A sweet way to enjoy the season is to have your kids create Christmas cards. We did this a couple of years ago. I had the kids draw (make sure they sign and date their art) their pictures and then I scanned them into the computer. I then printed them on card stock. We further embellished them with glitter gel pens. You can use any items from the craft store to embellish. I like the word Embellish! Here they are:
We have been thoroughly enjoying our advent readings. We are reading Bartholomew's Passage. It is the book that follows Jotham's Journey. It is a story of the adventure of a boy set in the time of Jesus'birth. Every chapter is a cliff hanger. We all cuddle on the living room couches under soft fleece throws by the glow of our christmas tree lights and advent wreath candles. If you have an oppotunity to purchase these books I highly recommend them! To learn more about the author and his other books CLICK HERE
Tonight ABC will be showing Disney's first tv holiday special, Prep and Landing, a 30 minute movie about an elite team of elves that prepare everything for Santas arrival. To view a trailer and lots of funny shorts CLICK HERE
For lost of crafts and activities to do with your family in relation to this movie CLICK HERE
Happy Watching!
There are many family fun activities to during the holidays. Check your local community newspapers and your city or county websites. We enjoyed or city’s annual tree lighting celebration. They had many performers on an outdoor stage by the waterfront. It is so nice to see families out in droves sitting on blankets enjoying each other. After the mayor, Rick Baker, lit the tree (which simultaneously lit surrounding light displays all around North Straub water front park we headed over to view an outdoor holiday movie. We thought it was going to be “Miracle on 34th Street” but it turned out to be “The Shop Around the Corner ” We had never seen this movie. It was awesome! We all enjoyed it. It was freezing cold. Luckily, mom was prepared with fleece blankets, popcorn, and hot cocoa. Oh, what a wonderful night we had. Even Flat Stanley got in on the fun too. We introduced him to the mayor and had our picture taken by the tree. Mayor Rick Baker is almost as tall as the tree! It was nice to see him there with his family too. Every Friday and Saturday local merchants and the city of St Petersburg are sponsoring outdoor holiday movies, FREE!
Here is a list of our family favorite holiday movies and some we plan on seeing this holiday season:
A fun and easy way to bring some cheer to family and friends is to Elf Yourself! In about 2 days you can give it a whirl. Visit http://www.elfyourself.com/ and let the holiday fun begin!
Dad surprised the kids with breakfast at Denny's. Yummo, we hadn't eaten out ina long time. It was great to be waited on. After breakfast we visited our friend and Bible study teacher Debbie. she taught the Freedom Workshop to the teens at homeschool co-op. Mikael just loves her. It hs been wonderful to have my son and brother in Christ walk with me in with the knowledge of the key points from the study. Debbie hosts an annual Arts and Craft Christmas open house every year. There were many artists there exhibiting their jewelry, sculptors, paintings and more. Debbie's scripture cards done in calligraphy and photography postcards are beautiful. She even had a sketch done by her father for sale. Check out the pictures. 
After visiting with Debbie we headed to Pinellas Pioneer Settlement for their Annual Christmas Jamboree. We ran into our very dear friends and old lifegroup leaders the Hendrick's. They were instrumental in our family's life as we settled in St. Pete and offered us love, support, and encouragement without reservation. I just love them! There son is quite talented with the facial muscles and their daughter is hanging upside right above Seth in the background.
It was a blast from the past! We visited one of the oldest homes in Pinellas County. They were making pumkin pancakes, bacon and hot chocolate the old fashioned way in an old fashioned kitchen. The icebox is just that, a box that has a big block of ice in it. And the stove cooked with coals. They actually made the pancakes in the oven. The volunteers were very informative and truly enjoying teaching the kids. The kids were able to learn about the evolution of the printshop and had the opporunity to print their names using and old fashioned "doo hicky" printer.
After the Christmas Jamboree we went to a park to collect pinecones for crafts and decorations and for a little playtime.
We didn't find many nice pinecones but the kids had a blast and Alf and I were able to sit and enjoy watching them have fun.
