He's Here!

Nope, not our baby - did I make you wonder??! 

But Jesus is here!  We finished our Advent Callendar on Christmas Day with the arrival of baby Jesus.  The girls really enjoyed this Advent Callendar project and we'll definitely be doing it next year (just remind me to start it on time, ok?).

I'd like to make some changes in the pictures since poor Mary and Joseph are quite cut and pasted - or find a whole new set - but gererally this worked great!  Below is the text that we read every day.  It is an adaptation I found on someone else's blog originating from Noel Piper's Noel Callendar.  I've never actually seen the original text but this worked great for us.  I changed a few things based on the pictures I had to work with.  No pig, a cat instead, etc. 

By the way, there are 3 camels - one is just VERY small!  I envisioned them walking in a line but Katie thought the wisemen needed to ride ON the camels.  Ok, no problem, right? 

Here's the text in case someone else is interested in using it.  Rememeber that every day you start back at Day 1 and add to it.  Halfway through Katie was already reciting the begining with me.  "Jesus is the greatest present of all!"


The Christmas Story
DEC. 1 Jesus is the greatest present of all. Long ago, God made a promise. He said “O Bethlehem… from you will come one who is to be ruler over all.” In Bethlehem, there was a stable for the animals and a MANGER, filled with hay…
DEC. 2 … for the animals to eat. There were animals like a CALF…
DEC. 3 …and other animals living in the stable like a PIG…
DEC. 4 …and a DONKEY…
DEC. 5 …maybe there was even a HEN looking after baby chicks…
DEC. 6 … One day the animals had a big surprise. A woman came to stay in the stable. Her name was MARY, and she was going to have a baby – very soon!
DEC. 7 Her husband JOSEPH was with her.
DEC. 8 Out in the fields near Bethlehem, there was a SHEPHERD…
DEC. 9 …taking care of his SHEEP.
DEC. 10 Maybe he had a DOG to help him.
DEC. 11 The dog would run round and round the SHEEP so they wouldn’t get lost
DEC. 12 along with other SHEPHERDs to protect the sheep from wolves.
DEC. 13 In the sky, there was a very special STAR
DEC. 14 Far away, a WISE MAN saw the star and said “This is the sign that a special king has been born.
DEC. 15 …I must find him and worship him. I’ll bring him a royal gift of GOLD.
DEC. 16 So he quickly got on his CAMEL ready to travel
DEC. 17 …and he brought along another WISE MAN.
DEC. 18 …who had a gift of sweet smelling perfume called FRANKINCENSE, for the king
DEC. 19 He came on his CAMEL
DEC. 20 …and the third WISE MAN wanted to go with them too.
DEC. 21 So, he prepared a gift of special oil, called MYRRH, to give to the king.
DEC. 22 When he had packed his bags onto his CAMEL, all the wise men set out on the long, long journey to find the king that God had promised.
DEC. 23 One night, an ANGEL of the Lord appeared to the shepherds. The angel said, “Fear not. I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord and lying in a manger.
DEC. 24 Suddenly, there was a multitude of ANGELs, praising God and saying “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.”
DEC. 25 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the BABY JESUS lying in the manger. And when they saw it they went to tell people about the best Christmas gift ever. Since you and I are sinners, we were separated from God who is perfect. Jesus didn’t want us to hurt or strive to pay for our sins so, Jesus died and rose again to conquer sin and give us a clean heart. Jesus is the best Christmas gift that we could receive. Praise the Lord that He loves us and came as a baby in a manger on Christmas day.