Jesse Tree

Click on the Christmas tree picture on the right hand side of the blog to find out what a Jesse Tree is if you have no idea what I'm talking about in this post!

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Alright ladies, here is the plan. I have assigned each person who expressed interest in this project an ornament to make. I wanted to get this out before Christmas so you can hit up all the after Christmas sales. I just saw boxes of six ornaments for a dollar the other day, so hurry up and shop and this shouldn't cost that much!!! You can start working on your ornaments anytime! The due date for getting your ornaments to me is February 28th 2008. That's the last day in February. I hope that gives everyone plenty of time. You can mail or give your ornaments to me anytime over the next two months. If you can, just get them done. Or if you just had a baby, take your time :) You will notice that we still need a few more people, but I'm not worried about it. If you want to double up and take another ornament just let me know (that means you'll get two Jesse Tree kits which will make a nice gift for someone). Send me an email (judah322@hotmail.com) by the end of December if you feel like you can't participate for any reason.

1. Light of creation - a globe or picture of the earth - Katy S.

2. The first sin - an apple and a snake wrapped around it - Heidi S.
3. Inside the ark - an ark with a rainbow - Wendy B.

4. The call to Abram - a camel and a tent - Millicent F.

5. Isaac and the Lamb - a lamb - Nikki D.

6. Jacob's ladder - a ladder - Holly C.

7. Joseph's coat of many colors - a colorful coat - Amy M.

8. Moses & the Ten commandments - a tablet with 10 numbers -Sarah S.

9. Canann, the Promised Land of Blessings - a cluster of grapes - Kristin F.

10. Ruth and Boaz - a sheaf of wheat - Diana B.

11. King David - a slingshot - Amy C.

12. Josiah Finds the Law - a scroll or Bible -Laurie B

13. Prophecy of Shoot from the Stump of Jesse - a stump with a green leaf - Judy C.

14. Prophecy of the Lion and the lamb resting together - a lion and a lamb - Jenn F.

15. Prophecy of the Prince of Peace - a dove and a crown - Jackie

16. Prophecy of a Gentle Shepherd - a lamb and a shepherd's staff - Heather R.

17. Prophecy of the Suffering Servant - a cross - Amy M.

18. Prophecy of the New Covenant - a heart with writing on it - Becki S.

(I must have lost this one Becki! Sorry, no picture!)

19. Prophey of Bethlehem - Bethlehem town silhouette with start - Candi L.

20. The Exile - a fiery furnace

21. The Return to the Land - a brick wall

22. The Star - a star - Judy C.

23. The Light of the World - a candle or light Jenn F.

24. Angels Proclaiming - an angel - Heather W.

25. The Birth of Jesus - Nativity scene or baby in a manger

Please remember that the pictures are just suggestions! You can do anything you want. You could just get a plain ornament and a sharpie or paint pen and draw a picture of your symbol on it. You could find a sticker with a lion and a lamb on it and stick it on a ball. Don't make it complicated! I would also suggest googling "Jesse tree, ornament" or "ornament ideas, Jesse Tree" and see what you can come up with. There are lots of ideas floating around out there! And remember we still need someone to sign up for 20, 21 & 25!! I don't have to know you for you to participate in this. Just sign up!!

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If your name has been assigned to an ornament, will you please leave a comment or send me an email to let me know that you saw this post and you know what to do! Thanks!!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Today we went to our friend's house for a Happy Birthday Jesus party! As we were getting in the car to go to the party Christian told me he was happy to finally see Jesus. He thought Jesus was going to be there. I mean, why not? It's His party! I love the heart of my little boy and I even love it that he felt disappointed when I told him that Jesus was still in Heaven watching over us, but that he would see the whole party!

It's a tradition for us to make a Christmas tree cake for Jesus' birthday. I've been doing this ever since I was a little girl. This is Christian's cake and I must say it looks a ton better than last years. I think I might even eat it this year. Last year there was way too much sneezing on it. When I started to put some of the red icing on it Christian freaked out because he thought I was ruining his cake with ketchup. Once we worked out that misunderstanding he took over the red icing himself.


Sticky hands after all the decorating fun.

Our friends the Shaulls!

Our whole gang minus Nate who was at an appointment but joined us later.

Nate was a little shy when he first arrive. All the wild kids playing were a little overwhelming for him, so he snuggled me for the first half an hour and I love every minute of it. There is something so endearing about Nathan. He is sweet, polite and has such a kind heart, yet there is a serious defiant streak to him. Isn't he just the cutest thing ever in his Christmas sweater?

And here we all are for the third year in a row. I love our Happy Birthday Jesus tradition and I hoping that it pleases our Lord too!

My gang!

Happy Birthday Jesus! We love you! And thanks Mandy for hosting it this year!

The first Christmas present & the first REAL snow - all in one day!

(Christian was so excited to give Abby her present that he never even asked if he could have one! Amazing! I thought for sure he would ask!)

Abby got to be the first one in our family to open a Christmas present today. This was out of necessity. We were unprepared in the clothing department for snow today. Christian has two pairs of snow pants, so Abby just borrowed a pair, but he did NOT have two pairs of boots.
These are the adorable Lands End rain boots that I got Abby for her birthday and forgot to give her. That's what happens when you shop early, you totally forget what you buy and end up buying something else.

Abby loves them because they're so girly. She already told me McKenna could have them when she outgrows them, and I will take her up on that offer. Not to worry, we put multiple layers of socks on her feet so they wouldn't get cold in just rain boots.

No wonder everyone thinks she's McKenna's sister and Christian's brother. There is some definite resemblance here.

Examining their footprints.

My sweet snow angels. Not really enough snow to do much with!

There goes Abby the daredevil. As soon as I told them to be careful on the slide because it would be really fast and slippery, Abby started running for it, wanting to be the first to go down. Christian was busy standing at the bottom telling her to "be careful up there."

"All is calm"

I feel like I haven't had much to blog about lately. Things have been pretty calm around here. The Marshall kids were away for the weekend and Ryan was traveling this weekend. We were invited to some Christmas parties, but I just didn't feel like going by myself or with my kids, so we just stayed home. We did a little Christmas shopping even though I keep saying I'm done. And here's the other stuff we've been doing:

I set up this new toy in McKenna's room. (It was Christian's when he was her age) And she loves it. Why didn't I just give it to her for Christmas? She wouldn't know the difference! She has spent hours playing with it, although I thought it would encourage her to crawl and that strategy hasn't worked yet.
She does love to stand in it. It's perfect for pulling up on. She loves it so much that I'm probably going to have to remove it from her room. I cannot get her to take naps with that thing in the room. She wrestles me the whole time, trying to jump out of my arms and throw herself on the floor so she can get to it. Same with diaper changing, she tries to throw herself off the changing table so she can get to her precious toy! I'm glad we have a hit on our hands and I hope this will get her moving a bit more.

Christian went missing for awhile on Sunday. I finally found him sucking his thumb, tucked in next to the Christmas tree, reading Christmas books. I love this season!

A little handsomeness showed up on Sunday!

What a cutie pie!

We started on some Christmas cookies and Christian discovered that he loves making peanut butter cookies and he loves eating them even more.

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So that's about it! Today we are expecting some snow and I am taking McKenna to the Otolaryngologist. It's going to be a 1 1/2 hour trip for us, so Abby is tagging along to keep McKenna company in the backseat. Without googling it, does anyone have any guesses as to what an Otolaryngologist is?

Another Tradition

This is a new tradition for us this year. My mom bought us this book entitled The Usborne Advent Nativity Book. We do this every night during our family time when we also do our Jesse Tree. The book comes with 24 nativity pieces that you pop out of the book and you add one piece to the nativity every day. Another fun way to count down to Christmas. Another way to keep our focus on Jesus and not presents!

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I just have to share this story because I want to remember this forever. This morning during Sunday School Christian's class was talking about Christmas and the teacher asked each of the kids what their family did for Christmas. When it was Christian's turn he said "snuggle." He was talking about our family time and how we snuggle on the couch every night and talk about our Jesse Tree, add to our nativity scene, sing songs and cut the advent chain. So sweet that our snuggle time is becoming an important part of what Christmas is for him!

Christmas Card Pictures

Today we TRIED to get a family picture for our Christmas card.

There was a little of this (yes, she's trying to bite me).
And a little of that! At least he's not covering his eyes like last year.

And I cut off a few heads.


And had a couple sweet moments.

And had a few outfit changes (this was dress #1).

And we ended up with a few cute shots. We got a decent family picture. I'm not loving it, but it will work. I guess I shouldn't expect perfection out of a three year old, a nine month old at nap time and a mommy juggling a baby and a timer on a camera! You'll have to wait to see the picture that made the cut on our Christmas card. Hopefully you'll get it before Christmas. At this point I'm still planning on writing a Christmas letter to go with it! We'll see!

Gingerbread House

Christian made his first gingerbread house with his Grandmom last Monday. Turned out pretty cute didn't it? They ran out of icing for the windows, so I guess we need to get a little more, unless Christian ends up eating it. He's been asking to eat it for days now :)
Love those little hands!