24 Christmas Countdown Activities

When I was younger, my sister and I used to make a red and green paper chain to count down the days until Christmas.  So when I was pregnant with my first child, and I saw a Christmas house with 24 doors to count down the days in December until Christmas, I thought it would be a perfect thing to use with my kids to help them countdown the days until Christmas.

X-man’s first exploration of the Christmas advent house

I usually put a few cinnamon almonds or other small treat in with a folded card that describes a fun activity for the day.  My children squeal with delight in anticipation of December 1st and the beginning of the Christmas house fun.

When the Christmas house gets destroyed (notice I did not say “if”- I have three boys, it is inevitable), there are a number of other things we can use to countdown the days of December.  We could hang 24 little Christmas socks on a clothesline on a wall.  We could put envelopes on a bulletin board.  We could make a paper chain with the activities written on it.  I have an ornament that is a little green and red box with a lid.  I could put the activity card and tiny treats in it each day and hide it in a different spot on the tree and use that day after day.

Here are some ideas for Christmas Countdown Activities:

1.  Decorate the windows with Christmas clings or snowflakes

2.  Take out, set up, and play with the nativity set

Playing with the nativity set

3.  Help with Christmas cards– fill the envelope, stick address labels, stamps, and sticker seals on the envelopes and mail the cards

4.  Unwrap a (new or old) Christmas book to read  (we do this one a few times during the month)

5.  Have a candy cane hunt– eat one and hang the rest on the tree

The End Goal of the Candy Cane Hunt

6.  St. Nicholas Day (December 6th)- put chocolate coins in shoes or stockings, read The Legend of St. Nicholas, watch the Veggie Tales St. Nicholas

7.  Get and decorate the Christmas tree

8.  Make and decorate a Gingerbread House

Gingerbread cakes

9.  Do a Christmas craft, like: decorate pine cones with glitter to use as a centerpiece or as ornaments, make a wreath or candy cane ornament out of a pipe cleaner and beads, make thumbprint reindeers, or a red and green nature collage (after a red and green nature walk)

10.  Make Christmas gifts

11.  Write a letter to a missionary or a child in need (through Compassion or other group like that) or a Grandmother or other relative

12.  Donate a toy– take the kids to the store to select and purchase a toy to donate

13.  Have a Nutcracker Day– watch the ballet (I love- from my childhood- Mikhail Baryshnikov’s Nutcracker Ballet), read the book, crack and eat some nuts

14.  Christmas Cookie Baking Day (or other Christmas fun cooking)

Christmas Cookie Time

15. Drink Hot Cocoa with a Candy Cane and Watch a fun Christmas movie- There are many, such as The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, The Muppet Christmas Carol, Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer, or one of the ones on Netflix streaming: Curious George’s A Very Monkey Christmas, Winnie the Pooh A Very Merry Pooh Year, and the myriad Micky Mouse Christmas movies

16.  Go Ice Skating (and if I lived in the snow, having a snowball fight and making a snowman would definitely be on my list, but alas, I do not)

17.  Christmas concert (or service of some kind; this year our church is putting on a Christmas Concert and my husband is drumming in it, so we are excited to attend)- really, any event (like our annual family Christmas party) that is on the calendar anyway is used as a countdown activity

18.  Act out the story of the very first Christmas with costumes (practice for a show to be given on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning)

Acting out the Christmas Story

19.  Listen to Focus on the Family Radio Theater’s presentation of A Christmas Carol

20.  Take a drive to look at Christmas lights– we have several neighborhoods in our area that go crazy with their decorations, and we enjoy taking an evening drive to take a look

A Holiday Lights Drive

21.  Christmas coloring book or sticker book

22.  Christmas wrapping party– we turn on Christmas music, give the kids (who are old enough) wrapping paper, tape, scissors and areas that are blocked off from view from the others, and do our wrapping

23.  Put together a Christmas Puzzle

24.  Community Christmas activities- there is a museum in our area that has a fun Victorian Christmas house display for Christmas, a local garden hosts a holiday open house, there are Christmas Tree lightings, parades, horse drawn carriages, and other fun community events.

When we lived in the South Bay, a church set up Bethlehem on their grounds and it was an amazing production (I miss that!) and there were fun holiday displays in several parks in the area.

The San Francisco Zoo does a display of lights and has holiday festivities every December.

It is important when I plan out our countdown activities that I keep things simple and realistic.  There is a lot to do in December and I need to not burden myself with unrealistic expectations.  So, being non-crafty, I don’t plan to do too many crafts each December (though I do try to make sure that what do is beautiful and so we can use it year after year).  I also don’t try to hit too many community events in a single December.  One or two is plenty.  I always try to use whatever it is we’ll be doing anyway.  If I need to make Christmas cookies or gingerbread cakes or fudge for gifts or a party, that goes on the list.  That way, I can make things special for the kids and I keep things simple for me.

In the end, my goal with Christmas Countdown activities is joyful, meaningful family fun to build memories and point to how special that very first Christmas Gift really was.  It changes how we live.  It is so much more than we deserve.  It gives us abundant life and joy.

Merry Christmas, Everybody!

A Mom’s Holiday Survival Guide

Smiling through the Season

The holiday season has arrived.  I don’t know about you, but my calendar is filling up fast and my To Do list is growing inches by the minute.

I find myself pulled in two directions.  On the one hand, I want to simplify my life and holiday practices so that I might truly savor the Christmas season.  But on the other hand, I also really enjoy the the decorations, the lights, the music and the traditions that help make this time of year so magical.

But if I let myself get frazzled and worried, weighed down by so many expectations of myself, and get busy and stressed, my kids won’t remember magical Christmases.  They will remember mom’s grumpiness and quick temper.  That’s not what I want for my kids or for myself.  So, there are a few things I do to help me smile through the holiday season.

Joyful Smiles

1.  Lower My Expectations: I am really my own worst enemy.  I demand perfection out of myself.  I get brilliant ideas and make elaborate plans for cute holiday crafts or perfectly themed holiday meals or gorgeous holiday decorations or really fun holiday events.  Then when I inevitably fail to carry out all of my plans, I feel terribly guilty for my laziness or lack of skill.

It’s not that plans and ideas of cute crafts, meals, decorations or events are a bad thing.  But I need to keep my expectations reasonable and remember that doing a craft a day is not as important to my kids as smiling at them every day with love.  (And smiles are contagious!  When I smile at them, they smile back and we all have a better day!)

2.  Work Ahead:  There are a number of things I only do in December.  I am adament about saving Christmas things- the music, the movies, the books, the decorating December.  I really enjoy wrapping presents while drinking eggnog listening to Christmas music next to the lit up tree.  It’s a December tradition for me.  So I don’t do certain things ahead of time.  But whatever I can get done ahead of time will help me during that busy December month that is full of company, cleaning, cooking, wrapping, and advent activities.

A few things I like to do early include gathering and writing out Christmas gift lists, ordering presents online, my Christmas cards and letter, and planning my advent or Christmas countdown activities.

Working Ahead: Freezer Cooking

3.  Have a Freezer Cook Day:  Speaking of working ahead, I like to pick a day at the end of November- often Black Friday, since I don’t ever shop on that day and it is a day my husband is home- to have a “Cook Day,” where I make and freeze meals for the month of December.  Really, any month where I get my act together to do this is wonderful.  But it is especially helpful in December when there is usually a lot going on.

So I sit down the weekend before the planned Cook Day to plan out my menu for the following month.  I make out a grocery list and then make out a task list for the Cook Day that groups like tasks together.  I usually start with cooking beans and chopping vegetables.  Then I cook the meat.  Then I assemble the meals in gallon ziploc bags and label them and stick them in the freezer.  My daughter who loves to cook usually helps me out and I get everyone (except the 2 year old) involved in the burrito making assembly line.  So parts of it are fun and in the end, there is great satisfaction when I see a very full freezer and I think of how little effort making dinner will be for the next several weeks.

I have a beautiful and very enthusiastic Assistant Chef

4.  Whistle While You Work:  Mary Poppins said, “In every job that must be done there is an element of fun.  You find the fun and -SNAP!- the job’s a game!”

I really wish I could snap my fingers and have the toys pick themselves up.  That would be a neat superpower.  However, while I can’t do that, I can find a way to make my tasks fun.  At Christmas time it is easy to add a festive and fun atmosphere to any chore or task by playing Christmas songs or drinking peppermint hot cocoa, listening to a radio theater version of A Christmas Carol and turning on the Christmas tree lights.  My sister and I play the alphabet Christmas Carol game while we work in the kitchen together.  It brings back sweet memories, since we did this when we were children too.

With my kids, I try to make games out of our chores by racing the clock or pulling jobs (and rewards!) out of a jar.  Or I’ll tell stories and send them on dangerous missions to deliver presents to good little children around the house.  If they are thinking about the ticking clock or slaying dragons, they are not thinking about how unenjoyable work is.

5.  Spend Time with Jesus Every Day:  In the end, the only way to have true joy in any season is through Jesus Christ.  He can enable you to give thanks in all circumstances.  He can give you the power to be content when you have much or little, whether your calendar is full or empty.

It is when we abide in Him and His words abide in us that true joy leaps out of our hearts and finds its way to our faces.  It is therefore vital to carve out some time every day, whether that is early in the morning, late at night, during nap time or a few minutes while we are in the car to lift our hearts to the Lord in prayer and read a few verses of His Holy Word.  Then we will have the internal fortitude to face each day’s highlights and struggles, both the quiet and busy moments, with grace, peace, and joy.

When you sing the old familiar Christmas carols this season, really ponder the words.  My favorite Christmas carol is Hark the Herald Angels Sing.  What rich truths are contained in these lines.  What joy and awe and wonder I feel when I pause to think about how the coming of the newborn King means that God and sinners have been reconciled!  Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel.  Mild he lays his glory by, born that man no more may die.

So let us this season truly consider what Christmas is all about: the Son of God giving up heaven to touch earth with His grace, exchanging glory for humility, and sacrificing His own life out of love for us.  Hallelujah, What a Savior!

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In him was life, and the life was the light of men. …And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.  John 1:1-4, 14

May you all have a very joyful holiday season!

Nature Study: Birds

We’ve been focusing on birds lately in our nature studies.  It has been fun to really go in depth and learn about the forms, habits, and details about these awesome creatures.

We’ve learned how birds fly and how they steer.  We’ve learned why they preen and how they keep warm.  We’ve learned about why and how they migrate and how people began to discover that birds do migrate year after year.  We’ve colored a bird map and learned the parts of the bird so that we can discuss birds’ various field marks and identify birds we find.  We’ve learned about the different kinds of nests different birds will make.

We learned about a type of nest made by the swiftlet entirely out of “bird spit” that people in China risk themselves to harvest and serve in costly soup.  This little bit of trivia fascinated my son and completely repulsed my daughter.  When discussing Adherent Nests (of which this nest is an example), she will not refer to this information that she does know, because it is so gross.

We learned that the Trumpeter Swan is the heaviest flying bird in North America.  We learned that Emporer Penguins nest their eggs on the daddy’s feet (and Princess K has mentioned specifically that she is glad that humans do not use this type of prenatal development).

We took walks and observed many birds.  We’ve seen a murder of social crows and an industrious Nutall’s Woodpecker.  We saw wild turkeys in Grandma’s yard and brightly plumed parrots and peacocks at the zoo.

We’ve made friends with a little California Towhee family that we think lives in our front yard.  It was X-man who noticed that it was orange under the tail that led to its identification.  Princess K and X-man, after reading about the sleeping habits of birds (they were very surprised that many birds do not sleep in their nests except when they are caring for their eggs) examined our yard and found a few suitable bushes that these birds might sleep in and they visit our bird feeder at least twice daily.

In our backyard, we saw two lovely black and white birds and we think they are Northern Mockingbirds.  There is such a thrill in identifying new birds that we’ve never seen before.

As we’ve learned more about these creatures, we’ve all discovered new delight in our nature walks and observations.

Here’s some activities we did and some resources we used throughout our study of birds:

Waterproofing a feather: an activity we did with our Apologia textbook (It only sort of worked, but it was fun regardless)

Books We Read:

1.  Apologia’s Exploring Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day–  We have really enjoyed this book.  It is full of interesting information written conversationally.  It has many easy places to stop so it lends itself to the short lessons we prefer in our home.

2.  Apologia’s Exploring Creation with Zoology 1 Notebooking Journal– This is a great resource.  There are coloring pages of birds, places for my children to draw pictures of what they are learning and write a brief explanation of their drawings, and a variety of vocabulary and review activities to complete.  My daughter loves the colorful lapbooks that are provided at the end of each chapter.  She’s made a peacock feather pocket, a bird facts flap book, a migration wheel, and a nest pop-up book.  Pairing drawing with narration in notebooking activities has really proven itself to be very valuable in remembering what they learned.

3.  Burgess Bird Book– We love this book!  What we learn in our science book, this book will describe in narrative style.  The birds described in this book have become friends.  One main character is Jenny Wren.  Today, we were at the library reading a book we happened to see about birds (called Our Yard is Full of Birds by Anne Rockwell) and we found a picture of the House Wren.  When I told my daughter this was Jenny Wren, she was so excited to see her!  We have all retained more of the knowledge we are gaining from the Apologia textbook because of reading this delightful storybook.

I referenced this Study Guide from time to time to find pictures of the birds I was reading about.  I also used the bird notebook pages (from notebookingpages.com) for the kids to color and narrate back what they learned about each bird.

4.  Mr. Popper’s Penguins– The kids absolutely loved this story.  It is fun, funny, outrageous, endearing and absolutely enjoyable.  After we finished reading it, we declared a penguin day and read some informational books about penguins and made a penguin lapbook about all that we learned.  We used the Free Penguin Lapbook from Lapbook Lessons.

I’m dressed appropriately for Penguin Day- when we read about penguins, watched Happy Feet, and made a lapbook about penguins

 

5.  Trumpet of the Swan– We are currently finishing up this book and it is also very amusing.  This is currently my children’s favorite thing we do for school.  Even my four year old loves it.  In fact, he loves it so much that he requested a stuffed swan when we were making out their Christmas lists.  And he put it on the top of his list.  He wanted it more than any other toy he requested.

(Don’t tell him, but he is in fact getting a stuffed swan in his stocking for Christmas.  My sister told me I should find a way to tie a trumpet around its neck, which would be very awesome if I could figure out how to do that.)

6.  The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon– We really enjoyed this story about John James Audubon and how he discovered that the same birds came back to the same place year after year.

7.  Tacky the Penguin– This is a funny story about a penguin who is a little odd.  We read this and others in this series, just for fun.  My preschoolers especially enjoyed these picture books.

8.  Story about Ping– We had read about Cormorants in our textbook and it had referenced this picture book specifically.  http://notebookingpages.com/So we had to go back and read this story again, looking for the fish catching birds in the tale.  This is a great story with engaging illustrations and we always enjoy reading it.

9.  Make Way for Ducklings– Another picture book my preschoolers liked.  Sweet tale, sweet illustrations.

10.  Sylvie–  My daughter really liked this picture book about a flamingo who changed her colors by eating a variety of amusing objects.  It was a funny way of reinforcing the idea that many birds get their colors from what they eat.

*Mac’s Field Guide to Northern California Park and Garden Birds– not a book, but a good resource we’ve used to identify a few birds we’ve seen.

**Bird Bingo Game– This is not something we’ve used, but it is on my Christmas list!  We are a game family and it looks like fun.

Activities We Did or Thought About Doing or Plan To Do: 

1.  Bird Feeder Experiment:  We got a bird feeder with two sections.  We put bird seed in one side and suet in the other side.  We watched to see if the birds who visited our yard prefered the seed or suet.  This experiment didn’t work out exactly as planned.  First of all, only 2 or 3  birds total found our bird feeder- the California Towhees that live near our front yard.  They visited several times a day, in the morning and in the late afternoon or early evening.  They liked both the seeds and the suet- and ate us out of both within a few weeks.

California Towhee

 

2.  Feather Hunt:  We went for a walk in a nearby park that has a path around a lake.  There are many ducks and geese that live there, so we decided to go there to find some feathers to study.  It was successful!  We found several feathers and while we were at it, we also got to hear a woodpecker tapping and see a titmouse (identified by its crest and location) perched high in a tree.

3.  Field Trip to California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco:  This museum had a homeschool day, so my husband took a day off work and we all went to the museum.  We had a wonderful time.  We saw many things, and of course, not all of them had to do with birds.  But we did see brilliantly colored parrots, owl skulls, and penguins at feeding time.

Penguin Feeding Time

 

Bird Skulls

 

4.  Build a Birdhouse: We were going to do this, but so far we haven’t had a free moment and with the holidays approaching, I don’t think we will.  Someday, I think it would be a good handicraft/science project for X-man and his dad to do together.

5.  Owl Pellet Dissection: Owl “Puke” Pellets are in the mail so that we can dissect these and discover what an owl eats.  I’m excited for the kids (and their dad) to do this and then tell me all about it.  🙂

6.  Candling: This activity is listed in our Apologia textbook and I think we’ll give it a try.  And there are a few videos of candling and hatching birds we can watch:

a)  Candling Video

b)  Robin egg hatching

c)  Robins: 4 eggs, 4 weeks

d)  Baby chick hatching

*My Nature Study: Birds Pinterest page has a bunch of pins of various nests and fun bird videos

 

Teaching Among Tornadoes: The Preschool Hour

When people find out that I am a homeschooling mother of four children, they usually say, “Wow!  You are a busy mom!”

My grinning response… every time?  “Yes, I am!”

There is always a lot going on at my house.  A lot of running, a lot of noise.  A lot of mess, a lot of toys.  (It rhymes AND it’s true.)  My two younger children, a two-year-old tornado and a four-year-old hurricane, create a great deal of chaos, making doing any school whatsoever quite a challenge.

Last year, I figured out some great srategies for Teaching Among Tornadoes and explored 10 different “Tricks,” including Watercoloring, Stamping, New Toy, School Supplies, Leap Frog Videos, Pipe Cleaner Sculptures, Seashells, Sticky Sticks, Magnets, and Dry Erase Cards.

And wouldn’t you know it, what worked so well last year just hasn’t been working so well this year.  They don’t want to be shuffled off to the other table for an activity.  They want to be with Mommy and the big, cool kids.  Even when I was faithfully spending “Preschool Time” with them first thing in the morning, it just wasn’t enough.

One morning, my nerves ended up completely fraying because Shortstop spent at least an hour crying nonstop while I was trying to accomplish school with the older kids.  He asked for a green marker, I gave it to him and he cried for a blue marker.  When I gave him that, he cried for crayons.  No matter what I gave him to play with, it wasn’t what he wanted.

I realized after (because I can’t think straight during a lengthy crying episode) that what he really wanted was my attention.  My attention and time.  And I thought, What am I doing?  They will only be this young for a short season.  We obviously need to do this differently.

So I scrapped last year’s schedule  and came up with a new plan.  Which was ok, because I actually love, love, love coming up with new plans!  (I explained how my new plan works in my post, A Day in the Life.)

The Preschool Hour, a midmorning slot in my routine,  was my answer to the (literal) cry of my baby.  During this hour, we do fun things all together.

During the first half, we either do an art project of some sort or a board game or a puzzle.  Sometimes it fits in with our phonogram from our phonics lesson earlier, like the day we played The Sneaky Snacky Squirrel game when we focused on the IR phonogram.  Sometimes it happens to correspond to our literature selection, like the day we painted and Princess K decided to paint a scene from Charlotte’s Web.

Other ideas for this time include:  fine motor skill activities such as playdough, sorting buttons or pompoms, beading, stickers; arts and crafts activities such as stamping, painting, weaving, coloring, drawing; playing with building toys such as blocks, legos, or the train set; mathematical or logical activities like puzzles or patterning with legos or pompoms or stickers or paint or stamps;and dramatic play activities such as acting out a story we read or creating puppets and a puppet show or playing store or restaurant.

During the second half of our Preschool Hour, we do some sort of movement or gross motor activity.  We might dance to the Kids in Motion CD, play Just Dance Kids on the Wii, follow along with Billy Blanks in Tae Bo Kicks (for kids) on YouTube, or jump on our trampoline.  I have (vague) plans to set up an obstacle course one day or run some relay races.  We might ride our bikes or scooters around the block or lead each other in exercises.

A couple of times a week, we take the whole hour and go on a nature walk or on an outing to the park or to the Children’s Discovery Museum that is nearby our home.

This preschool hour has become an important part of our day.  It is good for us all to play together.  And the creativity, fun, and physical activity is healthy and educational for my preschoolers and elementary kids alike.

 

6 Ways to Cultivate Thankfulness

The leaves are changing color and falling off the trees.  The days are growing colder and shorter.  I’ve pulled out my sweaters from a box on the highest shelf in my closet and hung them on the rod instead.  A beautiful, joyful, cozy holiday is approaching and I don’t mean the one that all the stores are decorated for.  Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  With football and pumpkin pie, turkey and feasting with friends and family, the time has come to begin giving thanks.

I have noticed in my children lately a distinct lack of thankfulness.  There is much whining instead.  And to me, there is very little that is more fatiguing than listening to complaining and grumbling.  Lately, whenever I stop their play to come to school, chores, projects, or to get ready to go on some outing or another, I am met with sullen countenances, whining tones, and general grouchiness.

It isn’t like I don’t understand.  When I am reading an article I found on Facebook, or when I’m in the middle of my Shutterfly project, or when I’m trying to get something done, and some thing or child interrupts me, I’m a bit snappy too.

So we all need to work on cultivating thankfulness in our hearts.  For contentment counteracts complaint.

If we are content with what we have, we will not grumble for more.  The act of giving thanks banishes fits of sullen tempers.

We are very thankful for RAIN!!!

In  I Thessalonians 5:16-18 , Paul tells us to “Rejoice always,  pray without ceasing,  give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”   This is a challenging passage.  Rejoice always?  Give thanks in all circumstances?  What about when I am interrupted from doing important things?  Or my husband is out of work?  Or we can’t make the rent?  Or my child is in the hospital?  

What about in the day to day frustrations of having your toddler draw on the wall again?  Or dealing with sick children?  Or working hard not to scream when your clumsy kid accidently breaks a precious heirloom?

The key to rejoicing always and giving thanks in all circumstances is found between the two:  Pray without ceasing.  If you are in constant communion with God, He will give you the strength, wisdom, and perspective to give thanks in all cicumstances.  To rejoice, even in the midst of trials and challenges.

So this month, we all need work on cultivating thankfulness.  Here’s what we’re doing to do that:

1.  Prayer:  Obviously, as previously stated, the only way to have thankfulness is to pray and ask God.  When one of my children approaches me with whining, I will stop the conversation and share I Thessalonians 5:16-18 and then pray out loud, for the Lord to give us both a heart of thankfulness and contentment.  The secret to being content is that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.  (Philippians 4:11-13)

2.  A Habit of Counting Your Blessings:  Next I require the whining child to tell me something that he or she is thankful for with a happy heart.  And that happy heart needs to show up on the face!  I am working to train a habit in all of our minds to think of a blessing when we are tempted to complain.  This is an important switch of perspective and focus that requires some mental effort and therefore takes the mind off of the current situation.  Often, we use a bit of humor to help us out.  How thankful I am for humor that can help diffuse tense and difficult moments.

A Happy Heart & Countenance

3.  A Thankfulness Tree: This month, we are building a Thankfulness Tree on the wall next to our dining table.  My husband cut out a trunk and branches from an old cardboard box and we taped it to the wall.  He also cut out paper leaves in green, yellow, orange, and red.  At dinner, we go around the table and share what we are thankful for that day.  I write these on the leaves and we tape them on our tree.  It is encouraging and fun to do this together.  And it is a perfect decoration for our wall in this month of Thanksgiving!

4.  Play Thankful Games:  For the last few years, as soon as our oldest were old enough to participate, we have played the Thankfulness alphabet game with our children in November.  At dinner time, we go around the table and give a thing we are thankful for in alphabetical order.  We have to say everyone else’s previous items too!  So this activity trains the mind in remembering and our hearts in thankfulness.

5.  Singing:  Ephesians 5:18b-20 says to “be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  As we sing songs in with grateful and worshipful hearts, our spirits are lifted and there is no room for complaining in ou hearts.  Our hymn this month is I Will Enter His Gates With Thanksgiving.  We sing it every morning and it is a very cheerful song to start the day with!  In the evenings, my husband leads them in songs such as, Give Thanks with a Thankful Heart.  We also review hymns we’ve learned such as Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing and It is Well With My Soul.  Another hymn I want us to learn is Come Ye Thankful People Come.

6.  Notice Thankfulness:  I will be encouraging all of us to notice when someone is thankful, either in our family, our circle of friends, or in the books we read or things we watch.  If we spot a great example of thankfulness, we can discuss it and uphold it as worthy of emulation.  There are several folk and fairy tales that promote thankfulness and contentment, such as Androcles and the Lion, The Fisherman and His Wife, The Elves and the Shoemaker, and Snow White and Rose Red.  I don’t want to do much preaching or “moralizing,” but I do want to notice good (and bad) examples of gratitude so that we might have some good discussions about the value of the virtue and the consequences of lacking it.

Very thankful for his Blankie

That is what we are doing to cultivate thankful, grateful hearts, which is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus.  Is there anything special you do to cultivate thankfulness in your heart or family?