Merry Christmas!!!

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (7) Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this." -Isaiah 9:6-7

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas! May God bless you and your family as you celebrate Christ's birth!

Born in a Manger Craft

We've been focusing a lot on teaching Bekah the true meaning of Christmas. That Jesus Christ came to earth as a baby to save us.
I found this great craft at Christian preschool printables.
First, we colored the baby Jesus.

Then, Bekah glued the sandpaper pieces to the manger. This is to show how rough the hay was.

Then, we put the baby Jesus in the hay and put a piece of felt over him.

This went along with the memory verse:
"She wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger." Luke 2:7

Muffin Tin Monday - Merry Christmas!

We missed muffin tin Monday last week, so we were excited to get back to it today. Today's theme was Christmas. In Bekah's muffin tin, she had:
mini-hot dogs, ketchup, snowflake ritz crackers, grape tomatoes, cheese stars, a Christmas cookie, and yogurt with Christmas sprinkles.

Needless to say, I had to take out the cookie before giving it to her. If I hadn't, she would have eaten the cookie and said, "I'm full!" Hope you're all having a wonderful Christmas season!
Head on over to Muffin Tin Mom to see what others are having.

Fun Christmas Activities

We've had a lot of fun and excitement in our house lately. First of all, Bekah is now fully potty trained. (hallelujah!) She all the sudden decided she does not like diapers and would not wear them. I didn't push it and she's been dry ever since. I love it!

Bekah has also been enjoying a lot of different Christmas activities lately.


We made a gingerbread house. This was so fun to do together! I got this kit at Sam's Club and it was suprisingly easy to put together.


This was a fun little game we played that I had seen over at The Activity Mom. It was a roll and color reindeer. Bekah LOVED this! She would roll the dice and color in the number that she rolled.


We also made a wreath out of paper plate (with the center cut out) and gift bows. Let me just say, they don't make bows like they used to! My husband tells me I sound like an old lady, but it's true! They were not sticky at all! We actually had to tape them on because they kept falling apart. However, Bekah had so much fun with this project that she also made a tree and a gift out of bows.




This tree matching game was a lot of fun for her as well. We got this printable from 1+1+1=1. She matches up the "baby" trees with the "mommy" trees.

Hope you're all having a very blessed Christmas season!

Swirl Christmas Ornaments

This week we've been really into making ornaments. This ornament craft turned out really nice!
We used clear glass ornaments that I had gotten at the dollar store last year.


After taking off the metal ring at the top, we squirted different colors of paint inside the glass globe.


Then, Bekah shook the ornament to swirl the colors together.


The only thing I would have done differently would be to use lighter colors. I think it would look even prettier!

Muffin Tin Monday - Christmas Breakfast

I must say, this was such a fun muffin tin meal to plan for. I had seen this idea for pancakes over at Ramblings of a Crazy Woman. I thought it would be a great way to do breakfast this morning.

I made three pancakes (small, medium, and large) and gave Bekah all the parts to make her snowman.



We used blueberries for the eyes, blackberries for the hat, pretzel sticks for the arms, chocolate chips for the mouth, mini m&m's for the buttons, and mini marshmallows as some snowballs.


She had to say "Let it snow!" for me to put the whipped cream on the pancakes and make them into a snowman.


Then she went to town decorating him. She really just wanted to dive into the chocolate chips, so mommy had to "help" her with decorating the snowman. He turned out cute, don't you think?


She loved this and I really enjoyed making a "Christmas morning" breakfast for her. We usually eat over at my sisters house on Christmas morning, so this was a special treat for us!

To see what others have done for their Christmas morning Muffin Tin Monday, go over to Muffin Tin Mom.

Candy cane

Bekah went through this season where she didn't want to do any crafts at all. Now, however, she wakes up in the morning and asks what we're going to make. Bekah usually goes to her Grandma and Bampah's (Grandpa in Bekah language) house on Thursday so I can do my shopping (don't I have wonderful in laws!), but I still wanted to have something for her to make. So, I remembered this candy cane craft I had seen on No Time For Flashcards. It was quick and easy to pull together.
All you need is red construction paper, cotton balls, glue, and scissors.


Simply, draw a candy cane on a piece of red construction paper. I used the large construction paper and Bekah thought it was hilarious that our candy cane was so huge!

Drizzle glue on every other space of the candy cane. Have your little one put cotton balls on the glue.

Isn't my little breakfast faced, bedhead so cute!

Let it dry and cut out the candy cane.

stART - Bear Snores On

This week we got the book Bear Snores On from the library. This is such a cute book!

It worked out perfectly for us because in the book the animals make stew and Bekah has been into making her own pretend stew for us.

In the story, it's a speck of pepper from the stew the animals are making that wakes up Bear. Bekah and I read the story together and then worked on a craft. For this craft, we used a print out of a big stew pot. I got this copy from a Mailbox magazine, but you can probably find a clip art of a stew pot.

Bekah colored the stew pot (she's really into the color black for some reason!


We then used a hole puncher to punch out circles from black paper for the pepper flakes.


After cutting out the colored pot, we glued it on a sheet of construction paper and drizzled glue above the pot.
Bekah sprinkled the "pepper flakes" on the glue.


Here's our finished stew.

To see what others have done for their stART project, visit A Mommy's Adventures.

Oh, Christmas Tree, Oh, Christmas Tree....

Bekah and I made these cute heart Christmas trees to start off our Holiday season. Again, I'm not sure where this idea came from. If you know, please notify me so I can give them the credit. Thanks!


We used foam sheets, but you could also use construction paper. I cut out 3 hearts (small, medium, and large.) I used this oppertunity to talk to her about size order. Next I gave them to her and helped her glue them together to form a Christmas tree.




She then went to town putting on the ornaments (sequins).


She had so much fun doing this that she made two more. Yes, that is a black and a yellow tree....why not, right?!

Santa Advent Calendar

Here's an adorable Santa advent calendar. This is simple to do with young children and doesn't require much prep work at all.
You fill in Santa's beard one day at a time with cotton balls. By Christmas Eve, Santa will have a full beard!

All you need is the printable Santa page from here, cotton balls (I cut mine in half to fit better), and some glue.

Here's Bekah putting on her first cotton ball. Happy December!