Baby Jesus Week

Annabelle really liked this week.  The only problem was that this was the week that we were having all the Christmas parties and doing last minute things to get ready for Christmas.
After the week was over and I realized that we had only done one craft and only read the story of Jesus' birth a couple times.
Then I was thinking, Jesus always ends up taking a back seat to our plans.  We had plenty of time to do gingerbread, snowman, and Santa crafts and activities, but when it came time to focus on the most important person in our lives we were to busy.  Jesus always has time for us.  Whenever it is convenient for us to talk with Him He is there.
Maybe a goal for the new year would be to focus on a bible story each week with Annabelle.

Anyway, what we did do this week was really cute.  Unfortunately I already packed it away.  I am almost tempted to pull it out.......almost....but I'm too lazy.

We made a nativity out of mini terra cotta pots.  We made Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus in the manger, and an Angel.
It was along the line of this picture except way cuter because it was done by a 3 year old.

I may actually get it out when I bring the last tub of Christmas decorations downstairs.

All month we talked about Jesus' birthday and how He was born for us.  For our calendar we put a baby Jesus in a manger on December 25 and moved the star each day to get closer to Jesus' birthday.

Santa Week

We did a week of Santa and Reindeer activities.

This reindeer was made by tracing
Annabelle's foot and hands.

We made this hand Santa.  Annabelle made hs face. 

I tried to get her to choose different eyes, but she liked these.

A cute reindeer craft.

Wedding Fun

We were able to go to one of James'
good friend, Steve's wedding. 
We had a great time at the ceremony,
reception and reception part 2.
Here are a few picture of James and
some of his best friends.

 West Ottawa guys

Congratulations Steve and Ruth!!

Headbands and Hairbows

The other day the girls were having
so much fun doing their hair.

Our After Party

 As we were getting ready for the Christmas Program Annabelle was hoping to be able to wear this

I was able to bribe her with a special treat at Dairy Queen (thanks Colleen!)

She ended up wearing this

We lost all the head bands in her hair and just went with the two on her arms.  
There is a black one and the green one.
She actually got quite a few compliments on her outift.



 

Annabelle decided that her hot fudge sundae was the best! 

Bethlehem Village at Immanuel

The Bethlehem town was a very fun time and had a lot of activities for the kids to do. 


They got to try out different musical instruments.

Annabelle and Eli at the Leather Shop making a necklace.

Ariel and I made Annabelle's pillow at the Weaving Shop.  
Annabelle had started out here, but really wanted to watch her friend Hannah sing.

Ariel really worked hard getting as much stuffing inside as she could.

Annabelle loved her pillow.

Annabelle and Hannah making Dreidles.

Taking a little break to watch a movie.

I asked Ariel to stand by a Christmas tree so I could take her picture.
She really wanted to stand by this regular tree.

They also had horse and carriage rides.  

Annabelle's Christmas Program

On Saturday our church had a Christmas Open House.

They had a village set up and the kids sang.

These girls love each other so much.

Practicing before they perform.

Time to sing!

It looks like Annabelle and Addi both want center stage!

Annabelle really loves to perform and was able to be right in front.

Annabelle and her friend Emmerson afterward.

Snowman Week

This week we had some fun with snowman crafts, books, and snacks.

The girls were very excited to be able to just squirt glue and stick things in it.

  This is what I had envisioned the finished
product to look like.

This is how they actually turned out.

Annabelle's Snowman Ornament
She was a little concerned that it was missing a flower. 
I'm not sure how she even remembered she was missing a
flower with all that she has going on.

Ariel's Snowman Ornament

The problem was that I set them to dry on a cutting board that wasn't totally flat.  

I made these chocolate covered snowman pretzels for a snack.  

They are a cute idea, but my artistic skills make them look a little goofy.
The girls really didn't care and enjoyed them. 

I had a few other crafts to do, but Snowman Week was definitely not as fun as Gingerbread Week.  I think it might be because the books I had were not as fun as the Gingerbread books.  

 This week we will be doing Santa and Reindeer crafts.  It is already off to a fun start.

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Deck the Halls

We have been busy getting our home ready for Christmas.  Everyone has been helping out.

We put our tree up a few days ago and when we went to put the lights on, all 5 strands were burnt out.
We went to get more lights and I asked Annabelle if she wanted colored or white.  She chose my second choice of colored, but I really want her to feel a part of the decorating.  They girls were big helpers with putting the ornaments on.  After a day, they kept taking them off and using them for their treasures and collections.

Annabelle was having a hard time understanding when Christmas would be here.

We had snow, we had a tree, it was night time.  Why wasn't it Christmas?

I pulled out this cute Christmas count down.  You can print off one here.
It is helping her to see how long we have to wait.

This is our December calendar.  I used stars because I want to keep reminding Annabelle that Christmas is about Jesus being born.  I have a baby Jesus in a manger that I was laminating, but it got stuck.  Hopefully we will have it tomorrow.  We will move baby Jesus along each day until we get to his birthday.

Annabelle took a break to pick out some treats we can make.

I found these cute polka dot letters and thought they looked cute here,
especially under our gingerbread family.
We were even able to get the "c" floating!

I usually set up a tree with berries and gold.  This year Annabelle took over that tree, but I love my berries so much I decided to put them on my hutch.  I do wish the wreath was higher, but I hung it myself, so it will be okay.  I actually took down the present.  It wasn't quite the look I wanted.  I'm thinking a framed photo might look nice there.

My mom brought over this cute Santa.  I didn't love the idea of hanging him on my front window (he has a suction).  I was able to tack him to the bathroom wall.  It is the perfect amount of light at night.

This is one of the trees that Annabelle decorated in her bedroom.  I usually just plug this fiber optic tree in and call it good for the girls.  This year they had to add their own ornaments to it.  They actually got their ornaments from some that Chelsea decided she didn't want anymore.  She took a dress up outfit and use that as a tree skirt.

This is the tree that I like to put by the front door and decorate with berries or a red and white theme.  I decided to just keep it downstairs.  The lights weren't working to I told Annabelle we would decorate it later.  The next thing I know, her and Ariel are hard at work on their masterpiece.  I am going to forgo the lights on this tree because it is too precious to take apart.  At one point there was an egg beater on the tree.

I made these Cinnamon Salt Dough Gingerbread Cookies.  Completely inedible, but it looks like I have a plate of cookies ready to go.
The recipe is really simple - 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup salt, 1/2 cup cinnamon, 3/4 cup water.  Mix together.  Roll out.  Cut out gingerbread boys or girls.  Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 60-75 minutes at 300 degrees.  The smell of cinnamon does get a bit overwhelming, but it calms down  soon enough.  
I did call James to prepare him, since he hates cinnamon.

I made a couple of these cute felt Christmas trees.  The girls had fun decorating them.  
It could be a great way to practice shapes.

Annabelle loves figurines and set up a bunch of snowmen.  I also found a few decorations that I was looking for set up by her bed.  I am going to leave them for her.  She really enjoyed getting things set up.

I have one last decoration to post.  Once I get it hung I will show it to you and let you know where you can get your own.

Decorations, presents, get togethers are always lots of fun, but lets not forget the real reason for this holiday season.
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you;
he is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2:11