Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Advent Countdown - Day 3 - Philippines & Japan

December 3rd - only 22 days until Christmas!  With all the hustle and bustle, trying to get things done, our Advent Countdown is helping us to stay focused!  We started our time with our Bibles in hand, reading Isaiah 11:1-10.

We looked at two countries today.  The first was the Philippines.  The mass majority of the Filipino people are Catholics, with Christmas being a HUGE holiday.  Christmas carols are playing as early as September.  In accordance, we had our Christmas music playing all day today :)

The second country we looked at, was Japan.  In Japan, Christmas is NOT a federal holiday, so businesses and schools continue as normal.  Due to western influence, fried chicken, especially that from Kentucky Fried Chicken, is eaten for Christmas dinner.

Our book for the day was Lights of Winter by Heather Conrad.  I have mixed views about this book.  It gives a summary of different traditions and beliefs in different parts of the world, celebrated during winter.  While I do not question the veracity of the book, I'm not certain I like the idea of introducing so many beliefs to my children at such an influential age.  We spend a lot of time reinforcing the truths found in the Word after reading this book!

Our craft for today was making homemade Japanese Temari Christmas Ribbon Ornaments.  They took quite a bit of work, but I think the end result was worth the effort.  The actual directions instruct you to wrap a styrofoam ball with thread.  My poor kiddos had quite a bit of difficulty with this.  So we went for yarn instead :)






Since we had a birthday dinner last night, and we did not want to buy KFC, I decided to make an Australian Christmas dinner, of Pork Roast with Crispy Crackling, roasted potatoes and green beans, caesar salads, and Pavlova.  Yum!





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