25 Days of Christmas Days 13 and 14

I've never taken the time to blog about our 25 Day celebration in such detail. I'm having so much fun sharing this with all of you!

Yesterday, we started a really cute ornament craft. Here's the LINK to the directions for this little sled ornament made with craft sticks. This is definitely a craft that requires a parent's help. I cut the pieces as necessary. The kids painted them using Christmas colors, and then the paint had to dry. Because we did these late in the day and had somewhere to be in the evening, this turned into a two day project. I glued mine together last night to see if basic Elmer's glue would hold the sled together. It worked perfectly. When the kids glued their sleds together, it required much assistance. I suggest doing one yourself. It's simple to do, but it will help you decide the best sequence for gluing the pieces together. The parent really needs to help hold the pieces together. In the end, I hot glued the string to the sleds.  Anyway...here's the photo showing how they turned out. I love them! From left to right, you can see Ava's, Lukas', and then mine. The paint is shimmery, but I'm not sure you can really tell in the photo.

Today's special activity was supposed to be another craft, but I needed to get some supplies (for the first time in four+ years of homeschooling, we are out of glue sticks and almost out of regular glue too!!!). We watched one of our favorite Christmas specials instead, Frosty the Snowman. I used to watch it with my Grandpa when I was a little girl, and I continued to watch it even as an adult before having kids. This cartoon and Rudolph are my favorite Christmas cartoons. I love passing fun traditions like this onto my kids. They look forward to watching Frosty each Christmas season just as much as I do (I mean did, right?)!

Last night during our crafting time, I talked to the kids about why we do this each year and how Jesus is the focus of this season. Making family memories is important, but there is a method to my madness. Planning all these activities for our family requires us to stay home more often, which, in turn, allows us more time to focus on Jesus during this season. Trust me, the McEvoys are busy this time of year, so we must be purposeful about our time with the Lord and our time with each other.

Of course, we make the Lord the focus of our lives all year round, but, during some seasons of the year, it is necessary to work harder because there are more outside pressures. I read a blog post recently that said having time to blog or surf the net means that you have plenty of time to spend with the Lord. The same could be said about the Christmas season. If you have time to do all those commercialized things(some which even push their way into the church), then you have time for the Lord. Keep your priorities straight and spend time with the Lord and your family this month and all throughout the year!