The book has an easily broken-down shopping list of supplies – most of which are things you’re likely to have around the house anyway (or can substitute for such things).

Each day has a Scripture reading, tagged to a “clue” that the kids find in their Advent Calendar (several options for how to do that).

Then there’s a fun craft project for the kids to do, along with some other discussion ideas for you to use (or not, or as you see fit).

The projects are set up to be done as a series of Christmas Tree ornaments, but for a variety of reasons, we’ve decided not to go that route.

We’re going to “flatten” everything, and mount each artwork on a sheet of paper. Then each of the kids is going to assemble their 24 projects into an Advent Book (in a 3-ring binder, to give it some protection), which can be stored away in their memory box, or enjoyed again next year, or whatever other use we can think up!

The photo is the Littles at work on Day 1 – a candle, for Jesus, the Light of the World.

I’m not going to post our project each day, partially out of respect for the book’s copyright (go buy one, I tell you!). I’ll post perhaps weekly or so, with the highlights.

Who else is doing something special for Advent?

His question is why our Christian young people are leaving the church at an alarming rate. Why are the much touted – oh yeah, and expensive – “youth ministries” failing?

Through interviews with youth, with youth pastors, and other Christian scholars, he explores what’s going wrong, what the Bible has to say, and what we need to do.

This is something that we talk about often, and feel very strongly about. God calls Fathers to disciple their children, and calls believers (all of them) to gather together in worship.

Get a cup of tea, take an hour, and watch this important movie.

It’s available free online until September 15th – just click the graphic below. (The DVD is also for sale).

Although her Etsy store usually has a cute market tote or two, and sometimes other fun things, my favorite things are all “customs” she’s created just for me.

In my last “batch” of sending her goodies to upcycle, she made an adorable purse for Jewel. (You can read the full review, and see photos of the rest of the lovely thing she made – HERE).

This time around I had a new challenge for her. I sent her a pair of Nick’s old camo cargo pants, and requested something a la the Market Tote that took advantage of the pants’ “coolness” in a lunch tote for Nick.

Wow! It’s everything I hoped for, and more… Look at all the cool stuff:

Cargo pockets as exterior pockets.

Pants waistband as shoulder strap.

Ankle zipper as bag closure.

And lined with an old pillowcase, for full upcycle flair!

This is not a sponsored, or even requested, blog post. I’m simply sharing the wonderful work of Hillbilly Creations. Oh, and by the way, Mrs. Davis is also the SAHM of a family who lost their home in a tornado a couple of years ago. Nice Christian family that you’ll help support!

You can also stop by his website – http://www.johnwallermusic.com/ – and sign the Joshua 24:15 Declaration.

Very cool.

We’re still struggling with the aphids.

Dish washing soap solution and DE seemed to get it all under control… Only to have them back in full force a few days later. Ack!

Strawberry plants are healthy and productive – but we’re not getting any.

I don’t know enough to know if it’s something wrong, or just our ant problem, or what. But they get gone before they get ripe.

And now, something seems to be digging… Especially in the onions. Bird? Beast?

Oddly, it doesn’t look like they actually took anything, so it seems pretty weird.

I didn’t need any help to have a miserable time with the lettuce.

The two on the right came up nicely, while the two on the left didn’t.

I replanted the left pair a couple of weeks down the road, and one has come up as a runty bit. The fourth remains.

Of the two that came up so prettily in the first wave, one has suddenly and mysteriously (at least to me) keeled over dead.

Hm.

Okay, enough of that. Let’s move right along to the good news, shall we?

The climbers on the back row are all doing quite well. (The replanted watermelon is a bit behind, but still perky).

Here, for example, is our lovely budding summer squash vine:

And, totally out of the blue, there are … BEANS!

Bush beans. Which were apparently sneaky enough to totally be missed on garden day Monday, although it’s true that the kids watered while I was transplanting some new friends.

Rather than waiting for something bad to happen, I do believe I’m going to pick them, steam them a little, then enjoy them for dinner with the kids…

The Good

Wolf is putting up the trellis frames. since our little plants are getting tall enough to need the encouragement. We’re using salvaged pipe for the sides, and a pressure-treated board across the top, then I’ll tie the guides with twine.

We also removed the “grids” we’d made to keep our square feet separated until the plants were visible enough to be able to tell. Did I mention that those were made from foraged cane that we cut in a vacant lot down the street?

We also have some happy recent additions to the garden.

This little herb garden (four different varieties of basil, plus dill) is from the over-abundance of sprouts a 4H friend was trying to adopt out.

We also have a baby Blue Spruce tree, courtesy of Lowes’ Earth Day promotion.

And look at the pretty little flowers my bush beans have sprouted:

The Bad

Yeah, nice, huh? That is… or was… my watermelon plant.

Not quite sure where to go with that one.

The Ugly

Wow.

The aphids apparently really think Thomas Jefferson’s cowpeas are tasty.

Obviously, I’m not running out to grab any toxic chemicals to spray on the little nasties. I’m looking into diatomaceous earth, as well as some essential oil options, thanks to suggestions from my wise gardener friends on Facebook. I’ll keep you posted…

We were gardening yesterday, and I got a little trigger-happy with the camera.

This is our garden.

These are the first strawberries our plant has produced.

This is the first corn sprout we’ve seen.

This is the first lettuce sprout.

This is our mixed onion and garlic patch, with the bush beans visible through them.

These are our black-eyed peas, with the onions visible behind them, and my sister visible behind them. I like the forest effect the onions make.

These are our potatoes.

This is another onion forest picture, with the strawberries visible behind them.

So, here’s some of my photography. I’ve done most of the pictures of the garden, and just wanted to show some of my more superfluous pictures.

We’ll only be in this house for another 18 months at the most, probably… But he really wanted them to have this.

His theory was that he could build it in a sort of modular platform setup, and then we could take the components with us when we move. It’s all built with treated wood, so it should hold up well.

There are two big trees close together that are the base. For the Littles, there are two (low) platforms and a walkway through between the trees, with a ladder up on one side. Railings are next on the agenda.

The plan is to put a platform about 12′ up, for Nick. He’ll have a rope ladder, or some similar type of access that he can control.

The dew on the strawberry leaves gathers into sparkling little droplets on the tip of each point. Amazing!

Click the image to see it bigger… Although it still doesn’t do it justice.