Christmas — Janets Journal

Disney’s A Christmas Carol

3 Dec posted by Janet

Last Christmas, I got to see Disney’s A Christmas Carol at the theater in 3-D. It was just stunning to see on the big screen! I did not get a chance to take my girls before it left the theaters, but we got to watch it together this week. The girls and I just love it and highly recommend it! It will definitely be a part of our yearly Christmas must-watch-list. A Christmas Carol follows Dickens’ book more closely than any other movie ever has. The technical advances we now have allow the novel to be brought to life as Dickens intended. The visuals are stunning, the story is both funny and touching, and the soundtrack is beautiful! (We love movie soundtracks! It is like reliving the movie in a short space of time.)

Purchase DVD at Amazon.com

Purchase Soundtrack at Amazon.com

Please note: I would not recommend allowing a younger child watching without a parent, because it could be very scary to them. You know your child best and what would be frightening for them.

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Filed Under: Christmas, Recommended Movies, Recommended Music

Such a Happy Christmas

3 Dec posted by Janet

“They watched Ma dress the wild turkey, and it was a very fat turkey. They were lucky little girls, to have a good house to live in, and a warm fire to sit by, and such a turkey for their Christmas dinner.

****

“They had never even thought of such a thing as having a penny. Think of having a whole penny for your very own. Think of having a cup and a cake and a stick of candy and a penny.

“There never had been such a Christmas.”

***

“For Christmas dinner there was the tender, juicy, roasted turkey. There were the sweet potatoes, baked in the ashes and carefully wiped so that you eat the good skins, too. There was a loaf of salt-rising bread made from the last of the white flour.

“And after all that there were stewed dried blackberries and little cakes. But these little cakes were made with brown sugar and they did not have white sugar sprinkled over their tops.”

***

“That was a happy Christmas.”

—Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House on the Prairie

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Filed Under: Christmas, Recommended Books

Cooking Good Things for Christmas

2 Dec posted by Janet

“Ma was busy all day long, cooking good things for Christmas. She baked salt-rising bread and rye’n'Injun bread, and Swedish crackers, and a huge pan of baked beans, with salt pork and molasses. She baked vinegar pies and dried-apple pies, and filled a big jar with cookies, and she let Laura and Mary lick the cake spoon.”

—Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House in the Big Woods

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A Simple, Peaceful Christmas

2 Dec posted by Janet

We are taking a different approach to celebrating Christmas this year, by combining Christmas preparations with our homeschooling. I was privileged to work on the website for and to enjoy the Ultimate Homeschool Expo Fall 2010: Keeping Christ in the Midst of the Holiday Celebrations, and was encouraged to enjoy Christmas more by removing stress all I can. We are ditching much of our usual school routine for a Christ-centered one, which includes Christmas reading, crafts, cooking, gift-making, ministry, singing, and more. This approach has already taken a huge burden off me because we are incorporating things we need and want to do into our schooling. It truly seems like we are celebrating now, and not just getting through December! This has been what I’ve dreamed about for so long!

We have been reading a Christmas passage from good living books each day and are watching good Christmas movies as often as possible. I’ll do my best to showcase these readings and movies on my blog during this month, and hopefully share Christmas recipes and other activities. Please visit often and celebrate a simple, peaceful Christmas with us.:)

(There are so many good things I’d like to share here all year round; I have not known the direction the Lord wanted me to take for the blog and have been hesitant about writing much before now. In all honesty, I’ve also been struggling with time management and that ever-present perfectionism! Please pray for me as I endeavor to write more.)

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Filed Under: Christmas, Homeschooling

Keeping Christ in the Center of Your Celebrations and Homeschooling

2 Dec posted by Janet

I was recently privileged to work on the website for the Ultimate Homeschool Expo Fall 2010: Keeping Christ in the Midst of the Holiday Celebrations. Although the live sessions are over, you can still sign up to download all the audio, handouts, e-books, and other resources from the live events at this address: http://www.ultimatehomeschoolexpo.com/Fall-Expo-2010.htm. I have been enjoying the audios and highly recommend this expo! I was greatly encouraged to remove the Christmas stress by adding Christmas activities to our homeschooling duties during the month of December. The Ultimate Homeschool Expo was started by Cindy Rushton, and is now owned by the very sweet and articulate Felice Gerwitz, a homeschooling mom, author, and publisher. This wonderful online conference will bless and encourage you, and is worth every penny! It would make a fabulous Christmas present for your homeschooling friends that need encouragement. Learn how to keep Christ in the center of your celebrations and your homeschool activities!

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Filed Under: Christmas, Homeschooling

Our Christmas

26 Dec posted by Janet

We had a good Christmas here, even though money was tight. The amount of money we had to spend on the children was nearly half what it normally was, but it all worked out great, and the girls were exceedingly grateful for their gifts. We had some Christmas surprises, including a laundry basket of groceries being delivered anonymously to our door. We were really shocked, although we think we know where it came from. I was given a new camera, even though I didn’t want any money spent on me. I hope to be able to use it to make money. I am really loving it!

I had wanted to post many times about how we spend Christmas, but time has been short. Although I said no to everything I could, it was still a very busy time. The children had a lot of ministry opportunities at church. It helped tremendously this year that my oldest is driving and could take her sisters and herself back and forth. Also, for the first time in many years, the girls got to spend time with their father, which I’m glad of. Although it has left me with some mixed feelings and different situations to face, I know that God is doing something wonderful in all their lives, and I can rest in that, if I will but trust Him.

Christmas has been a hard holiday season for me over the years, and I’ve not enjoyed it the way I wanted. I remember my very first Christmas alone. I had been single for about 2 months, and hid tears as best I could from the children, as I attempted to put together their toys on Christmas morning. I felt so stupid and lost, because I didn’t know how to easily put together things. I also felt in the core of my being that it just wasn’t right that a mother had to do all that. I remember one year not even having a tree until about a week before Christmas, because I just didn’t want to face what Christmas meant alone. Last year, the girls did all the decorating. This year, I felt a bit of a rebirth of some of the joy of Christmas. Although I’m so glad for the hustle and bustle to be ended, there are parts of Christmas that I don’t want to give up yet. I am enjoying still looking at our beautiful, but broken tree.:) (The stand broke, so the tree was just placed into a sturdy magazine rack and covered with beautiful fabric.)

I try to buy the girls an ornament every year. I want to give the ornaments to them whenever they are on their own and have their own tree. I try to buy quality ornaments that will last over the years. I found out quick that the cheap ones are just that–cheap! I love Hallmark ornaments, especially the ones by Marjolein Bastin, because I love nature and birds. I have learned to put the girls’ initials on them, but now realize I should have been putting the year on them all these years! Ugh!

Here are some pictures of the ornaments on our tree.

Jesus' Names Ornament
The girls’ made my mom and me quite a few of these ornaments made with old CDs and old Christmas cards. They are beautiful with the lights on them. I love them!