Lent

I have never before observed Lent, but this year I feel convicted. Not because it's Lent and I ought to sacrifice something, but because God is showing me some areas where I can improve by denying myself some of my habitual passtimes for some better ones.

SO.... I am actually observing Lent to some degree this year, and giving up my personal TV time (or Netflix / Hulu time, as the case really is) and Eliana is doing the same, though she has much less choice in the matter. =D I realized that we've fallen into a bad pattern where she watches TV and I feel free, so I hole up in another room, doing something else, in front of another computer watching TV. The TV isn't necessarily bad, but the pattern we've fallen into is.

I have so many opportunities during the day to spend time with Eliana, teaching her through activities and play, talking with her as we rise in the morning and walk throughout our day, as it were. So that's what we're doing instead of watching TV for a few weeks. And so far, it's been a really nice change. Yes, I want to know what's going on with "my" shows. But they will be there after Easter, and if they're not, well, will it really make a difference in the end? No. It is also a good chance for me to evaluate what I watch and whether those are shows I really want to spend my time following. Are they beneficial? Why do I watch them? I am looking forward to cutting out some of what I watch in the future and having more time to read. I'm also looking forward to doing things like listening to music or radio shows (like 'Says You') while I'm scrapbooking instead of watching shows while I do. So... I'm looking forward to a season of self control, of growing in my relationship with Eliana and of learning to use my time better. I die to self so very little these days, and it's something I want to practice, for my own sake, and for His glory.

Getting toward the end of December!

We're getting to the end of December - crazy! I have been having so much fun with Eliana doing holiday things each day, though. Next year I'd really like to do an advent calendar / book or advent tree. I didn't grow up with advent, but I have a few friends who are doing it with their kids this year and I really like the idea. I have a few ideas for making an advent book, but it will take me a while to put it all together, so hopefully I'll get to work on it throughout the year and have it done by next December! We'll see. =D In the meantime, it looks like I'm going to have to start planning our activities out so we get them all in!

December 14 - we sang Christmas carols. I played the piano and sang, and then Ellie and I just sang together. We also listened to carols as we drove around on our errands!

December 15 - Peppernut Day!!

December 16 - Our 9th anniversary - we are going to go out to dinner tonight. Ellie and I are also baking gingerbread snowflakes to use as tags on our gifts this year. =D

December 17 - We read "The Gingerbread Baby" complete with a gingerbread hand puppet that added to the fun!



December 18 - We baked sugar cookies with Erika and Zoe!





December 19 - We might go see Santa at the Children's Museum and have Ellie's picture taken. She knows Santa isn't real, but it might still be fun! We should also take our family Christmas picture this weekend!

December 20 - Sunday before Christmas - Ellie will get to wear her pretty Christmas dress!

December 21 - Leif is home from work this week, so I hope he will take Ellie out to make a snow man!

December 22 - More Ellie and Leif time, I hope they make snow angels or go sledding!

December 23 - Hmmm... Salt Dough Ornaments? Ice ornaments?

December 24 - Leif's Family Christmas in Roundup, Christmas eve dinner of crackers and cheese

December 25 - Christmas!! Christmas morning gifts followed by a plane ride to Texas to see my family!

Daily December

This year Eliana and I are doing holiday activities daily in December. I tried to do this last year, but we didn't do a very good job of recording everything! This year we are doing more activities and I am trying to document them as we go. So far here's where we are, with plenty of photo documentation to prove it...

December 1 - Ellie and Josie made their first batch of holiday cookies! We tried to make cookies with a cookie press using Martha Stewart's recipe, but it wouldn't go through the press. Instead the girls rolled the cookies into little balls and pressed their thumbs in for thumbprint cookies. They ended up tasting pretty good, and the girls had fun making them! We used the rest of the dough to make large circle cookies, and dipped them half in chocolate. Yum!







December 2 - We started devouring the gingerbread house!







We also donated to the Salvation Army and talked about giving to others on this day.



December 3 - I wrapped the first Christmas gifts!



Then Eliana and I made little heart candies for the holidays.





December 4 - Amber and I took Ellie and Josie to Arts on Fire to paint some Christmas gifts.





December 5 - We went to the Christmas Stroll in downtown Bozeman!





And today? Well, we'll see what today holds. There are still plenty of holiday things to do!

Book Review: America The Beautiful

Happy Fourth of July!!

As part of our 4th of July celebrations today, Ellie and I read "America The Beautiful" by Katharine Lee Bates (the original poet) and Susan Winget (illustrator).

It contains the original poem by Katharine Lee Bates, as well as a short bio about the author and the story behind the poem. The illustrations are very Americana, but done beautifully, providing some conversation topics to discuss along with the poem. I appreciate that the illustrations are not merely pictures of what the words are conveying, but representations of history. Covered wagons, ships, soldiers on horseback, farms, bald eagle, Abraham Lincoln, flags, George Washington... all of these open the way for further discussion, even with small children.

The poem is long, but the pages go by quickly and the illustrations held Eliana's attention. She did not appreciate me singing the words, though, after about the third page. Still, she was happy to listen to the whole book and ask questions about the pictures. It was an enjoyable read and one that I'm glad we have in our library. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

********************************* end of review ****************************

Next year I'm hoping we can read Robert Sabuda's version of the poem. I am loving his pop-ups and hope to add this one to our collection, too. Maybe it will go on sale after the holiday! ;) I got a couple Christmas ones just a few weeks ago at Borders for $5 each (!!) and can't wait to read those with Ellie this winter. How fun!

Holiday Ornament Making

This year Eliana made a few Christmas presents in the form of salt dough ornaments. I would like to see her take a more active role in our gift giving, and this was a first step. We went over to Erika and Zoe's house and the girls made ornaments while we did other holiday baking. It was a lot of fun and I'd love to do it again next year!





Ellie and J flattening out the salt dough.



Baking the ornaments...



Singing Christmas carols!



Painting the ornaments at home the next day... Eliana painted them all by herself!



I think they turned out very nicely for ornaments made and hand painted by a 2 year old! I think they were appreciated by the grandparents. I kept a couple for her to have as keepsakes, too.

Santa Clause....

I didn't grow up believing in Santa. And I don't feel deprived. We really have no intention of teaching Eliana about Santa, either, though I would have liked to get a picture of her sitting on Santa's lap this year. But we missed that opportunity (by mere minutes) at Murdoch's the other day for a free photo, so we probably won't do it. It's not THAT big a deal, I just thought it would make for a cute picture. I have never heard a really convincing argument against teaching your kids about Santa Clause, because I have seen people do it without taking away from the focus of Christ. But today my friend Jaime posted an excellent reason behind their family's decision not to celebrate Santa Clause. It's not because Santa is evil, nor because Santa secularizes Christmas. It's because if you use your power as a parent to convince your children to believe a lie (that Santa is real, that he lives at the North Pole and brings kids gifts, etc.) then the time may come when they question the truth of other stories you have told them are true (that Christ is God's son and that he came to earth in the form of a baby, born of a virgin, and that his death has provided a way for us to be reconciled to God and be saved). Because if you lied about one, how will they know you didn't lie about the other? We need to be honest with our children and make sure that we act in a manner that is worthy of their trust.

Anyway, I am not nearly as eloquent as Jaime on the subject, so please read her post instead of just taking my summary of it. =D I appreciate friends who think through their parenting in light of Scripture and who are willing to post their thoughts online to spur the rest of us to deeper thought and more deliberate parenting. Thank you, Jaime!

Putting a little Holiday in the Everyday...

As I'm doing the Daily December this year, it occurs to me that I'm making an effort to make the every day things just a little more special this holiday season. It doesn't take a lot of effort or energy, but I think it makes the everyday a little more fun and turns our focus from the mundane to the season. It's the simple moments in life that are great. Yes, Christmas day is wonderful and beautiful and magical, but I'm not convinced it would be if we didn't take the time and effort to build the excitement throughout the season. Simple memories. We bake cookies. We take pictures. We send cards. We decorate the house. It's all the little things that add up to make this season so spectacular. So I thought I'd share a little of how I'm putting the holiday in our everyday this year, just to make things a little more special.

• Reading Christmas stories instead of our regular stories.
• Watching Christmas movies instead of our regular Word World, etc.
• Baking muffins (or cornbread, like we did tonight) into gingerbread men shapes (using a Wilton silicone pan).
• Playing Christmas music and dancing to it.
• Singing Christmas carols
• Making snow angels outside
• Making some Christmas cards (or Thank You cards) for grandparents and other family members.
  
• Talking about the Christmas story as you decorate the tree (the star or angel on top, why we give gifts, advent candles, etc.)
• Pointing out Christmas lights as you drive around town.
• Playing with holiday specific toys (stuffed snowmen, etc.)
• Making and decorating cookies together.
• Making baked goods together to give as gifts.
  

Those are a few of the things we're doing this holiday season. What are you doing to put some Holiday in your Everyday?

S is for Star

The other day I was at Barnes and Noble looking for some Christmas / Winter books to read with Eliana. She was happily playing with the train set when I stumbled upon this little gem of a book:


I assumed that S is for Star would be just like all the other secular "____ is for _____" alphabet books published by this company. We have the "B is for Big Sky" book and it's cute, but it isn't anything spectacular. I figured the Christmas book would be the same way. You know, C is for Candy Cane, P is for Presents, F is for Frosty the Snowman.... It turns out, though, that this is a surprisingly good book for the Christmas season. It is pretty much an alphabet book centered on Christ's birth, which is awesome! Each page, in addition to the "_____ is for ________" statement includes scripture verses and tidbits of history that pertain to the focus for that letter. I was pleasantly surprised at the number of scripture verses throughout the book. The side information also makes the book more interesting for older children, making this a book that can be read as a family for years.

Like I said, pleasantly surprised. Not only that, but the book retails for under $7. It really makes me wish I had nieces and nephews - I'd buy a copy for each of them for Christmas this year. Instead, though, I'll just settle for the copy I bought for our household. =D

If you click here you can see some of the pages inside (I'm a big fan of the "surprise me!" button on the side bar for seeing what a book is like inside). But just to give you an idea of the way the letters are incorporated to give a picture of why we really celebrate Christmas, here is a sample...

A is for angels and archangels
B is for Baby Jesus
E is for Epiphany
I stands for Inn in Isreal
Joseph begins with the letter J
K stands for King
L is for Love
M is for the straw-filled Manger
S stands for Shepherds
W is for Wise Men
Zion starts with the letter Z

I love that the books draws in not only the nativity story, and cultural Christmas traditions, but also starts to give the big picture of Christmas, mentioning Christ as the King of Kings, born into King David's line and Christ returning again. It really is a good book and I can't recommend it enough if you're trying to find a good book to read with your kids this season.

Daily December

This year I am going to do Daily December activities with Eliana. We're going to spend time doing something for the holidays every day, and I'm going to do my best to take pictures and record what we're doing. I made a little Daily December album last month in which to record these memories so that we can look back on the things we did to celebrate Christmas this year.

And wouldn't you know it, but today is December 3 and I haven't yet recorded what we did on the 1st or the 2nd. The good news is that we DID something those days, though! Here's what we did:

December 1 - Drove around the subdivision looking at Christmas lights. It turns out that Eliana is a big fan of decorated houses and calls the houses with lights on them "castles". As in, "WOW! Look at that big castle over there!" It's cute.

December 2 - Eliana and I bought some Christmas books to read this season (including How the Grinch Stole Christmas and S is for Star) and we put up a new little Christmas tree in her room. It doesn't have any ornaments or a star on it yet, but it does have some red garland on it, which she picked out. I hope to use the Christmas tree this year to talk about the symbolism of the different decorations.

And today? Well, we'll have to see what we do today. She has friends coming over this afternoon, so we might bake cookies (in the shape of ginger bread men!) or we might make salt dough ornaments, or we might make cinnamon hard candy (in the shape of ginger bread men!) or we might play in the snow and learn to make snow angels or we might do something entirely different. We'll just have to see how the day goes. =D

Trains....

Ha ha! This is going to be funny post coming right after the last one, but I promise I'm not crazy. =D This morning we ordered this train set:

for Eliana to play with on her train table. It's the third part of her Little People / Cars / Trains rotation. Want to know the best part about this particular train set?? It was $29.99 with free shipping!! I have been looking at other train sets and for $30 all you get is a little 8 track with 2 train cars. So this set is a great deal! I'm pretty excited about it, especially since Eliana LOVES playing with the train sets at the Children's Museum, Barnes and Noble, and Giggles toy store. The set can connect into other brands of wooden train sets, too, which is nice. The reviews are pretty good on this particular train set from this particular website (there were 66 reviews) so I'm excited to see the set when it actually arrives. I assume we'll give it to Eliana for Christmas and then put it away until the middle of January or sometime in February when it's time to switch out the toys in the basement again. I know she is getting a Little People house from Mommom and Poppy, so I want her to play with that on the table first. Plus, her Christmas toys get to be new and fresh then when she doesn't get to play with them all at once.

Ellie's Handiwork

We did some hand art last week for Thanksgiving. The turkey card is obviously holiday specific, but I really like the thank you cards for any occasion! Plus, Eliana had a great time stamping with her hand! I just gave her a blank sheet of white cardstock and let her go crazy with the stamp pad and her hand, and after she was done I cut the sheet in half, then folded those in half to form two cards and stamped thank you across the front. I think they turned out really cute!