Elf...Day 2, 3, and 4

Day 2 

Evan was hiding under the Christmas tree with lots of kids Christmas books. He asked The Princess to read a book to her soon-to-be-born sister Miss Priss. 

Day 3 

Evan asked The Princess to clean up her toy bins and find some toys to donate. Here's his letter:

Go through your old toys and find some to donate to Goodwill or Tender Hearts. Clean them up and put them in a bag so that other kids can have something nice for Christmas.

<3 Evan

Day 4

Evan wants The Princess to makes some cards to share Christmas cheer. This is great since The Princess loves art! 

Get your own elf:

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Kindness Elf 2015

Evan the Elf made his appearance today! 

At our house, we don't do Santa. Very simply, I don't lie to my children. We can play games and we can pretend, but only when everyone knows we are pretending. I don't find this true for the way people do Santa, not to mention that I feel that he takes away from Jesus. So....the traditional Elf on the Shelf is out for us too. My daughter, "The Princess," asked if we could do some version of the elf though for fun. She knows that its not real, but asked if we could play a game. I did some research and found the kindness elves. Now Evan the Elf is a game we play to spread the love of Jesus throughout the month of December. Last year we only did this for a few days. This year I was a lot more organized. I printed out a blank calendar page and so that I could plan activities for kindness based on our schedule for the month. 

Today's note from Evan said: 

Hello again! I’m your Kindness Elf named Evan.  It’s my job to help you spread Jesus’s love and joy at Christmas. Make a list of all the things you can do to help your Mom this month.  

<3 Evan

Since I'm seven and a half months pregnant, I can use all the help I can get! The Princess found Evan this morning, made the list, and then made biscuits for breakfast! I want The Princess to think about how to serve others as Christ served. Today's activity was a little way to practice that. 

Get your own elf here:
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Stay tuned for more fun....

Resolution Time!

The Princess and I training for a 5K at the end of March. We started December 1st and have been walking/running a mile 3 times a week. We plan to increase our walking/running a little at a time until we get to 3 miles! We also have decided to add this into our work out routine: 

Click to get your own.

We also spend some time reflecting on 2014. The Princess filled out this sheet for me to put up and save:

We also have set some goals for the new year. We printed this sheet and I helped her to think of goals as well as what to do to get there. We posted this completed sheet on the bulletin board in the school room. 

Happy New Year!

Christmas ornaments

We created several of our own ornaments this year for ourselves and to give to others. We started with plain ornaments like this:

(Click to order your own.)

Then we added all sorts of different things like...

different colored pom pom balls

clear shred

Christmas sprinkles

Here are some ideas for making your own. Click to order your own:

Kindness Elves

Our kindness elf, Evan made his appearance this week. We don't do Santa at our house. I made this decision before my daughter was born because I didn't want her to be distracted from the true meaning of Christmas only. Many of her friends, our friends, still celebrate Santa and that's okay. Some of them have an Elf on the Shelf. The Princess asked if we could have one too. I struggled with this because elves are part of Santa's story. I looked for a way to do something fun with her without bringing Santa into our celebration. The kindness elf was the answer. 

DAY 1:

Evan's purpose is stated in this first letter (typed in tiny font): 

"Hello. I am a kindness elf, a special kind of elf.

It’s my job to spread Christmas love and joy. I need your help. Make a list of all the nicest words you know and post it on the refrigerator for everyone to see."

DAY 2:

"Let’s spread some kindness together.  Make a card for someone you love. Call someone and brighten up their day. Do a good job and we might do something fun tomorrow.

<3 Evan" 


DAY 3: 

"Help your mom with chores today and have a good attitude doing it. Think about the Fruits of the Spirit as you go about your day. Something fun will come later 

<3 Evan"

DAY 4:

"Let’s have a good time baking some brownies for Christmas Eve! Maybe we can even bake a cake for Jesus’s birthday! Be a good helper and get ready to celebrate Jesus!

<3 Evan"

Jesus's birthday cake is our Christmas tradition. We've been doing this since the Princess was little. To keep the focus on the true meaning of Christmas we bake a cake. On Christmas day we sing Happy Birthday to Jesus! 

DAY 5:

Evan wanted The Princess to help with Mom's workout playlist. The Princess loves YouTube so she was great at this job! 

DAY 6:

"Happy Christmas Eve!  Make something nice for Great Nana and get ready to celebrate Jesus!

<3, Evan"

(Snowman project for her great grandmother)

DAY 7:

"Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday to Jesus! Remember to think about the real reason for the season. Be thankful for everything that you are blessed with today.  See you next year!

<3, Evan"

Evan was purchased at Hobby Lobby, but here are some of the alternatives to the Elf on the Shelf I've found at Amazon:

Thanksgiving Baking

I am not a good cook. I don't like to cook. I remember being a kid and trying to help in the kitchen. My LITTLE sister kicked me out! However, baking is something I have been able to manage. The Princess and I whipped up some cute desserts for today's feast. We didn't have the eyeball candy for the turkey, so we used white chocolate chips and drew on them with edible markers like this:

We used the broken or messed up candy corns for the beaks and the good ones for the turkeys' feathers.

 We also made sugar cookies like we did for Halloween. We discovered that the round sprinkles like to roll off and not stick to the icing :-(

Fall Tree Craft

The Princess and I discussed this art project in theory. She created this on her own: 

So I created my own tree. I also took her outside to look at the trees. I pointed out the branches to her. I showed her out the trees leaned some. I explained how the tree was thinner at the top. 

The Princess created a new tree to reflect what she saw. I love the growth from this project. She wants to know which tree is your favorite.