Jesse Tree Ornaments
We finished our ornaments for our Jesse Tree! They came out soooo cute!
Here are each of the kids coloring the sheets of pictures for the ornaments.
My 3 year old colored most everything blue, his favorite color! (Although he did do a heart and a star in llellow! LOL)
My oldest has hated to color his whole life, so this was a BIG sacrifice for him. He knew I wanted each of them to make a few of the ornaments. So he colored one sheet for me. :^)
My daughter LOVES to color so she did LOTS of them!
After the kids made them I covered them with clear contact paper to keep them clean and we strung blue ribbon to hang them with.
There is still time to make your Jesse Tree ornaments the first Devotion is for Dec. 2nd!
HERE is my post about Jesse Tree with all the links to the printables!
Cream Cheese Corn
I mentioned Cream Cheese Corn in my post about Thanksgiving and a couple people have emailed me wanting to know what it is. So here is a recipe I can actually make! LOL (Actually my 6 year old makes this for the Holidays. Each of the kids cook a dish once they are 3 and this is hers. My 13 year old has made the mashed potatoes since he was 3! My 3 year old started this year with helping with the homemade rolls.)
Cream Cheese Corn
1 bag frozen corn
1/2 block cream cheese
2 T. Butter
Put corn in a microwave safe dish. Cut up butter and Cream Cheese and add to corn. Microwave about 5 minutes. Stir and continue to microwave for 30 seconds at a time until it is all melty and delicious!
We have been making this for YEARS! A lady we worked with at Target back when we were teenagers made this and brought it to a potluck once. We both LOVE it! We only make it for the Holidays. It is very rich and YUMMY! Every time we have taken it anywhere it is always requested the next time we come back!
You have to try it!
12 Days of Christmas Lapbook – Revisited
The last couple of weeks I have been thinking that I would like to do a 12 Days of Christmas Lapbook with the kids. Then yesterday I had 2 comments posted on The 12 Days of Christmas Lapbook info I researched last year! LOL Apparently I thought this was a good idea last year too! LOL I had completely forgotten that I had put all this together! (How can a person forget somthing they spent this much time doing???) We must have run out of time to do the actual lapbook, but this year it should be easier since all the research is done! LOL So in case anyone wants to make a 12 Days of Christmas Lapbook along with us here is all my research!
I first heard the Christian meanings to the song three years ago and have wanted to teach the kids about it ever since. There is some question as to whether or not this song was originally written as a Catholic Cathecism in the 1500’s. During that time in Europe the Catholic Church was being persectued. Whether it was written with the intent of secretly teaching children about Christian priciples or that was added later, it is still a great way to teach our kids about the Christian faith! Now that I know about lapbooking I figured it is the perfect opportunity!
Day 1 – Partridge In A Pear Tree – Christ who died on the Cross for our sins
Day 2 – 2 Turtle Doves – Old and New Testaments
Day 3 – 3 French Hens – 3 Virtues (Fatih, Hope and Love) 1 Corinthians 13:13 (?) Gold Franckinsense and Mhyyr.
Day 4 – 4 Calling Birds– The 4 Gospels, Matt, Mark, Luke & John
Day 5 – 5 Golden Rings – The first Five Books of the Old Testament, known as the Torah or the Pentateuch: 1) Genesis, 2) Exodus, 3) Leviticus, 4) Numbers, and 5) Deuteronomy.
Day 6 – 6 Geese a Laying – The 6 days of Creation
Day 7 – 7 Swans a Swimming – The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: 1) prophecy, 2) ministry, 3) teaching, 4) exhortation, 5) giving, 6) leading, and 7) compassion (Romans 12:6-8; cf. 1 Corinthians 12:8-11)
Day 8 – 8 Maids a Milking – The eight Beatitudes: 1) Blessed are the poor in spirit, 2) those who mourn, 3) the meek, 4) those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, 5) the merciful, 6) the pure in heart, 7) the peacemakers, 8) those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. (Matthew 5:3-10)
Day 9 – 9 Ladies Dancing – The nine Fruit of the Spirit: 1) love, 2) joy, 3) peace, 4) patience, 5) kindness, 6) generosity, 7) faithfulness, 8) gentleness, and 9) self-control. (Galatians 5:22)
Day 10 – 10 Lords a Leaping – The 10 Commandments
Day 11 – 11 Pipers Piping – The eleven Faithful Apostles: 1) Simon Peter, 2) Andrew, 3) James, 4) John, 5) Philip, 6) Bartholomew, 7) Matthew, 8) Thomas, 9) James bar Alphaeus, 10) Simon the Zealot, 11) Judas bar James. (Luke 6:14-16).
Day 12 – 12 Drummers Drumming – The Twelve points of doctrine in the Apostles’ Creed:
1. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth,
2. And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord,
3. Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,
4. Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried; He descended into hell.
5. The third day he rose again from the dead;
6. He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
7. From there he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
8. I believe in the Holy Spirit,
9. I believe in the holy catholic church, the communion of saints,
10. The forgiveness of sins,
11. The resurrection of the body,
12. And the life everlasting. Amen.
The 12 Days of Christmas in general:
Coloring Pages:
http://kidstu.fatcow.com/coloring/12dayscolor.htm
Word Search:
http://homeschooling.about.com/od/holidays/ss/12daysprint.htm
Vocabulary:
http://homeschooling.about.com/od/holidays/ss/12daysprint_2.htm
Crossword:
http://homeschooling.about.com/od/holidays/ss/12daysprint_3.htm
Challenge:
http://homeschooling.about.com/od/holidays/ss/12daysprint_4.htm
Alphabet Activity:
http://homeschooling.about.com/od/holidays/ss/12daysprint_5.htm
Here is a worksheet where the kids can draw and write about the origins of the Song.
Draw and Write Worksheet:
http://homeschooling.about.com/od/holidays/ss/12daysprint_6.htm
Day 1 – Partridge In A Pear Tree – Christ who died on the Cross for our sins.
Coloring Sheet with John 3:16
http://www.christiananswers.net/kids/clr-jesus-cross.pdf
Day 2 – 2 Turtle Doves – Old and New Testaments
I thought this would make a cute mini book or it would be nice to put them in a pocket so the kids could take them out and put them in order.
Old Testament Flashcards:
http://www.ebibleteacher.com/children/classmat/images/OT.pdf
New Testament Flashcards:
http://www.ebibleteacher.com/children/classmat/images/nt.pdf
We will also include information they have learned at Awana about the Bible.
There are 3 special names for God’s Book:
1. Holy Bible
2. Word of God
3. The Scriptures
God’s Book has 2 parts:
1. Old Testament
2. New Testament
There are 27 books in the New Testament
There are 39 books in the Old Testament
The Holy Bible has a total of 66 books.
Day 3 – 3 French Hens – Gold Franckinsense and Mhyyr.
Gold, Frank & Myrrh Poem:
http://www.christart.com/poetry/poem239.htm
Day 4 – 4 Calling Birds– The 4 Gospels, Matt, Mark, Luke & John
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gospels
Day 5 – 5 Golden Rings – The first Five Books of the Old Testament, known as the Torah or the Pentateuch:
Rorah Scroll Coloring Sheet
http://parenting.leehansen.com/downloads/coloring/hannukah/pages/torah.htm
Have kids write the names of the books of the Torah.
Wiki info on the Torah
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torah
Day 6 – 6 Geese a Laying – The 6 days of Creation
Story of Creation Mini Book
http://www.dltk-bible.com/genesis/creation/book.htm
Misc Creation Printables
http://www.dltk-bible.com/genesis/chapter1-index.htm
Day 7 – 7 Swans a Swimming – The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit:
Wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gifts_of_the_Spirit
Day 8 – 8 Maids a Milking – The eight Beatitudes:
http://gardenofpraise.com/bibl42s.htm
Cut bees out of color paper and write a "bee" attitude on each. punch a hole in each bee, Stack them and make a fan type book by inserting a brad through the holes.
Day 9 – 9 Ladies Dancing – The nine Fruit of the Spirit:
Fruit of the Spirit Fruit Tree:
http://www.antelope-ebooks.com/JUVENILE/BIBLE/lessons/FRUITS/FTREE.HTM
Fruit of the Spirit Coded Puzzle:
http://homeschooling.about.com/od/freeprintables/ss/franklinprint.htm
Fruit of the Spirit Poem:
http://www.dltk-bible.com/fruit_of_the_spirit_poem.htm
Day 10 – 10 Lords a Leaping – The 10 Commandments
http://www.livingwaters.com/downloads/10Commandments_forkids-FLIPCHART.pdf
Day 11 – 11 Pipers Piping – The eleven Faithful Apostles:
12 Disciples song
http://www.hymns.me.uk/there-were-twelve-disciples-hymn-lyrics.htm
Free Printable Bible Trading Cards
http://www.ebibleteacher.com/children/cards_free.htmree Printable Trading Cards
Wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Apostles
Day 12 – 12 Drummers Drumming – The Twelve points of doctrine in the Apostles’ Creed:
Make a booklet and include the creed inside.
If you have any ideas or resources that would be good to include in this I would love to hear about them!
Click HERE to get FREE booklets to print and use with this study!
Also you might want to make sure to click over to my original post on this. There are a couple of good additional ideas in the comments.
THM – 11/28/07 – Allowance
Homeschool Freebies
Jamin!, Freebie Finder
I am a big believer in allowances! We start our children on an allowance at the age of 3. They get $1 a week for each year old they are. We figure if you don’t have any money how can you learn to manage it?
One thing I LOVE about our allowance system is that my kids NEVER ask me to buy them anything. Of course we supply their basic needs – food, clothing, shelter, etc…, but when it comes to things they want, they have to save up for them! They completely understand the system and know that the only toys they will get from Mom and Dad will be on their birthdays or Christmas. My oldest son is 13 and I can tell you this system works! Sometimes I have to borrow money from him! LOL
Here are some great free resources I found online to help you make decisions about allowance for your children:
The allowance calculator helps you to calculate how much to pay your kids. Allows you to put in what they are currently getting and what you got at their age. Calculates what kind of purchasing power they have compared to what you had as a child. This is a fun tool!
PayJr is an online chore chart connected to a debit card. You are able to track their chores online and they get rewarded for completing them.
Values Driven Family even has a downloadable chore chart that you can edit and decorate with clip art.
Happy Homeschooling!
~Jamin
This article is from this weeks issue of The Homeschool Minute. If you are interested in getting The Homeschool Minute as well as the Freebie Friday Newsletter you can subscribe for free HERE. I will be passing along FREE goodies for your homeschool each week in both of these newsletters. (Not to mention all the other great info you will get from The Homeschool Minute!)
French Cherry Pie
My sister makes the BEST French Cherry Pie in the WORLD! I was talking to her on the phone last night and she mentioned she made it for Thanksgiving. (My mouth is watering as I write this!) I asked her to PLEASE send me the recipe so I could put it on my blog where I could
A. Not lose it
B. Share it with a few hundred of my friends and
C. Brag about what a good cook my sister is! (Which apparently does not run in families because I am pathetic in the kitchen! LOL)
So here is the recipe…..
Believe me you want to add this to your Christmas menu! (If only I was not such a disaster in the kitchen… LOL)
Total Blogger
Your Results
Congratulations! It’s a blog!
You don’t just have a blog, you are your blog.
LOL, I don’t know why but I love doing these weird little quizzes online! Whenever I see one on someones sidebar, I just have to click over and take the quiz! Most of them I don’t think too much of, but this one had meaning to me! Why? Because it agreed with how I feel about my blog! LOL My blog is me!
People who know me tell me this all the time. I write just like I talk. And I talk non-stop! LOL I can switch from one topic to the next without so much as a thought. Just like my blog might have something deep and meaningful one day a silly post the next…That is sooooo me! LOL You just never know what you are going to get with me!
I have been blogging for almost 2 years now and honestly I don’t know how I lived before blogging! I think through my blog! I am one of those people that HAS to write. My mind is always going a mile a minute! After a couple years of blogging I now think in blog! LOL I find myself composing blog posts in the drive thru of Wendy’s! LOL I have dreamed blog posts! Something will happen at our house and the kids will say "Mom’s gonna blog that!" LOL
So when you all ask me how I can blog every single day, I just have to laugh! Blogging is the thing that keeps me sane sometimes! It helps me sort out the zillions of thoughts that are constantly in my head!
So if you were ever wondering what I am really like….Now you know. I am just like my blog!
(Hey, at least I look like my blog and not my dog!!! hehehe)
Now the fact that you all actually read what I am thinking…..THAT is what amazes me!
Beth Moore
Yesterday was the final day of the Beth Moore Bible Study I mentioned I was taking a few months ago. What a blessing this study was to me!
I have a confession to make…I have avoided Beth Moore studies for years! Why you ask? Well…I have always heard wonderful things about Beth Moore studies. However, every time someone has told me how great the studies are they follow up with "There is a lot of homework!" Now come on. I don’t have time for a lot of homework! So, I automatically excused myself from it! I mean I am a homeschooling Mom, God would surely understand!
Well….Last year our homeschool group started offering a Bible Study for Mom’s during the week at the same time as the kids had co-op classes. I was so thrilled when I heard they were doing this! I mean the kids could be learning at the same time I was! Excellent! Then I heard it was going to be a Beth Moore study! humph!!! Had I not already told God I was too busy for this??? I really wanted to get together with a bunch of other homeschool Mom’s for a Bible Study so I went ahead and signed up. I told myself I just wouldn’t do the homework. God would understand! So, I go to the 1st class and as "luck" would have it the study was "Living Free". It is what I would call "Beth Moore Lite" It was actually a follow up to another one of her studies called Breaking Free. The main point of the study was learning how to pray God’s Word back to Him. It was wonderful! I went to the 1st class and learned that this study only required about a hour a week for homework! That I could do! So I did every bit of it! God blessed me so much through that little study! I could feel Him tugging at my heart in ways I had never felt before in my whole life. I wanted MORE!!!
Shortly after the 1st study ended I learned there was going to be another Bible Study during co-op. I decided the first study was such a good experience I would sign up for the next one….even though I didn’t know what they were studying! LOL
I show up the day of the study to find out we are doing another BETH MOORE! LOL And this one is NOT Lite! Nope, this one is a study of the book of Genesis and requires about an hour a day of homework! I could not wait to get started!!!
I have to tell you all this. If you hear that your church, a friends church any church is offering a Beth Moore study….RUN, don’t walk to sign up! This woman has the most amazing, challenging, life changing way of teaching God’s word! I don’t want to lead anyone to think I have not done Bible Studies before. I have done many of them! When we lived in California I was in a Womens Bible study for 6 years straight. I was blessed by all of them, but none of them filled me up the way this one did!
And about that homework….I am here to tell you that the hours I have spent over the last 10 weeks studying God’s word with the Beth Moore study guide have been the most wonderful moments I could imagine! Not only did I manage to do all the homework I looked forward to every minute of it! I scheduled it in. I looked forward to it and thought of it as my time of rest and relaxation. Much of it was hard work! This material forced me to struggle with God in a way I had never done before! But, I have made it to the other side so much stronger in my beliefs. So much more convinced that God was thinking of me way back when The Patriarchs walked this earth! The book of Genesis may have taken place many years ago. But I can tell you it is as fresh and new today as it was back then!
I wish I was more eloquent in telling you all I learned! Honestly I don’t think it can even be put into words! I think that only I can understand the blessings I got from this study, because only I have been on this journey call "my life". Each of us are on such a different path but God is there with each and every one of us on our journey. I know he has as much to teach you as He did me even though the actual lessons may be very different!
It is my prayer that this post will encourage someone to take the step and find a Beth Moore study to dive into. I guarantee you….You will be BLESSED!
Here is the link to Beth Moore’s webiste Living Proof
http://www.lproof.org/default.asp
Here is a link where you can listen to Beth Moore online.
http://www.lproof.org/internet_tv.asp
Here is a link to an online Beth Moore study – Believing God
http://www.lifeway.com/believinggod/
Here is a link to another online Beth Moore Study – Living Beyond Yourself
http://www.lifeway.com/lby/
Here is a link to the Living Proof Store where you can buy studies on CD & Books and MORE!
http://www.lproof.org/store_show_home.asp
The next thing I am doing is reading Beth’s book Get Out of That Pit with the accompanying 40 Day Devotional Journal. I challenge you to join me!
Psalm 119:105
While I was Resting….
Here are a few of the things my family did while we were resting over the Thanksgiving Holiday….
Look Mom I made a snowman!
Cooking
Cleaning
The Cook!
Kiss the Cook!
Why they don’t let me cook!
Our Feast!
Our friends joined us for Thanksgiving Dinner. Making Oreo Turkeys!
More Oreo Turkey’s
Playing
Playing
More Playing!
Enjoying Christmas Lights! (Yep, those are cactus decorated with lights! LOL Proof we live in the Desert!)
I hope you all had a wonderful peaceful time of rest with your families also!
Freebie Friday – Week of November 23rd, 2007 – Jesse Tree
Isaiah 11:1
This site gives you a devotional to do with your family every day of the month. (starting Dec. 2nd)
Here you will find a FREE pdf file with patterns to make Jesse Tree Ornaments.
This is another FREE printable for Jesse Tree ornaments. (Scroll down to the middle of the page.)
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that your Christmas will be full of blessings and focused on Jesus!
I’ll see you next week right here at – Freebie Fridays!
Happy Homeschooling,
Jamin
Freebie Finder
This article is from this weeks issue of Freebie Friday. If you are interested in getting The Homeschool Minute and the Freebie Friday Newsletter you can subscribe for free HERE. I will be passing along FREE goodies for your homeschool each week in both of these newsletters. (Not to mention all the other great info you will get from The Homeschool Minute!)
Thanksgiving Break…
Do you ever just need a break? I am there right now. The Holidays loom in front of me and I just want to take a few days and enjoy life and my family. No work, no blogging, just rest and FUN!!!!!
So don’t worry while I am away. All is well! I probably have my feet up and a couple kiddos in my lap while I watch a movie with my hubby. Ahhh, now that is relaxing….
1 Ch 16:34
Just Call Me Jamin 