Wisemen Adventures - Day 1 & 2

This year we are participating in Wisemen Adventures. The idea is to move your Wisemen figures around the house "Elf on the Shelf" style while they follow the star, until they find baby Jesus on Epiphany.  Ours started their search the day after Christmas.

Day 1

The Wisemen decided to search the gingerbread houses to see if the Christ Child was sleeping inside. No luck, but the naughty camel found himself a little treat and started eating the snowman's walking stick!

Day 2

The Wisemen were distracted from their search by our Christmas goodies!  I hope they had a good snack because they have a long journey ahead of them!

Stay tuned for more Wisemen Adventures. Thanks for reading!

Reminder: Epiphany Countdown and Christmas Thank You Notes Printables

Don't forget that I have a couple of printable resources on this blog that are perfect for this time of year!

Simple Epiphany Countdown to countdown the time from Christmas to Epiphany.

Simple Christmas Thank You Notes perfect for young children to send thank you notes for their Christmas presents.

Thanks for reading!

12 Days of Christmas Resources

One of my absolute favorite things about being Catholic (besides the Body and Blood of Christ!) is that we get to celebrate Christmas for an extra 12 days after the rest of the world has already started packing it up into boxes for the attic.  Well technically, there are 11 days of the Christmas season this year if you are counting to Epiphany.  18 if you celebrate until the Baptism of the Lord!  Here are some fun resources to help you celebrate:

My favorite go-to resource for Christmas liturgical year info is the Catholic Culture countdown.  It has a great review of WHY we celebrate Christmas for as long as we do, and usually a neat activity and recipe for each day of Christmas.

12 Days of Christmas for Busy Families by Two 0's + More is a great post outlining simple ideas for celebrating each day as well.

Family at the Foot of the Cross has a great post that not only explains the real meaning behind the 12 Days of Christmas Song, but also lists ideas for each day of Christmas as you scroll down.

And of course, Shower of Roses always has amazing resources.  Scroll to the bottom of this post for December feast days, and the beginning of this post for January feast days in the Christmas season.

Have a very merry Christmas season!  Thanks for reading!

Excuse the Wacky Posts

Soon you'll be seeing a whole lot of new posts but they will all be backdated. While I often use this blog to indulge my inner show-off (such as today's Advent blog posts), that is really only it's secondary purpose. 

Primarily though, I use this blog as a scrapbook/yearbook/journal to keep track of all the fun things I do with my little family throughout the year. I seem to never find the time to get out my scrapbooking supplies. Wasting time online though?  I can totally do that!

I find my desire to blog seems to ebb and flow. Lately I keep catching myself writing blog posts in my head. This means I need to take advantage of the current flow and write down some memories from this past semester. 

So if you are a subscriber, please excuse the wonky posting. If you are a visitor to the blog, come back and scroll back! There will soon be some new content past the latest dated posts!

Thanks for reading!

Magnetic Jesse Tree Using the Read Aloud Book of Bible Stories

A few weeks ago I ran across this great looking Magnetic Jesse Tree on Pinterest. (Isn't Pinterest the best?!)

I loved the idea, because it was accessible to us in the kitchen, where it would be easiest to do our Advent devotions in the morning.

I wanted our Jesse Tree this year to have ornaments corresponding to The Read Aloud Book of Bible Stories. I found this book at a homeschool conference this year and fell in love with it. If ever there was a living bible for kids, this is it!

My version

Here is the PDF chart showing which ornaments I am using on which day, along with links to the source of each free printable ornament. 

Tutorial:

Background chalkboard Christmas tree

Ornaments -
~Materials needed: clear glass beads (found in floral section at Walmart or dollar store), Modge Podge, small circular magnets (I found mine at Walmart), and small printed pictures for ornaments.

~How to: Cut your ornaments to fit the glass beads.  Paint Modge Podge on the flat side of the glass bead and place the paper ornament on.  Then cover with more Modge Podge and stick the magnet on.  That's it!

Hope that helps if you are interested making this for yourself.  Thanks for reading!

Magnetic Advent Devotions

We have been using or beautiful Advent Board for the past few years, and although I love it, I wanted a little change of pace this year. Not to mention, having the board set up out of the way on the entryway table makes it WAY too easy to ignore.

Since we have gotten in the routine of doing our morning Religion time during and after breakfast in the morning, I wanted our new Advent devotions to be accessible to us in the kitchen. 

At the top is our Advent Fun calendar. Every day I will write something fun for us to do that day, such as baking cookies or setting up the Christmas tree.  It also has a numbered countdown to Christmas.  Source.

In the middle is our Jesse Tree. We are using homemade ornaments that correspond to the Read Aloud Book of Bible Stories. 

At the bottom is a magnetic Advent Wreath. Every Sunday we will "light" a new candle.

Here are detailed instructions for the Jesse Tree.

Thanks for reading!

All Saints Day Party

Yesterday my co-op celebrated All Saints Day with a party after morning Mass.  All the kiddos dressed as their saints to attend Mass - it was so cute!  We gathered afterwards in the parish hall to eat some yummy potluck food and play some games.  I didn't get permissions to post photos of the children, but it was a great turnout and so much fun!

All Saints Day Banner from Shower of Roses

Crown Mary Ringtoss
Try to throw the crown of roses around Mary's head.

St. Therese Shower of Roses Tossing Game
Throw the roses into the hula hoop.

Pin the Halo on the Archangel

St. Peter's Fishing Game

St. Francis Church Building
(Block area for the littles)

A few bowling games

St. Cecilia's Musical Chairs

Coloring Pages

Some of the older kids helped out with the games, which was just so wonderful.  I wish I had remembered to take a picture of my St. Kateri, St. Michael, and St. George to share!  Oh well, I'll have to remember next year.  Thanks for reading!