Classroom Corner and Gifted Gab--New Year's TpT Sale!

Hi, everyone!  Hope you had a wonderful Christmas with your families!  Just wanted to let you know that there are several winter items on sale in my TpT store from Thursday-Sunday.  The links below will take you to a few of them.  Enjoy the remaining days of your break, and I hope you all have a wonderful New Year!!!

My Winter Resource Pack:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/WinterJanuary-Unit-Learning-in-a-Winter-Wonderland
Winter/Snow BINGO:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/WinterSnow-BINGO-Game
Primary Snowman Sudoku:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Build-a-Snowman-Sudoku-Primary-Winter-Sudoku-Puzzle
Elementary Snowman Sudoku:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Build-a-Snowman-Sudoku-Elementary-Winter-Sudoku-Puzzle

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Our family's Christmas celebration would not be complete without our annual Happy Birthday, Jesus cake.  Chocolate cake and icing with the cousins--such fun memories!

With all the family, we gathered to sing all 4 verses of our Advent song.  Then we lit a cross candle in the center of our Advent wreath and sang, "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Jesus, happy birthday to you!"

With warmest wishes, we hope you and your families have had a very Merry CHRISTmas!  Love and prayers from all of the Bryants!



Ministry Minute and the Parenting Place--Advent Week 4

The last week of Advent already!  It has been so fun this year, since I have been able to do Advent with my Children's Church kids as well as our own personal family.  The word for this last week was PEACE.  We began by singing, "Light one candle for peace, one bright candle for peace.  He brings peace to everyone, He comes, He comes."  We focused on the story of the wise men and their search for the newborn king.

Tucker and Tate read aloud from Matthew 2:1-12.  Then we shared as a family about times when we especially needed God's peace in 2011.  Examples included times of sickness for family members, when our 6th grader started middle school this year, etc.  We also prayed for the Lord's peace in the days to come as we prepare to enter 2012.  We pray His precious peace for your families as well!

Our nightly craft was to use simple drinking straws and a hot glue gun to make star ornaments for our Advent tree.  We added string at the top with which to hang them.   

Here is a snapshot of our completed Advent tree for this year!

After the crafting fun we had a snack of toast and hot chocolate.  We used a star cookie cutter for our toast and sipped our hot chocolate with some of the leftover straws from our crafting project.

After blowing out the candles on our Advent wreath, it was time to open the last Advent gifts.  The boys got new nutcrackers for their collection, and Sadie opened a princess cup and plate set.  

May the Prince of Peace be with you as we finish out the month of December!

Ministry Minute and the Parenting Place--Advent Week 3

Hi, everyone!  Sorry...life got so busy for a bit that I simply have not had time to update with Advent details.  Hope your family is having a wonderfully blessed Christmas season so far!  For week 3 of Advent, our family focused on the word JOY.  Of course, we lit our 3rd candle and sang:  Light one candle for joy, 1 bright candle for joy, He brings joy to everyone, He comes, He comes! 

In our family share time, my boys read aloud from the Scriptures as the angels proclaimed in Luke 2:10b, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people."  We each talked about things that had brought us joy in this past year, as well as ways that we tried to bring joy to others.

For our snack time, we had a family favorite--Christmas Krispy Kreme doughnuts!  Dad brought these home as a surprise, and here in our hometown, it doesn't get any better than warm doughnuts on a chilly night!

Lastly, we concluded with Advent crafting fun--we used cardboard squares and our fingerprints to make shepherd ornaments.  On the back, we included Luke 2:10.  (These could easily be done on inexpensive plastic balls and would be a great keepsake for years to come.)

Last but not least, our kids got to open their Advent gifts--Veggie Tales movies all around! :-)

Ministry Minute and the Parenting Place--Advent Week 2

Hi, everyone!  Hope you are having a wonderfully blessed Christmas season!  WOW, is your December already shaping up to be as busy as ours?  This weekend alone we have been to a Christmas Civil War play with our boys, Disney on Ice with my daughter, kids' choir practice, etc. 

We did make time tonight for Advent, however, and what a fun night it was.  Around here, we celebrate HOPE on night #2.  Remember, your Advent devotions can happen on any night of the week--Sunday just works well for us.  We lit our 2nd candle and sang our Advent song: Light one candle for hope, one bright candle for hope, He brings hope to everyone, He comes, He comes.  For tonight's theme of hope we did a couple of group sharing activities.  First we each shared 1 gift we were hoping to get this Christmas.  (Of course, my husband Kevin wished for a new truck, which he will not be getting LOL).  Then we each shared a hope we had for another person.  We prayed for each of these requests, including sick friends and family needs.

Sadie reviewed last week's lesson for us about love, and then the boys read aloud from Luke 2:1-7.  We talked about how long ago on that Christmas night, the world had no idea that the greatest gift of hope had entered the world through the miracle of a tiny baby. 

For our snack we made chocolate chip Christmas trees.  For our craft I cut the letters HOPE and a Christmas tree shape out of simple cardboard.  Then we painted and glittered these for hanging on our Advent tree. 

Of course, the night couldn't end without opening Advent gift #2--a Max Lucado DVD for Sadiebug and a Bible Man DVD for Tucker and Tate.  Christmas blessings to all of you!  Praying for each of you as this season unfolds before us!