Advent Calendar Day 8

Today's activity was setting up a nativity. The nativity scene is my favorite Christmas decoration. This year I have 3 :) One is a miniature one that is just for Eva and is set up on a little side table in the living room; she is allowed to play with this one on the table, but no where else because the pieces are really small and dangerous for Samuel. The second one is a Fisher Price Little People one and is set up on the window sill and both Sam and Eva can do whatever they want with it! The third one is very special and I love it- it is a Willowtree set and was a gift from my mother-in-law. It's fragile and, this year, I wasn't even going to put it up since I saw how insanely crazy and excited Eva has been with all the Christmas decorations. She doesn't mean to be careless, but she almost can't help herself. She is literally craving one little touch of EVERYTHING.
But, I decided to put a nativity scene in today's pocket because I knew she would love seeing the one from last year and we could go over each piece to further reinforce everything we've been talking about. She drew it out of the pocket and said, "we're doing something with animals?! I see animals!" We pulled each item out of it's box and placed it "just so". We talked and she asked questions and we had a lot of fun just being together. I absolutely cannot wait until Samuel can join in :)

Advent Calendar Day 7

Eva loved today's activity and I found it almost impossible to contain her excitement. I'm not sure why I even tried because the wrapping paper ends up torn and in the trash anyway, right? :)
Today she drew out a gift wrapping station with a little elf. We talked about how much fun giving gifts is, and how beautiful they look when all wrapped up. I asked her how she feels when someone gives her a beautifully wrapped present that they made or picked out especially for her. She looked up at me with the widest smile and just said, "ooooohhhh!!!". I had her cousin, Caleb's, gift on the table and I told her we get to wrap these gifts that we picked out just for him and make them really beautiful for him to open on Christmas day. She was practically jumping out of her skin- I had to calm her a little because there were scissors involved in this activity!!
I thought long and hard about this activity. Part of the reason I did this Advent calendar in the first place was to take the emphasis AWAY from gifts. But, I also know that it's inescapable in our culture and really want to help her to focus more on the giving than the receiving. She has a very generous spirit, and this concept seems to be easy for her (until the 2-year old "mine" rears its ugly head, usually when playing with one of her cousins). We talked a lot about the Christmas story today (I don't think it's possible to talk about it too much so we pretty much cover it every single day) and how we give gifts to people as one way to celebrate Jesus' birthday. A few weeks ago we made a "shoebox" gift for a child in need in another country. We went shopping and she picked out items that she thought "a little girl just like me would like". It might not have lasted long, but for a few minutes that day, she seemed to understand that there are kids who don't have toys, or even food. There are some kids who don't have a mommy or daddy. I told her that Jesus tells us very clearly in the Bible that we are to help care for them. So, we began to do that with the shoebox gift. I am praying fervently for God to show me what else He wants me to do. One thing I am sure of is that He is calling our family to do much, much more... I reminded Eva of that today when we wrapped Caleb's present in beautiful paper and ribbon. I told her that we can't forget about the people in the world who need our help. My little Eva then asked me to pray for them. She bowed her head and clasped her hands and we prayed together for God to show us who we are supposed to help next. 

Eva reaches deep into the pocket in search of today's piece!

Got it!

Trying to figure out exactly what it was and what it meant...

"Is this an elf?"

"Mama, I think this is an elf!"

"What are we gonna do?"

Making sure our package will fit...

Taping it, just so...

Complete!

Finding the perfect spot under the tree...

"I think I'm just gonna lay next to it for a minute, ok, mama?"

Judah joins in on the fun :)

Advent Calendar Day 6

Yesterday, I tried hard to distract Evangeline from the calendar. My goal was to get her to wait until Mike got home from work to open the pocket. Last night, after dinner, she was chomping at the bit to get in there and see what activity that little pocket held. She pulled out a little "shrinky dink" flower.  Eva LOVES flowers. Really, really loves them! She was so excited when I told her we would be planting a flower called at "Amaryllis"- her pronunciation is darling.

I explained to her that God makes the flowers grow, and He makes them beautiful and strong. How amazing and how gracious that He does the same for us when we believe and trust in His Son, our King Jesus! I told her about what flowers need to grow- sun, water, soil- all things that God made. And that we need things from God to grow, too. Not just physically, but in our relationship with Him and others. Mostly, we need to spend time with Him and remember Him throughout our days. Then, we planted the ugly bulb (I told her that sometimes we act ugly, but when we ask forgiveness and say we are sorry, God is faithful to make us clean and beautiful again) and we will watch it grow into a beautiful flower. She was very precise about the whole process and really enjoyed it. Finally, we praised God for all the gifts He's given us- our friends, our family, our beautiful King Jesus, and the flowers He made!

Advent Calendar Days 4 & 5

On day 4, Eva drew a tiny little Bible out of the pocket. She was with her Uncle Nate and Aunt Lauren, so they got the privilege of reading her the entire Christmas story from her Bible. They reported that she just soaked it in, as usual! I'm sure she LOVED hearing someone else read to her besides Daddy and me, and her Uncle Nate (an elementary school teacher) really knows how to tell a story! She truly adores her Uncle Na and Aunt Lu. I'm glad she could experience this with them. Mike and I were at a wedding in Virginia and had a GREAT time!

Day 5 was another day that Eva got to open the pocket with her Uncle and Aunt! She drew a music scale out and knew just what it was; she is always excited for anything that involves music! Uncle Nate and Aunt Lauren taught Eva a Christmas Carol. She learned "Little Drummer Boy", which she chose from 3 options I knew she would love. The others were "Away in a Manger" and "O Come All Ye Faithful". She learned the significance of praising the Lord with whatever gifts you have like the little drummer boy. He praised the Lord by playing the drums because he had no money to buy a gift fit for a King! She told them, "but I do have money"! And, they explained that she could praise the Lord with that, too! This song has always impacted me and I am so glad that she knows it now.

Ever heard of Shrinky Dinks? We finally got around to making one to represent each activity. They are adorable and the kids think they are so neat! 

Advent Calendar Day 3

Today Eva drew a little group of carolers out of the pocket. This was to symbolize the gift of music and we sung and danced in praise to the King. This really brought us back to what Eva said was the meaning of Christmas- we celebrate all month long by praising our King Jesus! We talked about using all of our gifts and talents to express our love for Jesus. We twirled and sang and skipped through a TON of Christmas music and by the time the CD was over, I was totally spent! It was a great time of worship and a great workout, too.

Advent Calendar Day 2

Today she pulled out a little star. I told her all about the significance of the star of Bethlehem at Christmas. There is truly a twinkle in her eyes as she listens intently to every word. She is SO into this, and I love it :)

I hid the star tree-topper in the house and when Daddy got home, she searched the house to find it, and we placed it on top of the tree. We will try to wait until evenings more often so Daddy can join the fun!

She is often much "less dressed" by the end of the day. Don't judge. She had attempted to wash the paint of her shirt when it was still on her body. I never got a chance to run back upstairs for a new one...

Christmas means what?!?!

The things that Evangeline picks up and then pieces together never ceases to amaze me, and crack me up (she was adamant the other day that in school she learned that God turned red and then he cried- I assure you, this is NOT what she learned).
She is VERY confused right now about the whole Christmas thing. I guess it's because everywhere you go, and everyone you talk to, you find a new perspective, tradition, & definition altogether. I am working VERY hard this year, and will for every year hereafter, to impart to her vulnerable little heart what this celebration is all about. I'm not a Santa-hater nor am I anti-presents, but those things are NOT what Christmas is all about. Eva told me a few days ago that Christmas means "sparkly lights and jewelry on the trees"- of course! We do call them "Christmas lights" and "Christmas trees". A few days before, Christmas meant "Santa brings presents"- she saw him at the mall and kids were telling him what they want. We have had several more very sincere answers since.
However, today when asked, "What does Christmas mean?", Eva said, "Baby Jesus was born. It's His birthday. We do things to praise Him because He is our KING!!!" (She points to baby Jesus in the nativity and says, "See, here's baby King Jesus!") Bam! She has it! She listens!!! She said this with such joy and confidence, it melted me big time.
I'm going to do my best to use the days leading up to Christmas to reinforce this. It's not about the presents or Santa, or even the beautiful sparkly lights or the tree jewelry (which is her personal favorite- we've decorated 3 trees now). It's about praising King Jesus!
In order to do this, my sisters and I made this Advent Calendar last year. It was an insane amount of work, but I am so glad we did it! Each day until Christmas, Eva opens one pocket (Sam will join when he can understand). Inside she finds a small trinket that will represent an activity we will do that day to celebrate the gift of Jesus.

She was positively glowing today when I told her she got to open the first pocket. Inside she found a Christmas ornament. Today we decorated a Christmas tree (Grammie's tree)! Not just for the sake of decorating it, but because this is one way we praise King Jesus. I explained to her the meaning of the Christmas tree. I really believe that she understood pretty well, too! I researched the meaning of the Christmas tree and found that there are lots of them from different centuries and countries, but the "modern Christian" meaning is this (in 2 year old talk):
"Trees like this are called 'evergreens'. That means they stay green forever, not like the trees where the leaves fall off and turn brown like the ones in the yard. We use this kind of tree because it reminds us that, because of Jesus, we can live with God FOREVER! The green color helps us remember that Jesus brings us new life when we trust Him, like when the trees bud- they are green, right? The lights on the tree remind us that God's light is inside us! That is how people know we are Christians. There is a star on the tree because when Jesus was born, there was a beautiful star in the sky so that people could find where Jesus was so they could praise Him. And, where does the top of the tree point, Eva? To God! To Heaven! We put ornaments on the tree to symbolize the gifts and blessings that God has given to us- like the ornament that we got when YOU were born! God gave me the gift of YOU, so we put that ornament on the tree and Praise the Lord for you!"
It's going to be a very fun month! I'll post our activities as we go...

Here are a few terrible* pictures of today and the Advent Calendar:

 *Mike took my Nikon and all I had to take these pics was an ancient camera that I don't even remotely know how to use.