A Simple Surprise

Today's advent activity was just for Mom to do....I made a simple surprise for the kiddos and we had snowman pancakes to eat! We've been so busy crafting, baking, making cards and Christmas bags for the soldiers that I thought a sweet treat and a break from all the 'doing' for them would be nice.

They have chocolate chip eyes and buttons and a syrup smile.  :) The kids ate them right up and thought it was pretty fun.

They were very yummy too!

Only 4 More Days!!!

Everyone is so excited in the house as we count down another day! Today was a very busy day for us with our homeschool co-op cookie exchange and Christmas party. We came home with 48 cookies of several different kinds, and lots of new recipes to try! Daddy has a lot of cookies to eat now! :)

So tonight's activity was fun and easy since we were all pretty tired. We made 'melting snowmen'...one of my favorite crafts we did last winter, though somehow the kids don't remember doing this last year. They enjoyed it tonight though. It's super easy, we just squeezed  a whole bunch of white glue on to wax paper, then decorated with eyes, nose and a few other accessories.  :)

I absolutely LOVE that they all turned out so different! Can you guess who made each one? In a couple of days the glue will be dry and we can peel them off of the wax paper and hang them on the window, they look a little transparent and completely adorable when they are finished! I'll post another picture of them in a few days when they are done. 

Did you guess it right? Joshua's, then Faith's and lastly...the snowman in pink is Joy's! :)

Day 19 - The Soldiers' Night Before Christmas...

Tonight Daddy read us all the book, 'The Soldiers' Night Before Christmas'....We loved it! The kids all climbed into Peter's lap and enjoyed the story. :)

I wish I could show you the whole book, but here are a couple of pages from the inside...

Afterwards we talked about the soldiers who are so far away from their families right now and how many of them have to spend Christmas alone. We talked about Uncle Stephen who is in Iraq and also about the soldiers in South Korea who are here by themselves too. We let the kids know that we would be having some of them over on Christmas Eve to share in our celebration, they were pretty excited about that. Then we set to work making Christmas cards for the soldiers who don't have any family with them...

We'll continue to decorate cards and bake goodies though the week until we have enough for every soldier coming on Christmas Eve. We're going to make sure that none of them will leave empty handed! :) I decided I'd type out the book for anyone that was interested in 'reading it'. I know it's without the pictures, but at least you'll get the story!

"Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the base
Only sentries were stirring---they guarded the place.

At the foot of each bunk sat a helmet and boot
For the Santa of Soldiers to fill up with loot.

The soldiers were sleeping and snoring away
As they dreamed of "back home" on good Christmas Day.
One snoozed with his rifle - he seemed so content.
I slept with the letters my family had sent.

When outside the tent there arose such a clatter.
I sprang from my rack to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Poked out my head, and yelled, "What was that crash?"

When what to my thrill and relief should appear,
But one of our Blackhawks to give the all clear.
More rattles and rumbles! I heard a deep whine!

Then up drove eight Humvees, a jeep close behind...
Each vehicle painted a bright Christmas green,
With more lights and gold tinsel than I'd ever seen.

The convoy commander leaped down and he paused.
I knew then and there it was Sergeant McClaus!

More rapid than rockets, his drivers they came
When he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:

"Now, Cohen! Mendoza! Woslowski! McCord!
Now, Li! Watts! Donetti! And Specialist Ford!"

"Go fill up my sea bags with gifts large and small!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

In the blink of an eye, to their trucks the troops darted.
The engines did flutter, they sputtered, then started.

The armored moved out---it was "Duty or bust."
McClaus disappeared in all of the dust!

As I drew in my head and was turning around,
Through the tent flap the sergeant came in with a bound.
He was dressed all in camo and looked quite a sight
With a Santa hat added for this special night.

His eyes---sharp as lasers! He stood six feet six.
His nose was quite crooked, his jaw hard as bricks!
A stub of cigar he held clamped in his teeth,
And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath.

A young driver walked in with a seabag in tow,
McClaus took the bag, told the driver to go.
Then the sarge went to work. And his mission today?
Bring Christmas from home to the troops far away!

Tasty gifts from old friends in the helmets he laid.
There were candies, and cookies, and cakes, all homemade.
Many parents sent phone cards so soldiers could hear
Treasured voices and laughter of those they held dear.

Loving husbands and wives had mailed photos galore
Of weddings and birthdays and first steps and more.
And for each soldier's boot, like a warm, happy hug,
There was art from the children at home sweet and snug.

As he finished the job---did I see a twinkle?
Was that a small smile or instead just a wrinkle?
To the top of his brow he raised up his hand
And gave a salute that made me feel grand.

I gasped in surprise when, his face all aglow,
He gave a huge grin and a big HO! HO! HO!

HO! HO! HO! from the barracks and then from the base.
HO! HO! HO! as the convoy sped up into space.

As the camp radar lost him, I heard this faint call:
"HAPPY CHRISTMAS, BRAVE SOLDIERS! MAY PEACE COME TO ALL!"

Christmas A Week Away!

Today we began our Christmas baking, and since Daddy wasn't going to be home again until late, we took the opportunity to wrap his presents! Faith was very proud of her 'F' that she wrote on his present so he would know it was from her. :)

I think they licked more frosting than they actually put on the cookies! They were so wired by bedtime that it took them an extra hour to quiet down!

We realized tonight that Samuel can now reach anything that is on the table if it is close enough to the edge. I found this out as I turned around and caught him snatching one of our yummy strawberry scone cups off the table!

He then went under the table to eat it! He thought he was being pretty sneaky! :)

We also did a little rearranging of the living room. One of our neighbor friends inspired me! :) (Thank you Lisa!) So our tree is now in the center of the window instead of off in the corner. I think the living room looks better like this. It'll be sad when the tree has to come down though. Can you see the popcorn on it? Some of our dear little friends made that special for us to decorate our tree!

We also made some graham cracker 'gingerbread houses' this week with our friends. I didn't know what to do with them at first, but they found their place amongst the 'snowy trees'. Only Faith's house actually has a roof and Joshua's is the one that is open...he said it's a 'garage'.  :)

Lastly, we hung up a few new ornaments we made and I think this one is my favorite this year....

My baby's handprint, so tiny and sweet. :)

Joyful Bell or Noisy Gong?

The sound of bells ringing is a joyful noise! Sadly, our bells we made don't make noise on their own, so the kids were 'ring! ringing!' and 'ding! donging!' all over the house with these.  

"Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love endure forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations." ~ Psalm 100

We decided we're going to try our best to ring joyfully in all that we do!

So are you a joyful sounding bell, or a noisy gong?  :)

Hearts of Love Christmas Tree

Tonight Daddy wasn't able to be home to do our Advent activity with us, but we still managed to do it and have some fun too! We made these pretty Christmas trees out of upside-down hearts that went with a special poem.

Here is the poem up close so you can see what it says. :)

And THIS is what Samuel Clark was up to every time I turned my attention to the other kids to help them with their crafts...

He thinks he's being real sneaky! :)

Some Special Names

Faith was excited to open the door to the advent calendar tonight since she has to trade off with Joy and Joshua and only gets to do it every three nights!

Our activity for the evening was to learn about some of the other names of Jesus. I found a neat craft to go with it on this website (click here) if you want to use it or download and save to do next year. There are 24 different names included, some of which I've never heard before. It was pretty interesting. 

Peter had chosen four to do tonight and we let the kids each color the ornament with one of the names on it that we were focusing on. But the kids were really enjoying it and asked to do more, so we ended up doing several of them!

Even Mommy and Daddy colored one.  :)

Our tiny tree has gotten quite full with all of our homemade ornaments, so we decided to hang these ones on the window. 

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, 

and the government will be upon His shoulder. 

And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, 

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6