Christmas Traditions with Dishing It

Amanda over at Serenity Now is hosting her monthly link up known as Dishing it. Isn't she fun? This month's theme? Christmas and I can tie it into a book review! I love it when I can do that.

~Do you have any specific traditions that your family looks forward to each Christmas?


One of my favorite Christmas traditions has become reading through The Advent Book by Jack and Kathy Stockman. I actually went to a MOPS event where this wonderful couple spoke about the creation of this book. It was a true labor of love as they worked to create a tradition in their family of sharing the Christmas story little by little leading up to their Christmas celebration. Which after reading about Jesus' birth and the events leading up too it, their hearts were focused on the real reason we celebrate this time of year. Which is the remembrance and thanksgiving for Jesus coming to this earth to save us from our sins. They started this tradition making their own homemade Advent book with found pictures like from greeting cards but then felt led to make something more substantial. With Jack being an artist they decided to write and illustrate The Advent Book for their family and others to be able to start this tradition. Like to craft? Why not make your own Advent book with your family or like me just pick up this wonderful book. I love this tradition primarily because it gets my kids excited about the Christmas story. The book is based on Matthew 1-2, Luke 1-2 and John 3:16. They hear this story over and over and have memorized so much of it over the years. For more Advent reading and activities check out the wonderful Advent series by Stacy over at Relevancy.

~Is your tree real or fake?

Fake, we have some allergies over here

~Do you have any favorite ornaments?

I love traditional bulb ornaments in greens, reds, white and silver and love sparkle and other embellishments on them. I love snowflakes ornaments too.

~What's your favorite Christmas treat?

Homemade Sugar Cookies with a simple glaze frosting cut out in Christmas shapes

~Best Christmas gift you ever received?

When I was little nothing topped little dolls and doll houses

~Coolest crafty thing you made or home decor thing you tried this Christmas season?

Well, I actually wasn't too crafty this season but I have saved crafts from previous years to decorate with. My favorite were these round paper ornaments that I made for my son's second Christmas to decorate the tree with. Can you say, no broken ornaments that year! They're made by cutting 4 round circles out of pretty papers at least two different kinds and you fold in half and glue together then add a ribbon and done. I still hang them from under our banister on the stairs between the posts at varying heights and have used them to decorate the mantle other years. I got the original idea from a copy of Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion magazine which is sadly no longer published.

They're hardly perfect as I don't have any circle punches and not a lot of patience to press them dry, but I love them.

~Your favorite Christmas movie?

How the Grinch Stole Christmas , the original cartoon version




Oh and please don't forget to check out the 12 Pearls of Christmas posts I'm joining along in posting. There's also an amazing giveaway at the end of each post. Don't forget to enter daily for your chance to win a pearl necklace, bracelet and earrings!

Give Thanks to the Lord: Celebrating Psalm 92

Happy (early) Thanksgiving to you all! I'm very excited to start sharing some of our favorite Thanksgiving reads here this week! I love celebrating the Holidays! I don't know if I could really say that I have a favorite, I love all the festivities. But Thanksgiving would definitly make a top list for me.


First up I have a trio of books by one of my favorite children's book authors, Karma Wilson and illustrated by Amy June Bates. I thought I'd start with Give Thanks to the Lord: Celebrating Psalm 92, but all three are very fitting for this time of year as we offer our thanks and praise offerings to the Lord. Beautiful fall toned water color illustrations depict a young boy and his family as they gather to celebrate their Thanksgiving together. The text highlights all that we have to be thankful for, such as family, home, Thanksgiving dinner and so on. The phrase 'It is Good to Give Thanks to the Lord' is repeated throughout the story about this warm family celebration that is focused on the Lord and his abundant goodness.



Also from the same series by Karma Wilson and Amy June Bates comes the next two books, I Will Rejoice: Celebrating Psalm 118 and Let's Make a Joyful Noise: Celebrating Psalm 100, they don't make the direct connection as the first book to the Thanksgiving Holiday. In fact the water color illustrations depict more summer/springtime days. I think it's very appropriate to focus not just on thanks giving to God over this Holiday, but also to offer our praises to Him. I think the contrast of the seasons in the illustrations are actually a great talking point about how we should be offering God our thanks and praise not just at Thanksgiving but throughout the year. Thanksgiving makes a perfect time to focus on this and talk about what it means to live a life of thankfulness. I Will Rejoice recounts the verse Pslam 118:24: 'This is the day that they Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it', a great theme for our thankfulness in each day that we are given and for all the simple moments that make up our days. Make a Joyful Noise shares about a family headed to Sunday worship. Along the way a young boy notices all the joyful noises around him, from birds singing to the worship service itself. The sounds heard, build on themselves making it a fun read of sound effects. It's a great read to share the joy there is in praising God. Another perfect theme for your Thanksgiving celebration as well as all year round.

Five Fall Reads

Instead of a traditional top five Friday I thought I'd offer up five Fall reads that we love to enjoy each year. The focus of these titles are trees/leaves. The fall foliage is possibly my favorite part of this season, we talk a lot about leaves, enjoy lots of nature walks and of course fun playing with leaves. I already featured one of our all time favorite reads The Little Yellow Leaf by Carin Beger so I won't repeat it here. Oh and I've got 6 not 5. So here's what we head to our local library to stock up on for great fall reads (in no particular order).

1. Count Down to Fall by Fran Hawk and illustrated by Sherry Neidigh
Counting down fall with various types of leaves and seeds in a single stanza rhyming verse. Great for learning different types of leaves plus there are activities in the back for continued learning.




2. A Grand Old Tree by Mary Newell DePalma
Not specific to Fall as it shares the life cycle of a tree it does make a nice pairing to fall reads. Adding this book helps understand the process of change in trees and why they turn colors in the fall. Simple beautiful watercolor illustrations accompany the equally simple and beautiful text.





3. Leaf Jumpers by Carole Gerber and illustrated by Leslie Evans
Goes through common types of leaves with amazing hand-colored linoleum-cut illustrations that capture the vividness of color in the autumn foliage.




4. Leaves by David Ezra Stein
Sweet, autumn colored watercolor illustrations accompany this story of a young bear's first autumn. The story is told from a young child's perspective of wonder as this young bear doesn't know why the leaves are falling from the trees and the world is changing all around him.



5. Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert
Amazing collage art accompanies this story of a young child's sharing about their favorite tree. It starts from a young seedling in the forest to a nursery to their backyard. But the favorite season of their tree is fall. Useful info on trees, planting a tree and making a bird treat for your tree follows this story at the end of the book.



6. It's Fall! by Linda Glaser
Okay this is not just about leaves and I've featured Linda Glaser before and I've already got 5 books here but I love how she handles the seasons and the three dimensional collage artwork. I also love at the end of the books there are always suggested seasonal nature activities.

FALL TRADITION

Fall is here and I wanted to share one of our favorite fall activities: apple picking. If you have never gone apple picking I would highly recommend it. This has become a family tradition for the past 6 years now. It’s a seasonal activity which is a great fall marker as my preschoolers and I are talking and learning about the seasons. Not to mention all the yummy apples to eat, bake, decorate with, making applesauce and make crafts with. We seriously look forward to this all year long. I'm posting this a little late in the apple picking season, there's still a few weeks left though. I thought it would be fun to take a little break from book reviews and share something different here today.

Some of the u-pick apple orchards can be quite extensive operations, having onsite restaurants, playground, carousels, petting zoos, apple doughnuts (yum) and many other fun activities and services. You can find a u-pick farm near you at the following link: http://www.pickyourown.org/

Do plan to make a day of it, getting there as early as you can for a leisure visit, don’t stress if the kids aren’t feeling it and have to leave earlier than expected. We love to pack a picnic lunch to enjoy atthe orchard. Our kids have always been great and enjoy the ‘I picked it myself’, the fresh air and the sensory experience of the smell of apples, crisp autumn air and beautiful scenery.

Happy Picking!

My First Little House Picture Books

I'd be willing to wager you, or your kids grew up reading and watching the Little House on the Prairie series like I did. The My First Little House Book series is a great introduction for the littlest readers to Laura Ingalls Wilder, Ma, Pa, and her sisters Mary and Carrie. I am always looking for editions of great literature written for my preschoolers’ age levels. It's a wonderful way to get them off to a solid start of reading classics. The more they read classic literature at their level the more confident, familiar and comfortable they will be to someday take on the hardest of books.

These stories are sure to delight your little ones as much as they may have delighted you and are accompanied with beautiful full-page illustrations. They are adapted from the writings of Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Renee Graef.

This particular series is a great way to excite their interest not just in literature but in history as they learn all about the pioneer way of life. There are currently 14 books in this series including Summertime in the Big Woods, Sugar Snow, Winter Days in the Big Woods, Going West, A Little House on the Prairie, A Little House Birthday, Going to Town, Prairie Day, County Fair, Dance at Grandpa's, Deer in the Woods, Winter on the Farm, Christmas in the Big Woods and A Farmer Boy Birthday.

There is even an A Little House Picture Book Treasury book with a collection of six stories.

The Birthday Book

I'm nervously giddy about writing my first blog post here! I recently attended a DaySpring Blessings Unlimited Party at non-other than The Nester's home. I met a bunch of amazing women, learned about an amazing new product line and got inspired to get busy and give blogging a try.

So I've decided to write a blog about book reviews, primarily children book reviews. How boring right? Well maybe not if you find some great books along the way. What I love about blogs is when someone writes about something they are passionate about and shares it with us. I have found so many recommendations for just about everything; new products, creative ideas, and so on. This actually saves me a lot of time and research. So hopefully I'll help shortcut you to some great reads to check out at your local library, add to your collection or use as a gift idea.

My first review is going to be on a Blessing Unlimited book that I actually got for free, yes for FREE, from Nester's party. They were more than generous hosts! Oh and the best part to kick off my blog, Nester is having a link for those of us who blog and attended the event.



It’s called The Birthday Book and I fell in love with it the instant it was presented. I'm not a scrapbooker but I wanted too and desire to keep memories of the children as they grow. Perfect solution an already pre-made book, complete with places for photos, lots of room to write down memories, funny things said, a pocket for each year for mementos, notes, cards, art work and probably my favorite an interview page for you to chat with your little one each year and record these memories. What a fun tradition and I'm looking forward to starting it! It has many more features and goes from 1st Birthday to 18th Birthday, though I do wonder how interested my 15 year olds will be in still taking their Birthday interviews. But I hope they are and that we have that kind of relationship where we enjoy talking and sharing with one another and our family has many time honored traditions such as this one that my kids always look forward too.