Felt Board Fanatic.

Today's Advent activities went great. We started with the Bible story. I used her Bible to tell it but rather than looking at the pictures (which is what we did yesterday), I used felt people to act it out. My sister had sent me a nativity set last year, and I colored, cut, and felted them all for the lesson.

Bree LOVED it. She wanted me to tell the story 5 times, and after she got the "order" (which felt people come out when) she wanted to do it herself. She played the whole time with that, so we didn't even get to the "fun" part. Funny how that happens.

It would have been nice on our big felt board (more room), but her felt Christmas tree is taking that space up right now. But this worked.

Our Christmas activity was a special Christmas coloring page. We don't ever buy coloring books because I print out coloring pages that she requests, so she loved looking through a book and choosing one.

She woke up to the Elf eating breakfast with her spoon. She laughed and kept saying, "That silly Elf!"

Our Advent Book List

Read and Share Bible

Read and Share, Christmas Angels

How the Hibernators came to Bethlehem

A Christmas Goodnight

Hurry, Hurry! Have you Heard?

The Elf on the Shelf

And Bree's favorite, Ella Bella Ballerina and the Nutcracker...

Noel & Nailpolish

This morning we started with the Bible story. I read it from her Read and Share Bible (which I LOVE!). She's read it a ton before, so I left out key words, and she filled them in.

After that, our first Christmas activity was painting our nails. I did red and green on her, and she loved it. She told everyone at the library it took me 2 hours. Maybe it felt that way to her ...

Then we found the Elf. Bree didn't seem to mind her using the toothbrush. She said they could share it.

Our Advent Adventure Begins ...

After reading this encouraging post I decided to jump into the Advent season with a simple plan. Three main things: Story. Activity. Elf.

First, I tell her the Christmas story every day in a different way. I am using her Read and Share Bible, the DVD it comes with, a felt nativity scene, her Little People nativity set, the Jesus movie from the library, and a bunch of other resources that share the Christmas story.

Next, we do a fun (usually low key) Christmas activity. Some crafts, some service, some play, some outings.

Finally, we find the Elf. I know ... I'm one of those Elf on the Shelf people. But hear me out: I am not doing it in quite the same way as the story describes. I am not telling her that the Elf (Clea, as she named her) reports to Santa or keeps a list of all the good and bad she does. The Elf is just a fun thing she finds each day getting into some kind of mischief. I did keep the one rule: Don't touch the Elf.

I chose to do this when Ollie takes his morning nap because I can focus on her and enjoy the time with just her. She still watches a cartoon while I feed, change, and lay him down. I got a couple Christmas 15-minute PBS episodes from the library that are Christmas or Winter related, Mickey Mouse, Cat in the Hat, Angelina Ballerina, etc.

Then we start. I will try to journal and post each day with what we did.

Today, being December 1st, we just introduced the whole Christmas season with the arrival and set up of our Christmas Tree and reading The Elf on the Shelf to introduce and name our Elf.

... One Year Later ...

Hello, sweet Blogspot! How I have missed you. It has almost been a year - exactly. But I'm back now. The year has brought a ton of new changes, both big and small. We've added to our family - first an old, senile, Italian greyhound named Blue and then our sweet, little Oliver James only 5 weeks ago. Life has had many bumps this year. It was the hardest one yet for my family - hence the siesta. But God has been blessing us with a turn for the best. For right now, I'd just like to breath a sigh of relief and enjoy this moment. Back to writing. Back to reflecting. Listeners or not -- the process is in itself soothing to my soul. Tune in for what looks to be the dawning of a new day here at Casa de Mackey.

What Really is a Church?

I had the opportunity this past weekend to attend a retreat for young adults in our church. The three sessions were on the church: Why church, what really is a church, what are we doing? I was very encouraged and convicted by each lesson, but one thing stood out among everything else. Churches can, and do, look different. There are A, B, and C items. A items are non-negotiable. Those are the things that if forced to recant, I would let them throw me to the lions instead. I live, and would willinging die, by those things. We could disagree and still be friends or 'neighbors,' but not siblings in Christ. The B items are things I am confident in, but I wouldn't divide on. We can have our seperate opinions, but I still call you a brother and sister in Chist. The C items we can differ on, but I would still easily and comfortably worship together with you as a sibling in Christ. The things is, we (me included) get so wrapped up in B and C items as Christians, that we sometimes allow ourselves to rift on those items. We forget that we still have the essentials in common. I am guilty on all accounts, which is why this message was awesome to hear. A church isn't defined by its preaching style, worship style, wine vs. juice, formal vs. casual, size of building, immersion vs. sprinkling, or size of congregation. If I can agree with someone on the A items, it doesn't matter how our churches are different. In Revelation there is a big focus on the unity of the believers. In the final days, we will watch all the barriers fall between sects because we will cling to any brother or sister in Christ that is sealed by God. We might even be surprised by who wears His seal because all along we felt divided by our religious sects. Now ... What are these A items I would freely give up my life for, you wonder? I will be reflecting on each this week ... Stay Tuned.

A Kind Heart

Dear baby Bree,
Today you did the cutest thing I've ever seen. You gave your baby doll a book to read. It might seem insignificant to you, but it made mommy laugh. You are the cutest little thing on earth. Your dad agrees.