This year we do our advent wreath candles at dinner, as usual.
We're also reading through 2 books during lunch and dinner time:
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| This book might still be a bit above our kids heads, at age 5.5 and 7. They get some of it, but a lot of it flies right past them. It's also written from a VERY protestant point of view, which comes across as just a bit silly and scared of church history at times, but it's still worth the read sometimes. There are a lot of *tall tales* that are presented as total truth, though, so that presents lots of discussion opportunities. Haha. I know I'm not selling the book well, but it has a one page reading on a topic, like the meaning of the advent candles, the Christmas tree, where lights on the Christmas tree came from, etc, and then discussion question ideas and a craft or art type idea. I rarely ever do the crafts, but having an easy readying is nice. |
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| This book is at the perfect reading level, or understanding level, for the kids this year. It might be a bit above Finn's head at age 5.5, but Layla can easily track with it at 7. It has one passage you read every day of Advent, so I do love how it's broken down and organized. It's also nice that they have good quotes from Old Testament prophecy about Jesus at the end of most chapters, but they are woven into the story and conversations so it feels a bit more natural. Overall we like this book. They have 2 more in this series too, so we might read each one of those over the next 2 years during Advent. |
Every year we sing "O come, O come Emmanuel" during the Advent candle time at dinner. Last year we just sang the first verse over and over, but this year we're adding in one more verse to the singing:
O come, Desire of nations, bind
All peoples in one heart and mind.
Bid envy, strife, and quarrels cease,
Fill the whole world with heavenly peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee o Israel.
Not all versions of the song include this verse, but considering the year we've had, I wanted THIS to be the verse we learned in 2016.
I have also found a few nice Advent pandora stations, so I'm trying to play those around the house. The choral music is especially lovely to me right now.
Normally we'd also have a bunch of candy bags hanging from my bed posts, and we'd open one each day, but THIS year Aunt Laura and Landon sent bags numbered for each day of December, with candy and a fun picture inside each bag from last Christmas. We're keeping all of the pictures tucked inside of our Advent wreath and the kids have fun looking through those. Thanks for that thoughtful Advent present, Aunt Laura! :)
Right about now, a few weeks before Christmas, we'd start our decorating (in past years), but this year our December is more full of activities than normal, so we already have the house decorated and the tree set up. Here is my yearly PSA reminder: Advent is the 4 weeks prior to Christmas. Christmas goes from December 24th/25th until January 6th, Epiphany. If you find yourself sick of Christmas by December 25th, maybe don't start celebrating it on November 25th? Enjoy some Advent, wait to put up all the decorations and listen to Christmas music non-stop, so that when Christmas comes, you'll enjoy it and want to celebrate it during ACTUAL Christmas time. Right? Haha. Sigh. :)
