Advent day 14. 15. 16. 17...so many things;)

Advent Day 14 was intended to be cookie day, but we got a little busy with activities and I made dought too late in the day.  It was firm enought by bedtime so cookie day got pushed back.  Advent Day 15 was our Bethlehem dinner and we had two families join us but guess what, I was so busy enjoying their company I did not take a single picture- DOH!  So I give you- Day 14's cookies made day 15 after our sweet friends departed;)

The book?  It is a book on the history of Christmas Cookies and their symbolism and ways they have been used to share the gospel:)


Day 16- Jesus washes our sins away so our hearts are as white as snow.  Let's celebrate by taking a Christmas bath.

Oh how well I remember the giggles of toddler in bubble baths playing with our nativity bath toys.  Our kids are far to old now to take pictures of them in the tub.  But the bath bombs I used this year were well....da bomb.  They had little Christmas squinkies in side. The kids loved them;)  ANd even Ava still enjoys Christmas bath night, she said, "I forgot how much fun it is to play with toys in the bath tub."  LOL


Day 17- God created the world in seven days...the entire world in seven days.  Not only did he make each person unique, he made all of nature unique.  Look at how many different types of animals, of birds, of fish....have you ever wondered why he didn't just make one type of tree or one type of grass?  He is infinitely creative!  Do you knwo that no two snowflake are alike?  Millions of snowflakes fall each year and no two are alike.  Today we will learn a fwe facts about snow flakes and then we'll make some of our own!

Look at the concentration on these faces;)

Benefit of traditions I suppose is practice make near close to perfect!

I lvoe this because Christian and Chloe proudly hang their snowflakes underneath Ava's.  They are just as proud of theirs;)  Oh that the confidence of children would never dissipate!

Not sure if Phin didn't want his by Ava's or just wants his own space.  He likes to march to the beat of his own drum.  He is definitely a kid who values his individuality;)

Advent day 13-ELF Night

It is always fun to have friends join us for Elf night.  John has been our dear friend since our days at Penn.  He's known each of us longer than we've known each other;)  He was kind enough to stand up in our wedding ON his birthday and I was fortunate enough to be able to witness the birth of his first born.  Jane has become a dear friend and though we live close, life with kids never give us enough time together.  How thankful we are that they were all able to join us for Elf fun...Horrocks fam knows how to have fun;)


Elf night is definitely one of the most fun nights....our kids get more sugar on Elf night than on the rest of Decemeber combined.   In fact, I think they actually had a bit of a sugar hang over the next morning...and yes, I am sure that is a real thing;)

Advent summary days 11-12

This has been a good experiment in returning to the world of blogging.  I love the parenting place I am in, but Ava is up now until my bedtime.  The truth is many nights I fall asleep on the couch before I grab the laptop to blog.  I am in a very healthy place with Hashimoto's but I still find myself exhausted at the end of days.  I have always been a person who needs regular sleep, with the Hashi's my body just puts itself to sleep if I try to push it farther;)  So I have fallen asleep instead of post pictures, but I fall asleep smiling.  Life is beautifully full.  I continue to find that planning our advent helps keep life slow during December.  Blogged or not, these days are joyfilled and I am savoring them.

Day 11- There is not much to say....it's WINDOW CLING DAY!!!

Day 12-  Time to use our gifts and talents to worship the KING!  Let's go watch Chloe and Phin's Christmas Concert!

I do love that our schools concerts really are expressions of worship.  Chloe began playing the violin in September to she was over the moon to play in Silent Night.  Phin plays the drums and we could not stop smiling that he was the cowbell in on of their songs.  His glockenspiel playing certainly was the best use of his talents, but nothing beats watching you kid who looks like Patrick MaHommes play cowbell while your phone keep dinging with messages from other parents of similar age and all the messages read, "more cowbell!"

Advent Day 10- RUDOLPH

Advent Day 10-
Here is a riddle- what is red, round, and glows?  That's right, you're so smart!....It's Rudolph's Nose! Let's eat some food and watch his show!  


Rudolph is a Christmas classic.  It's easy to focus on the silly song and the nostalgic animation, but there is also a sweet lesson about not excluding others or judging those difference from us.  The bible tells us every one is fearfully and wonderfully made by our greatCreator.  Rudolph is a fictional tale, but leads to great conversation about times each kid has felt like a misfit, that Marc and I have felt like misfits.  We challenge ourselves to be on the lookout for people being excluded just because the look different or like different things that others around them.  It's a good reminder to look outside ourselves and ask God to show us the beauty and gifts in each person around us, even if they could not be more different from us!

Advent Days 4-9

This getting back to blogging thing is going "great"....I'm just six days behind already🤣  Whatev's!

Day4- What's super sweet and sometimes pretty?   We've done them in the county; we've done them in the city.  It's tradition to make and also to eat.  Phin may say, "Today can't be beat!"  Figure it out?  Do you have enough clues?  We'll paint them red, green, white and blue?

Yes!  Chocolate Lollipop day is here!  Let's make them and share them to bring other's good cheer!

This is hands down Phin's favorite day.  He is a chocaholic!  His lollipops were finished swiftly; he wanted to leave plenty of time for them to harden so he could get a nibble before bed.  He did kindly take time on a couple and brought on of them to his teacher the next morning.  Christian licked as he painted so his are not going to anyone but himself;)  The girls took their time and were thoughtful about each color;)  Ava finished a full hour after everyone else...hers will all be gifts- they are perfection;)

Day 5- 

Let's continue our theme from yesterday....God gave us Jesus, our very best friend! Our Savior!  Our Teacher!  Our God who never ends!  He didn't stop there, he gave us family, friends and more; Let's remember all his gifts as we gift wrap our doors!

 


We are at a new stage of life.  Ava had Piano and voice lessons and a ton of homework so she said she'd do this activity another day.  She has not, which is fine; it's all fun anyway.  It is definitely foreshadowing the future.  I try to savor each moment, I know as they grow they will get busier, they will naturally pull away, the nostalgia and joy they still find in these simple activities may disappear in the teen years.  Each stage will have it's joys, I am trying very hard to purposefully embrace all the joy of this season and hold my hand open to receive what each day brings.

Day 6-
Your're not left behind while we catch a plane! Let's face it, the mere thought would make mom go insane!  Still tonight, Mom and Pap have a party to attend, so you'll have you here with your siblings like you would with your friends.  You'll camp out, beds all over the floor; there'll be pizza and pepsi and popcorn galore!  Home Alone for a short little bit, you'll watch Kevin's antics and they're always a hit!

Marc's work Christmas party was tonight.  We left the kids "Home Alone" tonight with Ava in charge.  We've done it lots during daytime hours; this was the first after dark departure.  They did awesome....Definitely feel like we just realized we have a whole new level of freedom.

Ava is the best.  She kindly took a photo of us before we left:

AND she took photos of the kids doing Home Alone night; she totally gets me;)

 

Day 7-

We have mroe than we need; we have more than we know.  It's time for some of these things to GO!  Let's give much thoughts to our closets and rooms.  

Let's purge!  Let's Donate!  Let's give things away!  Then we'll go have some time for Christmas play.

I make the kids purge every year.  This year, afterwards we ended the day with family game night- one of MY favorite nights;)

Day 8-

Saint Nicholas day is Decemeber 6, but a planned Christmas party made it a miss.  So today we'll remember this historical man.  We'll watch a movie and read a book or two and then we'll go and give to others like Saint Nicholas would do. 

No pictures from this day;)  We do random and secret acts of kindness so taking pictures would take away the secret aspect;)

Day 9-

God is so creative, just take a look around.  Not a place you can glance where his handiwork isn't found.  We can't make the world just by speaking a word, we can't make a dog or tree or a bird.  But we can use our creativity, a reflection of his, to make GINGERBREAD HOUSES- it's fun, it is!