Fruitbearers

Every year after Thanksgiving, my kids are excited about preparing their gift for Jesus. Christmas is the time when we celebrate our Savior’s birth. We want to give Him gifts.  First, each kid picks a  wrapper for his or her own box. After the (empty) boxes are wrapped, I cut a slit (about 2-3 inches long) on top of each box. Then the fun begins. The kids are all trying to please Jesus by being kind, helpful, thoughtful, encouraging, generous, humble, polite, self-controlled, patient, etc. Each time my husband or I catches one of the kids doing what pleases Jesus, we write down what he/she did on a little piece of paper and then put it in his/her box. On Christmas Day, after my husband reads the Christmas story from the Bible, we pray and then the kids give Jesus their gifts. Each one opens up his/her box and we take turns reading each piece of paper. They all beam with the biggest smiles as they realize that Jesus has been honored and pleased by what they have done. They 

Last Wednesday, our homeschool group held a geography fair.  My kids and I did "Sweden."  My husband’s ancestors came from Sweden; therefore, we have a special interest in learning more about his heritage.  I personally love geography; I love to learn about different cultures, people, land, nature, places, historical aspects, arts & crafts, etc.  I had so much fun helping my kids research about Sweden.  We read several books about Sweden, watched videos about Sweden, searched the internet about Sweden, and baked Swedish butter cookies.  I also made a Dala horse (symbol of Sweden) out of felt, yarn, and laces.  My daughter liked it so much that she asked me to give it to her for a Christmas present . Have you ever heard of the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden?  Every winter they build a new hotel using ice from the Torne River.  Every summer the hotel melts away.  It is open for only 4 months from December to March.  Everything there… ( the walls, floors,