Our Family's Jesse Tree: A Review

I am back again with another review. Because right now this is all I am able to manage on the blogging front. And I'm sure any faithful readers here (all 3 or 4 of you?) forgive me for that.

But, but, but ...

I am so excited to share something new with you! Don't be fooled by the post title, I'm not sharing MY family's Jesse Tree, but a review of a new ebook called Our Family's Jesse Tree by Jen Frost with Melinda Murphy. We have never done a Jesse Tree in my family, but with the help of this cool little book, I believe we will be diving in this year.

Just look at that cute tree on the cover of the book! I'm not sure mine is going to be as cute, but I feel like I can't go wrong following Jen's directions. It'll at least look decent. Let me explain why.

First of all, just recently in one of my Facebook groups someone asked about what sort of trees people use for their Jesse Tree ornaments. She complained that she sees all these different activities for making cute little ornaments but no where has she found anyone who made their own tree. Well ... this is the book! That tree you see on the cover of the book, you can make one just like it. Guess what is under all that cute felt. You'll never guess ... it's a traffic cone! Now, I have no idea where you get a traffic cone, but if you have access to one, more points for you. I was brainstorming and I think I may look for one of those white Styrofoam cones (I think they're Styrofoam, but even if not, I'm 99% sure I've seen something like that in a craft store) would work just as well. Anyway, my point, this book helps you make your own tree, complete with little buttons to hang your ornaments on.

I tell you what, that is one of the main reasons why I can envision using this book this year. Or at least sometime in the near future (if not this year, maybe next year ... for making the tree).

Regardless of whether we do the tree or not, we will definitely do the ornaments. [For a tree, we still have the small tree I had from my single days living in an apartment and later a townhouse, so I could use that for the time being.] The ornaments are cute as a button! And the best part is that Jen gives you 6 different ways for making them. Since my kids are little (4 year old twins and an almost 2 year old) I may print out the black and white coloring versions for the kids to color, cut them out, paste on card stock, and hang them up. Because this is an ebook, next year we can print them out and do the same thing or try something new (depending on how brave this non-crafty mom gets).

Here are four possibilities for making the ornaments

So, #1, this book helps you to make your own Jesse Tree. #2, you have a ton of flexibility on how to make the ornaments. (And did you also notice my subtle hint that even non-crafty people (Yoohoo!) can use this, too?) But wait, there's more ...

The third cool thing about this book is that the Bible readings and prayers are all included as well. Jen and her co-writer Melinda have provided an activity, Scripture reference, summary, a Jesus connection, and a prayer for each day. Since Jen and Melinda come from different faith backgrounds they also worked to make the stories and connections relevant to all Christian believers. In the intro pages she recommends that parents review the materials ahead of time and should feel free to diverge from the printed text as is appropriate for your family's faith background. I read through a few of the days and found them to be good information and very Biblical. I plan on going through it more, but from what I see so far, it all looks great and very flexible depending on the ages of your children.

All that being said, I know you all want to know the details. How can you get your hands on this nifty book? I'm glad you asked. You can get the book for $7.50 as a downloadable PDF. Now, I'm the first person to tell you that I'm not super crazy about ebooks. I like them for quick fiction reads, but not usually for much else. However, I love that this is an ebook, because you can print certain pages and have kids color these each year. Or do the ornaments one way one year and another way the next. So it works great as an ebook. Head on over to the Faith and Fabric Etsy shop HERE to get your copy today. Or, you can get it on the Faith and Fabric Craftsy shop HERE.

Look for more from me on this product soon. I am planning a second review for Catholic Sistas later in the month plus at some point you'll hopefully see an "action shot" of my kids working on their Jesse Tree ornaments. Stay tuned!

Disclaimer: I was sent a free copy of this book for review and no other compensation. My opinions are entirely my own.

Another Why-I'm-Not-Writing Post

But really I am! Things are a little crazy around here.

What?? How is that possible?

Yeah, yeah, whatever. Two kids, work, house, blah, blah, blah. I know you all understand.

But all is not lost! Check out my post today over at Catholic Sistas. I'm doing a little Scripture reflection, which always leads to a bit of self-reflection. Go check it out and leave me some comments over there. I'm hoping to see your comments!!

And I bet everyone wants to see updated pictures of the boys. Yeah, me too. ::sigh::

But once again ... in time. We're actually having pictures done very soon. So stay tuned.

In the meantime, I can tell you that we have some more vocabulary around here and these boys are starting to look like little boys more and more each day. Babyhood seemed to last forever, but toddlerhood is just speeding by. Don't tell me it gets faster from here, I don't want to hear it. Let me live in my naive little world where my little boys will be little boys for a long, long time.

The weather has finally started to warm up and we're having more warm days than cold (well, except for today, but that's KY for you!). This means a bit more time outside. The boys LOVE being outside. I'm sure the neighbors must think something is wrong when we have to bring the boys in, because they can scream like you wouldn't believe. You'd think we were torturing them!

That's all I have time for at the moment. I do have lots of posts swirling in my head, one day I hope to share those with you. In the meantime, hope you enjoy my little reflection over at Catholic Sistas today. Stop on over and say hi.

Saturday Smiles, no. 17

Andrea del Verrocchio, c. 1475,
public domain

I am currently reading the Gospel of Luke. Each night I sit with it and read some part of it, whether that is one small passage or verse or a whole chapter. Depends on what strikes me. As I read this week this particular passage made me smile:

After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. (Luke 3, 21-22)

The image of Jesus being baptized and having the Holy Spirit descend upon Him is one that pretty much everyone is familiar with. I was particularly struck with the small phrase "and was praying." Jesus prayed a lot. For some reason I don't think about that fact much. Up into reading this more carefully there were maybe two places in Scripture that I could point to where Jesus was praying.

Goes to show how unfamiliar I am with Scripture.

I like the image of Jesus praying. It's a very important reminder to me that I need to be doing this more. A lot more! Jesus prayed a lot and He was God. Obviously I need to be praying much, much more myself.

Thank you, Jesus, for reminding me how I can better know You.