Week of Christmas

Hello all! I wanted to share with you some activities we did the last week of Advent. In the next post (I promise it will be up soon!) I will share what we did for Christmas...it was so much fun!

Advent time...

Okay, here is a real post about our advent time with PICTURES!

This first one is making glitter light holders to symbolize Jesus as the Light of the World:



Israel with Shannon and her candle holder

Elijah putting on the glue

Baby Kristijan (Merima's baby)

Decorating Gingerbread cookies with "Baka" (Kristie)


A Montessori Activity...taken from the blog One Hook Wonder. They take straw from the bowl with tweezers and put them in the cut open toilet paper roll. then they put the clothes pin baby Jesus in it :) They both enjoyed this activity.






Israel playing with the Christmas Lapbook (You can make one Here):



This was a fun activity. We read the story : The Legend of the Poinsetta by Tomie DePaola



The story is about a little girl in Mexico who because of her mother's illness can't make the gift she wanted for the baby Jesus in the manger at the church. The night of the Christmas Eve service, she meets an old woman who tells her she can bring any gift to the baby Jesus, it doesn't have to be something fancy. Just something from your heart. The little girl sees a large group of weeds so she pulls them and places them at the altar. The weeds turn into poinsettias. We made these cute little ornaments to teach the kids that giving the gift from the heart is what matters to God. We took the white paper and crumpled it, then said the poem "What can I give Him poor as I am? If I were a shepherd I would give a lamb. If I were a wise man, I would do my part. What can I give Him? I'll give Him my heart" We crumpled the paper to symbolize that even though our gifts before God look like weeds, He takes it and turns it into something beautiful. Do you like the final outcome? :)


Here's an idea I picked up from Counting Coconuts Christmas tree decorating! It was a hit :)

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Elijah Dancing After Sledding

A look back...recorded about a year ago but I still laugh every time i see it!

Christmas Week at Irby Road

Hello all!
It has been a busy time here at Irby Road, but we wanted to update you with what is going on:

-- Thursday night we had the privilege of leading the Carol Sing for the British Embassy. It was a beautiful service in the beautiful Franciscan church near our home. We led the congregation in several familiar carols and some children did some readings in between. Afterwards we went to the Ambassador's home for mince pie and mulled wine, then to dinner with our team at a local restaurant. It was really nice. The Ambassador who is leaving this year said he will give our name to the next Ambassador so we can be on for next year. We talked a long time with his wife, who is so nice. They also want to get together with us to talk about the Miss Irby project.

--Saturday Josh spent the day skiing with some of our team mates and some guy students. They almost didn't make it up the hill the snow was so bad! I spent the day inside with the kids while flakes as big as nickels fell from the sky. It was so cool to this Georgia girl. The kids and I started a new Christmas Lapbook which we finished today. We didn't get to go out in the snow because Elijah has developed a pretty bad cough and cold.

--Today I stayed home from church with Elijah. We want him well for Christmas. On Friday we will go to a cabin at Jahorina, one of the Olympic mountains here. We expect lots of snow! The Trousdales and Jacksons will join us there.

If you think of it please pray for the Jacksons' kids (Nolen, age 4 months has a respiratory infection and Ella, age 2 has the flu) and please pray for Tyler Trousdale, age 2 who has the same cold as Elijah.

Thanks and Merry Christmas!!!
taylor

The Young Hero and the Horrible Giant...as told by Eiljah

We love The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd Jones. Elijah loves David and Goliath, so he wanted to share this story with you. Enjoy!

Christmas Poetry

One of our favorite Christmas activities this season...enjoy and feel free to use it!

I have to give credit where credit is due. I got this idea from www.mymontessorijourney.com and this poem from www.countingcoconuts.com Check out these blogs for some great ideas!

Fun at the FARM!

Today was I think the most fun day we have ever had! After a couple of days where snow has fallen, we went with our friend Mirza to his family farm. They own several acres of land on a mountain and they farm buckwheat and other organic food. How fun! First we went on a long walk to find the perfect tree. We cut down a pretty little Christmas tree and took turns sledding down the road. Then we came back to the house and drank some hot cocoa with whipped cream. After that we made a long hike into the woods to find a field perfect for sledding! A very large hill proved to be just what we needed. It was so much fun.

Later, we made our way into the house for a special lunch prepared by the kitchen staff of Mirza's farm. Tea, crepe and cheese pie and crepes with honey.

Lastly, we made a quick trip to OBI (think home depot) and bought some Christmas decorations.

My only regret is that we didn't bring our camera!

Goodbye Shannon, Hello Jacksons and SNOW!

So Shannon and I joked around about how when she leaves the snow would come. No one would have thought that 2 mornings of no jacket weather (that's right! it felt like spring!) meant a night full of snow and still more to come! As I type this I look out my window and see a winter wonderland. I love living in a country so beautiful that it can look pretty any time of year.

On Tuesday morning, Shannon and I got up really early (hello 4am!) and I drove her to the airport. It was sad saying goodbye to her as she has become another part of our family. The kids miss her a lot. We are now having different ladies come to babysit. But our kids miss Shannon terribly!

The sadness was accompanied by joy as we welcomed some more teammates: Ben and Rachel and their 2 children Ella and Nolen to Sarajevo. 4 years we have waited to have everyone together. And now the Jacksons, Trousdales and us are finally together. It was fun this morning at staff time to be all together looking out over the snow covered city.

Last night I joined the STINT girls and some wonderful students at their house as we decorated gingerbread cookies and had yummy apple cider. I just love Christmas!