~ HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MIKEY ~

 

                      

                            I still LOVE to eskimo kiss you !

                          

                           WHO WOULD HAVE KNOWN ! xoxo

Wordless Wednesday

 

 

xo

~ Advent at the Abbeys ~

          

~Advent ~which means “ to come “~
   

We started observing advent three
years ago and teaching our children
about the symbolism of what are
supposed to be HOLY DAYS …not
holidays:)

A LOT of things started three years
ago when our twins were born. I
think the main reason is that we
were so overwhelmed with the
thought of going anywhere- that we
just didn’t !   

Including at CHRISTMAS !

THE THOUGHT OF DOING THE
NORMAL CHRISTMAS ROUTINE
WAS UTTERLY
OVERWHELLMING FOR US!

In the year that we “stopped life” – A
wonderful thing happened …….
WE Stopped and…
Our routines stopped !
The running around stopped !
And we really had  time to
THINK about  the WHYS of what we
were doing !

Unfortunately, we came up with
many unknown reasons for it all !
It became very clear what things
were important and what things
were NOT !

Along with the rest of the world  we

had adopted a “worldly” perspective

on Christmas….

WE wanted to make wonderful

memories for the kids full of fun f

un fun …but THEY got exhausted

exhausted and exhausted !

WE wanted to be able to accept every

Christmas invitation we received to

celebrate our holidays ….But we got

tired tired tired !

AND the presents … well -the kids

got spoiled and selfish selfish

selfish !

Mike and I had many conversations
each year as  Christmas came and
went… about what we needed to do
better with the next year….. BUT it
wasn’t until three years ago that we
got it !! Because we stopped !

JESUS is
the REASON
for the SEASON !!

I have heard that even come out of
my own kids mouths … BUT I
NEVER got it!

What are we doing if we are not
pointing our children to that ~the
true reason for Christmas - with a
godly perspective?! There is so much
to this season to be celebrated!
Our HUMBLE  king….The prince of
heaven…. born in a barn ! The
greatest gift ever  GIVEN …..Here to
SERVE others !

This is what we celebrate ! What a
wonderful gift to give to our
children!!

WEEK 1 ~
The Angels & Christmas Lights
Each week we put a new figure in the middle of the table to tell the Christmas story.

This week is the angels who came to
tell Mary she was highly favored by
GOD… wow that is something to stop
and think on in itself !  We also
talk about the angels who came to
tell the shepherds the good news
about baby  Jesus !
Then on Sunday nights we put  a
wreath around it to put our advent
candles in.

We light the (votive) angels in the
middle

and the advent candle on the side in
the wreath and we turn out the
lights.

The first week of Advent we learn
about Christmas lights so we plan
to decorate the house with outside
Christmas lights and we give the
kids battery operated candles to hold
during our first advent.


The kids put them in their bedroom
windows after to help them
remember the symbolism of the
Christmas lights …

THAT Jesus is the light of the world
….and we need to let our
lights shine !

We sang This Little Light of
Mine...and then Oh Come
Let Us Adore Him.


These are the books I have been using the last few years to learn about Advent.

The Wreath and Garland 

Today we studied the symbolism of

the wreath and garland during our school

devotion time. 

Evergreens = His gift

of everlasting life …the wreath is a

circle that never ends just like His

    love…

we thought about how many people

put WREATHS on their doors

without knowing that !  We 

committed to remember WHY the

wreath is on our door and saying

thank you for it each time we see it !

The tots were so funny trying to

say the ‘th’ sound in wreath….

Wreath -in a circle…

After the story all the kids start

working on their December calendar

booklets and advent books. Here is

Miss Grade One starting on her

wreath page.

We did some coloring for

daddy from over at 1+1+1…

 

 

J is for Jesus.

Then we added this fantastic

keepsake that our very own Auntie

Jen made with with her 3 little ones.

I decided just to make one with all

my kids hands instead of 6

individual wreaths.

 

We still need to decorate our hand

print wreath.

As for GARLAND

 

     I   L * O * V * E    IT !

 

AND I DECK the house in it …to 

symbolize GOD’S everlasting life

everywhere !

AND I mean everywhere !

{ BUT I will only show you some of it :}

But…Now you know why!

{ ONE of the neighbors

asked if we celebrate Christmas,

I guess b/c we put our

lights on the

back of the house so

we can see them when we do

advent, and we only

decorate the front of the

house with garland and

wreaths }