45 days till X'mas!

I have a friend who collects nativities.

She had at least 20 sets.

I love nativities. They can be ornate or simple. Big or small. Tiny or tall. They can be life sized or pocket sized.

But each carries an important message.

What is the message?

It is intertwined with love, joy, promises kept, family, trust, and giving.

It is the message of Jesus' birth.

We may not know the exact day, but it is a day we set aside to remember the day Jesus' was born.

You would think that a someone like him would be born in a palace.

Oh no.

In a stable. A place with animals.

A bit more privacy than an inn, yes.

Mary and her family...husband, mother, father, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, all celebrating the birth of a child.

Because God wanted to teach us something great, he made it happen in a unlikely place.

That is what Christmas is about.

So today, read the Christmas story. Talk about it with your family and see what they would like to do to celebrate the birth of our Savior.

Raising Olives

Raising Olives Giveaway

Raising Olives is having a giveaway of a Lila Rose Clip. Click on their site for more information.

46 days till X'mas

If you have an old bird feeder in your workshop or garage you can turn it into a perfect doll house! I made one last year and it was a hit!

Dollhouse

Carpet/Blanket

Bed/Table/Couch

Coffee Table 

Stove and Sink

The complete house

My Sisters have had so much fun with it this year. I almost wish we could make another one! 

A Wonderful Painting

I was doing my Art History book today, and this was a featured picture.

The lady on the right was asking to see Cornelia (the standing lady) jewels. She brought out her kids. They were her jewels.

The picture had comments about it, and this one was the one that struck me:

A truly noble woman places her children above material possessions. 

I like that!

Angelica Kauffmann, Cornelia Pointing to Her Children as Treasures, 1785, oil on canvas, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond. 

47 days till X'mas

The countdown continues!

My Christmas tip for the day. Get a small pad of paper, and on a different sheet write each member of your family on it. And then have a separate page for friends. Write the presents you are making, or buying and check them off as you finish or buy them.

Let me tell you about

Let me tell you about my day.*

Lets see, I got up and made Jesus breakfast, oatmeal.
Then I put Jesus' laundry in the washing machine.
Then I rocked Jesus to sleep.
I got Jesus a snack.
Then I put Jesus' laundry in the dryer.
Found some clean clothes for Him to wear.
Then I made Jesus lunch of peanut butter and fluff.
Then I helped my Mom put Jesus to bed for a nap.
After that Jesus helped me with my Algebra..........

Jesus said in Matthew 25:31-45

The Sheep and the Goats

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Matthew 25:31-45

I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.

That is what Mother Teresa's outlook was. 

My Mom and I recently read a couple books about her. 

What an AMAZING woman after God's heart.

I thoroughly recommend reading about her. 

So when I get mad at my sisters, I get mad at Jesus. 
When I do the laundry, I am doing Jesus' laundry.
When I forgive one of my friends, I forgive Jesus.
When I chat with my friends at dance, I chat with Jesus.
When I dance, I dance for Jesus.
When I clean, I am cleaning Jesus' house.

This is the life I want to live. 

I want to live for Jesus by serving him, by serving people.

I think this song sums it up: Good to be Alive

"I wanna live like there's no tomorrow

Love like I'm on borrowed time

It's good to be alive"

 
(Mom, I'm stealing your lesson from Chapel!! :~D)

Christmas Countdown: Day 48

A cute Christmas present idea!!

(Can't take credit, saw it online! :~D)

Once a Month Book Club

Every month your child/sibling's unwraps a package that has a book.

We are going to do ours every 25th of every month.

Every month till the following November they get a new book.

The kids benefit from the books, and, if your like me, you local bookstore will too. I get my kids books at the library's book room for $0.25 apiece. (Plus tax).

So I am very excited about this project. And if you think of the cost I will get them at, the total project will cost: $3.24 cents for every 12 books!

So I am excited about this.

This will be one of the best presents I've ever gave!

49 days till X'mas!

Go to your local town or city and go to there tree-putting up day.

(Or tree lighting.)

We saw the Syracuse tree being put up today. It smelled heavenly!

The Mayor's press (secretary?) asked me what newspaper I was from, and I replied,

 "None. I'm homeschooled!"

Have a fun 49th day till Christmas! :~D

*Been listening to LOTS of Christmas music today.

Excitiment is building!

I want to say

50 days till Christmas!!!

So for these next 50 days I am going to share with you 50 Christmas ideas, homemade gifts, and more!

People in America complain, (They do a lot, but that is a different story!) they complain about Christmas music.

In Canada they already celebrated Thanksgiving. So they listen to it.

In America, we don't like listening to it till AFTER Thanksgiving, which means you only get to listen to it for 4 weeks.

I will admit I, and my family, listen to it year round.

So why do we wait to listen to it?

I challenge y'all to listen to a Christmas CD as a beginning to my 50 days of Christmas!

As they say in The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

"And it was always said of him, he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us!"

Lets celebrate the coming of Christmas!!!

Merry (EARLY) Christmas!!

Updated Laundry Detergent

If you buy soap from the store and shred it the next day, it will look like CHEESE!

Still works.

Recipe

1 shredded bar of Ivory soap (smells divine when you shred it!)
1 cup of baking soda (I used Arm and Hammer)
1 cup of borax (I used 20 Mule team borax) 

I doubled it last time.