Tuesday, December 25, 2012

advent reading day 25...He's here! Merry Christmas!

advent reading day 25

scripture reading: the birth of Jesus, from luke 2, JSBB pgs 182-191, 198*

symbol: baby Jesus!

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

merry christmas from our home to yours!

in wonder at the birth of our King,
jenn

Monday, December 24, 2012

advent reading day 24

advent reading day 24

scripture reading: the King of all kings: the story of the three wise men, from matthew 2, JSBB pgs 192-197*

symbol: the three wise men and the star

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

Sunday, December 23, 2012

advent reading day 23

advent reading day 23

scripture reading: the journey to bethlehem, from luke 1 and 2, JSBB pgs 180-181*

symbol: a scroll, representing the census that was taken

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

Saturday, December 22, 2012

advent reading day 22

advent reading day 22

scripture reading: mary and the angel, from luke 1-2. JSBB pgs 176-179*

symbol: an angel

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

Friday, December 21, 2012

advent reading day 21

advent reading day 21

scripture reading: the story of john the baptist, from matthew 3, luke 1 and john 1, JSBB pgs 200-203*

symbol: a shell, a traditional symbol for baptism

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

Thursday, December 20, 2012

advent reading day 20

advent reading day 20

scripture reading: get ready! God's people return from being slaves, from nehemiah 8-10, malachi 1, 3, and 4, ezra 7, JSBB pgs 170-175*

symbol: a party hat, to celebrate all the Lord had done

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

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

advent reading day 19

advent reading day 19

scripture reading: God's messenger: jonah and the big fish, from jonah 1-4; hebrews 1:1-2, JSBB pgs 160-169*

symbol: the big fish

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

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

advent reading day 18

advent reading day 18

scripture reading: daniel and the scary sleepover: daniel and the lion's den, from daniel 6, JSBB pgs 152-159*

symbol: daniel and the lions

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

Monday, December 17, 2012

advent reading day 17

advent reading day 17

scripture reading: operation "no more tears!": the rescuer will come, prophecies from isaiah, JSBB pgs 144-151*

symbol: a crown, representing the king to come

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

Sunday, December 16, 2012

advent reading day 16

advent reading day 16

scripture reading: a little servant girl and the proud general: the little slave girl and Naaman, from 2 Kings 5, JSBB pgs 136-143*

symbol: a beautiful heart, cured from the leprosy of sin

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

Saturday, December 15, 2012

advent reading day 15

advent reading day 15

scripture reading: the good shepherd: david the shepherd king, from psalm 51, 2 samuel 7, JSBB pgs 130-135*

symbol: the lyre, representing the psalms written by david

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

Friday, December 14, 2012

advent reading day 14

advent reading day 14

scripture reading: the young hero and the horrible giant: david and goliath, from 1 Samuel 17, JSBB pgs 122-129*

symbol: the slingshot

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

Thursday, December 13, 2012

advent reading day 13

advent reading day 13

scripture reading: the teeny, weenie...true king: samuel anoints david, from 1 Samuel 16, JSBB pgs 116-121*

symbol: david the shepherd boy

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

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

advent reading day 12

advent reading day 12

scripture reading: the warrior leader: joshua and the battle of jericho, from joshua 3 and 6, JSBB pgs 108-115*

symbol: the trumpet

*we are using the jesus storybook bible for our kid friendly readings

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

advent reading day 11

advent reading day 11

scripture reading: ten ways to be perfect: moses and the ten commandments, from exodus 16-17, 19-40, JSBB pgs 100-107*

symbol: the stone tablets

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

Monday, December 10, 2012

advent reading day 10

advent reading day 10

scripture reading: God makes a way: moses and the red sea, from exodus 14-15, JSBB pgs 92-99*

symbol: the parting of the sea (don't you love my artistic interpretation in this one! ha!)

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

Sunday, December 9, 2012

advent reading day 9

advent reading day 9

scripture reading: God to the rescue: moses and the great escape from egypt, from exodus 3-13, JSBB pgs 84-91*

symbol: the burning bush

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

Saturday, December 8, 2012

advent reading day 8

advent reading day 8

scripture reading: the forgiving prince: joseph and his brothers, from genesis 37-46, JSBB pgs 76-83*

symbol: joseph's beautiful multi-colored coat

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

Friday, December 7, 2012

advent reading day 7

advent reading day 7

scripture reading: the girl no one wanted: the story of jacob, rachel and leah, from genesis 29-30, JSBB pgs 70-75*

symbol: stalks of grain, representing the years of work jacob did in order to marry rachel

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

Thursday, December 6, 2012

advent reading day 6

advent reading day 6

scripture reading: the present, the story of abraham and isaac, from genesis 22, JSBB pgs 62-69*

symbol: the ram

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

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

advent reading day 5

advent reading day 5

scripture reading: son of laughter: God's special promise to abraham, from genesis 12:1-7, 15:1-6, JSBB pgs 56-61*

symbol: stars in the sky, representing God's promise to abraham to give him as many ancestors as there are stars in the sky

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

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Our Christmas Card for 2012!

Sweet Little Label Christmas
To view our unique Christmas card designs, click here.
View the entire collection of cards.
 
aren't they the cutest?  i know, i know, i'm a little biased.  coming soon to a mailbox near you! :)

advent reading day 4

advent reading day 4

scripture reading: a giant staircase to heaven: the tower of babel, from genesis 11, JSBB pgs 48-55*

symbol: a tower

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

use your imagination when looking at our tower ornament, ha!  that's a tough one to make! :)

blessings,
jenn

Monday, December 3, 2012

advent reading day 3

advent reading day 3

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.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

advent reading day 2

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

*we are using the jesus storybook bible by sally lloyd jones for our kid-friendly readings.
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so how do we do our advent readings?  well, we adjust it a bit each year as the boys get older, but we always do our reading following dinner.  we all pile on the couch under a comfy blanket and soak in the words of the reading for that night.  this year, burrito and noodle will take turns reading the story aloud and then hanging an ornament on our advent tree.

this year we have a pair of trees we are designating for our advent ornaments.

happy advent,
jenn

Saturday, December 1, 2012

advent reading day 1

and so begins our advent reading and advent tree decorating for 2012. 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

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

*from The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones

Thursday, November 29, 2012

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!

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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!

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

preparing for advent...get your ornaments ready!

advent is just around the corner and the anticipation is building in our home.

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 chidren'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 a couple of years ago while burrito was at school.  others are hallmark ornaments or other ornaments that we've picked up over time.  if you need a sneak peek at our ornaments, look on the right sidebar of my blog under "archived" and click on advent...this will pull up all our previous advent posts and you can see our humble ornaments!

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 fifth 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!

Sunday, October 28, 2012

noodle's celebrations

as always, birthday celebrations go on and on each year for our boys.  we have recently adopted "family fun days" as a better substitute for a birthday party.  and believe it or not, the boys prefer it...maybe because they get to plan our entire day, including meals and activities.

we celebrated noodle's family fun day on a friday that we did not have school.  it began with a trip to dunkin donuts.  i didn't complain!

then we headed to walmart to buy a small present for him (he chose a new beywheelz), after trying out the skateboards!
this is completely hysterical to me!

then we ventured on to the fort worth science and history museum to meet up with a few of his friends from school that graciously invited us to take advantage of their membership there.  we spent the morning hours digging for dinosaur bones and exploring their exhibits, including a bed of nails and a hurricane wind tunnel.

bed of nails
i love their faces!
noodle chose mcdonald's for lunch.  i am not a fan, but hey, it's his day.

then we went to main event for some family fun bowling.  after 3 games, the lure of the arcade games was too much.  after trying to convince both boys not to waste their money on those claw games that are designed to never let you capture and grab a cheap stuffed animal, we relented and this is what happened!

he won twice!!!  we ended the day with dinner at chili's and renting a movie and eating candy.

the next birthday celebration was at mimi and poppy's house.  he was so excited to get a harry potter lego book, a new beyblade, some new athletic clothes, and a new scooter with light up wheels!!!  we ate cookie cake and played outside.



on noodle's actual birthday i took cookies and drinks up to school at recess for his school buddies.


before dinner, he opened presents from us.  he got a new basketball goal (which broke in 2 minutes and i had to ship back so don't buy this one!!!), basketball shorts and a beywheelz stadium from his brother burrito.

don't ask me why he is doing the star trek sign???

we also went out for dinner (again, his choice!) at ihop and then came back home to open presents on skype with nina, pappaw and nonna in st. louis.  he was so excited to get more beywheelz, a beyblade destroyer dome, money and a scooby doo game (thanks uncle daniel!).


i would say that this boy is blessed beyond measure and we sure had a good time celebrating him!  happy 7th birthday noodle!!!

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Happy 7th Birthday to my Noodle


 well, it's happened again.

another of my babies grows a year older.  i don't like it.  at all.  but i haven't figured out a way to make it stop.

my sweet noodle is 7 today!

noodle, you are such a blessing to our family.  you are just the right person to level out the other 3 high-strung residents of your home.  you are sweet and sensitive.  you don't take things too seriously but you do your best.  you are still a game nazi.  you love playing games all day long.  you are quite the sports buff too.  it's been fun for us to watch our little leftie play baseball this season.  you are doing great in 1st grade.  your lowest grade was a 99 for the first quarter.  you are a great reader and i am constantly amazed at your tenacity to sound out words that you don't immediately know.  math comes natural.  i think it's from all those games you make us play.  you are a budding musician and we are so glad you are learning to play violin.  you are a good friend and easily float from one friend to another....everyone is your best buddy.  i love that you and your brother are close and share a room and sometimes sneak into your big bed together.

we are so grateful for the gift from God you are to us.  we look forward to seeing the Lord develop your gifts and skills for His glory.  we pray that you will be a passionate fireball for Him for your whole life.

we love you so much!