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.
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.
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.”
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.
Books:
Baby Jesus is Born by Juliet David (for Arianna)
The Light of Christmas by Dandi Daley Mackall (for Elijah)
Now that it’s December, our Advent celebration is in full swing (since a few of our activities just start on December 1 regardless of when Advent really begins, which is the fourth Sunday before Christmas). There are several things we do each day, and we’ve found it works best to have one child do them all on his or her special day. Today was Ian’s turn, so he got to open a door on our wooden Advent calendar, place the item he found inside wherever he chose, hang our Jesse Tree ornament, light the candle on our Advent wreath during Bible Time, and blow it out after prayers. (This picture is from last year, when we’d already opened several items. Right now it only has one star, but Ian did put it in the exact same corner.) Elijah and Arianna got to open our books (above), and we read them throughout the day.
We started the Jesse Tree LEGO Challenge from Tauna at Proverbial Homemaker, using it to kick off our family Bible Time in the evening. First we read the Scripture together, and then hung the day’s ornament on the small tree in our school room that acts as our Jesse Tree. By the time we get to Christmas, it will tell the whole story of Jesus.
Today the building project was a stump. Ian also included a mini-figure as the shoot coming out of the stump. Since we’d talked about how the shoot represented Jesus, he wanted a person.
Books:
Jesus, Me and My Christmas Tree by Crystal Bowman (for Arianna-3)
The Pine Tree Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs (for Elijah-5)
The Legend of the Christmas Tree by Rick Osborne (for Ian)
I’m going to try to give you a glimpse into our Advent celebration this year. I may not manage to blog every day, but I’ll try to cover what we do.
Each day in December leading up to Christmas, one child will open a door on our wooden Advent calendar, and the other two older ones get to unwrap a book for us to read together. Since we didn’t have a door to open today, I passed out 3 books instead, focusing on the theme I chose for the day: Christmas Trees. They were already on our minds because we’d spent yesterday getting all our Christmas decorations out, so it seemed like a good time to talk about the symbolism behind Christmas trees, reviewing what we learned in Buck Denver asks…Why Do They Call It Christmas?, which we watched last night after our decorating was done. I want them to think of Jesus every time they see a Christmas tree, and focusing on it for the whole day right at the beginning of the season seemed like a good way to work toward that goal.
For our evening Bible Time, we lit the first candle on our Advent wreath, started reading Jotham’s Journey by Arnold Ytreeide, and sang the first two verses of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” It was fun seeing Arianna’s sweet face lit up with the wonder of this special moment. The boys remembered our Advent devotions from last year and were excited to be reading by candlelight once again, but it was all new to her. The only thing I would change about this time was that I only read from the book. All three of the kids pointed out the fact that we never got our Bibles out. Jotham’s Journey ends each day’s reading with a devotional based on Scriptures, so I thought that was enough, but I think tomorrow we’ll have everyone get out their Bibles the way we usually do so they can read the verses themselves.
As I shared in my previous post, 25 CHRISTmas Books for Preschoolers, I’ve split our Christmas library into two parts to have age appropriate books for all the children in our family to (re)discover each day in December. Choosing books for older children is a little trickier than for the little ones. Some of my favorite stories are chapter books that are too long to read in one day, so our Advent tradition of wrapping up a book to open each day doesn’t work quite so well with those. So here’s a list of 25 great picture books we’ll be using for our Advent gifts, not in order, but grouped by theme. (Yes, we open the same ones each year, with usually a few new ones mixed in.) The chapter books will have to wait until my children get a little older.
I’ve tried to build a collection of beautiful books that will reach my children’s hearts and cause them to think more deeply about Christmas. Not all these books are specifically about Christ or even mention him (though many do), but are more focused on things like love, self-sacrifice, and the joy of giving as we celebrate God’s gift of our Savior.
Jacob’s Gift by Max Lucado (a young carpenter’s apprentice gives the manger he has worked on to be Christ’s first bed)
The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado (a lamb who is sad about not being able to go out into the fields gets to be present when Christ is born)
The Light of Christmas by Dandi Daley Mackall (rhyming story about Jesus, the Light of the World, not just at his birth, but for all time)
Amahl and the Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti (a young crippled boy meets the 3 kings on their journey and his healed after deciding to give his crutch to the baby Jesus, based on the opera by the same name)
The Legend of the Christmas Tree by Rick Osborne (teaches about the symbolism of Christmas trees)
The Candy Maker’s Gift: The Inspirational Legend of the Candy Cane by David and Helen Haidle (the symbolism behind the candy cane)
The 12 Days of Christmas: the story behind a favorite Christmas song by Helen Haidle (with explanations of the items in the song)
The Last Straw by Paula Palangi McDonald (a family creates a bed for Jesus as they perform kind deeds for one another)
If He Had Not Come by Nan F. Weeks (retold by David Nicholson) (a boy dreams of a world with Christ and realizes the Jesus is the best gift ever given)
Josie’s Gift by Kathleen Long Bostrom (the story of a girl who learns that Christmas is not about what we want, but what we have)
Great Joy by Kate DiCamillo (a little girl shares the joy of Christ’s birth with a lonely organ-grinder)
Christmas Oranges retold by Linda Bethers (the story of an orphan girl whose friends show her great love through their gift to her)
The Christmas Candle by Richard Paul Evans (about a man who discovers joy in giving to the poor)
The Legend of Saint Nicholas: A Story of Christmas Giving by Dandi Daley Mackall (a boy learns about the story of St. Nicholas and gains a new outlook on giving)
Penny’s Christmas Jar Miracle by Jason F. Wright (a wonderful story about love and the joy of doing something for others)
The Princess and the Kiss: Three Gifts of Christmas by Jennie Bishop (After her parents decide a princess should only receive three gifts rather than her usual bounty, she learns that true joy comes from giving.)
The Candle in the Window by Grace Johnson (the story of an unhappy cobbler who discovers joy in giving “unto the least of these”)
The Light of Christmas by Richard Paul Evans (a boy sacrifices his own desires to help someone in need and is rewarded in the end)
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston (the story of a family’s love and sacrifice during hard times)
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski (a story of hope about a man transformed by love)
Angela and the Baby Jesus by Frank McCourt (a little girl takes the figure of baby Jesus home from church because he seems cold)
(NOTE: As I’ve discovered new books, I’ve replaced some of the titles in the original post. I’m keeping them around for when I want to wrap up books for more kids each day, but these are currently my 25 favorites for elementary-age children.)
A few years ago we started a tradition of wrapping up a book each day of Advent leading up to Christmas, and I shared a list of books we used to go along with Truth in the Tinsel. Every year I’ve added a few new Christmas books to our collection (with more kids to open them), and this year we’ll be opening 2 books each day: one geared toward my preschoolers, and 1 for my older kids. So I thought it was about time I organized the books into two lists and shared them. (In other words, there are several repeats from the old list this time around, but the books with longer stories have been replaced with more preschool-friendly choices.)
I’ve listed them in subject groups rather than the order I pass them out. I do tend to give most of the books about symbols early on so that the kids will recognize them and make the connection to Christ as we go through the season, but as a general rule I try to mix them up a bit so we don’t end up with all the stable/animal stories in a big clump. I just thought these groups would be more helpful for anyone not familiar with the books.
Jesus, Me and My Christmas Tree by Crystal Bowman (A little girl goes through various ornaments on her tree that relate to the Christmas story.)
J is for Jesus by Crystal Bowman (rhyme about the symbolism of the candy cane)
Christmas Angels by Crystal Bowman (rhyming story about angels in the Christmas story so children think of the Bible when they see angel decorations)
A Star for Jesus by Crystal Bowman (rhyming story about the Christmas star)
The Pine Tree Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs (a story about a farmer and his wife who make a sacrifice that brings great joy. Bible verses throughout.)
6. 
Mary, Did You Know? by Mark Lowry, illustrated by Phil Boatwright (beautiful illustrations and accompanying Scripture verses)
We Three Kings traditional carol illustrated by Gennady Spirin (The pictures are probably more pleasing to adults, but I like the chance to expose my children to beautiful art.)
The Animals’ Christmas Carol illustrated by Helen Ward (beautiful pictures to go along with the medieval carol “The Friendly Beasts”)
9. 
The Little Drummer Boy illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats (a favorite song of ours, with pictures by the author of The Snowy Day)
12 Days of Christmas beautifully illustrated by Laurel Long (in the right order, which is surprisingly hard to find!)
Away in a Manger illustrated by Thomas Kinkade (all three verses, with paintings of both the manger scene and an old-fashioned village)
This is the Stable by Cynthia Cotton (full of repetition and rhyme, similar to “This is the House That Jack Built”)
Christmas in the Manger by Nola Buck (simple rhymes about those present at Jesus’ birth)
The Christmas Star by Marcus Pfister (beautiful watercolor and glitter illustrations by the author/illustrator of The Rainbow Fish)
Song of the Stars by Sally Lloyd-Jones (full of excitement about the arrival of Jesus–I like to save this one for Christmas morning because it captures the joy when the wait is over)
Humphrey’s First Christmas by Carol Heyer (about a self-absorbed donkey who goes with the three kings to find Christ and realizes that he alone is worthy of praise)
Baby Jesus is Born by Juliet David (Very simple retelling of the whole Christmas story, starting with the angel visiting Mary and ending with the family returning to Nazareth.)
The Christmas Story: The Brick Bible for Kids by Brendan Powell Smith (I am not a fan of the Brick Bible in general, and I hesitated even to buy this because I didn’t want to support the anti-Christian author, but several trusted friends recommended it and I knew my boys especially would love it, so I decided to find a used copy for our family. If your kids are sensitive, be warned that it does include the part of the story where Herod orders the baby boys of Bethlehem killed.)
Room for a Little One by Martin Waddell (about the animals in the stable when Jesus was born)
The Animals’ Christmas Eve by Gale Wiersum (a counting book about the animals in the stable)
Who is Coming to Our House? by Joseph Slate (about the animals getting ready to welcome baby Jesus to their stable)
Bethlehem Night by Julie Stiegemeyer (story of the night Christ was born, told in rhyme–good fit for Christmas Eve)
Baboushka and the Three Kings by Ruth Robbins (An old Russian story about a woman who meets the wise men on their way to visit the Christ child.)
Mouskin’s Christmas Eve by Edna Miller (classic story about a mouse who finds his way into a house at Christmastime and finds peace in the shelter of a manger scene)
Mortimer’s Christmas Manger by Karma Wilson (also about a little mouse exploring a manger scene, but a more detailed story)
If you have school-age kids, check out 25 CHRISTmas Picture Books for Older Children. I hope your family finds some new favorites to enjoy this Christmas!
(NOTE: As I’ve discovered new books, I’ve replaced some of the titles in the original post. I’m keeping them around for when I want to wrap up books for more kids each day, but these are currently my 25 favorites for preschool-age children.)
It seems like the main lesson I learned through this Lenten season was that things are not always going to happen the way I expect. 
Our Lenten Tree limped to life in spurts. Because it wasn’t connected to either our evening family Bible Time devotions nor our morning Bible reading with school, we just didn’t add to it as regularly as I hoped. Instead we kept adding leaves in clusters.
There were two ways we brought our tree to “life.” The leaves were made using the printable “ornaments” from Gina at Seamless Days. She has drawn up simple pictures to represent the stories mentioned in No Ordinary Home: The Uncommon Art of Christ-Centered Homemaking by Carol Brazo. They tell the story of God’s redemption from Creation to the Resurrection. We also added flowers to represent some of the ideas I got from Bring Lent to Life: Activities & Reflections For Your Family by Kathleen M. Basi (e.g. people we’re praying for, things we’re thankful for). I still like the idea of the tree, but the next time we try it I think we’ll make sure to connect it with the devotions during our family Bible Time.
Even though we didn’t add to the tree daily or as often as I would have liked, at least it did happen (sort of) and provided the visual lesson I intended. I had other plans for Lent that never happened at all, so I went to church this morning with anticipation in my heart, hoping for a great glorious celebration tapping into two thousand years of tradition of celebrating the miraculous morning of the Resurrection, something that would wipe away the dissatisfaction of my frustration expectations.
Then my children had one of the most difficult times in church I can remember since we started keeping them in the main service with us a few years ago. (Actually, it was probably just one child in particular having trouble, but multiple issues on that front made me hyper-sensitive and then every little thing out of the others seemed a lot worse than it was.) I ended the service in tears. The morning had not been the glorious experience of my dreams.
I imagine the disciples felt the same way at the beginning of that Sunday morning so long ago. Here they were, at the culmination of three years of ministry following Jesus, expecting him to triumph over their oppressors and establish his kingdom, only to find themselves left with a body in a tomb. They adjusted to his death and tried to figure out where to go from there. Then the women came back from the tomb proclaiming Christ’s resurrection. In spite of the fact that Jesus had told them he would be raised on the third day, they still had a hard time believing it until they saw him for themselves. It wasn’t until they let go of their expectations that they were able to fully experience the awesome power of Christ’s victory over death. What started as a gloomy morning turned into a joyous celebration.
My own morning did get better. Our merciful God brought several good friends around me who offered comfort and encouragement, and by the time we left the church building my spirit was renewed and refreshed. Even though the rest of our day has just been an ordinary Sunday at home, there is something different inside me. I have spent the day reading through the story of Easter morning in all four gospels and reflecting on the beauty of the Resurrection. While my day wasn’t quite so dramatic as that first Resurrection Sunday, it still ended up being a time of joy and marveling at the glory of God. As I let go of my expectations I was able to embrace His mercy, His grace, and His infinite love. And that is a wonderful way to celebrate the day God triumphed over death and gave us the incredible gift of new Life.
Our family so enjoyed the sacredness of celebrating Advent that I decided I wanted to do something for Lent this year to make this season a holy celebration as well. Usually when I think of Lent, I think “fasting,” but really the season is about so much more than that. I’m not sure how much our children would understand the concept at their ages and whether they could really choose to give something up on their own. I don’t want the season to be remembered for how much they resented me taking away their sweets or screen time. So instead, I’m choosing to use a “Lenten Tree” to represent God bringing us new life.
Throughout the season we will add leaves, flowers, and ornaments to transform our barren “tree” into a lush symbol of Christ’s triumph over death. I’ll share a little more about how those things will get added as we move toward the celebration of the Resurrection.
To see how our tree came to life, check out The Resurrection: Letting Go of Expectations.
