Books:
Josie’s Gift by Kathleen Long Bostrom
Elijah didn’t feel like building tonight while we read Jotham’s Journey, but Ian continues Jesse Tree LEGO Challenge with gusto. Tonight he built a ship, Jonah “inside” the whale, and a scene in the city of Nineveh.
Books:
Mortimer’s Christmas Manger by Karma Wilson (for Elijah yesterday)
Angela and the Baby Jesus by Frank McCourt (for Elijah today)
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston (for Ian)
I missed seeing the boys’ creations for the Jesse Tree LEGO Challenge last night, but they took pictures of their roses and prophets for me.
Tonight the built wolves and lambs, which proved to be rather challenging!
We had to replace our first Advent candle today, since Jotham’s Journey is taking us a little longer to read than our devotions last year. We closed our evening with “Joy to the World.”
Penny’s Christmas Jar Miracle by Jason F. Wright (for Ian)
Tonight’s Jesse Tree LEGO Challenge was really tough. The boys were supposed to build a crown and a scepter, but it’s hard to make circles with LEGO bricks. Elijah was finished in about 30 seconds with a very simple crown and scepter. Ian took a little longer and (as usual) created a more elaborate scene, with a crown resting on a pillow next to the scepter.
Who is Coming to Our House? by Joseph Slate (for Arianna)
The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado (for Elijah)
We skipped last night’s Jesse Tree LEGO Challenge, but we let Arianna hang the ornament for David’s anointing on the tree tonight when Ian hung the one about Elijah. The story of Elijah and the showdown on Mt. Carmel is one of my favorite parts of the Old Testament, so I enjoyed telling this one to the kids again. Ian built an elaborate altar with a trench full of water as I read through both nights’ readings in Jotham’s Journey.
Books:
The 12 Days of Christmas illustrated by Laurel Long (for Elijah)
Mary’s First Christmas is one of Ian’s favorites, but it’s pretty long, so it will take us a couple days to get through.
We attended a beautiful carol service tonight and got home late, so we didn’t do our Jesse Tree LEGO Challenge or read from Jotham’s Journey. I guess we’ll just double up tomorrow.
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.
Elijah took the assignment very literally. He carefully counted out 10 tablets to represent the 10 commandments, and made a nice symmetrical mountain.
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.
