Merry Christmas and Barron is my Forever Magi

   Perhaps the nicest moment is spending time with someone you love maybe crafting is a way to make that happen. There is a wonderful Australian company that offers many free ebooks with wonderful craft ideas that you can download for free. The 2022 Christmas craft book is located: https://www.cleverpatch.com.au/article/447/christmas-ebook-2022?c=cleverpatch-christmas-ebook-2022&page=1   for other occasions enjoy a variety of selections: https://www.cleverpatch.com.au/ebooks Although we did not do any crafta from this source we did repurposed a christmas box light with a battery operated tea light a few days earlier:

We also did a sweet Nutcracker art project from the wonderful team at Deep Space Sparkle: https://www.deepspacesparkle.com/nutcracker-art-project/

Merry Christmas sheet we purchased this year for 2.00USD can be yours too at: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Nativity-Coloring-Pages-Christmas-Around-the-World-Coloring-Craft-7520125

For those new to the Biblical part of Christmas the three wise men or Magi followed the North Star for 12 days to the manger of Baby Jesus in Bethlehem. Once there they gave baby Jesus three gifts of "gold, frankincense and myrrh. Gold was an acknowledgement of Jesus' kingship, while frankincense represented his future role as priest. Myrrh, a burial ointment, foreshadowed Jesus' death on the cross and thus his role as redeemer." Source:

 https://classroom.synonym.com/what-are-the-three-gifts-given-to-baby-jesus-12082377.html

This is the 2022 Christmas stamp from Canada Post: 

Barron created a nice fork art of a manger and baby inspired from: https://ourcrazyadventuresinautismland.com/fork-painting-manger-set/  

We also completed our Christmas countdown calendar that we invented ourself: 

There is a nice resource available for 7.10CDN: https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/1099136144/mistletoe-investigation-set-homeschool?click_key=2d3df67006a09614dcc809a16357255c196bcecd%3A1099136144&click_sum=64998807&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=mistletoe+investigation&ref=search_grid-676140-1-1 that would compliment any homeschool studies for this time of the year.

We learnt about the gift of the Magi which is a story written in 1905 by O. Henry also known as William Sydney Porter. The story is set on Christmas eve and discusses a husband and wife who sacrafice their most adored possessions for Jim it is his pocket watch he sells to buy tortiose shelled hair clips/combs for his wife and for Della it is her hair she cuts and sells to replace the leather strap for Jim's pocket watch with a platinum chain. They realize the love they have for each other is the best gift of Christmas.

You can view a brief story at: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_fdCwvgkhN8

We had a lovely dance for snow moment inspired by Willow since our snow has melted. We listened to online Costa Rico app 106.3 Pura Vida.

We also decorated a virtual gingerbread man and gingerbread house with some free apps: 

We then found a neat webpage and did some festive activities from: https://www.whychristmas.com/fun/make-a-magi. Barron and I were unfamiliar with the name/concept until we researched it, however he made it rather accurate, you can also find activities on the page for the screenshots we have shared. Our Santa letter fun was found at: https://www.emailsanta.com/letsanta_reg.asp

There is a sweet free 7 page create yourself a Nativity scene for instant download: https://www.whychristmas.com/fun/nativity-coloring and this is a great find of a Nativity Scene for free as well: https://www.fiddlestickseducation.com/make-a-scene.html

The following is a neat activity, a Christmas writing prompt, that we did from https://writingwithsharonwatson.com/christmas-prompts/ which asks, "What is this doing on the tree? Stars. Bulbs. Lights. Garland. You expect these on a Christmas tree, but while looking at holiday decorations in stores, have you ever seen a Christmas pickle? You know, that green glass ornament that looks like a knobby pickle. Many legends surround this strange decoration, but, basically if you find the pickle hiding on the tree, you get an extra present. Now it's your turn: Devise a new Christmas tree ornamed.  Make up a story of where it came from.Will the person who finds it receive something special?" 

Barron spoke the following answers: I would have a chessboard ornament. When you put a chess board ornament upon your tree you are magically taken to a time and place where playing together is appreciated. It reminds you that you have to spend time together and play board games. The person who finds this receives a board game for a Christmas gift. 

These are some sweet Christmas reads that we wanted to share: 

Also this is really a nice creation: https://myprintablehome.com/printable-santa-nice-list-certificate/ a free certificate checked twice by Santa. 

Naturally Barron is on the nice list as he is a blessing and a saviour of mine all throughout the year!