His Treasure Seekers

Books:

We Three Kings traditional carol illustrated by Gennady Spirin (for Arianna)

The Last Straw by Paula Palangi McDonald (for Ian)

After reading the story of Ruth, the boys built baskets of wheat for the Jesse Tree LEGO Challenge.

We closed with “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” but it’s not the kids’ favorite.  They keep begging for “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”  I think they like having a repeating refrain to sing over and over again

 

Books:

Away in a Manger illustrated by Thomas Kinkade

Great Joy by Kate DiCamillo

Our story today in the Jesse Tree LEGO Challenge was about Rahab.  Elijah built a rope like the one used to lower the two Israelite spies from Rahab’s window.

Ian built Rahab’s room, complete Rahab helping the two men climbing down from the window on a rope.

We have been enjoying the story of Jotham’s Journey so much.  I’m not sure the Elijah is able to follow the story (I know Arianna’s not), but he’s content building with LEGOs while we read.  However, Ian, Eric and I look forward to finding out what happens each night.  We closed tonight with all four verses of “O Little Town of Bethlehem.”

 Books:

The Little Drummer Boy illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats (for Elijah)Silent Night: The Song and Its Story by Margaret Hodges (for Ian)Tonight’s Jesse Tree LEGO Challenge was about the Law, and the boys came up with very different, but both very clever interpretations of tablets and a mountain.  (They were so into it tonight, I’m not sure how much they caught of Jotham’s Journey, but hopefully enough that they won’t feel too last tomorrow.)

Elijah took the assignment very literally.  He carefully counted out 10 tablets to represent the 10 commandments, and made a nice symmetrical mountain.

Ian was more into the story and ended up making two scenes: one of “God” giving Moses the 10 commandments on the mountain, and another of Aaron and the other Israelites making the Golden Calf while Moses was gone.

We closed by singing “O Come O Come Emmanuel,” ending with the verse about the Law:

O come, o come, Thou Lord of might,

Who to thy tribes on Sinai’s height

In ancient times did give the law

In cloud, and majesty, and awe.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel!

 Books:

The Animals’ Christmas Eve by Gale Wiersum (for Arianna)

The Candle in the Window by Grace Johnson (for Ian)

I really enjoyed Ian’s story, though there were a couple spots that made me feel like I’d missed a page.  Based on a story by Leo Tolstoy, it’s about a German cobbler who’s not really celebrating on Christmas Eve because he misses his wife and child.  When special visitors put a candle in his window and tell him the Christ Child will visit homes with the candle, he gets excited and prepares to welcome Him.  As the evening passes, several people in need stumble into his shop, drawn by the candle in the window.  Full of joy in his anticipation of seeing the Christ Child, he generously gives to them, though by the end of the night he wonders if Jesus didn’t come because the cobbler had given away everything intended for Him.  The mysterious visitors return and help put his heart at ease by reading to him from Matthew 25, explaining that whatever he did “unto the least of these,” he did for Christ.

The story lead to a good discussion with Ian about how we can give to Jesus by serving the poor.  I’m thankful that our church has several ways we can be involved as a family in helping those in need.  It makes it easier to talk about “giving gifts to Jesus” when the kids can make this connection.

In the Jesse Tree LEGO Challenge we read the story of Jacob’s dream, and the boys enjoyed building ladders while we read from Jotham’s Journey.

Then we ended the night singing “O Little Town of Bethlehem.”

 

Daily Theme: sacrifice

Books:

J is for Jesus by Crystal Bowman (for Arianna)

The Candy Maker’s Gift: The Inspirational Legend of the Candy Cane by David and Helen Haidle (for Elijah)

The candy cane books seemed like a good way to tie in the idea of sacrifice on the day were were talking about Abraham going to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac, the story in the Jesse Tree LEGO Challenge.  Today they were supposed to build a pile of wood, but we decided to elaborate a little by making altars.  Ian even built a ram to go on his, and Elijah of course had to add a tree for detail.

In Jotham’s Journey, the devotion at the end talked about the Bethlehem candle, which we lit tonight for the first time.  (Our devotions have been longer this year, so our candles are burning down quickly!  I suggested to Eric just lighting them for our song, but he said we could just get out last year’s candles to get us through if we need to.)  Tonight we started learning “O Little Town of Bethlehem.”

 Books:

The Legend of Saint Nicholas: A Story of Christmas Giving by Dandi Daley Mackall (for Elijah)

Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend by Julie Stiegemeyer (for Ian)

Today is St. Nicholas Day, so we learned a lot about this Christian saint of long ago, both with our books and by watching the Veggie Tales episode St. Nicholas: A Story of Joyful Giving.

For the Jesse Tree LEGO Challenge we read about Sarah having Isaac, and the boys built cradles while we read from Jotham’s Journey.  I loved Ian’s Abraham and Sarah hovering next to the cradle, as well as Elijah’s roof and door into the room with the cradle.  It’s so much fun seeing their individual creativity each night.

   Then we sang “Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne” and Arianna prayed for us.  She’s been enjoying our songs so much and sings so enthusiastically that we have trouble not breaking into giggles, since she makes no attempt to learn the words and just sings nonsense syllables.

 

Daily Theme: Abraham

Books:

Room for a Little One by Martin Waddell (for Arianna)

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski (for Ian–a good choice for a day when I’m not feeling 100% because he can listen to the story on the CD)

For their Jesse Tree LEGO Challenge, Elijah built a rather fancy tent for Abraham, and Ian built both a tent and a camel.

  

 

Daily Theme: The Flood

Books:

A Star for Jesus by Crystal Bowman (for Arianna)

The Christmas Story: The Brick Bible for Kids by Brendan Powell Smith (for Elijah)

In the Jesse Tree LEGO Challenge, we read the story of the Flood, and the boys built arks.

Then after the day’s reading in Jotham’s Journey, we sang “Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne,” again.

 

Daily Theme: The Fall

Books:

Mouskin’s Christmas Eve by Edna Miller (for Elijah)

The Little Fir Tree by Margaret Wise Brown (for Ian)

Arianna has patiently been waiting for her day to open the door on the Advent calendar, light our candle, and hang our Jesse Tree LEGO Challenge ornament.

 I’ve been having the boys read the Scripture passage themselves on their day, but for Arianna, we read from her picture Bible (the original version of The Beginner’s Bible, by Karyn Henley).  I don’t know if the simpler version made it easier for the boys to picture the scene or what, but they both got really into their LEGO projects while I read aloud from Jotham’s Journey.  They each created trees with giant apples, and Elijah even had a “snake” crawling along the ground.  He was so excited to tell us all about his creation.

We switched songs tonight, closing with “Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne,” which we learned last year during Advent.  (The melody is a little tricky to learn, so we sang along to a video with lyrics.)

 Daily Theme:Creation

Books:

Christmas Angels by Crystal Bowman (for Arianna)

What Nick and Holly Found in Grandpa’s Attic by Melody Carlson (for Ian)

Along with Ian’s book, which talks about 12 important aspects of Jesus, I included the box of “Adorenaments” a friend gave us last year.  He had never seen them, but he loves going through our Resurrection Eggs with the book Benjamin’s Box (by the same author) every year at Easter, so I knew he would enjoy going through this story and pulling out the ornament that goes along with the picture at the top of each page.  After we read through the book, I had him go through all the ornaments again, telling me what they meant.  I liked that the book discussed less common names for Jesus, like “Bright and Morning Star,” and “The Door.”

In the Jesse Tree LEGO Challenge from Proverbial Homemaker we read about Creation and Elijah got to hang our ornament.

Then the boys tried to build the earth while we read from Jotham’s Journey, which the whole family is enjoying.  (Well, Ian tried to make the earth, including the core and mantle.  Elijah went straight to the “extra challenge” and made a landscape, which ended up being a garden with a maze.)

   To close our evening, Elijah prayed for us and we all sang three verses of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”  We’ve been talking a lot about Jesus as the Light this week, so we included my favorite verse:

O Come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer

Our spirits by Thine advent here;

Disperse the gloomy clouds of night

And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel

The boys have pretty much memorized the first two verses and sing through them with enthusiasm, and even Arianna has caught on to the refrain and loves to sing along with us.  It’s such a sweet way to end our days, gathered close together as a family to read the lyrics, singing a song with such a rich history.  I hope our children grow up thinking of Advent as a wondrous, enchanting time of considering the mystery of Christ’s Incarnation as a family.