Advent: Day 3

"In giving to others, you'll find yourself blessed."

Today, we baked our Ciastka Miodowe cookies in celebration of St. Nicholas. We let them "rest" overnight and finished them this morning.

We then sat down to begin our lessons.

Today, I shared the WONDERFUL first story in Christine Natale's touching collection called "The Little Boy Nicholas" and the girls absolutely loved it. It really moved all of us and both of them were excited to see just what young Nicholas would come up with next to help each child in need. It prompted a positive discussion on giving and how it makes the giver feel when s/he shares or provides for someone else in need.

We also began working in our Verse book and will be finishing the verse up first before drawing our pictures of St. Nick. Will share that soon.

For our Advent reading tonight, we will be continuing with Irene Johnanson's "Stories for the Festivals of the Year" with the next Christmas story entitled: "Why the Sheep Looked Forward to Christmas" and it tells the story of a single night in Mary's journey to see her cousin, Elizabeth, who was with child at an elderly age. The night is cold. Mary stops to rest and the nearby woolly sheep see a divine glow around her so they lie down around the pregnant Mary to keep her and the Baby inside of her warm. Afterwards, an angel comes to the sheep and bestows a gift unto them, sharing a joyful secret that they keep.

Last year, the girls received needle felted Nativity animals that I made to accompany the stories. Those sheep will come out tonight. We got the donkeys out last night.

I am still waiting for our Mary's Little Donkey Advent Calendar, but when it arrives, we will be sharing an Advent story in the morning and one at night, as well. There are just so many wonderful stories out there - it's really hard not to bombard!

So until tomorrow, have a blessed night!