So, I posted last week about my ambitious Advent calendar. The girls (and we) are enjoying it. It is enticing in the fact that it has a piece of candy – that they can eat right away in the morning! But they also enjoy going to get the Bible to hear what is going to happen next. Some of the scripture is a little over their heads. We read it and then talk about it in simple terms. Right now, we just finished reading about Zechariah and Elizabeth and Mary and the Angel. They have also enjoyed our activities.
Day 1: We made Borax crystal ornaments.
It was pretty cool. We let them sit overnight and had a pretty amazing surprise in the morning. The snowflakes probably would have looked much cooler if I would have had blue or white pipe cleaners, but they didn’t seem to mind the dark blue, yellow, green and red I had. A word of caution on this craft. Although it is very easy, if you create the crystals in a plastic bowl, the crystals form on the sides and bottom of the bowl as well. It takes some serious muscle with an ice pick to chisel it off. I have no idea if the same thing happens if you use a glass container; I am just letting you know what I learned!
Day 2: We used the ornaments we made to help decorate the tree. We also added our own ornaments. The tree is slightly heavy on the bottom with ornaments, but it looks pretty good.
Day 3: We colored pictures and wrote letters to our Compassion child, Ashel. Jeremy and I had sponsored a boy, Diego, together until he graduated from the program; actually, Jeremy had started with him before we even met! Ashel is four and is from Kenya. I wanted a child close to the girls age so they could “grow up together.” They want to know when we can go visit him. Although that would be awesome, it will not be any time soon. If you have ever thought of sponsoring a child, I would recommend it. It is a great experience, especially when you watch them grow up.
Day 4: Snowman pancakes for dinner/supper. My snowmen were humongous! I did manage to flip them somehow without totally destroying them. We all made a snowman (the toppings, decorating, Madison’s, Ellie’s, mine, Jeremy’s)…
The girls had fun being creative. I think they each decorated their snowman twice, ate all the decorations, and most of the snowman himself. It made for an entertaining meal.
Day 5: Attend the Nutcracker ballet. This was an exciting day overall. We started out in the morning going to the Polar Express at the library. We had heard about it, but had not gone last year. So, we dressed in our pajamas and headed to the library. We boarded the “train” and started the story. We were served cookies and chocolate milk – just like in the book! We read some other stories and sang songs on our journey as well. At the end, we could look under our chair for a bell – just like in the story! The girls also got to see Santa. We are not big Santa pushers. In fact, I told them the truth (He doesn’t exist) last year. THEN… a Santa (I am still not exactly sure who it was, but I have my suspiciouns) showed up at our door one night bearing oranges and a ho! ho! ho! Since then, I tried to tell Madison that the tooth fairy wasn’t real either. And she said, “Mom, you told me Santa wasn’t real, but he came to our house, and you were wrong. So I think the tooth fairy is real too.” Awesome, right? It is like a double whammy – I am wrong, and she now believes the lie…. Oh well, the bliss of childhood.
That night, we picked up Grandma and headed to the Nutcracker. We ate out at Wendy’s (because why would we eat anywhere else?). We had seats in the balcony this year, which I really liked. Grandma had taken Madison to her first performance two years ago and we sat down on the floor. (Truth be told, it was my first viewing of the Nutcracker as well.) This was Ellie’s big night. They decided to dress like ballerinas so that the performers would know they were dancers, too.
We actually sat next to our friends, Tara, Grace, and Beth. And saw another family from church up in the balcony as well.
The girls liked it. Ellie knew the story by the end. Madison was captivated again by the dancers. As we did in the past, we snagged a few dancers for pictures – a Marzipan (I think) dancer, Clara (the main character), and an angel (who I think was pretty proud that someone wanted a picture with her). The girls were tired, but happy.
Day 6: Family Game Night. This to me was a lot of fun. We had a busier Saturday than I imagined, so it was nice to have some scheduled family time at the end. They each chose one game, and then one together. Ellie picked Sesame Street memory cards. They do a great job at this one… almost better than Jeremy and I. Madison chose these tic-tac-toe boards I picked up a long time ago. They hadn’t ever played this, so it was a learning experience. I will admit to letting both of them win one game each. We finished the night with Pretty Pretty Princess. It is a game where you spin, move spaces, and pick up jewelry to put on as you go along (or put back). The first person with all the jewelry and no clock tower (think Cinderella’s demise) wins the game. By the end we were all bejeweled, but Madison and Ellie won within a turn of each other.
Day 7: Switched this one because of the day from Christmas Tree Pita Snacks to going to a live Nativity at a local church. We had gone last year. Just like last year, King Herod was scary. Ellie cried, again. Madison did not this year. (Making progress) Both were enraptured with Baby Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. We sat near the stable for at least 30 minutes just looking. It is beautiful. I told Jeremy on the way home that it must have been what the shepherds and wise men felt like when they saw him. They just worshipped him, stared at him, and didn’t want to leave his presence. Incredible.
It has been fun to see what each day holds. Sometimes it makes for one more thing to do in the day, but I have figured out already, it is one more thing that I am looking forward to doing. May each of you enjoy your journey to the Christ child this year as well. Blessings in the coming week.
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