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?

Thrifty Advent Tools

Here is our complete advent calendar.  This project cost us approximately $3!  The pockets are envelopes, each envelope contains a note card with the activity for the day!

Our advent wreath cost less than $10 to put together.  (I would love to have an expensive fancy one, but it's not currently in our budget).  The wreath was $2.50 at Walmart.  Candles ranged from 84c for a 4 pack to $3 for the larger center candle.  Candle holders are old baby food jars.  Pine cones were collected locally.

Our table, ready for advent.

What thrifty materials have you used in preparing for advent?

Possibly the last warm day of the year (photo blog)

Eating his first chocolate covered cherry in memory of great Grandma Billey

They love visitng the Grand Wayne Center.  These penguins are a special treat.

Crawling across the sky bridge.

A photo with the Grinch, in memory of Nonnie.

Merry Christmas from the Crum Family

Cassius likes to have his picture taken whenever he sees a bench!

Peeking into the Embassy Theater

Squishing Berries

 

Merry Christmas - checking out the big nativity.

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.

Our Heartbreaking Week

Thanksgiving is a time when we celebrate blessings.  We were so glad to be able to share the holiday with both of our families.  It was a fantastic time of fellowship, eating, catching up, shopping (yes, some of us participate in the ridiculous black Friday event), and playing together.

I love the holidays, I always have.  This one, however, was particularly difficult for me.  You see, we found out Wednesday night that our suspicion earlier in the week had been accurate.  We had a miscarriage.  Crum Baby #4 will not be joining our family in July.

For those of you that have had a miscarriage, you know that it is both physically and emotionally challenging.  With 3 little boys, I felt extremely blessed that Mr. Crum was able to be home with me most of the week.  He took excellent care of our boys.  Friends rallied around in support of us.  Still, it was tough.

From the start of this pregnancy, the word God put on my mind for the baby was "peace."  We had decided that somehow "Shalom" would be part of the baby's name. Shalom is more then just simply peace; it is a complete peace. It is a feeling of contentment, completeness, wholeness, well being and harmony.

Again and again over the last week and a half, I have had to remember the peace of God.  Because the Spirit is in me, I HAVE his peace.  It does not come from me, or from the world around me.  The peace that I have in this heartbreaking time is from Him alone.

 Tonight I spoke with a friend who had heartbreaking news of her own.  My heart aches for her and her husband.  They seem to meet adversity everywhere they turn.  My friend, I wish I had answers about why a good God lets babies die before they are born.  I wish I could tell you why things are happening the way they are in your life.  The only thing I can tell you is that I find my peace in Him.  I know he is good even when the world doesn't make any sense.  Even when the justice system is unjust - he is fair.

Have you had a hard week?  How are you holding it together?  What do you rely on when times are tough?

Trunki Giveaway

DON'T MISS OUT 

on your chance to win a Trunki

contest ends Black Friday at midnight.