been the most fun and exciting part of our advent, but we all loved that with the help of friends and family, we were able to bless others.  This is an activity that has helped the boys learn so many important virtues that we want them to practice every day!

Thank you to everyone that has helped make this donation possible.  You have made an impact on my little world-changers.

Advent Day 11

Okay, I'm out of order.  It's been a busy few days.  

Tonight for advent we scheduled Christmas Caroling.  Then we had a flat tire that ended up keeping the boys and I away from home until dinner time.  That meant late dinner, and late bed time.  We decided to change our project (and we are thankful that our boys can't read yet).

We chose to make baby Jesus out of play dough!  The boys LOVED the project.  We had fun talking about what Jesus looked like (our babies have mustaches).  Here is a quick clip from our family time.

Finding Peace through Advent

Have you noticed that we tend to fast forward through our holidays?  We try and fill our time with all of the great festivities and busy ourselves with shopping.  Christmas time is frequently anything but peaceful.

This week, as we lit our advent candle, we talked about peace.  Peace is often a struggle - I like fast paced living.  I like the rush of adventure.  I fret about things like "am I doing enough to teach my boys" and "what should I be doing to make my home a healthier, happier place".  While these are great things to consider - I sometimes forget to allow myself to experience the peace of God.

This month, as we celebrate advent, Randy and I have set out family activities that help us focus on the season of Christmas.  We have something every day that points us to the anticipation of the coming of Christ.  The change of our change of focus, the other concerns are less.

My lesson: When Christ is my focus, my problems fade.

How has advent changed your family life?

Advent Experience: Week 1 Review

This is the first year we are practicing the celebration of Advent.  We are excited about the idea, but uncertain about how it would all work out.  Randy and I sat down and briefly reviewed our week together tonight so that we could talk about what, if any, changes we would make during the next weeks.

What we like:
- We have an excuse to sit down at our table every night - it's easier for us to say no to going out to dinner when we have a planned activity after dinner. 
- We've got a planned conversation topic for our meal.  This really helps with engaging the boys.
- It's given purpose and shape to our learning with the boys.
- The boys have changed in their prayer life (even in this week).
- It helps us focus on the birth of Christ.
- The boys look forward to our special family time.
- We are building beautiful memories and new family traditions!

What we are not so sure about:
- It's been more difficult to schedule our time at the gym.
- The boys are staying up later because it has changed our routine.
- We sometimes struggle to focus on the reason instead of the activities.  We'll modify some of our activities for next year.

Overall:
We are enjoying the celebration of Advent.  We'll absolutely make it part of our family tradition as our boys grow.  The boys have changed even in this week from begging to eat dinner out, to thanking God in their prayers that we can eat healthy food at home instead of at a restaurant. 

Advent Day 7

Today was day 7 of Advent.  At dinner we talked with the boys about the meaning of Hope.  They are starting to understand a little better.  Cassius pulled the activity out of our calendar to find out what we were going to do today.  Pulling the activity card out of the envelope has become a coveted job for our boys.

The chosen activity for this evening?  Making ornaments!  I spent a little more time than I had planned looking up DIY ornaments for preschoolers on Pinterest.  I did not find nearly as many as I had hoped, but I got crafty and we had fun with things we already had around the house.  (Hoorah for not needing to drive across town to buy craft supplies at the last minute.  Below are pictures of our not quite completed ornaments - each needs some finishing touches to make it last longer than this week.

Finger Paint hand and foot prints.  At least one for each child.  They were made on white construction paper.  I will be writing their name/date on the back of each one, then covering them with contact paper and stringing them with ribbon once they have dried.

Glitter pine cones.  This was the EASIEST craft we did and the boy's favorite.  I tied spare yarn around the top of the pine cone so I can make a loop to hang it.  The boys poured their own glue onto the pine cones - this was tricky for my 2 year old.  Then they went to town, sprinkling sparkles all over the pine cones.  I still need to loop the yarn, otherwise these are completed.

Watercolor paper ornaments.  The boys got watercolor paints in their stockings this morning.  Each boy had 4 paper ornament cut outs to paint.  When they are dry, I will mount them on cardstock and punch a hole through the loop at the top.  Then I will string them with ribbon.

Milk Jug Christmas Trees.  I grabbed an old milk jug, rinsed it out - then drew these simple tree shapes on 2 of the sides.  I cut them out for the boys.  They used permanent markers (with close supervision) to color them.  I made holes in the top of each with the scissors.  They still need to be strung so they can hang on the tree.

Foam photo ornaments.  These came in a kit from Hobby Lobby last year after Christmas.  They were super cheap and have been cluttering my house for nearly a year!  The boys needed help to glue the pieces onto the fronts of their ornaments, but enjoyed decorating them.  I still need to print pictures of each boy to put behind the foam, and glue the cardboard onto the back of the ornament.

There you have it, a preschool ornament party in my dining room.  What kinds of ornaments do you like to make with preschoolers?

  

Advent Day 6

December 6 is St. Nikolas Day!  Children traditionally celebrate by leaving stockings or shoes out for St. Nick the night before in hopes that he will leave gifts for them.  We had Awana on December 5, so decided to wait.  As part of our St. Nikolas Day celebration, we decorated stockings and hung them by the fireplace.  December 7 we woke them early to open their stockings and again shared about who St. Nikolas was and why people like to remember him.

Advent Day 5

Oh how beautiful the lights of Christmas!

Lights on one of the pedestrian bridges downtown.

It's hard not to love the breathy "WOW"s of my boys as we drive through the neighborhoods and see all of the decorated houses.  Our advent activity was driving around town to look at the lights.  I freely admit that I was hoping they would also fall asleep on the drive (they did not).

As we looked at the lights, we were reminded that Christ is the light of the world.  Thank you for the gifts of hope and light.

Advent Day 4

On the 4th day we set up the nativity scene under our Christmas tree.  The boys were really excited about taking it out.  Manasseh immediately set to work putting it together exactly how he thought it should look and was incredibly frustrated that his brothers wanted to play with it as well.

We also finished decorating our tree during this time.

Surprise, at the bottom of the ornaments was a second nativity.  Manasseh chose to combine the two for an interesting, festive look.

Advent Day 3

For our day 3 activity we chose to make a paper chain for decorating the tree.  I admit, I was highly skeptical about our children's ability to maintain interest in such a project, but my dear husband was eager to do this with them.

He won.  They loved it.  The boys glued, he built.  While they built together, Randy told them about when he was a child and they did not have any decorations for their tree one year because they had just moved overseas.  Since they were without, they made paper chains to decorate the house.  I love that as we celebrate advent, the hope that we have in Christ, the boys are able to connect with their own history on a deeper level.

Another Hope Activity

Candy Corn Hope

At dinner time we sat a jar of candy corn on the table, next to the wreath, where all the boys could see it.  As soon as we sat down to eat, Manasseh asked if he could have candy for dinner.  We asked the boys if they remembered what hope means.  Manasseh said, "when you go to the store and your mom says you can't have something and you hope you can have it later."  Okay, so he kind of got the point to the other exercise.  We talked about hope as having faith - believing that you will receive your promise.  

Randy asked the boys if they believed that mommy would tell them the truth and do good things for them.  Of course, they said yes.  I told them that after dinner they could all have some candy.  They said they believed me.  We shared that this meant they had hope that mommy was going to give them candy corn.

After dinner, the boys got candy as promised.  We talked about God's promises to us and the hope that we have because of Him.  We shared that we can trust God because he has good plans for us.

What have you done this week to share hope?

Advent Day 2

Day 2 was "Decorate the Christmas Tree".  We actually ended up with an extremely busy day, so we chose only to put it up and save the decorating for day 4.  The boys were incredibly excited about helping to put the tree together.  Mr. Crum talked with them about the reason we have an evergreen tree.  They really enjoyed this activity and look forward to adding decorations during the advent season.

Azariah hung out in the Christmas tree box while the big boys helped put the branches on (I miss real trees).

The big guys were very focused on making sure the tree branches went in just the right spots.

Of course, they needed a little help!

A picture of all 3, together?  Right!

Teaching Preschoolers about Hope

HOPE

Teaching kids about hope can be overwhelming.  Especially when you have preschool aged boys with a lot of extra energy!  We've spent some time preparing together for how to break down the BIG topic of biblical hope to teach to our little men.  Their little minds can't fully grasp what it means to have hope for the future - but they can understand in general what hope means.

Today we took a trip to one of their favorite store with a notebook and pen, and 2 little boys with a lot of "wishes" on their minds.  We helped them write out lists of things they would like to have.  Manasseh's list seems to be growing faster than I can follow.  He likes gadgets.  They had a great time pushing buttons and daydreaming about neat toys.

At dinner we sat down to light our first advent candle, the candle of Hope.  We shared a devotion, sang a song, and pulled out their wish lists.  It is only a little bit of what hope means, but something they can grasp clearly.  We talked about their lists, the things they hope for - what they really want.  Then we shared about the nation of Israel waiting for the promised king, their savior.  We talked about what that must have felt like.  How does it feel to wait for the things on your wish list?  (Exciting, happy, and fun).  We added words like impatient, difficult, and peaceful. 

As we shared the candle of hope, we talked about our future hopes.  We hope in God.  We know that he's got our backs.  He has good plans for us even when we have bad days.

Hope is still a huge concept, but our boys have gotten a taste of what it means.  

What do you do to teach about hope with your children?

Advent Day 1

Christmas at the Farm

Tonight was our first activity from the advent calendar.  It was Christmas at the Farm, an event sponsored at a local park.  When we told the boys Manasseh was so excited that he yammered on for hours about all of the fun things he remembered doing last year.  He could hardly stand waiting!

Here are some of our favorite bits from tonight's adventure:

A horse drawn wagon ride with friends.

The sweet feel of being loved.

Learning a little bit about historical Bethlehem.

Being part of a story that is so much bigger than we are.

Unique entertainment.

Time with friends.

Tomorrow is a busy day.  Church and decorating.  Manasseh is excited about lighting our first candle.  How did you celebrate the birth of a king today?

Our Advent Calendar

It's finished!  We've set out our plans for the next month's activities as we anticipate the coming of Christ!  Are you celebrating advent?  Are you interested in it?  Here are our family activities:

1. Christmas on the Farm
2. Decorate Christmas Tree (Sunday #1)
3. Make Paper Chains
4. Set up Nativity
5. Drive around and look at Christmas Lights
6. Santa Clause Day, decorate and hang stockings
7. Make Christmas Ornaments, Open Stocking gifts
8. Make Christmas Cookies
9. Give Cookies to a friend (Sunday #2)
10. Read a Christmas book at bed time.
11. Make a Play Dough Baby Jesus
12. Hot Chocolate for dinner!
13. Send Money to Heifer International
14. Sleep Over with a friend
15. Board Game Night
16. Christmas Movie and Popcorn (Sunday #3)
17. Play with Nativity Set
18. Decorate Wrapping Paper
19. Rootbeer Floats
20. Sing Christmas Songs Together
21. Make a Present for a Friend
22. Hike or Sled (weather depending)
23. Christmas Treasure Hunt (Sunday #4)
24. Christmas Eve Service, Light Christ Candle, Bake a Birthday Cake
25. Christmas Day, Open Presents

Thank you What's in the Bible for helping us prepare our family with the new Everyday Emmanuel book and many fantastic blogs that gave us ideas to fill in the blanks for our family!

Advent Planning

Advent is the season of waiting in expectation for the birth of Christ Jesus.  As Christians, we know that Christ was born over 2000 years ago, and we celebrate his birth because the birth and death of Christ mean that we have the opportunity to know God in a personal way.  We have the ability to go directly to God with needs and concerns.  That is nothing short of amazing.

Many churches celebrate advent by decorating with evergreens (the hanging of the greens), lighting candles in a special advent wreath, and a variety of special events that lead us in expectation as we remember the hope that came in the form of a baby.  Many families have special traditions related to advent as well.  I remember a few Christmas traditions that we shared in our family as we were growing up.  I loved this time of year because it meant time with the extended family.  We have a huge family and I love the smells, the sounds, the chaos at times.  I have such great memories growing up and celebrating the birth of Christ.  I don't, however, remember very many special "advent" activities that helped us focus our season on the birth of Christ.

I want to help my children celebrate advent.  I never really fully understood what the advent calendar was about.  I am learning that it is about helping us focus on Christ and anticipate the celebration of his birth, and our new birth in him!  Today I downloaded Everyday Emmanuel from What's in the Bible (a series that I am extremely fond of).  I have enjoyed reading through it and pulling out so many rich ideas for sharing this season with my family.  I am excited to begin building traditions with my boys.  Randy and I are already working on some activities that we will be doing as we celebrate this season as a family.  

Next week I will share about the activities that we have lined up.  I'll share about our homemade advent calendar and how our activities are going so far.  I'm excited to put things together!  As I think about the upcoming month I am looking for input on 2 main areas.  Please leave a comment below responding to my questions:

1) How do you celebrate the season with your family?  Are there old traditions that you stick to?  Do you have some new things in mind that you want to try out with your family this year?

2) Are there any special meals that you share mostly during this season?  Is there a favorite family recipe that is unique to the Christmas season?  Have you found a great recipe you plan to try this year?

Many blessings.