It's beginning to taste a lot like Christmas

Every year one of Matt's cousins whom I've never met sends us a huge basket of her homemade Christmas cookies.  Yes you read that right, she SENDS them to us.  Her yummy sweets come to us all wrapped up in individual cellophane baggies and packaged in a lovely red basket.  All sent to us from several states away.

Her goodies have been a HUGE blessing and encouragement to me over the years!  Especially so when I was a huge pregnant lady in 2007 and ended up delivering our dear Clive just 5 days after Christmas.   That year I wasn't so much into cookie baking as I was into waddling around.  It was so handy to have those homemade cookies to give out to neighbors and to wolf done myself in my last throes of pregnant gluttony.

This year though, Matt's cousin isn't feeling so hot.  She's been seriously ill for much of the fall and not even able to care for herself.  So I thought it would be thoughtful to send HER a big ole box of Christmas baked goods this year.  Great idea, right?  Yes!  But now I have to find time to do all the baking required to send out this festive cookie box.  THANKFULLY, I have a truly helpful 6 year old and a large freezer.  We've been baking up a batch here and a batch there and then thrown them in the freezer so it's not felt too high-stress.  Not yet anyway.

Here's my cookie baking list:

• Snowballs
• Double chocolate cookies
• Ginger molasses cookies
• Thumbprints (you must try this recipe, it adds cream cheese to the traditional batter and is simply scrumptious!)
• Sugar cookies (decorated by the kiddos of course)
• Cranberry orange cookies
• Fudge (peppermint, chocolate/cherry, peanut butter)
• Puppy chow (not your regular garden variety -- I have a recipe for a super yummy peanut butter/chocolate one)

I feel like I'm missing some obvious Christmas cookie in the above list . . . What cookies do you usually bake up for the holidays?

And the winners are . . .

Thanks to all of you who commented on my recent Christmas Card post!

And I'm happy to announce that the three fortunate winners of 25 free cards from Shutterfly are:

Suzanne Dobbertin
Kelly Glupker
Tracy Hall

My kids chose these names randomly out of a bowl.  Really high-tech, I know.  :)

(I'll message each of you on Facebook with your unique promo code to use at Shutterfly.com for 25 free cards.  Email me at aliciamhorn (at) gmail (dot) com if you'd rather I email the code to you.)

And remember if you're a blogger, you can still register yourself with Shutterfly to get 25 free cards.   Register here: http://goo.gl/DDw7Q

Happy card-making!

Christmas cards already?

I don't usually start thinking about Christmas cards until mid-November at the earliest.  But this year, Shutterfly is getting me started earlier than normal.  Last week they emailed me offering me FIFTY FREE CARDS if I blog about their holiday card selection.  That's a no-brainer for this cheapskate!  

And the coolest part of the promo is that I get to offer YOU some free cards too!  Three fortunate commenters to this post will be chosen at random to receive a promo code for 25 free cards of their choice from Shutterfly's expansive holiday card collection.

To prepare for this review I spent much time browsing and exploring Shutterfly's holiday card site.  And man was that fun!  Since I want to send out Christmas cards with a strong religious message I spent most of my time searching through the religious section. I wasn't too disappointed.  Shutterfly's religious card section has 68 choices and many include Bible verses.  I'm quite choosy when it comes to religious cards.  I want my card to have a clear, strong and Biblical message.  My favorites were as follows:

Seal of Christ.  Love the red and brown combined with black and white photos.  Sepia photos would look great with this design too.  Also like the cool square shape and impacting cross-centered verse chosen for this card.

Mighty God. This is my favorite one because of the verse choice and light blue paired with traditional red and green.  Now to snap a picture of all three kiddos smiling simultaneously.  That's going to take a miracle.

Open your hearts.  I really dig the personal call-to-action of this card's message.  And I LOVE the rainbow colorful-ness on the black background.

Rejoice.  Brown and light blue is such a classy color combo.  And the verse is a powerful statement for Christmas. 

There are MYRIADS of unusual and vibrant designs at the Shutterfly website.  I'm especially drawn to the colorful and non-traditional color choices of their cards.  There's an entire "Merry and Bright" category of cards that is just that!  Super fun rainbow colors are usually paired with black and white photos to make for playful and festive cards.

And they have some unique twists of format on the traditional Christmas letter.  If you're into writing Christmas letters or family highlights from your year, Shutterfly has some cool options like top 10 lists and story bubbles to position around photos.

I also appreciate how many different ways there are to navigate the options for photo cards at Shutterfly.  You can narrow your choices by clicking checkboxes for 1, 2, 3 or 4+ photos per card design.  You can narrow the choices further by color or collection style.  And if you're indecisive like I am, you can use their "compare cards" feature to select favorites and check them out side-by-side.

To enter my giveaway for 25 free cards from Shutterfly, just answer the following question in your comment: What do you do with the Christmas cards you receive post-holiday?

[I'll pick 3 winners at random by Friday, October 28.  And by the way, Shutterfly did NOT pay me for this review -- unless you count the 50 free cards that is.  These are all my own thoughts and opinions.]

Are you a blogger? Want a chance at 25 free cards this holiday season? Register here: http://goo.gl/DDw7Q

Christmas questions

Can it seriously be the end of January already?!

I've had this blog post drafted since shortly after Christmas . . . life has gotten in the way of blogging.  But that's probably as it should be.

I truly want to hear about the Christmas celebrations you all had in 2010.  I also want to give you all a summary of our holidays but don't want to bore you with lengthy details and stories.  But instead of asking the ubiquitous, "How was your Christmas?" I thought it'd be more fun to do a focused question/answer format for holiday reporting. 

Here's how it'll work.  I'll list 3 questions regarding your Christmas happenings.  In turn I'll post my answers below.  And then you can post your answers as your comment.  Sound good? 

1. What was your biggest surprise this Christmas?
I framed this question to fit my answer because I got a HUGE surprise this Christmas.  My sister lives overseas and flew home for Christmas without telling me. My mom was in on the deceit and arranged for my sis to arrive at my house late one night.  My deceptive mother hid my sis in the basement that night and then brought her up during breakfast the next morning.  I WAS SHOCKED.  I was beyond surprised.  My poor sleep-deprived brain couldn't comprehend what was happening.  I kept touching my sister to make sure I wasn't dreaming or seeing things.  (I'm not exaggerating, I really kept poking her that first day.)  It was FANTASTIC to have her here with us for all the fun Christmas festivities.

2. Which gift did you most enjoy giving?
I made a few freezer-paper stencil tees again this year.  My fave was the "Serenity Now" tee I painted for Matt.  We often cry out for serenity to descend upon the clamorous chaos!

3. What was your favorite Christmas 2010 memory?
That's a tough one to answer.  Had a blast sledding (and falling) with my sis and Chloe.  And we put on a brief Mary-and-Joseph re-enactment on Christmas Eve that was fun.  Doing the Jesse tree ornaments was certainly a rich tradition that I hope to continue each year.  But overall my favorite times were the ones when we were all just sitting around the table eating, laughing and enjoying one another.  In those moments I just sat back and relished the love and extreme comfort of family.  I'm so thankful to God for the blessings of family!

Now it's your turn to answer!  Looking forward to hearing about your Christmas memories!

Horn Homeschool: Week 16

Week 16 in our schooling was all about CHRISTMAS.  Surprise, surprise!

We did all the usual Christmas-y activities including cookie baking and frosting, decorating the house, trimming the tree, and making ornaments.

Another beneficial Christmas activity we partook of was caroling at a local nursing home.  I dressed up the kiddos in their Christmas best and we sang with a few other families from our homeschool group.  Then we gave out homemade ornaments to the residents.  Let me tell you, those old folks LOVE seeing little kiddos!  Their faces beamed with joy and their pains were momentarily relieved.  What a blessing to be able to spread some joy and remind them of the miraculous baby Savior born so long ago!

We hammer it into our kids that Christmas is the celebration of Jesus' birth.  Along that line, we did a countdown paper chain as well as a Jesse tree to further emphasize and anticipate Jesus' birthday celebration. 

Additionally, we read myriads of nativity centered books and watched portions of The Nativity Story.  We sang Christmas carols, made a timeline of history leading up to Jesus' birth and sang the song Matthew's Begats way too many times.  (Check out this fabulous Christmas album too by Andrew Peterson.  Along the same lines as the Jesse Tree, the songs travel throughout the Old Testament showing the foreshadowing and expectation of Jesus throughout history.  There's also a book that follows the song Matthew's Begats that is a fun and helpful visual aid.)

Lastly, we learned a readily applicable Bible verse for the Christmas season.  "It is more blessed to give than to receive."  Not sure that lesson sunk into their little brains yet.  But it is SO TRUE.  It truly is more fun to give than to get! 

Merry Christmas!

A Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Already this Christmas is promising to be a memorable one.  My heart is full and overflowing as I consider all the blessings surrounding me.

Not the least of which is the miraculous and mysterious fact of the incarnation.  I don't get it and I marvel at the fact that God became a person. 

Check out this moving little video picturing the wonder of Immanuel -- God with us.


the cross in christmas from tammi dryden on Vimeo.

Praying you and yours have a blessed, peaceful, restful and Jesus-ful Christmas!

Essential cookies

I have t minus one day left until my family arrives to celebrate Christmas!  Yeehaw!

The kids and I have been baking little by little and then tossing our cookies into the freezer to pull out for Christmas week.

We probably have time to do one more batch of yumminess before the grandmas descend.  We'll do a quick batch of gingerbread cookies tomorrow and then my cookie platter should be complete.  Still hoping to make these chocolate andes mint delectables too.  We'll see how productive we are tomorrow!


Thus far, this is the cookie selection we have for our platter:

Thumbprint cookies
Double chocolate walnut cookies
Sugar cookies (decorated by the kids of course)
Cranberry orange cookies (a new addition and DELICIOUS)
Snowballs

My grandma will be bringing her world-famous peanut butter balls to add to the goodie selection.

It's good but I feel like something is missing . . . .  What cookie is essential on your annual Christmas cookie tray?

Food gifts ROCK my Christmas!

As I get older and more boring, I find myself preferring the practical gifts much more than the sentimental pretty ones. 

And this year I've discovered that FOOD is my ultimate gift. 

During this busy and fun holiday season, my brain is almost maxxed out.  With so much to think about, menu-planning is taking a backseat.  Tonight we had fresh fruit, veggies, and pita bread pizzas for dinner.  Kind of boring and not even that filling.  My husband gave me a look across the dinner table and *almost* commented negatively but held his tongue.  Wise man. 

It's always exciting to receive packages, isn't it?  But when free food is inside?  WOWZA.  That takes Christmas packages to a new level of wonderfulness.

What food gifts do you enjoy getting or gifting at Christmas?

Forgot to take a picture of the honey-baked ham we received as a gift from Matt's Tia Becky.  Hope ours turns out looking as scrumptious as this!  This was the first time I've ever received a piece of meat in the mail.  AND I'M SO EXCITED!!!  These suckers are expensive and supposedly delicious.  What a humongous blessing that I don't have to go to the grocery store to figure out what meat to cook for Christmas dinner this year. 

My in-laws' annual Christmas gift -- yummy cheeses, sausages and chocolates in cutesy tiny packages.  Fun and practical and full of delectable fat.  Pair this with some crackers and veggies and we've got a snacky-board-game-playing holiday dinner.

These pineapple flowers are DELICIOUS! Of course my girly-girl had to pick a flower for her fruit of choice.  [Do you like Chloe's marker-ed hand?  My children can not color with markers without it completely adorning their digits.]

Look at this monstrous luscious edible fruit arrangement!  Talk about a practical and healthy gift!  WAY better than getting a bouquet of flowers in my book.  And the chocolate covered strawberries are DIVINE. 

Christmas Link Love

We have been seriously enjoying the snowy Christmas season here in the Horn house!  Hence my serious lack of blogging in the month of December. 

Here are some super neat Christmas links to some activities we've been engaging in this season:

* Clive & Ian's 12 Questions of Christmas.  Veggie Tales creator, Phil Vischer, just released a new dvd series spanning the Bible in entirety.  From the video clips I've seen, these dvds use puppets, songs, and tongue-in-cheek humor to teach Bible stories.  More importantly, these dvds give an overview of the gospel and how it's woven througout the overarching message of the Bible.  These 12 Questions of Christmas videos are short, witty, educational and involve a puppet named Clive.  Need I say more? 
* Behold the Lamb of God by Andrew Peterson.  I LOVE THIS CD.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  What I love about it is that it's all about giving a complete picture of Christmas.  The story of Christmas did NOT start in a manger in Bethlehem.  It began much earlier than that with God's promises to take care of our sin problem.  Check out some of the songs here: Gather Round Ye Children Come; So Long, Moses; Matthew's Begats; Behold the Lamb of God.  Purchase here. 
* Jesse Tree: An Advent Devotional by Ann Voskamp.  Already blogged about this here. It's fantastic.  And it's free.

What Christmas resources are you excited about this year?  PLEASE share!

Christmas Photos

Today I venture out by myself to get Christmas photos taken of the three crazies.  Pray for me, please!

As I think about the time ahead of us at Portrait Innovations (by far, my favorite portrait place) I am questioning WHY I do this every year. 

There's just something sweet and magical about capturing children in a photo every Christmas.  My mom got a portrait taken of me and my sister annually and now that we're adults it's really neat to go back and look at how we grew and changed over the years.  Not to mention laughable at our funny hairstyles and dated clothing. 

According to the Portrait Innovations gal I spoke with I should plan on a 2-3 hours for the photo shoot ordeal.  Sphincter say WHAT?!?  I hope to get there an hour before hand and then we'll see how long we last . . .

Do you do annual kid or family photos?  If so, is there a particular portrait place you prefer?  Any tips for making the process a smooth one?

(In case you're wondering, the photo above was our feeble attempt at Thanksgiving to get a card-worthy shot of the kids.  Even with a sugar coated spoon [literally], Solomon was not into it.  A good memory to be sure but not Christmas card material.)

Homemade Christmas

This year I was forced to jump-start my homemade gift-making in time for Thanksgiving.  Since we traveled to my bro-in-law's house for Thanksgiving this year, it was only logical that we should save some money on shipping and bring along their Christmas gifts.

And also the Christmas gifts for my other bro-in-law's family who joined us for Thanksgiving too.

I was a busy little gift-making elf the week prior to Thanksgiving, let me assure you!

But now that the harriedness and busyness is over, I'm SO THANKFUL to have all those gifts done and delivered.  Rest assured, I'm far from done with Christmas gifts.  I still have several gifts to make on my remaining to-do list to make but it feels good to have two families crossed off. 

We have two teenage nephews, and four nieces of varying ages.  I don't usually make anything for the nephews since I can't ever think of a cool enough crafty gift to suit their tastes.  They ARE teenage boys after all.  But the nieces and sisters-in-law always get at least one homemade present from me.

This year I made something I've always wanted to try -- homemade hot cocoa mix.   I did three flavors: Peppermint, Spicy Mayan and Butterscotch.  Easy peasy and VERY yummy due to the powdered milk included in the mix.  Makes for a smooth and creamy cup of cocoa.

For my nieces I made necklaces with interchangeable magnetic charms.  I used scrapbook paper for the charms, modpodged them several times, affixed a magnet and voila!  Don't believe the dimly-lit pictures, these turned out really cute and not at all yellow-y as the photos belie.

What gifts are you crafting up this Christmas?

Chloe trying on the headband and not-so-secretly hinting she'd like one for herself.

Peppermint hot cocoa mix in repurposed formula can

Ribbon and scrapbook paper can really dress up a tin formula can!

Spicy Mayan hot cocoa mix.  I thought the spices called for in Alton Brown's recipe were too mild so I added more chili powder, cinnamon, and a touch of cayenne.  This stuff will surely warm up your insides on a snowy winter's day!

The ribbon wrapped, bow-topped finished headband for my 5 year old niece.  She loved it!  And I love hot glue.  Can't craft without that miraculous goo.

Magnetic charm necklaces with decoupaged scrapbook paper and store-bought chains. I made two of these -- one for each of my teenage nieces.

Jesse Tree

For years now I've been hearing about and wanting to incorporate a Jesse tree into our Christmas traditions.  This year, thanks to the generosity of Ann Voskamp, I've finally been able to make one!


What is a Jesse tree?  Simply a small tree with daily ornaments that depict Old Testament stories foretelling Jesus' birth.


It's been fun and enlightening to learn alongside the kids about God's promises to provide a Messiah.  Each day I have Chloe color, glue to cardstock and then cut out her ornament.  Then I hole-punch it, attach a hook and put it on our tree.  Lastly, we read the coordinating devotional for the day.  


The devotional by Ann Voskamp is FANTASTIC.  At first I thought it would be too abstract for the kids but I abridge it slightly and do some additional explaining in my own words.  What I especially love about the devotional is that the main text is from the actual Bible.  So often kids' Bible stuff is paraphrased or watered down.  Ann's Bible excerpts are from a completely understandable and clear version (NCV and NIV) for kids. 


To get a free pdf copy of the Jesse Tree Advent Devotional, follow instructions on Ann's blog.  (You'll have to subscribe to her blog to get the free download link.)


Does your family do a Jesse Tree?  Or an advent calendar?  How to you count down to Christmas?

A Shutterfly Christmas Review

As I get older and busier with child-related responsibilities, I'm always on the lookout for ways to cut corners and save time.  And with Christmas looming on the horizon (can it really only be a month away?!?) my thoughts keep gravitating towards gifts.

My heart's desire is to make homemade gifts for everyone on my list.  But that is so not going to happen.  Instead I'm aiming to make at least one homemade something-or-other for each person on my list.  Probably just a small item like an ornament, picture frame, napkins, or baked good.

Enter Shutterfly!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE that I can quickly and easily create a personalized photo gift online.  Lately I've even been creating a card, typing a message AND addressing and paying for postage through their site.  Especially nice when there's a free promo code for just one card (keep those promo codes coming, please).  It's been a fabulous way to keep in touch with the kids' grandparents while simultaneously sending them recent kid pics.

And because all our family members enjoy photos of our darling progeny, photo Christmas cards are a no-brainer.  Here's what I like about Shutterfly's holiday photocards:

• Search designs by number of photos.  There are several ways to search through their extensive photocard collection.  Search by number of photos you want to use, format (flat or folded), size, price, color or designer.  I personally like the search by number of photos option.  We NEVER get a single shot of our family where everyone's smile is captured nicely.  And since I can't go "To the Cloud" I can't switch out picturesque grins for nonexistent ones.  (That cloud commercial is both annoying and sad to me.)  Last year I opted for the 2-4 photo option in order to get true smile shots of each of our family members.  Shutterfly has over 370 designs for multiple photos.  Yeehaw!
• Unexpected color palettes.  Browsing the photocards I was immediately struck by some surprising and fresh color palettes.  My favorite color combos included:
  - Brown with colorful accents (Check out Christmas Cookies, Framed in Color)
  - Turquoise with red accent (Check out Pretty Package)
  - Bright rainbow multi-colored (Check out Brightly Merrily, Mod Snowflakes)
  - Dark red with sky blue or black accent (Check out Family Ornaments, Royal Elegance)
  - Clean white with simple graphics (Check out Wishes Whirl, Retro Chic
• Christmas letter options.  Several flat cards had substantial space for including a brief Christmas letter blurb.  Those blurbs are just right -- not too long and not too short.  Again, I love that I can type in my family highlights without having to spend the time writing a hand-written note.  Don't get me wrong I thoroughly enjoy writing a personal message but this year I won't have time!  Check out these fun Christmas letter style photocards: Top 10 Moments, Family Letter in Blue, Christmas Letter in Green

My only disappointment with Shutterfly's site is that you can't sort to easily find religious cards.  But after a little more searching, I found a host of religious cards.  Usually the religious cards section is slim picking and disappointing when compared to the other modern card designs.  Shutterfly has a better than average selection of nicely designed ones.  Check out the religious photocard section here (I'm leaning towards using In His Name, Good Blessings, or Joyous and Blessed).

Tis the season to make photocards!  Happy creating!

What do you usually send out for Christmas card?  Letters, photocards, postcards, or traditional folded cards?  Or are you opting not to send cards this year to save money?

If you're wondering, yes, Shutterfly is giving me something for writing the above review.  50 free photocards for me!  Woo-hoo!  If you're a blogger, check out their offer.

Homemade Christmas

As I've alluded to in previous posts, it is my pattern every December to put myself through much stress and late-night sewing in order to complete my Christmas-gift-project list. This year was no exception though I did finally succumb to my husband's good advice and crossed several potential projects off my list. Just scratched them off and felt no guilt. Ahh.

I ended up making at least 1 homemade gift for most of the family members on my list. Unfortunately, I was in such a rush I didn't get photos of all of them.

As the pictures posted here show, I made some throw pillows for my gramma's new couch, reusable produce bags for my mom (from an old set of sheer curtains), a flannel nightgown for Chloe, and also for my mom I did a custom-stenciled t-shirt with a silhouette of her beloved grandbabies.

Gifts not pictured were a set of cloth napkins for my sister, an mp3 case for my father-in-law from a thrift store necktie, and two sunglasses cases for my nieces also crafted from neckties.

All the projects were fun though my favorite to create was the stenciled t-shirt. Freezer paper has got to be the craft world's best kept secret! With freezer paper (as with vinegar) you can do a multitude of amazing things. I think what I like best about the freezer paper stencil technique is that the finished product looks so dang professional. The lines are incredibly crisp and sharp making this NOT look your run-of-the-mill homemade clothing item.

I wish I could claim these ideas as my own. But alas, I have and always will be a copy-cat. :) Tutorials for the aforementioned gifts can be found online:

• Freezer paper stenciled t-shirt
• Reusable produce bags
• Necktie glasses/gadget case

Matt joined in the making of gifts this year crafting personalized journals for almost everyone in our family. He is one talented man!

Now that the holidays are over and done with I'm giving my sewing machine a much-needed rest. Did you tackle any homemade gift projects this season?

What a wonderful Christmas!

As I sit down to reflect on and summarize our Christmas festivities I'm overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with thankfulness to God for the wonderful family He has blessed me with. Oh yes, we got some stellar gifts (my mom is the world's best gift-giver) and ate scrumptious food (including way too many cookies). But the best part of Christmas was enjoying my family.

Both my mom and gramma traveled here to celebrate with us. And celebrate we did! We did lots of fun things together and both the grammas eagerly jumped in to play-mode with the kiddos. They didn't even complain when the kids tackled, climbed, or generally invaded their personal space. The grammas, experienced babysitters that they are, even gave Matt and I an overnight date night. Fantastic! Though it took Matt and I a little while to get used to talking to each other without interruption.

Another amazing gift from my gramma came in a form of service. She is an incredible seamstress. She knew my mending pile was becoming a mountain so in the afternoons and evenings of her stay here, gramma did almost ALL of my mending. I was slightly embarrassed to show her my shoddy incomplete sewing projects but she gently gave me advice and whirred away at the machine to fix my mistakes. AND whilst gramma sewed away, I got to play lots of afternoon scrabble with my dear mum. We played scrabble together 5 out of 6 days of their visit.
We shared many a laugh as I beat my dear mom in the word battles of the scrabble board. (Don't worry, my mom won one game so it wasn't a total rout.)

Did I mention my mom paid for our groceries too? She funded our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day feasts. We always eat well when gramma is in town! :) We feasted on prime rib, shrimp (which Chloe tried for the first time and LOVED), and loads of yummy cheeses brought from my home-state of Wisconsin.

God is so good to us. He has graciously lavished us with His Son, a loving family, warm home (however mis-matched it may be), good food, and healthy bodies. What more could a gal ask for?

How were your Christmas festivities?

Feliz Navidad!

The grammas have arrived and we are in official Christmas party mode! Thus far we've been noshing on cookies, playing scrabble, bowling, thrifting, and chatting up a storm. The kids are L.O.V.I.N.G. having both gramma and nana here at their playing disposal. And I'm loving having the extra sets of hands around to watch kiddos, cook or do my mending. My gramma is tackling my year-long compilation of mending projects. What a lovely Christmas gift to me! :)

Due to the holiday activity, we will be off the blogging and facebook grid for the rest of this week.

Wishing you and your family a happy, restful, joyful, Jesus-filled Christmas celebration!

THE song for Christmas 2009

Each year it seems I gravitate towards one favorite Christmas carol to teach Chloe. Last year was O Come, O Come Immanuel. That classic hymn is one of my all-time faves because of the rich lyrics, minor key, and depth of ideas. And you've not experienced full cute-osity until you hear a preschooler sing the word "Israel".

This year I'm teaching Chloe the little known Star Carol. When I first heard the song on Simon and Garfunkel's Old Friends album, I was immediately captivated by the moving harmonies and simple lovely lyrics. (Take a listen for yourself here.)

What I think I like best about the song is the last verse (lyrics below). It's easy to teach the Christmas story "facts" to the kiddos this time of year. But to actually make a purposeful application that will resonate with small children is tricky; this song nails it on the last verse.

It's not a hugely deep or theological application, mind you. But it's a great place to start. It's simple enough that Chloe gets it (pretty sure O Come, O Come Immanuel was more than a wee bit over her head last year) and we can talk about what it means to "make a place for Jesus" in our lives.

Which Christmas song/s are singing a lot this year?

:: :: :: :: :: :: ::

A Star Carol

Long years ago on a deep winter night,
High in the heav'ns a star shone bright,
While in a manger a wee baby lay,
Sweetly asleep on a bed of hay.

Jesus the Lord was that baby so small,
Laid down to sleep in a humble stall;
Then came the star and it stood overhead,
shedding its light 'round His little bed.

Dear baby Jesus, how tiny Thou art,
I'll make a place for Thee in my heart,
And when the stars in the heavens I see,
Ever and always I think of Thee.