TulipGirl

I just came across a photo of my boys that shows a small part of our Jesse Tree on the left side of the photo. Our Jesse Tree is made of felt and has magnets on the back that hold it to the fridge. Each day’s ornament attaches with velcro. You can see five days are up.

This photo is from three years ago, and is taken in our kitchen in Ukraine. My hubby is the guy in the grey turtleneck on the right.
The other guy? I don’t remember. . . I think he was an American spending a few weeks in Ukraine who was staying at our house for a few hours on the way to the airport.

Check out the changes in the old and new Richard Scarry’s Best Word Book Ever. A soldier replaced by a judge, no more “brave heroes” and “beautiful screaming ladies.”

This was one of my sister’s books when she was little. My favorite Richard Scarry title was “What Do People Do All Day?”

(Via Jared)

“Heshu Yones, a West London teen, fought off her father for a frantic 15 minutes. She ran from room to room in her family home one Saturday afternoon until he cornered her in a dingy bathroom, held her over the tub and slit her throat.

The father, a onetime Kurdish freedom fighter from Iraq, told authorities that his only daughter had to die. The 16-year-old had sullied the family name, he said, by dating without his permission.”

–Christine Spolar, Kurdish Media

(Via Religion of Peace?)

Gentle Christian Mothers will be hosting an Advent Bible study, based on the Jesse Tree. The Bible study begins the first Sunday of Advent, November 27th. It will be hosted in the Drawing Closer/Bible Study forum, which is accessible to all registered GCM members. (New mamas are invited to join!)

As Hannah Jo, one of the Bible study leaders explains, “A Jesse Tree displays the family tree of Jesus. All the pivitol events in the Old Testament are drawn together to trace God’s faithfulness throughout the generations and the working out of His plan for the salvation of mankind through the coming messiah.”

The GCM Jesse Tree Bible study will follow these symbols and scriptures.

Many families are building the Jesse Tree into part of their family Christmas tradition. Here are some daily family devotions based on the Jesse Tree.

Our family has a felt Jesse Tree made by a dear friend over a decade ago for her family. Her children are grown now, and she’s shared it with us. It’s one of my boys favorite parts of the holiday, building anticipation to the celebration of the coming of the Christ Child.

Curious about what a Jesse Tree looks like?
Jesse Tree 1
Jesse Tree 2
Jesse Tree 3
Jesse Tree 4
Jesse Tree 5

“Children love helping to make the ornaments,” says Hannah Jo, “and the Jesse Tree can be a teaching tool to help pass on the faith to yet another generation. We’re looking forward to enjoying this tradition together with you!”

Today is the first Sunday in Advent.

If your family does not yet observe Advent, I’d like to encourage you to consider incorporating it into your family Christmas traditions. There are many ways to observe advent, from the very simple to the more involved.

Here are some resources to browse through and consider for your family.

Our Advent Readings / Hymns 2004:
First Sunday
Second Sunday
Third Sunday
Fourth Sunday

Our boys and Advent 2004

Join a Jesse Tree Bible Study

BadgerMum wrote an excellent, illustrated post about Advent last year. This Classical Life posted a photo of their traditional Advent wreath–I think I asked Kristen to, when I was trying to assemble ours in Ukraine.

We went to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire last weekend. The boys and I wore wizard hats to the theatre.

Hubby praises the Goblet of Fire for being a real movie–not just a visual translation of a book. I, on the other hand, loved the first HP movie because it was such an enchanting translation of The Philosopher’s Stone–it was what I saw in my imagaination and more.

Harry Potter as we’ve all seen, brings up strong feelings and views among Christians. And while there are many lovely, thoughtful people who disapprove of Harry Potter, well, I simply disagree with the bulk of the Christian critcisms of HP.

Fruitful Sora has an essay about why their very conservative, very small-o orthodox family reads the Harry Potter books. (Sidenote: Just because she has a favorable review of the books, I don’t assume she likes the movies as well. . .)

And check out Travis Prinzi’s blog Sword of Gryffindor. In his own words, he was once a “Harry Hater” and now writes frequntly about Harry Potter from a Christian perspective.

Isn’t it beautiful? One of our family traditions is that Dad makes the turkey and his fabulous wild rice and sausage stuffing. This year he made two–one for dinner and one for leftovers.

Dad wasn’t the only one in the kitchen. My Mom was bustling around so much, that it was only when she sat down to check her e-mail (and my blog) that I was able to snap this picture.

Just a glimpse of our boys eyeing our Thanksgiving Feast. Everything that was suggested made it onto the menu–turkey, stuffing, mashed potatos, gravy, green peas, ginger carrots, cauliflower with cheese, mushrooms, cranberry relish, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, corn on the cob. . .

For dessert, we had pumpkin pie, pecan pie, gingerbread, oatmeal scotchies (made by J9) and ambrosia.

Dad and I were trying to tally up which Thanksgivings we’ve been together. I think we’ve spent five of them with my folks, in the ten years we’ve been married. One of the most momentous ones was 2001–just a few days before we flew over to Ukraine.

More pictures.

Psalm 100

A Psalm for giving thanks.

1Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
2Serve the LORD with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!

3Know that the LORD, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;[a]
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!

5For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

As a school project, J9 wrote a poem in the form of a Psalm.

Psalm of Exhaustedness

Praise Him, praise Him!
I’m exhausted, I’m tired .
Please let me sleep soon,
Lord of my heart,
please let me sleep.

Lord, may I go to sleep now?
Lord, I’m exhausted.
Lord, let me sleep.
Lord, let me go to sleep, Lord let me go to sleep.

Lord of the earth, I love you!

It sounds to me like something that would have been penned by The Psalmist’s wife during her third trimester. . . I guess J9 needs more chamomile tea and an earlier bedtime.

My sister and her kidlets arrive tomorrow! And my parents the day after.

My “to do” list is a mile long.

Finish cleaning the house. (Thanks, sweetheart!)
Get caught up on laundry
Air out the house
Go to the grocery store
Make my Thanksgiving menu
Still open for modifications when the family arrives
Go to Target
Wall screws, black duct tape, light bulb cover
Stool cover, door thingie
Clean the Closet
Clean Walls (I love the Magic Eraser)
Dust! Ugh–Florida has so much.
Mail Packages
Wrap Presents
Clean the office/spare room
Hang magazine rack
Sweep, Vacuum, Mop
Call Mom and Dad
Go to the Farmer’s Market
Call Myakka River State Park
Clean the car and van
Weed / Straighten the yard
Straighten the Lanai
Clean out the kitchen cupboards
Clean the fridge
Sort the Kids’ Backpacks/Papers
Kids–organize toys
Kids–organize books
Kids–toys in garage

If it all doesn’t get done, I know my family will understand. But I want to have things ready and in order.

Woohoo!

I’m so tickled that we’re having Thanksgiving together. My brother won’t be here, but other than him this will be the first time we’re all together since the Thanksgiving right before we left for Ukraine, four years ago.

(Via the Wild Calvinista)

And on a related now, Katie’s Beer links to Doug Kern’s “Here I Blog, I Can Do No Other” at Tech Central Station.

About seven years ago I took the Myers-Briggs personality profile test. The official one. I answered the questions truthfully, but to be honest, I answered them in ways that reflected who I thought I was and who I thought I wanted to be.

I scored “E” for Extrovert–but not overly extroverted.

Several years ago, after living in Ukraine for awhile, I realized just how un-E I really am.

I enjoy having people in our home for dinner, for Bible study. I’m energized by public speaking. Teaching groups of people is fun for me. Things like this led me to think I was extroverted and energized by spending time with people.

Reality is, all of these people-oriented times are on my own terms. Dinner and groups of people in my home. Teaching? I’m directing the interaction. Public speaking and meeting groups of people–still on my terms. I enjoy these things, feel satisfied in how they are working towards a larger purpose. And then I go home and recover.

Interestingly, most of the missionaries I’ve met in training situations, conferences, and working on the field were introverts, too. Introverts renewed by alone time, fellowship with the Lord, studying. . . Energetic introverts willing to go into new situations, take risks meeting new people, willinging to invest themselves in other people. But introverts none the less.

KatieKind linked to a tongue-in-cheek, but insightful article from the Atlantic this week, “Caring for Your Introvert.” It’s worth reading if you or someone you love has wears the I badge.

(And if you’ve never taken the official Myers-Briggs profile test, the unofficial online versions here and here are pretty good, too.)

i’m slowly getting the hang of this. i think… so welcome. welcome to my world. my mountain. welcome to a blog that celebrates childhood. celebrates music, prose, and good cuisine! . . . enjoy your stay, comment often, breathe, breathe, breathe, the air is clean, the grasses are high, the wildlife is dangerous, the kids are noisy, and it’s all so unpredictably beautiful. the sun is now just staring to rise and water is boiling. i greet the day. greetings to you.

-mountain mama

Over at the Heart to Hearth blog, there are several recent posts with principled and pragmatic ideas about worshiping together with our children during church services. Read the full posts, and be encouraged!

Jesus said, “Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 9:17 NASB). Little children are loved dearly by God, and it’s good to bring them to Him and to worship Him, but we should keep in mind that it’s our job as parents to come alongside and guide them and teach them and help them learn in ways that will help nurture their trust and love in God our Father, our Abba Daddy.

–flowermama

Our expectation when we attend worship service is that we are worshipping as a family. I expect to be actively parenting in the pew. I expect to miss some of the sermon at time. I expect my children to whisper questions to me or my toddler to need to nurse. I expect that this is a process, a journey that will take time. I expect that my parenting cannot stop in the pew. When I have that expectation, I can joyfully minister to my family in the most intimate environment of all….worship!

–Quietspirit

Related Links:
Children in Congregational Worship
Children in Church
Family Worship

I like faeries. I have for many years. I read faerie tales when very young, from a book that was my mothers when she was a little girl. In junior high, I read all of the rainbow fearie books. Even just a few months ago, Hubby bought me a faerie book as a surprise.

Carla Rolfe, blogger of wisdom and homeschool mama of seven, has a faerie tale book she’s written and published, Maplewood Manor Garden Faeires. I like the bits I’ve read about it, and knowing Carla and her writing, I’m sure this book captures a bit of the enchantment of childhood.