trees (the end of advent 2011)

if only our council weren't so on top of their park maintenance
big sister would be tree-climbing in a heartbeat

and only a month or so late,
let me round out our advent 2011 with some reflections:

i loved the jesse tree. we will be doing this again.
i liked the way our tree looked, but sadly it was too fragile
for a 2-year-old to be hanging the ornaments.
it was great to walk through the old testament during advent.
but the bible passages i posted here were a little esoteric
(they explained the symbols on the tree, not the story of the Bible)
and our kids Bible's didn't match up with the symbols
well enough for my liking - and they forget poor deborah!
so this year i plan to make my own jesse tree book,
which i will likely show you here as it progresses.


our crafts and activities were also enjoyable
and great ways to get big sister involved
in the giving and living of christmas time.
she cried when i packed away the christmas books
and even this morning asked where baby Jesus was.
i told her he'd grown up,
but sense she finds this answer extremely dissatisfying.

and just in case you'd like the last symbols
in the esoteric set of jesse tree passages,
here they are:

JT: Isaiah

Isaiah 6:1 - In the year that King Uzziah died, I had a vision of the LORD. He was on his throne high above, and his robe filled the temple.

JT: Elizabeth

Luke 1:39-45 - A short time later Mary hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea. ⁴⁰She went into Zechariah's home, where she greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, her baby moved within her. The Holy Spirit came upon Elizabeth. Then in a loud voice she said to Mary: God has blessed you more than any other woman! He has also blessed the child you will have. Why should the mother of my Lord come to me? As soon as I heard your greeting, my baby became happy and moved within me. The Lord has blessed you because you believed that he will keep his promise.

JT: John the Baptist

Matthew 3:1-6 - Years later, John the Baptist started preaching in the desert of Judea. He said, "Turn back to God! The kingdom of heaven will soon be here." John was the one the prophet Isaiah was talking about, when he said, "In the desert someone is shouting, `Get the road ready for the Lord! Make a straight path for him.' "John wore clothes made of camel's hair. He had a leather strap around his waist and ate grasshoppers and wild honey. From Jerusalem and all Judea and from the Jordan River Valley crowds of people went to John. They told how sorry they were for their sins, and he baptized them in the river.

JT: Mary

Luke 1:26-35 - One month later God sent the angel Gabriel to the town of Nazareth in Galilee with a message for a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to Joseph from the family of King David. The angel greeted Mary and said, "You are truly blessed! The Lord is with you." Mary was confused by the angel's words and wondered what they meant. Then the angel told Mary, "Don't be afraid! God is pleased with you, and you will have a son. His name will be Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of God Most High. The Lord God will make him king, as his ancestor David was. He will rule the people of Israel forever, and his kingdom will never end." Mary asked the angel, "How can this happen? I am not married!" The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come down to you, and God's power will come over you. So your child will be called the holy Son of God.

JT: Jesus

Luke 2:1-7 - About that time Emperor Augustus gave orders for the names of all the people to be listed in record books. These first records were made when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to go to their own hometown to be listed. So Joseph had to leave Nazareth in Galilee and go to Bethlehem in Judea. Long ago Bethlehem had been King David's hometown, and Joseph went there because he was from David's family. Mary was engaged to Joseph and traveled with him to Bethlehem. She was soon going to have a baby, and while they were there, ⁷she gave birth to her first-born son. She dressed him in baby clothes and laid him on a bed of hay, because there was no room for them in the inn.

happy sunday

making salsa from mum and dad's tomato harvest
rescuing our own nectarines from the hungry birds
munching melon in the darkened coolness of inside
splashing under the sprinkler in the heat outside

cameras + coloured water

last friday, our new camera arrived

(a week ahead of schedule! hooray!)
last saturday, husband dissected our old camera
blew compressed air over it and put it back together.
now we have 2 working cameras (yay, but sort of not...)

in the meantime, we've been making masterpieces
with coloured water - food dye or watered down paint -
super washable, cheap
and less heart-wrenching to pour down the sink
when big sister decides 3 brushstrokes are enough.

below: coloured water inside cookie cutter shapes

and i turned some of big sister's paintings into bunting
for our summer-themed wall-art


and, finally, because i know it's what you really want,
here are some pics of the girlies:

the last picture taken before our old camera feigned death:


and one taken just prior to the not-so-fatal wounding:

sleeping

last night was our first night of using controlled crying to give little sister an opportunity to learn how to fall asleep on her own. big sister is currently sleeping in our bed, and husband and i are sleeping on a lilo on the living room floor, so that little sister can cry her little eyes out without keeping big sister awake. though sleeping on an inflatable mattress isn't the best, i actually had the best night's sleep i'd had in a while - after taking an hour to fall asleep initially, little sister only woke once during the night (instead of 5 times like she did on sunday night) and she fell back to sleep on her own after 20 minutes. i'm not counting any chickens, but she also fell asleep in her cot for her morning nap (instead of her pram) after only 5 minutes, and for her lunchtime cat-nap with no crying at all. no chicken counting on my behalf. please.

and with our new camera due to be delivered tomorrow,
here's a post full of pictures from other places
of our favourite sleepy-themed books:



little cloud, by eric carle
little sister's current night-time reading



time for bed, by mem fox
has the most exquisite illustrations



goodnight tiptoe, by polly dunbar
big sister's current favourite sleepy-themed book