My Latest Project Part 2: The Ornaments

What is a Jesse Tree without the symbols?  Today I devoted the afternoon to making the ornaments for my advent calendar.    I had researched a lot of different options; I had seen them made out of felt, clay, paper, wood and knitted out of yarn. I did experiment with salt-dough a few weeks ago as an option, but it turned out badly. Besides, I really wanted mine to be wooden too, since that's what I had growing up.  

So, with my husband eagle eyes to help, we finally found wooden circles slightly less than 3" at Michaels for 28 cents each.  I also found several special cut outs that worked well for some variety; a whale for example was perfect for the symbol for Jonah.   I also found an apple shape, crown and "house/barn" already cut out.   For the symbols I googled Jesse Tree symbols and printed  them out  from Jesse Tree Treasures to look at as a guide.   I used tempera paint and painted the symbols myself.  It was really very fun and relaxing.

Here is how they all turned out in the end.....I was pleased with the result, although I'm not completely done yet.  I still plan to add some glitter to the crown, baby Jesus's stable and the star and perhaps a few others if the creative whim takes me there.  I am also planning to print out the verse and short paraphrase of the story and attach it to  the back.  I also still need to thread the holes with some string.

Above: The symbol Earth for when God created the Heavens and the Earth and the Apple and the Snake

 Above: Baby Moses in his basket boat and the Horn of Gabriel

 Above: The temple and the scroll

 Above: The crown for story of Saul, the Lion for Daniel in the Lions Den and the Whale for Jonah swallowed by the big fish.

 Above: The Little town of Bethlehem and the Hammer and nail is a symbol for Joseph.

 Above: The baby Jesus in the manger

Next I still have to figure out what I want to do for the numbers on the pockets and then sew the pockets on.  Getting closer!

My Latest Project

My latest project is a Jesse Tree Advent calendar.  We had one growing up and it was something all of us kids looked forward to every year.  For the last two years, I've been looking to see if I could buy one that looked like the one I grew up with, but have come to the conclusion I will just have to make it myself. 

So I went to Joanne's this week and found two large pieces of felt for the background.   Then I cut out the tree pieces and sewed them together.  I sewed buttons on for the Jesse Tree ornaments to hang.   I made my pockets 3 inches square.  I am still deciding which background I like best....I'm also trying to decide how to best tackle the pockets and how to best number them.  I'm looking for some iron on numbers as that would be the most efficient.  Otherwise, I may have to cut out some numbers from felt and hand-sew them on.

Time is ticking until December 1st!  The next two weekends will be devoted to getting this finished!

Leaf Jumping

Cousin, come and walk with me,

 and see all the things we can see.....

 It's autumn and the leaves are falling down, red and yellow, orange and brown. 

We can spread out on the ground and watch more leaves falling down.

 We can contemplate,

 a giant leaf pile we can make!

 A pile so high, a pile so thick, your mom will disappear in it!

 Now wait, I have a genius plan.  Back up this giant hill; now pick up speed and run fast down,

 so fast the wind whistles in your ear and leaves crunch, crunching is what you hear....

 Then give a giant leap....and PLOP land with a not so gentle flop.

 That did not hurt! Not one bit! I think that we should jump some more...

 Ready set...one, two, three....give a mighty crunchy dive....

 I'm not sure about me, did you survive?

 Cousin I'm so glad you're here with me, autumn leaf jumping is just for me! And just for you! We make a great leaf-jumping two!

Zoo-Boo

Once upon a time, Batman, Robin and an identity-crisised Captain Hook found themselves at the zoo in a very strange land.

They traveled through perilous terrain...

 And saw many strange things...

 and had many adventures.

 

They met Damsels

And friendly creatures...

And frightening creatures

Which they conquered.

And they returned from their wanderings wealthy behind their wildest dreams!

The End

The big FIVE

Today....my husband woke up at the crack of dawn with our two boys and let me sleep in.  When I finally woke up, there was a fresh pot of coffee brewing, and these sitting on the table for me.

 I can't believe it has been five years.  It just doesn't feel like it has been that long.  Every day I wake up and wonder how I got so lucky.

It's that time of year again...

Well, it is "that" time of year again.  Time for apple cider and crisp evenings roasting s'mores and sweaters and PUMPKIN picking at the Farm!

Last year, Dylan was 4 months old and slept most of the time strapped onto me with the baby carrier.  This year, he could run around and be part of the fun! 

We did the "usual" things.....the giant inflatable pumpkin filled with balloons.....

 The Choo-Choo train ride.....

 And the petting zoo, where we fed the animals.

 Dylan was VERY taken with the goats and ran around babbling "MOOO" and hugging any goat that would sit still long enough for some baby lovin'.

 And then they each tried something new.  For Ryan, it was the horse rides.  It was his first time on a horse.

 For Dylan, it was the BIG slide.

 The BIG FAST slide.

Then we went up to the pumpkin patch via Hayride for more farm festival fun.  At the top, there were some haystacks for the kids to climb and play on.   Ryan enjoyed running and jumping on these. 

 

 Dylan did not.

 We found a pumpkin that was a good pumpkin carving size....

 And called it a day.  A super fun day.