The Plan, Continued

Here is a list of the items that I gave the girls after Cameron left:

Joy To The World: The Stories Behind Your Favorite Christmas Carols by Kenneth W. Osbeck
A Classical Kids Christmas (cd)
Vintage Christmas Greetings (Dover coloring book)
A set of oil pastels
special paper for oil pastels
A Christmas Collection by Patricia St. John
Winter Story by Jill Barklem
Country Angel Christmas by Tomie dePaola

Joy To The World is a book that I got out of a box of things my parents were getting rid of.  I just grabbed it on a whim, but in looking through it, it was very interesting.  I was pretty sure Callie would like it too and she has.

The idea behind the cd and art supplies and coloring book was to listen and create some in the evenings so that we wouldn't be watching movies every night.  That idea hasn't worked out so well.  By the evening, no one is really in the mood to sit at the table and do art.  The girls, and myself too, are really ready to just curl up on the couch and snuggle together and watch a Christmas movie.  We have listened to the CD while doing some Christmas crafting during the day though and really like it.  We have also read some of our favorite Christmas books that we already owned too. I think one day we will have Art Day and not try to force it in the evenings.

Winter Story is part of the Brambley Hedge collection which is no longer in print, but easy to find on Amazon.  These books have long been on Callie's wish list and now Kate loves them too.  They remind me of Beatrix Potter books. 

Most of these items were just for fun, but Callie and I have been reading, and singing, Joy To the World together for school.  The carols that we don't know we will try to learn with the help of the piano.  Some of the passages or poems in the book we have used for copy work.  I know nothing about this author, but I love some of his thoughts on the carols. 

This passage from  "Go Tell It On the Mountain" has been my favorite so far.

     "For many people, another Christmas season is merely a rerun of the trivial and the sentimental.  But for the devoted Christian, Christmas is much more than a once-a-year celebration.  It is a fresh awareness that a Deliverer was sent from the ivory palaces of heaven to become personally involved in the redemption and affairs of the human race.  The impact of this realization becomes a strong motivation to share the Good News with desperate people who need to know that there is an Immanuel available who can meet their every necessity.  People everywhere must hear these glad tidings if they are to benefit from them.  With absolute clarity they must hear the message, 'Here is your God'."

Good stuff!