Our Shepherd, Maximus, Christmas 2018

A couple years ago now our Shepherd found us one Advent morning. He leads us to Jesus and has a lot of fun along the way. I didn't document everything this year, but these are some of the highlights.

Here is where Maximus and St. Nicholas overlapped on December 6th.

St. Nicholas left puzzle balls for everyone, a book, and magnetic robot chess.

The kids were particularly pleased with this day. We don't usually have boxed pancakes And this card was unique to this year (as you can tell).

 The fruits of the spirit are always a hit as these kids love fruit. This year we had grapefruit, pomegranate, an orange, an apple, a grape, a pineapple, a banana, and a pear, just to name a few.

Patience banana.

Obedience pineapple. Self-control pomegranate.

Max had to get creative to find a new spot for his searching each day. Here he has a thankfulness chain made. He is thankful for Jesus, his flock, and the Schroeder kids. We made a chain of thankfulness, too (that I forgot to snap a picture of). Many of my children are thankful for food and presents mostly. 😊 And several were thankful for the new baby coming soon!

And the final activity on Christmas Eve was for a birthday celebration in honor of Jesus. Notice all the stuffed animals joining in with their most festive hats!! Two boxes of store bought brownies is quite a treat around here -- unfortunately they tasted terrible for some reason. (Speaking of which I need to complain to Betty Crocker about that. -- This is what happens when the shepherd cuts corners. He should have left the recipe for homemade brownies. 😊) In any case, the celebration was a success. And waking up hearing my youngest children singing happy birthday with the shepherd and stuffed animals was incredibly sweet. The brownies that tasted like dirt were quickly tossed and replaced by some of the festive sweets we had on hand for the season so all was definitely not lost.

Paul asked how old Jesus was. I told him he was 33 when he died, so we have three and three candles. Weird, but it works. Everyone but Rebekah got a candle to blow out and she helped Peter with his.