Advent Reading Day 8

Scripture reading: Exodus 1:1-14; 3:1-12 -- Moses and the Burning Bush

Symbol: The bush that burns without burning up

I am doing a bible study at church over Exodus and this part of Scripture is so rich I can hardly soak it all in. I enjoyed reading the story of Moses, Pharoah, the plagues and the Passover with my boys tonight.

Advent Reading Day 6 and Day 7 & Christmas Lights Outside

Advent Day 6

Scripture reading: Genesis 28:1-17 -- Jacob

Symbol: A ladder, such as the one Jacob saw in his dream, with God's angels going up and down it

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Advent Day 7

Scripture reading: Genesis 42:1 - 45:15 -- Joseph and His Brothers
Symbol: A grain sack, like the ones Joseph's servants filled for his brothers

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We finally had the chance to finish decorating the outside of our house for Christmas. We scaled things down a bit due to time and our electric bill last year. I have a little of the "National Lampoon's" mentality when it comes to decorating the house and the yard that I've had to reign in a bit this year. I think it still looks nice though.

Advent Reading Day 5 & Santa Visited Our Backyard

Scripture reading: Genesis 22:1-19 -- Abraham and Isaac and the Sacrifice
Symbol: The ram, which God provided for Abraham to sacrifice instead of his son
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Santa seems to have visited our backyard and left this:

I think it is SO big that there would not be any room for it on his sleigh on Christmas Eve, therefore the early delivery. Thanks goes out to Santa's Elves, Nina, Pappaw on Nonna for this one!

The boys totally LOVE it and it is very sweet to see their little imaginations run wild. You might even catch me out there on it too!

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Here's a picture of us at my parent's house in front of their Christmas tree.  My parents bought my grandparent's house this year after my Grandma passed away so it is quite sentimental to me this time of year.

Advent Reading Day 4

Scripture reading: Genesis 12:1-7; 15:1-6 -- The Call and Promise to Abram

Symbol: Abram will be the ancestor of as many people as there are stars in the sky

I am getting acclimated to my new camera and the flash is a little strong here...you can barely make out the stars, but they are there! :)

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Some funny things Noodle has said lately:

Noodle: Dad, I want you to put me on your holders!

John: Your what?

Noodle: Your holders, you know (pointing to his shoulders) your holders!

He loves to sit on John's shoulders and be that high....he giggles the whole time.

Last night, John was getting ready to leave for grad school. The boys and I have gotten to a point in the semester where we are just tired of him having to be gone 2 nights a week. So, I always kid with the boys that they need to find a rope so that we can tie Dad up and he can't go to class. So, as John was grabbing his school bag and walking towards the kitchen to leave, Noodle runs up and latches on to his leg and exclaims, "Tie him up!" It was so unexpected and so funny!

And not to leave Burrito out....

Last night as we were praying before eating dinner, the boys have picked up on times when John and I have said "Yes, Lord," or "um huh" during prayer to affirm what the prayer is praying. They have mimicked this on several occasions and last night while we were praying it was getting a little out of hand. So when John finished praying he told Burrito that he did not need to make any noises while we were praying, especially since he didn't even know what that means or why people do that. Burrito matter-of-factly, in his good first-born, I know everything voice, said "I do know why people do that. It is because they are saying yes to God."

Okay, so maybe he does get it.

And maybe sometimes more than we know.

Advent Reading Day 3 and a Little Christmas

Scritpure reading: Genesis 6:11-22; 7:17-8:3; 9:8-17 -- The Flood
Symbol: The rainbow, sign of God's promise that He will keep the water under control from now on.
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Since John's family was here for Thanksgiving, we went ahead and did Christmas with them. We did not have any arguments from the boys for not waiting! :) The boys received a bunch of really cute long sleeved shirts, new jackets, football trading cards and this year's singing snowmen from Hallmark, a Nonna tradition!

John was especially proud of his new Ipod Touch and I love my new digital camera! Thanks Chris, Sharon and Nonna!

Our Jesse Tree

Scripture for today: Genesis 2:4-3:13 -- The Fall of Adam and Eve
Symbol: A tree with lovely-looking fruit

This year our family will be celebrating Advent with a Jesse tree.

What is a Jesse tree, you ask?

The idea of the Jesse 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 a Jesse 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!)

There are many ways of doing this. We have a designated tree in our living room that we are calling our Advent tree. We talked with the boys before starting this that Advent means "coming" and how we are to think about Jesus' coming to the earth during this time, rather than presents, Christmas parties, shopping and everything else that has shoved Christ out of Christmas. I promise not to rant here but it gets harder and harder each year, thanks to the media and our culture, to slow down and reflect on what Christmas really is about.

So each day of Advent I will post the Scripture reading for the day that we will be doing with our boys and the symbol and its meaning of what was placed on our Advent tree for the day. We would love for you to join us in reading and thinking about Christ this Advent season!

And on Christmas day, we will post a picture of our Advent tree in all its glory with all of the ornaments representing God's love and plan for us, His children.

Praying your family will be mindful and prayerful this season as we try to do the same.

Pilgrims and Indians and Our Advent Tree

***To understand the Scripture and symbol below, see my post on Dec 2 about our Advent/Jesse Tree***

Scripture: Genesis 1:1 - 2:3 -- Creation
Symbol: The dove symbolizes God's spirit, moving over the waters at the beginning

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Pilgrims and Indians in PreK!

Burrito had a Thanksgiving Feast at school, complete with pilgrims and indians. His class were the pilgrims and the other prek class were the indians. It had me all sentimental because my parents have a video of the 5 o'clock news of when I was in kindergarten having my own Thanksgiving feast as an indian. It was fun and sweet to participate with him.