The Charming Tyrants: advent calendar

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Kid Friendly Nativity

I have wanted a kid friendly nativity set for a couple of years now and this year my sister-in-law found this set by Melissa and Doug and it fits the bill perfectly. Thanks Dawn!

The set we had when I was young my grandmother brought home from Jerusalem. Its amazing that it survived the trip. However it did not survive us kids and there were several casualties over the years. My brother Jared is now the proud owner of what's left of it.

I love that the boys can touch it and play with it and perhaps learn hands on what Christmas is all about and its a good visual for the verses we are reading daily with our advent calendar. Most importantly they like it too. The baby Jesus piece is two-sided (the only piece that is) one side shows an empty cradle and the other shows the baby. HT has decided that he likes the side with the baby in the cradle best and immediately turned him around when we set it up with the empty cradle side facing outward.

Take a good look, because this is probably the last time you will see it all together. I have already picked up several pieces and put them back more than once as EM seems to favor the sheep and the shepherds.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given. . .

Isaiah 9:6

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Advent Calendar

As I'm sure many of you already know, Sunday was the first day of Advent. From now until Christmas we celebrate the coming birth of Jesus.

So I was inspired by this website to make an advent calendar. It was very easy to do using a mini muffin tin some card stock and a sheet of scrapbook paper that had all the numbers printed on it and a few magnets. I filled each hole with a piece of candy and a scripture verse to be read each day, telling the story of the first coming of Christ.

Mine was done very simply because I didn't have time to do any thing else, since I only put it together yesterday, I may or may not add a few little embellishments to a few numbers or add December at the top or I may just leave it alone. I didn't paint the tin as recommended, that way I can put it back in the drawer after Christmas.

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign; the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14

(P.S. Happy Birthday Phil!)

You know you're a parent when . . .

doing one or more loads of laundry has become a daily event rather than weekly one.
you hear the phrase "no fair" at least a dozen or more times in any given day.
you've spent countless hours trying to convince your toddler that his older brother's crayons and play dough are NOT one of the four food groups.
your sofa has become a trampoline.
finishing a sentence, let alone a conversation, is a luxury.
every "no" becomes a tragedy worthy of a Shakespearean drama.
you catch yourself eating the leftovers off of your kids plate, not because you are hungry but because you can't stand to have it go to waste.
the last book you were able to finish was written by Dr Suess.
it feels like you are constantly picking bits of play dough out of the carpet.
your child needs to spit something out and you instantly offer your hand for them to spit it into. - Hunca Munca
sleeping in means not getting up before 6:30 am on a Saturday.
you wonder if wearing vomit is in style. - Fringe Girl
the only thing you can find to write with is a crayon. - Fringe Girl
you find yourself watching Dora . . even when you're alone. - Fringe Girl
you catch yourself humming the theme song to "Thomas and Friends".
you find worms in your sons pockets while doing the laundry.
you struggle to answer questions like . . "Mama, what do poop actually do?"
you've sat on the toilet while holding a screaming infant.

The Charming Tyrants