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Hours turn into days, days into weeks, weeks to months, and months to years. Time flies by and we just keep moving with it almost like it is pushing us along. Among those many fast-flying minutes how many are moments of true reflection? I think the average, good, Christian will think about God, but how often do we truly stop and feel that He is with us? It’s hard! In our modern “go, go, go” society we rarely claim an opportunity to slow down to take a breath, let alone look around. But in those few rare minutes of true awareness God can always be seen; in every person and in every place. He is all around us, just waiting for us to notice Him. So in honor of those many missed moments, I want to share this photo I took of the awesome sunset that God has just given to us! May God give you eyes to see His many blessings. ~Jen-Marie

Elizabeth always has a hard time choosing, but she finally decided to be St. Helena. (The dress was getting small and she was afraid it wouldn’t fit next year) The dress was one I found at a yard sale years ago. My husband, Jon, made the wooden cross for some leftover wood. Her crown was made with a silver headband. I hot glued on a broken toy earring. Then she wore it just as you would a tiara. It looked awesome and only cost me $1.00 for the headband at the dollar store!

Hannah is St Elizabeth of Hungary. And she’s just happy the dress is comfortable! 😉 She’s wearing a simple velvet robe with a decorative collar. She’s carrying a basket of flowers and foam bread (from the Dollar Store) Her crown and head-covering were simply a headband with shear material hot glued onto it. The headband was already decorated with gems when I bought it at the Dollar Store, but if you had a plain one you could add gems to it. Hot glue the center of one edge of the material to the headband’s underside: She wore it like a tiara, and it kept the material on her head very well!

Naomi is St Joan of Arc. This dress is actually a dress of mine when I was little! She just looks too cute! I made the banner she is holding from an image I printed off the internet and a long dowel rod which I bought at the craft store. I used the image from this site: http://www.jeanne-darc.info Here is just the banner image I printed it onto a full sheet of stock paper then hot glued it onto the rod.

Elizabeth had a very hard time choosing!! As always! St Therese was her first pick, but later decided to be St Helena since the dress might be too small next year! Her adult thought and decision was a big surprise! This is a costume my older girls used in past years. It’s a brown robe from Oriental Trading. We used a light brown curtain for her cloak, and a white hooded shirt with the bottom cut off for her headpiece and collar. Then pinned a black piece of material on for the habit. Add a bouquet of roses and you have a St. Therese! Or if you can make a monstrance it could be St Clare. Or St Teresa of Avila with a book and feather pen.

Jacob decided to be St. Jerome. I think the fact that he’s learning Latin this year helped in that choice since St Jerome translated the Bible into Latin. Jacob’s costume was a brown robe which I bought years ago from Oriental Trading. Over the top of the robe, we added a piece of sackcloth with a hole cut into the middle for his head. A little bit of face paint for a beard, a stuffed lion, and I tied a rolled-up brown paper with a feather to his sackcloth shirt.

Abby as Mary with her baby as Jesus. Her picture pose makes me smile! 🙂 The costume was one from Oriental Trading for a Christmas play. (It’s the white robe and blue headpiece) For baby Jesus, I just wrapped one of her dolls in a white piece of material. Simple and cute!

Joshua is Saint Michael, and he’s ready to fight the devil!!Joshua’s costume is a store-bought knight costume. I bought it several years ago and it’s been used as a Saint George (with a stuffed dragon), Saint Joan of Arc (with a skirt and banner), and now St. Michael …Just add wings!!

Kids love ♥ this game and it’s so simple!! All you need is a toy bow and arrow set and 10 plastic cups! Our bow was one I found second-hand. The arrows and quiver we made. And the cups are just simple plastic cups. I typed up a list of sins and printed them off. Then I taped them onto the cups.  The sins included:  Quick Tempered, Spitefulness, Argumentativeness, Immodesty, lack of self-control, Vanity, Dishonesty, Carelessness, Envy, Rudeness, Unfairness, Laziness, Selfishness, Hatred, Meanness, Disrespectfulness, Impatience, Pride, Greed, Self-centeredness Here’s how we made our arrows and quiver We wanted the arrows to be safe, so they wouldn’t hurt anyone if they were accidentally hit. NOTE: No bow and arrow set could be 100% safe so please watch that the kids are using them properly. Click on the images to enlarge them Our kids had so much fun with this game! And they sure learned a lot about how sin can be more than just the literal Ten Commandments. God Bless, ~Jen-Marie

Rachel wanted to be Saint Winifred. Saint Winifred was attacked by a man who wanted her to do sinful things, but Winifred fought against him. Her attacker cut off her head and instantly his feet were unable to move! When Winifred’s uncle, St. Beuno, came he restored Winifred’s head. She instantly came back to life. Her attacker immediately dropped dead. This very interesting saint sparked that unusual personality in our oldest child.

For several years now, our family has had a baby crib sitting under our tree.  During Advent it’s empty: Christmas Morning Christmas morning the best gift of all can be discovered under that glowing tree!  On the Epiphany  Then, on the morning of the Epiphany, our King of Kings, baby Jesus, is found to be wearing a golden crown, red velvet cloak, and holding a jeweled scepter! The crib is a cradle that my father made for my older girls years ago, but you could use a wooden crate or box. The “hay” is actually raffia. It’s much cleaner than hay because it stays together in the crib and it has very few small pieces to make a mess. Baby Jesus is a toy baby doll, but it’s one I keep just for this family tradition. That makes this baby seem more special to the kids! The baby is dressed in a plain white newborn-size onesie and is wrapped in an old white baby blanket. The King of Kings crown is a golden cardboard crown for kids. I cut down the length and height so it would fit the doll. Then I added a few gems to make it look more royal! The cloak is a piece of velvet. I sewed a drawstring into the top.  I hot glued the decorative edging to the sides since I’m not much of a sewer. The scepter is a wooden ball on a stick. (a styrofoam ball would work) I covered the ball with some of the velvet and tied it together at the stick. Then I glued on some fancy trimming and gems. I covered the stick with a gold ribbon. Another idea: In the first year of this tradition, our kids did a play of the three kings. The kings each carried one of the three  “King of Kings” items. Then they dressed Him as they gave him his gifts. (but if you do this, have the kids dress Him starting with the cloak and add the crown last!) ☺ Hope you all have a blessed Advent while waiting for our Savor’s coming, ~Jen-Marie

This Holy Family set is made from old-fashioned clothespins and felt.  This set would be perfect for a Christmas project or to give as a gift. These cute little craft doll/statues can be used as a doll for young children, as a statue, or as an ornament for the tree. This craft requires the use of hot glue, so if you plan to make these with small children they will need help. Older children may be able to do these on their own if they are accustomed to using hot glue. M aterials For Mary : blue felt dress * (see felt cutting instructions) felt head covering we used light blue wooden old fashioned clothespin 4-inch piece of string Hot glue For Baby Jesus: mini old fashioned clothespin or a craft stick Scrap piece of white felt  (about 1/2 the size of the head covering) wooden ring (to help the doll stand, if it needs help) Hot glue For St. Joseph you’ll need: brown felt robe*(see felt cutting instructions) green head-covering -half the size of the one shown on the *cutting instructions. brown string for waist and head Hot glue NOTE: The instructions for St. Joseph are the same as those for Mary, just use different colors and a smaller h ead covering. After gluing on his head covering it looks a bit more masculine if you fold the sides of his head covering back away from the face and glue it in place. Add a string around the head covering, too. You may need to use a few tiny drops of glue to keep it in place. Hot glue a stick to his waist as pictured. Use a brown colored pencil to draw his beard. *Felt Cutting instructions, click to enlarge: Materials for Mary and baby Jesus: After cutting out your felt pieces, push the round clothespin head into the small head hole in the dress. You may need to add a drop of hot glue at the upper chest and upper back of the doll clothespin to keep the dress from sliding down the clothespin.  Pull all the dress parts down against the clothespin and tightly knot a string around its waist. You may need an extra hand to hold the dress down while you knot the waist string. Now, cut off the extra string ends. If the dress is too long, cut it to the correct length. If the opening on the sides of the dress are showing, hot glue it together.   Add hot glue to the top and sides of the dolls head and cover the top of her head with the head covering. Note: You may have to cut a slit in the back of the veil, (from the bottom of the veil up to the head)  so it will lay down properly. Then hot glue the back of the veil down in a way so you don’t see the cut. Now for the baby: Cut or break the bottom of the mini clothespin off so it is the correct size. OR if you don’t have a mini old-fashioned clothespin you can use a craft stick. Break the craft stick in half and hot glue them one on top of the other. Now add some hot glue to the top and side of the baby’s head and wrap the edge of the felt piece around the top of the baby’s head. Then wrap the rest of the felt around the baby, covering it completely. Hot glue the blanket in place. Then hot glue it to the doll of Mary. If possible, try to use the wrinkles in her dress and veil as arms so it can look like she is holding the baby.  If the doll has a hard time standing on its own you may need to buy a wooden ring to help it stand. If you can’t find wooden rings, you may be able to hot glue the doll to a small wooden flat shape. I hope I explained this well enough, If you have any questions please post a comment and I will respond. I hope you enjoy making these little doll/statues as much as we did!!  Take care and God bless. ~Jen-Marie