Well, it turns out that we brought MUCH fewer ornaments from Japan than I remembered. And, it turns out that finding and putting up a Christmas tree was beyond my ability this year. So, we hung a few ornaments on the wall. We DID do window lights and decorations, though. And, Grammy and Grandpa had a wonderful tree - with no ornaments. Somehow, since childhood, my family has managed to loose all their Christmas decorations practically yearly. What an amazing ability!!!
So, I was very delighted to open a gift from a friend (a bit early) and find a small, compact box of ornaments with a cool booklet explaining each of them!
They are called Adorenaments - A Christmas Worship Celebration for Families.
As we are practically starting over with ornaments and decorations, it was wonderful to get some that Jun can't break, can TOUCH, and that tell about Jesus. It was fun to let her put them wherever she wanted on the empty tree. The ones that meant the most to her were put the HIGHEST! With a little help from Mama.
Thank you, Mary!!! What a great gift!
Showing posts with label Advent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Advent. Show all posts
Monday, December 27, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
C is for Re-Make!
Jun reminded me many times yesterday that "Today is C!" But, we chose to do S - Sledding! Gotta sled when there is sun and snow! So, today we did "C"! In case you missed an earlier post, this is part of our Advent activities. "C" is to make a candle. We did a double "C". We did a Crayon Candle. And DADDY DID ONE TOO! This made me very happy! Can you guess whose cut up crayons are whose? FYI - this is a silicone muffin pan that I used for a mold. They popped out very very well! 
Jun's is the upper left. She cut up many many colors of crayons. Ryu's is lower left. He mainly used oranges and pinks and cut them very finely. Mine is the lower right. I used traditional Christmas colors. Blue, Red, Green, White and Yellow. Then (see below) I cut up a candle I bought at the grocery store. Perhaps I could have used paraffin...but I didn't think of it.
At a friend's suggestion, I emptied a can of apricots, washed and dried it well, bent it to give it a spout, set it on a canning jar ring (a cookie cutter would probably do), in a couple of inches of water. I kept the heat to medium and waited for the white candle to melt.
Then I gently poured the white wax over the crayon bits. I guess you can see I re-used the wick in the white candle for two of the candles and used wax thread for the third.
When we got home from town, I popped them out of the muffin tin and here they are: Ryu's Mine, and Jun's. Ryu's color crayons were cut very finely, so there are many loose ones on the top. Mine and Jun's are a bit solider. However, the tops that you see here are actually the bottom, so...the pretty part of the candles won't melt in a hurry! Especially as I haven't allowed FIRE in the house yet.
So, that's our "C" Crayon Candle Re-make!
Can one "Deck the Halls" with Origami Angels? Next is "D."
Jun's is the upper left. She cut up many many colors of crayons. Ryu's is lower left. He mainly used oranges and pinks and cut them very finely. Mine is the lower right. I used traditional Christmas colors. Blue, Red, Green, White and Yellow. Then (see below) I cut up a candle I bought at the grocery store. Perhaps I could have used paraffin...but I didn't think of it.
At a friend's suggestion, I emptied a can of apricots, washed and dried it well, bent it to give it a spout, set it on a canning jar ring (a cookie cutter would probably do), in a couple of inches of water. I kept the heat to medium and waited for the white candle to melt.
Then I gently poured the white wax over the crayon bits. I guess you can see I re-used the wick in the white candle for two of the candles and used wax thread for the third.
When we got home from town, I popped them out of the muffin tin and here they are: Ryu's Mine, and Jun's. Ryu's color crayons were cut very finely, so there are many loose ones on the top. Mine and Jun's are a bit solider. However, the tops that you see here are actually the bottom, so...the pretty part of the candles won't melt in a hurry! Especially as I haven't allowed FIRE in the house yet.
So, that's our "C" Crayon Candle Re-make!
Can one "Deck the Halls" with Origami Angels? Next is "D."
Sunday, November 28, 2010
A is for Angel
It came as quite a shock a few days ago to realize that when November is over...Advent begins! This is Jun's 4th Advent. I have been sadly remiss in doing much of ANYTHING for any of her 4 Advents! One year a student in Japan gave us a chocolate Advent Calendar from Germany. We happily ate that away. That's about it.
To be fair to myself, HA!, I wasn't raised with an Advent tradition. It wasn't until I joined a Presbyterian Church in So. Cal that I ever celebrated Advent. So, you know, I'm still kind of new to it all. But, I like the possibilities that an Advent tradition provides, to keep one's head slightly above all the commercialism of US's Christmas. Or, to be more accurate, one's CHILD'S head above all the commercialism.
That being said, and all the Advent ideas I've read, been impressed with, and failed to try out, I am going to give it the old college try again this year. At least through the letter "H".
This is not a particularly religious Advent idea I have. However, we will surely supplement with lots of Bible Stories and singing of Christmas carols, so... Here it is through the letter "H." If I get my act together and actually finish through "H" before Christmas, I'll let you know. Also, feel free to share any "post H" ideas you might have that are very very SIMPLE!
A - Make an origami Angel (perhaps it will end up on the top of our tree? Now to figure out where to find a tree. A tree stand. Lights. UGH!!! RCSSSSSS!)
B - Find Bethlehem. We will do a very basic geography lesson on Google Maps to find the current day Bethlehem. Surely it hasn't moved all THAT far in the last 2,000+ years!
C - we are going to take crayons and white candles and make a gorgeous candle that we just might remember to light on Advent Sundays!
D - Oops, forgot I haven't figured "D" out yet either.
E - Make eggnog. I don't think Jun's ever had this! Ours will be non-alcoholic. Maybe I will chicken out and buy fake or pasteurized or whatever eggs so we don't have to think of food poisoning. (How Japanese people live so long with their eggs unrefrigerated at the store and eaten raw over rice every morning, and American kids can't eat cookie dough or drink eggnog, is beyond me! Anyone care to comment?)
F - Make fudge for Daddy. Daddy is already begging for this, so...maybe we will do our ABC's out of order.
G - Bake gingerbread men (and women!) Do I have a cookie cutter for this? Good question! Better check!
H - Hang lights in windows. Better buy said lights first. And figure out how to hang them at the windows. Duct tape wouldn't be very pretty, I don't think!
And that's as good as it gets so far through "H." I tried to think of things that I'd like to do as that gives us a better chance of getting them done! It would be nice to insert some kind of "give a toy to Toys for Tots" and visit the Senior Center for lunch (from our Meals on Wheels Days), and take cookies to the neighbors, and...we'll see!
Thankful: For the beautiful snow. Thankful that God loves us humans even when we are narrow minded, easily disappointed, and disheartened. And I'm not talking about you guys!!!
To be fair to myself, HA!, I wasn't raised with an Advent tradition. It wasn't until I joined a Presbyterian Church in So. Cal that I ever celebrated Advent. So, you know, I'm still kind of new to it all. But, I like the possibilities that an Advent tradition provides, to keep one's head slightly above all the commercialism of US's Christmas. Or, to be more accurate, one's CHILD'S head above all the commercialism.
That being said, and all the Advent ideas I've read, been impressed with, and failed to try out, I am going to give it the old college try again this year. At least through the letter "H".
This is not a particularly religious Advent idea I have. However, we will surely supplement with lots of Bible Stories and singing of Christmas carols, so... Here it is through the letter "H." If I get my act together and actually finish through "H" before Christmas, I'll let you know. Also, feel free to share any "post H" ideas you might have that are very very SIMPLE!
A - Make an origami Angel (perhaps it will end up on the top of our tree? Now to figure out where to find a tree. A tree stand. Lights. UGH!!! RCSSSSSS!)
B - Find Bethlehem. We will do a very basic geography lesson on Google Maps to find the current day Bethlehem. Surely it hasn't moved all THAT far in the last 2,000+ years!
C - we are going to take crayons and white candles and make a gorgeous candle that we just might remember to light on Advent Sundays!
D - Oops, forgot I haven't figured "D" out yet either.
E - Make eggnog. I don't think Jun's ever had this! Ours will be non-alcoholic. Maybe I will chicken out and buy fake or pasteurized or whatever eggs so we don't have to think of food poisoning. (How Japanese people live so long with their eggs unrefrigerated at the store and eaten raw over rice every morning, and American kids can't eat cookie dough or drink eggnog, is beyond me! Anyone care to comment?)
F - Make fudge for Daddy. Daddy is already begging for this, so...maybe we will do our ABC's out of order.
G - Bake gingerbread men (and women!) Do I have a cookie cutter for this? Good question! Better check!
H - Hang lights in windows. Better buy said lights first. And figure out how to hang them at the windows. Duct tape wouldn't be very pretty, I don't think!
And that's as good as it gets so far through "H." I tried to think of things that I'd like to do as that gives us a better chance of getting them done! It would be nice to insert some kind of "give a toy to Toys for Tots" and visit the Senior Center for lunch (from our Meals on Wheels Days), and take cookies to the neighbors, and...we'll see!
Thankful: For the beautiful snow. Thankful that God loves us humans even when we are narrow minded, easily disappointed, and disheartened. And I'm not talking about you guys!!!
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