Songs to Get You into the Spirit of the Season
The name Amy Grant is practically synonymous with Christmas. Even people who don't usually listen to Christian music love to listen to her during the holidays. These three albums are some of my favorites, and each one has some really fantastic songs:
A Christmas Album
- An amazing rendition of my favorite Christmas song (although technically it's an Advent song), Emmanuel, which leads into a really cool version of O Little Town of Bethlehem, which is named, simply, Little Town.Home for Christmas
- Although there are many great tracks on this album, in my mind the rest are all second-rate, compared to Breath of Heaven. I just love that song and it's my absolute favorite to skate to, at any time of year. Close your eyes and picture me floating along doing a bunch of spread eagles and ina bauers when you hear it.Christmas to Remember
- Agnes Dei is beautiful and I love it, but my favorite song on this album is easily Mister Santa, with its catchy Mister Sandman-like tune. I've got it stuck in my head now just thinking about it, and it's put a smile on my face.An Activity to Add to the Jolly Atmosphere
Put up your tree and any decorations today/tonight. Do you have any themes in your decorating?With the exception of a few very special baubles and keepsakes, our tree is covered completely in skating ornaments and most of our other decorations follow either a skating or snowman theme. When you've spent the majority of your life on the ice, you're bound to wind up with a few skating-themed decorations and ornaments - they were always a very popular gift from my skating students. It makes for a pretty cool looking tree, though, I must confess!
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| Gv wants to make sure you see the tree |
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| Gv was over the moon for this one - "MinMouse!" |
Some Reading Sure to Garner a Great Response
Who doesn't love a good Eric Carle book? Dream Snow
is a delightful example of just what you'd expect from this beloved author and illustrator. There's even a cool Advent Calendar
that coordinates with it, which, paired with the book, would make a great gift!A Movie to Get You in a Merry Mood
"You'll shoot your eye out!"
I've only seen this movie once, and I don't remember much about it, but that quote will forever be burned into my brain. I need to watch this again, because I know it's an absolute favorite of practically everyone I know. Have you seen it? Doesn't Ralphie also get his tongue stuck to a pole?
Faith Focus to Put You in a Festive Frame of Mind
If you haven't downloaded them already, make sure to grab your free coordinating printables to go along with this portion of the series.
Day 2 - Adam & Eve
Today's study also includes a prophesy fulfillment. Matthew is full of these examples - I believe one of the main reasons he wrote this Gospel account was to emphasize how Jesus' actions were a direct fulfillment of Old Testament prophesies. It's a pretty cool theme to study, and I've tried to highlight quite a few of these illustrations in this blog series to give you a little taste.
For today, read Genesis 3:15 and then Galatians 4:4 see how Jesus lives out Matthew 5:17 (see verse in graphic below) by being the seed of a woman.
Add your apple sticker to the tree to serve as a reminder for today's verses.
What will you be doing to observe this second day of Advent? Is your tree up, or not yet? Any favorites from today's selections? I'd love to hear! Leave a comment or email me at lisahealy (at) outlook (dot) com.
Join me throughout the rest of this season for more great ideas to incorporate into your family traditions to help celebrate this special time of year. Be sure to pin the series landing page so you can find every post, or better yet, sign up for free updates so you don't miss a single suggestion and to get your free printables!
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