Jesse Tree Ornaments - last week of Advent

It was inevitable.  I knew with the business of the month and 2 birthdays thrown into the mix, that it was an ambitious project for me to complete all the ornaments.

However, it has not stopped us from our daily Advent activities.  We continue to read the Bible passage and deovational for the Jesse Tree activity even though we don't have the completed ornaments to hang on the tree.  The kids like looking at the incomplete ones and they offer suggestions on how I should finish it (color choices)!

So, without further wait, here are our final ornaments for the week. 

Jesse Tree Ornaments

Well, it came as no surprise to me, and it probably won't surprise you either - but today we hit our first day of an incomplete ornament! LOL!!

Here's this week's Jesse Tree Ornaments.

The fox/sheep ornament has been one I've been dreading because of the curves around the sheep! 

I do want to say though, that this Jesse Tree has been an amazing learning experience for all of us.  We are really enjoying the stories and the other daily Advent activities.

I do have to put another plug in for the book, Jotham's Journey!  WOW!  What a cliff hanger each day - the kids want me to keep reading but it is teaching us patience to wait until the next day.  Quintin confessed to me this morning, that after reading yesterday, he looked ahead to today's story!  If you want a great Advent story to read with your children, pick up a copy of Jotham's Journey for next Christmas.  It has a reading for each day of Advent - so you may not want to try to read it this year, since we are halfway through Advent.  But it has been a story that our family is loving and I know they will talk about it in the months to come!

2nd Week of Advent - Jesse Tree Ornaments

A Season of Advent

Advent is waiting. Waiting with anticipation for a coming King. 

December can be one of the most hurried and rushed months of the year.  With two of our three children's birthdays in December, we don't want it to feel rushed.  We want our children to look with anticipation towards December 25.  Not for presents, but for Christ. 

This post is sharing some of the things our family is doing this year, to create an atmosphere of anticipating Christ and celebrating Christmas, His Coming.

This year, for the first time, we are having a Jesse Tree.  The reference to "Jesse Tree" is found in the eleventh chapter of the book of Isaiah. 

1 Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him — a Spirit of wisdom and understanding, a Spirit of counsel and strength, a Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.

The Jesse Tree is an Advent adventure to experience the stories of the Old Testament that tell of Christ's coming.  We read and wait, as those in the OT waited for their Savior.

I wanted rustic ornaments and a rustic tree.  I set out Sunday afternoon, with my daughter and scavenged for limbs around our house and in the woods.  I'm quite pleased with what we created.

And our first week's ornaments.

I hope to get a post out later this week showing how I made the ornaments.  (I added the numbers on to the picture with photo editing software.)

Starting on the first day of Advent, we also began reading the story Jotham's Journey.  We've heard many good things about this book.  We've also heard there is some violence, so be sure to read ahead.

And beginning on December 1, we'll put our Advent Nativity together and also read the 24 chapter book, The Jesse Tree.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
There is a beautiful devotional at A Holy Experience.  I'm not reading this particular one with the kids, but it is one I plan to read after I do their devotion with them.  If you are interested in doing your own Jesse Tree, there are ornaments to print at the end of the free ebook.  You may need to enter your email address to sign up to receive the updated posts from A Holy Experience.  It is only when you receive the updates via email or a blog reader (google reader, etc) that you will see the link.  Directions are on the site.

Are you doing anything to celebrate the season of Advent?