Amy's Wandering

Wandering through life one season at a time

Archives for November 2011

A Few of My Favorite Things

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This post contains affiliate links.

The Nester is having a fun linky party today for Favorite Things!

Since everything is $30 or less, I hope to find some great ideas to finish up my Christmas shopping!!

Here are a few of my favorite things:

Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Basil All Purpose Cleaner is a must-have in my house. The bottle of concentrate is only  around $7, which works out to be cheaper than dollar store cleaners. An extra-strong mixture will get a stain out of just about anything!

measuring bowls

I have a set of Measuring Bowls almost identical to these. I bought them at a home party years ago, thinking they would be a good way for my kids to learn fractions. I fell in LOVE with them and use them all the time. Each bowl has two different measurements and it makes measuring things like flour & sugar a breeze!

Nestle Cranberry Raisinets – cranberries + chocolate = a mouthful of deliciousness

Bath & Body Works Body Cream is so rich & thick

If you like all of the travel/foodie shows, then you will love Saveur . It is my all-time favorite magazine.

I did a review for Virginia’s Soaps & Scents a couple of years ago. My Oatmeal, Milk & Honey soap is long gone, but I still dream about it.

Very few of you probably live near a Central Market (and I am very sad for you), but if you do, you have to to try their Dutch Hot Chocolate Mix. It is in the bulk bins and is the best hot chocolate EVER!! It is a bit pricey though, so hide it from the kids . . . not that I would do that of course (shhhhh).

What are a few of your Favorite Things?

WFMW – Be an Angel

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I’m sure most of you have heard of Elf on the Shelf. It is adorable and looks like so much fun!

I’ve thought about joining in the fun, & even looked for an inexpensive elf when I was out shopping.

One thing kept holding me back though –> I don’t want to encourage my children to delight in naughty behavior. While all in good fun, it is just not compatible with Jesus as the center of our holiday.

I put my thinking cap on & came up with Be an Angel.

We already had the angel bear in the pic, but you could also use an angel ornament or print one out.

It will make a debut tomorrow morning in our December Advent Countdown Box.

The rules are simple: Secretly do something nice for a member of the family & leave the angel bear behind.

That person could then do the next nice thing & leave it, but I have a feeling that in our family there will be some sneaking around & snatching of the bear in a race to serve each other. Exciting is always better, right?  ; )

I plan on incorporating some of the silliness of Elf on the Shelf (like making snow angels in the sugar, or a cotton snowball fight), but hopefully our angel will be a little more well-behaved.

There are tons of angel ideas on Pinterest if you want to make your own.

Update: I am curious – is the phrase “Be an angel …” used in other parts of the country, or is it a Southern (or Texan!) thing? Example: Be an angel and hand me those chocolate cranberries before you rub yummy cake-scented lotion on my feet. : D  Chime in!

Run on over to We Are That Family for tons of great ideas!

Btw, I’ve had this idea brewing for a couple of months now, but just last night I cam across The Christmas Angel. I don’t know if it is the same idea, but you might check into it if you want to purchase a set. (not affiliated)

{Christmas Unit Studies}

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You can easily add some Unit Studies to your December Advent Countdown Box.

These vary from 1 day to 4 weeks in length:

~ Legend of the Candy Cane  short

~ O Christmas Tree  short

~ 12 Days of Christmas  short

~ Gingerbread Mini Unit  short

~ Cranberry Christmas  short

~ The Polar Express

~ The History of Christmas

~ Christmas Around the World

~ A Colonial Christmas in Williamsburg

~ A Christmas Carol   several to choose from

~ The Nutcracker  1 week

~ Christmas Around the World  2 weeks

~ The Names of Jesus   4 weeks

~ Amazing Grace  4 weeks

 ~ A Blessed Christmas: The Symbols of Christmas  4 weeks

 ~ Tommy de Paola  5 weeks

{December Advent Countdown Box}

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The December Advent Countdown Box was created to house all of the activities that I want to do leading up to Christmas.

We will be doing our box each morning this year. We tried it at night with Daddy last year, but missed too many evenings due to outside activities.

I’ve tried to make this as flexible as possible so that you can use it however it suits your family. Make it work for you!!

Choose as many as you want for your box:

~ Printable Christmas Countdowns

~ Daily Readings & Advent Chain

~ Names of Jesus

~ Christmas Jokes

~ Activities & Crafts   ~*Coming Soon*~

~ Unit Studies  

I will probably be adding ideas to our box throughout the month. You can see all of the links at any time in the tab at the top of this blog!

p.s. I got our box last year at Hobby Lobby.

Linked to Design Dazzle, The Homeschool Classroom

{Daily Readings}

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The Daily Readings for the December Advent Countdown Box will walk you through the story of Jesus’ birth.

We also make a paper chain out of red & green paper with one key verse per day glued inside. Each day, when the kids remove a chain and read the verse, they get a hint of what we will be reading about later.

If you would like to use the verses I chose for my chain, feel free to download them –> HERE <– They are in English Standard Version (ESV).

~Daily Readings~

Day  1 ~ Isaiah 7:14

Day  2 ~ John 1:1-14

Day  3 ~ Luke 1:5-7

Day  4 ~ Luke 1:8-13

Day  5 ~ Luke 1:14-17

Day  6 ~ Luke 1:18-20

Day  7 ~ Luke 1:21-25

Day  8 ~ Luke 1:26-29

Day  9 ~ Luke 1:30-33

Day 10 ~ Luke 1:34-38

Day 11 ~ Matthew 1:19-25

Day 12 ~ Luke 1:39-45

Day 13 ~ Luke 1:46-56

Day 14 ~ Luke 1:57-66

Day 15 ~ Luke 1:67-80

Day 16 ~ Luke 2:1-5

Day 17 ~ 2:6-7

Day 18 ~ Luke 2:8-12

Day 19 ~ Luke 2:13-15

Day 20 ~ Luke 2:16-18

Day 21 ~ Luke 2:19-20

Day 22 ~ Matthew 2:1-6

Day 23 ~ Matthew 2:7-9

Day 24 ~ Matthew 2:10-12

Day 25 ~ Isaiah 9:6

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