Eight years ago, we had “tidings of great joy” and had our sweet girl shortly before Christmas. She is our little miracle girl…a placenta previa pregnancy that miraculously healed days before delivery. Our doctor pointed out that it was a miracle to every nurse who looked at our chart. It was a great way to come into the world!  And we rejoice that she is ours, even as she delivers a mighty kick in the ribs in the middle of the night.

Being a mom of little ones is hard. Really hard. But it’s a miracle and a great blessing.

I wanted to remember those little hands and feet that are so hard to sleep with, because soon she will be way too cool to crawl into bed with us.

After we read the story of the angel appearing to Zachariah, giving him the incredible news that he and his wife would have a miracle baby, I decided to have Rosie make an angel with her little hands and feet. We just did it with acrylic paint on some pallet wood. I’ve also seen them done beautifully on paper and burlap. I added her name, age, and a bible verse with a gold pen….

I encourage you to preserve their little hands and feet…she’s the fifth baby, and this is the FIRST time I’ve taken her hand and footprint. I’m so glad I did!

Book Making with Preschoolers!

Maybe, like us, the final week of Christmas has you feeling a little behind too…if so, catch up today with your advent devotions in Ann Voskamp’s Unwrapping the Greatest Gift! Today we read the story of Habakkuk climbing to the top of the watchtower, and grieving over the sin of the people. God drew near to Habakkuk, and Habakkuk declares

I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!

The Sovereign Lord is my strength!

He makes me as surefooted as a deer,

able to tread upon the heights.

Today, let your preschooler make a book about the things that give him joy. Make a simple book out of folded paper or cardstock. Give him a camera, and let him take the pictures. Print them out for him and let him glue them in. Let him tell you about each picture, and carefully write down his words just as he said them. He will be able to proudly read his book to everyone.

Making their own books is a powerful way for preschoolers to connect with the written word. It is an important step towards a love for language and reading. You will have a little snapshot of what gives your child found joy in when they were small.

Today we are doing some social-emotional and sensory play! It has been such a long day getting five children to their various parties and obligations. My 8-year-old decided that we should set up a beauty shop while we had our devotions so that I could relax, and Rosie could brush my hair, lotion my hands, and put sparkles on my eyes. It was a wonderful idea, and Rosie enjoyed listening to the story and treating Mommy like Queen Esther. Rosie is the kind of little one who makes messes if she doesn’t get enough sensory input, so after a day in the car, lots of slippy lotion was a great treat.

It was such a nice relaxing time, and Rosalie was listening carefully to our devotion. Like her mama, she listens better when she has something to do with her hands! We talked about looking forward to the offering at church this weekend, which is benefiting a women’s and children’s shelter. Our children had an opportunity to work for some friends this week and were paid today. Today’s teaching helped them see that they can be a bridge to the King for some suffering families. They are eagerly awaiting this weekends offering to bring their gifts in honor of the Baby King.

When you unwrap your worth in the Gift of Christ, you release your grip on all the other gifts. You are loved and carried and secure, and what else do you need when you have Him? You are free, free, to lavishly give away your gifts when all your value, worth, joy and riches are in the greatest of gifts.

-Unwrapping the Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp

“God gathered His children and told them what would happen even before it happened. The Father-King of the heavens and of all the universe and His Son-King looked across Their Kingdom and saw how all the children They had made were being held captive by the dark and the sinfulness and the sickness and the badness. They knew Their unconditional, unstoppable, unwrappable love had to come and get Their people -us—so They came up with the very best rescue plan.

This is what they decided: The Father-King of the heavens and all of the universe and His Son-King would open the back side of the world, and the Son-King would would unexpectedly slip right into the Kingdom through a little, unlikely door: Bethlehem.”

-Ann Voskamp, Unwrapping the Greatest Gift

Today we are going to help our preschoolers connect with our advent teaching by making bread. Bethlehem literally means “house of bread”….isn’t it cool that Jesus, “the bread of life” was born in “the house of bread”?

Cooking with small children is such a fruitful educational opportunity! They practice language as you both talk through the process. Math is experienced in a hands-on way as you measure. Fine and gross motor muscle planning takes place as batter is stirred and dough is kneaded. Smells and sounds abound! Cooking is also a bonding process that fosters connection and builds common memory.

Bread is an ideal thing for preschoolers to start with! It’s relatively forgiving and fun to knead and shape. Today we are sharing Rosalie’s favorite bread to make…it is a challah that she calls “Rupunzel Bread” because it looks like a blonde braid! This is a bread machine recipe, but can easily be adjusted to be made with a mixer.  Let your little one help with an easy pot up soup….the kind where you just dump stuff into the pot (I added our current EASY favorite recipe below) and have your family devotion at the dinner table. Let your preschooler proudly serve the meal and  tell the whole family what the world Bethlehem means!

Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup

Source: www.keyingredient.com

Course: Soup

Serves: 1

Ingredients

• 2 whole large Cloves Of Garlic Minced

• 2 Tbl Olive Oil

• 2 10¾ oz Cans of Condensed Tomato Soup

• 1/4 cup Sun Dried Tomatoes chopped or 2 Tbl Of Sun Dried Tomato Paste

• 2 cups Half-and-half

• 2 cups Chicken Stock

• 1 tsp Onion Powder

• 1 Tbl Italian Seasoning

• 1/2 tsp Salt

• 1/2 tsp Pepper

• 1 whole 9 Oz Package Of Cheese Filled Tortellini

• 1/2 cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese for garnish

Directions

1. Saute garlic with the olive oil in a large stock pot over medium heat until golden brown.Be sure to keep an eye on it so it doesn’t get too brown or burnt.When the garlic is done, add tomato soup, tomatoes, half and half, chicken stock and spices.Bring to a simmer.Once simmering, drop tortellini into the soup. Cook according to the package directions.After tortellini are cooked, ladle soup into bowls and top with parmesan cheese

Our whole family looks forward to our devotions from Unwrapping the Greatest Gift! Although I had great hopes of having everyone together every night, conflicting schedules of the seven of us have me thinking more of Grand Central Station than the peaceful scene I have planned!  We soldier on though, and remember that life doesn’t have to be Hallmark perfect to be a great memory!

Tonight our devotions are going to be with just me and two littlest girls. Since my energy is running low tonight, I’m going to choose a calming activity to do with them. I’m going to put them in the bath, and have devotions there! I’ve got some glow sticks that I’m going to surprise them with….we can turn off the lights and pretend we are in the belly of a whale!  The goal is to help them connect with the story. I know we will continue to talk about Jonah this week!

Sometimes it’s only when you see that you have very little in your hands that you can take hold of God’s very big hands. Could there ever be a bigger, better gift than getting more of God? Jonah said sorry to God and turned around, right there in the turning and churning tummy of the fish. You always get the greatest gift when you turn around and go the right way, right toward the smiling ways of God.  – Unwrapping the Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp

The story of Elijah’s faith is one of the coolest in the Bible. Can you imagine being there when Elijah prayed to God, asking Him to send fire (on wet wood) so that everyone would know that He is the ONE, true God? I am sure there were more than a few fist pumps going around as the fire lit up the sky.

This story is one of the easier ones for preschoolers to understand because fire is a concrete concept. Your young one has probably already seen fire many times. They may have even experienced fire while roasting s’mores in your backyard.

But Elijah whispered, “Please send fire, one real God, so everyone will know you are the one real God.” And fire fell like flaming stars out of the sky.

– Unwrapping the Greatest Gift – p.92

Make a fire and gather around it for today’s lesson. Draw your young listeners into this story simply by changing your voice, dimming the lights, or using hand motions.

Finish off the evening with s’mores or other special family snack around the fire. Share examples from your own life when God strengthened your faith.

Only 9 more days until we celebrate Jesus’ birthday!

Preschoolers love playing with light. Light provides a new dimension to play, and is a wonderful sensory component to add to activities. Today we are talking about the prophecy in Isaiah:

The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. 

For those who live in a land of deep darkness,

A light will shine….

Isaiah 9:2

Give your child a nativity scene to manipulate. If you don’t have one, there are many fine ones on the market. I saw the Fisher Price one at Sams Club yesterday.  Give them some battery operated LED candles and dim the lights as you read tonight’s devotion. Let them tell the story of the baby Jesus to you.

As for you, let the baby be your light this advent season. It’s so easy to get caught up in your to-do-to-mail-to-bake list this time of year. We found ourselves getting overwhelmed with activity this weekend, and I sensed the anxiety rising. I had to make the difficult decision to clear the deck a little bit today, and say “no” to some things. Don’t be afraid to guard your peace this advent year, so you can focus on the light…the baby in the manger.

“For a Baby has been born, the only One who is blazing Light,

and all the people who had been bumping around in the dark blink their eyes to the relief and the miracle of Light warming their faces, and they name the Baby Amazing. Strong God. Eternal Father. (Yes, they name the Baby that, because under that fresh baby skin is the forever Father God who is without end!)

We don’t have to stumble around in the dark, because Jesus is running the world. We don’t have to be scared of the dark, because Jesus is our forever Light.”

-Ann Voskamp, Unwrapping the Greatest Gift

People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. – 1 Samuel 16:7

Today’s advent devotional is about Samuel choosing king David. We are going to talk with our preschoolers about hidden things today!

Slice some apples so that you can see the star inside, and point it out to your children. Share the apples together as you read your family devotional.

If you have any left over, let your preschoolers stamp star wrapping paper!

“Why should the eye be so lazy? Let us exercise the eye until it learns to see,” writes G.K. Chesterton. Let us exercise the eye until it sees through the fat of things, down to the eternal of things. Let us exercise the eye by walking with Christ.

There is the call for every Christian to answer his calling to be an ocular surgeon. Our seeing must cut through surfaces and down to souls.

– Ann Voskamp, The Greatest Gift

Today we are going to work on some social-emotional play with our preschoolers, and throw in some fine-motor skills as well. Since agriculture and wheat are talked about in the story of Ruth and Boaz, we are going to grow some crops. You can do this several ways. You can fill a sensory bin with potting soil and use that to “plant” your wheat and beans, or you can use play dough or clay to be your dirt. We happen to have some of our play dough left from a few days ago, so we will use that.

We found some wheat stalks in the floral supply section of the craft store and added some dried beans for planting. Pushing the beans into the play dough is great for building finger strength and fine motor skills. Provide some forks for “tilling”…they make nice lines in play dough. Of course, your little ones may find other adventures with the supplies you provide, and that is okay! Explain how farmers till the soil, dig a hole, plant a seed, and cover it up, but beyond that, let them work in their own way.

“It sure didn’t look like miracles were happening in the story of Naomi and Ruth, did it? No angels appeared stage left, no donkeys started talking, no fireballs fell from heaven. But did you see that? All the little things that happened – they happened to be little miracles. All that’s happening around you every day is happening to make miracles.

Every little thing is going to be okay, because God is working good through every little thing. There is never a night, never a darkness when gifts and miracles and joy aren’t coming – coming right to you.”

– Ann Voskamp, Unwrapping the Greatest Gift

Today’s Unwrapping the Greatest Gift lesson is one of my favorites. Gifts. Unexpected Gifts. Even as a grown woman I get excited over unexpected gifts. Especially when I have been in a season of sadness, disappointment, or confusion. Those are the times the unexpected gifts are the sweetest. I wonder if that is how Joseph felt so many years ago when he received the unexpected gift of his family reunion? My favorite part of this story is when Joseph shares with his family that what was meant for bad by men, was meant for good by God. LOVE that.

Of course, one of the most talked about parts of this story is the coat, that beautiful coat of colors that Joseph received from his father. As we considered how to help your young ones connect with today’s story, we thought it would be beautiful to offer them their own unexpected gift. A rainbow surprise. During nap time or other quiet time (haha, we have so many of those), tape a rainbow of crepe paper across a room or narrow hallway. When your young one discovers this unexpected gift of many colors, they will enjoy climbing and crawling their way back to you. Just like Joseph. After Joseph received his “rainbow” coat, God took him on an unexpected journey that led him right back to his family.