Favorite Christmas Name

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...Emmanuel

 

It means "God with us".


Not prophet with us.


Not good man with us.




GOD.




It's a mind-boggling thought: God in the flesh.


He left a golden throne encompassed by angelic beings for a filthy feeding trough fringed by stinky stable animals. Gross.

My feeble mind can't even begin to grasp all that is involved in this miraculous event in history. It's the essence and wonder of Christmas.



Christmas. Say it out loud.



Now just say the "mas" part. Did you hear that? Christmas without the Christ is a mess!




One way I love to celebrate the Christ of Christmas with my kids every year is to focus on the different names of Jesus. We do this with the help of Adorenaments, 12 uniquely shaped ornaments featuring a different name of Jesus. So, for the first 2 weeks of December we read a devotion each day and the kids take turns hanging the ornaments on the Memory Tree.


Mullin and Lincoln in 2003 opening the Adorenaments for the first time.



A tradition we love!!


Feel free to share some of your favorite Christmas traditions. :)

Prayer Question-- Shiloh Style

Pin It Now! "What does God do with our prayers?" Shiloh asked me one evening after I had prayed with her.

"He listens to them," I said.

Before I could continue my answer, she interrupted, "Does he type them in?"

Oh, the cute way little minds work. :)

And because I don't want any of my children to get the very wrong idea that God is like some genie just sittin' around waiting to grant our every wish, I did go on to explain that God does indeed hear our prayers and answers them according to HIS will.

Not ours.

He knows what is best for each and every one of us, and I am grateful He hasn't answered every prayer that's been uttered from my selfish lips. There are some I wish with all my heart He'd go ahead and answer, though. :)

"En Garde!"

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After watching The Three Musketeers, Mullin helped Shiloh come up with a "Musketeer" outfit.

Black cowboy hat----Darth Vader cape (Notice the hair bows to help make it look girly!)----Some kind of light up sword

She really thought she was something. :)

Here's my little musketeer in action.

Later that day, she came in from playing outside and asked me to put the DVD back in so she could practice her "moves". LOVE HER!!!

"Don't mess with the dress!"

WFMW: Christmas Countdown Ideas

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I haven't met a kid yet who doesn't love to count down the days 'til Christmas. I always made the classic Christmas Chain every year, and most years my children carry on that tradition.

But, this year I just needed a little change.



Here we have the Hershey Kiss Countdown, the tasty one. :)

A little background on this one: We first came across this countdown during a history lesson a couple of years ago. This was the project at the end of our lesson on St. Boniface, a missionary to the Germans. Supposedly he used the "evergreen" tree as an example of Christ's "everlasting" love.

Supplies needed: 25 Hershey Kisses--20 green, 1 red and 4 silver. Arrange in a tree pattern as shown. We start on Nov. 30, so it will end on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day.

Here's a new one I came up with in place of the chain-- The Sticker Countdown, the easy one!

Horrible picture, I know. I thought it was better than nothing, though.

Supplies needed: White sheet of paper with number chart (I printed mine off the computer), 25 Christmas themed stickers, any decorative touches you may want to add.

And of course with 3 kids, we have 3 countdowns. That way everybody gets to do one each day.

Here's the other one we do, but it isn't a home made one--it was a gift given to us a few years ago. It is a decorative Santa's Workshop with ornaments. Take a look if you'd like.

One of my FB friends made a really cool one that I hope to try next year!!

So, how does your family count down the days until Christmas?

**Find more tips at We are THAT Family.

Christmas Busies

Pin It Now! I am woefully behind on blogging. :(

I love to blog, but due to the busyness of Christmas decorating, planning and still trying ever so hard to keep up with all of the regular stuff, I am worn out.

I sat down in my computer chair today all ready to get some bloggin' done, and me oh my, I came across an amazing Christmas giveaway. Yeah well, I decided to enter like crazy instead of catching up on my life via my blog.

Click the Christmas Giveaway button on my sidebar if you want to join me as I enter some more...