A Lineage of Christmas: A Homemade Jesse Tree

Last year, when aspiring to add more Christ into our Christmas, I remembered a conversation I had several years prior with a friend. Over brunch one morning, she lovingly recounted a faith-filled Christmas tree that her grandmother always had on display. It was not decorated with sparkling lights and gold balls, but rather the symbols of a lineage...a heavenly lineage woven together with threads of humanity. It told the story of God's love and redeeming work throughout Scripture. It told of the preparation for His Son and how He brought about His perfect work in His perfect timing. It told of the Christ of Christmas.

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After recalling that conversation I had with my friend, I couldn't quite remember what the Advent-style tree was called, so I went searching online. I found many different versions of this story tree, but they all shared the same name...a Jesse Tree...and stem from a passage in Isaiah.

A shoot will come up from the root of Jesse...

Isaiah 11:1

Although a few of the resources I found had printable tags you could use, I was not impressed with the chronology or emphasis of any of the trees I saw. So, I decided to make one myself. Using some branches, a vase, some scrapbook paper, ribbon, and markers, I set out to create a pictorial account of the story of Christ.

50 Christmas Countdown Calendar Ideas

Today I whipped out one of our most cherished family memory makers...our Advent Countdown Calendar. This felt calendar, purchased seven years ago, has proven to be the spark for sharing daily family activities every day leading up to Christmas.

Perhaps you've seen one or have used one. I learned about them from a friend who shared her family's Advent Quilt at a MOPS meeting many years ago. It is basically a calendar with pockets...sometimes cubbies with little doors...that hold candy, small gifts, or in our case, small slips of paper detailing an activity that we will all participate in together.

Countdown to Christmas with Books

One of our longest-running traditions to create anticipation for the season is with wrapped Christmas-themed library books. Every December, since Sweetie Pea was one year old, I have checked out 24 Christmas books from our local library, wrapped them in festive paper, stashed them in a pretty basket, and placed them under the tree to be opened and enjoyed together throughout the month.

Geography Club: Argentina

We packed our "bags" and headed to South America for our geography club...Argentina to be exact. After a brief look at the map to see where Argentina is in relation to our last South American country, Brazil, the Deputy's wife led the kid's in a pop quiz style trivia game.  She asked multiple choice questions about Argentina in order to see what the kids did or did not already know about the country.  She did not reveal the correct answers as she wanted to encourage the children to listen for the answers in the morning's discussion.

Tree Unit

In late September, our neck of the woods became a flame of brilliant colors.  The green on the leaves gave way to orange, red, and yellow.  Naturally, this made for a great place to start in our year-long nature study.  

We used All About Trees by Jane Dickinson as our core resource and filled in with a few library resources and field guides.  

In addition to reading, we conducted two major activities.

Thankful {and a GIVEAWAY}

It started when I accidentally slept in...in an unprecedented act of quiet, my three-foot, one-inch alarm clock snuck by my bedroom undetected.   I quickly slapped together some resemblance of a breakfast for my hungry little chicks and mentally prepared myself for the day.  As I sat anxiously taking inventory of all my TO DOs, my thoughts were abruptly interrupted by my three-year-old's helpful attempt to clear his spot at the breakfast table.  I turned to see an upside-down bowl of oatmeal and its contents splattered across the table and oozing down onto my freshly mopped floor.  And so began my day...
A day of frantic, fast-paced, running in circles trying to catch up.  Like a dog chasing its own tail, I was so busy doing...Doing...DOING! By lunch, I was a heap of exhaustion.  I stood at the kitchen sink, barely able to make an audible word through my sobs, and prayed words of desperation...Words from one worn-out mother trying to keep up with other equally worn-out mothers.  
It was then that I was reminded of the names of God we had been studying together as a family...not any PARTICULAR name...just ALL the names...more than 700 names to try and contain all that He is.  ...all that He is and all that I am not.  And never could be.  700 names to show He is All in All.  So many names to remind me that even in my weakness, He is more than enough.  The truth is, as Scripture says, no matter how early I rise or how late I go to bed in order to accomplish all that needs to be done in my crazy day, it will never be enough.  Not in my effort anyway.  
But, God... God is more than enough.    more than enough when I'm spinning my wheels more than enough when I just can't keep up more than enough when my TO DOs never seem to get done He is more than enough.
As I stood clutching the sink that fateful day, I realized that although I fail at being the perfect mother, the perfect wife, the perfect friend...the perfect anything, He is more than enough.   And for that I am THANKFUL.
*I am joining with 30 other bloggers from around the web to share my thoughts of Thanksgiving.  Be sure to check out the rest of the 31 Days of Thanks at Homeschoolin' Mama.  In an attitude of gratitude for all our faithful readers, our lovely hostess, Meg, has gathered a handful of fun prizes. Now's your chance to enter.  All seven winners will be announced on Homeschoolin' Mama on Thursday. Be sure to swing by to see if you've won.

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Weekly Kid's Co-op #21

Glad you're here for our Weekly Kid's Co-op for a chance to share kid-friendly ideas!  There were so many fun ideas shared last week.  After browsing through over 150 different posts, I've picked three of my favorites to share with you today.

Educating Laytons

Got a little one learning letters?  Letter R Learning Fun from Educating Laytons gives several hands-on ideas to reinforce the formation and sound of the letter R.

Rockabye Butterfly

My little Blonde Warrior has slowly been working his way through the first set of BOB Books.  These BOB Book Printables from Rockabye Butterfly will be a great addition to his learning.

KC Edventures

KC Edventures shares some Great Thanksgiving Books for Kids just in time for Thanksgiving.  I've already put in my library order and have a stack of a few of these titles and others to enjoy with my kids in the coming week.

Now it is your turn.  What have you and your kids been up to this past week.  I'd love for you to share. Link-up your kid-friendly ideas and then head back here next Thursday to see if you made my TOP 3.

Fall "Acorn" Cookies

Last year for a little Thanksgiving-themed mother-daughter project, Sweetie Pea and I made these cute "acorn" cookies. We whipped up a big batch and used them as a pre-dinner treat at our feast. We put one or two out at each place setting for guests to enjoy as they waited for their turn in the dinner line.

Ancient Egypt: Make a Cartouche

After pausing our Egyptian Unit study for a few weeks to discuss the election process, we are back in the saddle again.

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We recently read the books Hieroglyphs from A to Z by Peter Der Manuelian and Seeker of Knowledge: The Man Who Deciphered Egyptian Hieroglyphs by James Rumford. After learning what hieroglyphs were and how they were deciphered, we decided to try our hand at this ancient script. Using oven-bake craft clay we were able to create our very own Cartouche necklaces, oval-shaped ornaments worn by pharaohs depicting their name in hieroglyphs.

"Welcome to our home" Thankfulness Tree

Last year for Thanksgiving, we revived an old-family favorite but chose to put a new spin on it. The first day of November, the kids and I drew a simple tree on butcher paper and cut out several fall-colored leaves from construction paper.  We each picked one leaf and wrote our thoughts of Thankfulness for 2011. 

Then, we set the rest of the leaves along with a handful of markers in a basket by the door. Everyone who came through our door during the month of November was asked to add their thoughts to our Thankfulness tree. In all honesty, our tree is missing a few leaves from folks who had to come and go in a flash. But, all in all, it was a full tree and a month-long reminder of God's goodness to us in friendships that He's brought our way.

Linking up with these lovely blogs.

Blow Painting

Rain...rain...go away!  The heavy clouds brought gloom last week.  But, as the gray rolled in, my "boredom busters" rolled out.  One of our favorite "stuck inside with nothing to do" activities is blow painting.  The kids love it because it gives them a chance to make a CONTROLLED mess and I love it because it requires no formal planning and entertains multiple ages.

Weekly Kid's Co-op, #20

Welcome to another edition of the Weekly Kid's Co-op, a place to swap kid-frienly ideas.  There was a bit of a glitch in the system last week, so I do not have a TOP 3 to share with you today.  But, that makes me even more anxious to see what y'all have been up to since the last time we "got together."  

So, now's your chance.  Link up your family-friendly posts and stick around to read a few.  Then, swing back here next Thursday to see if you were one of my three favorites.  

Teaching Kids About the Election Process

It's not everyday that our nation elects a new president. And although I am more than tired of hearing campaign ads and seeing yard signs, I am eager to exercise my right to cast a vote...a passion I hope to ignite into all of my children.

I realize that the national "Kid's Vote" campaign has made significant strides in spreading the excitement to the next generation of voters, but it does very little to teach kids about the actual election process. So in keeping with my desire to incorporate real-life into learning, I have pushed "pause" on our current Egypt study to complete a mini-unit on voting...specifically voting for a new president.

Hidden Benefits of Reading Aloud to Your Kids

C.S. Lewis, beloved author of the Chronicles of Narnia, said, "No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally -- and often far more -- worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond."  Well, I'm not quite fifty, but I have been known to enjoy more than my share of children's books.  In my defense, there is usually a child at my side...or on my lap...or climbing on the couch behind me...or...

The thing is, two of my kids are old enough to read by themselves.  So does that me that they are exempt from our family read aloud time?  Absolutely not!  I realize that the primary reason to read aloud to your children is to help develop the skills necessary to read and to arouse a passion for the written word.  But, that is really just scratching the surface.  

There are many hidden benefits to enjoying a book with your children...even your older children.  Here's a list of my top five...Read More>>>

Building Thinking Skills, Level 2 Review and Giveaway

Humor me for a moment...If you were trapped on a desert island with all your kids and could only have one school resource/book besides the Bible what would you choose?  Tough one, I know.  But, assuming that all my children have learned to read, I would MOST DEFINITELY bring some kind of logic building resource.  

By taking a sneak peek at our curriculum list for the year, you will probably notice that each of my school-aged Littles have "Logic Skills" listed as a weekly subject. You'll also probably notice that they are all working through a Critical Thinking Co. book...but we'll get to that...

Kid's are sponges.  Give your child information and he/she will, inevitably, be able to regurgitate it to you.  Tell him that 1+1 = 2 and he will eventually be able to parrot that information back.  But, does that mean that he is smart?  Or does it just means he's a good parrot?  So much of "school" is the giving and taking of information.  But that is not necessarily imparting useful knowledge.  Knowledge is only useful when a child is able to take facts and information and apply it to their own personal lives and situations...  

when 1+1 = 2 can be USED and APPLIED not just repeated in a monotone voice.  

I'm a firm believer in teaching a child HOW to think not WHAT to think. Don't just fill a child's head with information without ALSO giving him the critical analysis tools...cognitive skills...reasoning ability...logical assessment prowess to DO SOMETHING with that information.  

My children will not be under my tutelage forever.  I'd like to give them the discernment skills necessary to THINK whether I am standing next to them or not.  Logic and reasoning are essential requirements for a lifelong love of learning...which should be a primary goal of all homeschoolers.