Advent for Kids: December 7 – Jesus Will Come Again

Which candle are we lighting this week and what does it symbolize? Yes, the Prophesy candle symbolizing the hope for Jesus that the prophesies brought!

The Bible tells us Jesus will come back to earth someday, so now we get to anticipation Jesus’ return. Sometimes it’s hard to wait, but Jesus is our source of strength and peace while we wait. He gives us what we need to remain confident that He will come

“Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.”    Hebrews 10:23 (NLT)

“Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. ² Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.”           Romans 5:1-2 (NLT)

The Prophecy Candle reminds us that Jesus came into the world because God always keeps his promises. We can expect Jesus to come back to earth someday just like the God says he will in the Bible.

What things do we do while we wait for Jesus to return?

Advent for Kids: December 6- The Messenger

Which candle are we lighting this week and what does it symbolize? Yes, the Prophesy candle symbolizing the hope for Jesus that the prophesies brought!

God had the prophets tell people another detail about the birth of Jesus. He explained how John the Baptist would prepare the way for Jesus. Let’s read those prophesies in the bible:

Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear the way through the wilderness for the Lord! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God!”           Isaiah 40:3

“Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.            Malachi 3:1

Do we ever prepare for someone’s arrival? What do we do?

Advent for Kids: December 5- When will Jesus be born?

Which candle are we lighting this week and what does it symbolize? Yes, the Prophesy candle symbolizing the hope for Jesus that the prophesies brought!

Did you know that the prophets Daniel and Isaiah were also able to tell people when Jesus would be born? How did they know? That’s right, because God told them. Let’s read those prophesies in the bible:

Now listen and understand! Seven sets of seven plus sixty-two sets of seven will pass from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until a ruler - the Anointed One - comes. Jerusalem will be rebuilt with streets and strong defenses, despite the perilous times.     Daniel 9:25

… She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’). By the time this child is old enough to choose what is right and reject what is wrong, he will be eating yogurt and honey. For before the child is that old, the lands of the two kings you fear so much will both be deserted.   Isaiah 7:14-16

Do you know what will happen tomorrow? (No) Neither do I!! That’s why prophesy is so amazing! It’s telling the future and only God knows about that.

(Optional: make funny predictions about the future)

Advent for Kids: December 4- How will Jesus be born?

Which candle are we lighting this week and what does it symbolize? Yes, the Prophesy candle symbolizing the hope for Jesus that the prophesies brought!

The prophets told the people several interesting details about Jesus' birth and then it happened just like God said! They said Jesus would born of a virgin and that the 3 kings would come visit. Let’s read those prophesies in the bible:

The western kings of Tarshish and other distant lands will bring him tribute. The eastern kings of Sheba and Seba will bring him gifts.            Psalms 72:10

All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin^[f] will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).       Isaiah 7:14

It’s fun to look through your baby pictures and hear details about how you were born, isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be amazing if someone was able to tell you all about it before it happened and then it happened exactly that way?

(Optional: get out their baby pictures and tell them the story of their own birth)

Advent for Kids: December 3- Who Will Jesus be?

Which candle are we lighting this week? Yes, the Prophesy candle. What does it symbolize? Right, hope! What helped the people in the bible to have hope? Yes, the prophesies.  Do you remember what a prophesy is? Yes, an announcement about the future.

The prophets also gave the people some information about who Jesus’ great great great great great… grandparents would be!  God told the prophets Isaiah and David that Jesus would be of the line of King David and David’s father Jesse.  That meant his many-times-great-grandfathers would be David and Jesse. Let’s read those prophesies in the bible:

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.                 Isaiah 11:1-3

“For the time is coming,” says the Lord, when I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line. He will be a King who rules with wisdom. He will do what is just and right throughout the land. And this will be his name:  The Lord Is Our Righteousness.’ In that day Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety                    Jeremiah 23:5-6

Knowing all these details about who Jesus would be made the people excited about Jesus’ birth!

Do you like hearing stories about your great great grandparents? Wouldn’t it be cool to hear about your great great grandson?

(Optional: tell a few stories about your ancestors)

Advent for Kids: December 2- Where Will Jesus Be Born?

Which candle are we lighting this week? That’s right, the Prophesy candle symbolizing the hope the prophesies gave the people

Let’s read more prophesies about Jesus. The prophet Micah told the people what God had told him: that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. Let’s read that prophesy in the bible:

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you, one whose origins are from the distant past.             Micah 5:2-3

Knowing details about Jesus’ birth made it seem real and made it easier for the people to keep anticipating his birth.

Does knowing details about what we plan on doing for Christmas make it more real to you? Do you like to know our Christmas plans?

(Optional: Talk about your plans for Christmas travel or Christmas day this year)

Advent for Kids: December 1- Anticipation

Week 1- The Prophesy Candle

This is the first day of Advent. This week, each night, light the Prophecy Candle.

December 1- Anticipation

It’s the first week of Advent so we light the first candle. It’s called the Prophesy candle. A Prophesy is an announcement about the future.

There are many prophesies about Jesus in the Bible. Did you know that Jesus is mentioned or alluded to in every book of the Bible? This week, we will be reading some of the amazing prophecies about Jesus. The prophesies allowed the Jewish people to anticipate and hope for Jesus’ arrival even more than we anticipate Christmas! Here are some examples of their anticipation:

For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!             Isaiah 9:6-7 (NLT)

Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear the way through the wilderness for the Lord! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God!             Isaiah 40:3 (NLT)

Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.                  Psalm 62:5-6 (NLT)

Isn’t it great to know when something wonderful it going to happen? We like to think about good things that will happen. What good thing are you looking forward to?

Advent Calendar Introduction

I've been creating an advent book for my own young kids and thought I might as well post it here. Maybe it will be helpful to you! Let me know if/how you're using it!

Advent Calendar Introduction

The word "Advent" means "arrival" or "coming" and symbolizes the approach of Christ's birth (and fulfillment of the prophecies about that event) and the awaiting of Christ's second coming.

In advent we get to light candles. Candles remind us that Jesus said, “I am the Light of the World. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness but will have the Light of Life.” (John 8:12)

There are 5 candles:

1. Prophesy candle symbolizing hope
2. Bethlehem candle symbolizing humility and preparation
3. Shepherds candle symbolizing joy
4. Angels candle symbolizing peace
5. Christ’s candle symbolizing love

Advent

I never did any kind of advent growing up so the idea is a little new to me. I like it, but without any real traditions to fall back on I've really been making it up as I go:

First, I impulsively bought this adorable 25 boxes advent calendar a few years ago on clearance. I really don't want to put candy or any other kind of gift in it (the kids get enough of that stuff as it is) so I've been looking for a nativity sceen set to go in it ever since. I've been using a make-do one for the last two years but it's mismatched weird. I've been thinking about trying to make something or paint pieces or something!

Second, We had an advent wreath the last two years because our church offered great kits for a suggested donation, but I never kept the cheap foam ring base because it was already disintegrating after a month. So now I'm trying to scrounge around my house and make something into a wreath. Fortunately I kept the candles and I've got a lot of other junk around here.

Third, we've been using a little homemade pamphlet our church handed out in 2009 for a daily devotional to go with advent. Even at 2 years old, NJ understood that he had to sit through it before he was allowed to see what surprise awaited him behind the cute numbered door on the advent calendar. However, the material was way over his head and even now at 4 years old, he's not getting it.  So I've been working on a little advent book with daily devotionals he might understand.

How about you? Help me out here!! What are your advent traditions?

Baby Bump

This layout is actually a full spread, but I censored the other half because it had several photos of my bare giant pregger tummy and you don't want to see that.  However, I wanted to post this right side because I like the balance of it. 

I cut the brown floral piece in the upper right with my sister's bigshot (a super cool cutting machine) while I was visiting her in Texas last month. I made myself several of those to spare, so hopefully they'll show up in other layouts too!

The blue flowers are also made with a big shot- although Cheryl was the one to make them. She actually made a bunch of them for some other project and offered me a few leftovers! They're made with a Big Shot Stampin' Up! Embosslit Die, so one run through the big shot cuts AND embosses! Cheryl then put some Stampin' Up! Smooch Pearlized Accent Ink on the raised piece and added a pearl in the center (did I get that right, Cheryl?). I love them so much I'm tempted to buy a big shot myself! (but only temped)

In the Hospital

This is a pair of layouts I created to tell the story of our hospital stay when Gunner was born.

Click to see bigger

 This first one is very plain, but the photos are so meaningful to me that I really wanted to keep it simple. There's a bunch of text below the photos that I've blurred out, but otherwise, it's as you see it.

Click to see bigger

 The second one turned out much more interesting- at least I have more to say about it: First, the footprints were done with this carbon copy type thing that keeps all the ink off the baby- very interesting. However, the ink rubbed off and smeared when you touched it. So, I scanned the image and reprinted it on acid free card stock. I hope this will preserve them nicely.

The second cool thing on this layout is that I used a borrowed mirror stamp to get a second seahorse facing the other direction! it worked very well and was much easier than I imagined (although I'm not sure what exactly I imagined would be hard about it).

First Days Home

 This spread, also for Gunner's baby book, is all about those first few days at home.  Even now, barely more than a year ago, I've forgotten the crying and fatigue and I just remember how sweet he was (and is).  Babies sleep so much those first few weeks- that in itself is a miracle!

Again, I'm branching out here with so much pattened paper, but given how much I have in my cabinet just waiting to be used, it seems only logical to try to incorporate more.

My favorite part of this layout is the journaling block on the left side. My digital blurring makes it loose a lot of the detail (and almost makes it ugly!), but it's the large stamp from the Stampin' Up! 'Notably Ornate' stamp set. It's a really beautiful stamp!

The big dream tag was something in my sister's stash, although I redid about 6 things on it, so maybe I should have just starter from scratch on it instead of destroying a tag!

Also I'll point out that every page in this baby book has something ocean-y on it. I'm hoping it'll tie the whole book together while allowing for a lot of variation from page to page. I guess I'll have to wait and see how it works out!

Coming Home

Here's another single page layout I did for Gunner's baby book. This is from the day we brought him home from the hospital.

I'm usually not one for so much pattern in my paper, but I love how this one turned out!

That piece at the end of the word "Adore" is a Tim Holtz fragment. I used glossy accents to apply a piece of paper to the back of it that I had stamped to match the shell to the upper left of "Adore."

(As always, my journaling is digitally blurred to keep my hubby feeling safe from the cyber-stalkers.)

Nice to Meet You!

I've been working on Gunner's baby book and I've gone outside my norm and done a few single page layouts instead of all spreads.  Here's the layout about NJ meeting his new baby brother!

(As always, click on the photo for a larger version)

I love the little green tag you see here. I made it by covers some chipboard with a scrap from the quilt my mom made Gunner. I have quite a few scraps from his quilt and I hope to add more when ever I find ways.

Onesies

Last month a wonderful friend of mine threw me a small baby shower. It's so great to get together with friends and she did a really great job! My favorite part was the craft she had at the end. She brought out a bunch of pre-washed onesies, iron on patch sheets, buttons, and fabric markers and had everyone decorate one! I made a little seahorse onesie and loved it so much that she brought me all the leftover supplies a few days later and I made some more and several shirts for my two year old! I guess technically you're supposed to sew around the edges of a patch, but I think that sounds like too much work, so we're going to try it without- I can always sew around them later, right?

More Boy Cards

I wanted to continue the look I got with the pirate cards, but do something more campy (I like to encourage non-criminal adventures, after all). However, I couldn't find any stamps that fit the bill. So, I just free-hand modified some images to make them work.... But I spent so much time on the drawing, that I didn't spend quite enough time on the embellishments... maybe I'll find just the right thing to add to this to give it the balanced look it needs....

Currently, the image is drawn on, then colored in using my watercolor crayons and a blender pen. The boy is drawn on vellum and colored with pencils. The tag is just written on, copied from a font I liked and secured to the card with a small black brad.

Birthday Boys

So now I'm on to doing some birthday cards. I made this one for my cousin's son. I think I should have taken the picture on something other than a black background, but it's too late now! The card's been mailed!

While I was on a pirate roll, I also made this one for my nephew. I did an inside to this one as well- the map kind continues from the outside to the inside...

I used more of the tinted vellum and a bit of Stickles for the sparkle.

I don't actually own any of these stamps. I did some tracing from pictures onto the vellum and then, once I'd traced it a time or two, it was pretty easy to draw it free hand.