The Familyman's Christmas Treasury (A Homeschool Crew Review)

My family loves the holidays.. From early October until the start of the new year, we are in holiday mode, gearing up for Halloween, followed by Thanksgiving and then heading straight into the Christmas season.  The colored lights start getting untangled, the Christmas tree is set up and decorated and Christmas music begins to be played soon after the turkey is served.

Even though it was a bit early, we were able to have a bit of Christmas early in Sept/Oct when we had the opportunity to review the digital download version of The Familyman's Christmas Treasury - Audio Collection from The Familyman.

The Christmas Treasury Audio Collection includes 6 stories written by Todd Wilson (The Familyman Podcast) and read by Jim Hodges.  Available as a 6 CD collection or by downloadable digital MP3 files, the collection includes the following stories:

• Captain Chaos and The Manger Blaster -Ten year old Jason is bored with the manger. The Nativity Story would be so much exciting with a Superhero and a blaster to blast that manger to bits.  Will Jason feel the same once he sees how life would be without the baby in the manger?
• Cootie McKay's Nativity - It's the Christmas that almost wasn't when the nativity scene is destroyed.. Until Cootie McKay comes to save the day...  Only Cootie doesn't know anything about the Christmas Story.  
• The Stranger - When a stranger comes to town, he finds very few friendly faces at Sam's church. But as Sam's family shows this stranger kindness, Sam starts to realize that this is no ordinary stranger they've let into their home. 
• The Bishop's Dream - How would  St Nicolas feel if he knew how much focus is given to him as "Santa Claus" during the holiday season instead of the focus being on the birth of Christ. 
• Harold Grubbs and the Christmas Vest - Issac's dad drags out that UGLY sweater every Thanksgiving and wears it to church.  Issac hates it - it's embarrassing to be seen with his dad when he wears it. Until his dad tells him the story of Harold Grubbs. 
• Gladys Remembers Christmas - Gladys hates Christmas almost as much as she hates her name. Her name reminds her of her mother who died when she was a child and Christmas reminds her that everyone is happy - except her.   

We were also given the MP3s to two additional Christmas stories which are not available with the CD set but are available on the Familyman website as digital downloads:

• It's Called Christmas -  Nook, a young man from 300 years from the future who has traveled to our time to give us a warning of what will happen if we take Christ out of Christmas.  
• The Secret of the Snow Village - Who doesn't love looking at those tiny decorative Christmas villages? Catherine loves looking at her Grandmother's village and finds herself envious of their "perfect Christmas". 

Each story runs between 15 to 30 minutes and is suitable for all ages, from the very young to the very old.

What We Thought:

Since we were reviewing the digital download version of the Treasury collection, we downloaded the 8 MP3 files and uploaded them to our Amazon account.  This worked very well for us as we could then just use the app on our phone or tablets to listen to them as well as to play them on our Amazon Echo.

Jim Hodges has a very smooth voice and is easy to listen to.  These are stories that can easily become a Christmas Eve tradition of listening with the family while sipping on hot chocolate.

My personal favorite out of the 8 stories was "The Stranger".  The Bible says that we should always keep the lamp lit and prepared for the master's return and this story really made me think about that . What if Christ knocked on your door tonight, would you let him in?  I love the idea of Jesus being a guest in my house.

The kids really liked "Captain Chaos and The Manger Blaster" - they thought Jim Hodges robotic voice of Captain Chaos in this particular story was funny.   Garrett loved it!!

One of the things I absolutely love about these stories is that they focus on the true meaning of Christmas - not the presents or the Christmas tree. Not the man in the red suit with white trim. Instead, these classic stories bring the listeners attention to the fact that Jesus is the reason for the Season. Todd Wilson is a great story writer.  


All of these stories are available in MP3 format and the first 6 are available when purchasing the 6 CD set.  If listening to audio readings isn't your style, each story is also available in book format on the website, perfect for cuddling up on the couch and reading as a family each night leading up to Christmas.

To learn more about the Familyman Ministries and the Christmas Treasury Audio Collection, please visit their website or visit any of their social media websites at:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ToddWilsonFamilyman/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/youdadad

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/toddwilsonthefamilyman/

Pinterest:  https://au.pinterest.com/familymantodd/

Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/u/0/107435990705080484154

Blog: http://familymanweb.com/blog/

Wordless Wednesday

Santa Rides a Firetruck

Christmas is in two days and the kids are super excited.. This particular season has had a lot of surprises for them as normally there's not much going on for the season on base.

Last week, the members of the Navy who are stationed here got together with the base Fire department to bring a lil bit of Christmas cheer to the base children.  Four fire trucks with lights and sirens along Santa and Christmas music made their way though the entire Housing community, waving hello and passing out goody bags to all the good Boys and girls :)

Running Around Excited About Santa

They Heard Sirens

But Unfortunately, No Trucks yet (they were a few streets over)

Starting to worry Santa Wasn't coming

Even Dad Came out When he Heard Sirens and Music (Gotta Love his Christmas Pants)

Still Waiting

Turning on our Street

There's Santa

Navy Guys on the Fire Trucks

Santa Says Hi 

I love the Navy Anchor on his Santa Hat

More Fire Trucks

All the Toys for Good Girls and Boys (They Visited EVERY house on Base!!!)

Have your own Wordless Wednesday post to add?? Be sure to click the button below and head over to Life at Rossmont to post your own or to view other Wordless Wednesday posts.

Wordless Wednesday

The Christmas Party

Well, of course, it was actually called the Holiday party, but either way, the kids went to the party hosted by the Base Housing and had a really great time.  We walked over to the school down the street and the kids had a blast doing woodworking crafts, eating cake and pizza and of course, meeting with Santa Claus.

The Chrismon Tree

When I was young one of the things I looked forward to each holiday season was our church's Chrismon Tree. It was a beautiful tree, towering about 15 foot tall, covered with white and gold ornaments and lit brightly with white twinkling lights. Each year the tree would be on display inside the main sanctuary for the Advent season but without a doubt one of my favorite memories was seeing it glowing bright one last time during our Christmas Eve Candlelight services.  

Chrismon trees typical are put on display during the four weeks of the Advent seasons and are removed following Christmas day. The term “Chrismon” is a combination of the words “Christ” and “Monogram” and literally means the monogram of Christ.  Some people might refer to the Chrismon tree as the Tree of Christ.   Chrismon refers to the special ornaments that are placed on the tree rather than the actual tree – the Chrismon tree being a tree with the Chrismons on it. First displayed in 1957 at Ascension Lutheran Church in Danville, Virginia, each of these Chrismons are symbolic to the life of Jesus Christ. The ornaments are always white and can be made with felt, foam, beads or cloth with gold embellishment such as ribbons, glitter and bead work. Often handmade, Chrismons can be made in a variety of crosses, shapes, objects, letters and numerals.

Foam Chrismons make for a great 3 dimensional look

There are roughly 50 symbols that are used as Chrismon ornaments although some trees might have more or less.    There are many books and websites that provide ideas and patterns in making your own ornaments and what each one represents but with a bit of creativity it would be very simple to design your own.   Many people use beads of white and gold threaded on wire to form each shape. I personally love the look of the foam ornaments as they have a really nice 3D look to them.   You could even craft them with salt dough, which the kids will be doing later this week.  No matter how you decide to craft your ornaments, it's a great activity to bring the entire family together while learning about the symbolism each ornament represents.

While it would be hard to list all of the ornaments, there are many books as well as guides online that can help you visualize each of the various ornaments. However, here are a few of them as well as what they represent.   

The Alpha and Omega

The Alpha and Omega represents Christ who said “I am the beginning and the end, the first and the last”

The Triangle – represents the Trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

The Three Intertwining Circles – the eternal quality of the Trinity with no beginning or end.

The Latin Cross – represents the cross that Jesus was crucified on.

The Calvary Cross – represents the Latin Cross standing on a three step platform. The three steps represent Faith, Hope and Love.

The Cross Crosslet – Representing the spreading of Christianity to the four corners of the world.

The Anchor Cross – represents a time when Christians were prosecuted for their faith and used this symbol to avoid persecution.

The Kingly Crown

The Cup – represents Christ's suffering as referred to in Matthew 26:39 “If possible let this cup pass from me”

The Kingly Crown – The kingship of Christ and his victory over sin and Death – The King of Kings.

The Shell With Drops of Water – symbolizes Baptism.

The Maltese Cross – The eight points symbolize the Beatitudes while the cross itself is an emblem of John the Baptist. It is formed by four spearheads with the points touching the center.

The Trefoil Cross with Dove -Represents a new believer with the dove representing the Holy Spirit

The Sand Dollar - known as the Holy Ghost shell. The markings recall events in the life of Christ.

The Cross and Crown - symbolizes the rewarding life for Christians after the death of the body. And also symbolizes that Jesus is King of Kings.

Crown of Thorns and Nails

The Crown of Thorns and Nails - Symbol of the crucifixion of our Lord

The Lamb - the symbol of Jesus Christ.

Three Fish United to Form a Circle - reminds us that all three persons of the Trinity contribute to our salvation.

Triquetra and Circle

The Son of Righteousness symbolizes that like the sun, Christ the Son of God is the source of light and life to those who believe in Him.

The Triquetra and Circle. The endless circle suggests eternity. The triquetra—the figure composed of three separate and equal arcs— symbolizes the One God who showed himself to man in three separate and distinct persons.

The Angel of God – Symbolizes the angelic announcement of both the birth and the resurrection of Christ.

The Heart – the symbol of charity.

Descending Dovw

The Butterfly – a symbol of the resurrection and life everlasting for the believer.

The Ship – Symbolic of the Church as it was opposed by persecution in early Christianity

The Christmas Rose – The Nativity of our Lord

The Lyre – represents the joy in praising the Lord.

The Descending Dove – symbolizes the Holy Spirit as it descending upon Jesus

The Ark and the Rainbow – Symbolizes God's promise  

Next year, I hope to have a second tree for the inside of our house dedicated solely to the gorgeous Chrismons while the kids have fun learning what each of the beautiful ornaments represent. And maybe they will remember that tree with as much fondness as I still hold towards the one that graces the chapel at First Christian Church in Port Arthur, Texas.   If your ever in that area during the holidays, go take a look at it.  Maybe you'll be even be tempted to add this tradition to your holidays as well.  

Christmas and Advent Decorations

Thanksgiving is over, we've eaten most of the leftovers that were in the fridge and it's back to school for the kiddos.   I don't know why but for some reason they thought that the month of December meant no school til after Christmas.  They were in for a bit of a rude awakening this week when I declared it was time for school.. LOL

 However, instead of our normal studies, I figured I would do some lessons that are holiday based.  Taking advantage of a few of the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales going on, I picked up a number of units to mix and match for this month without breaking the bank too much :)

One thing we're going to start next week is the "Christmas Comes to America" Unit study from Homeschool Legacy.  I wanted to start it this week but unfortunately, the library didn't have ANY of the books I was hoping to find so instead I'm going to see if I can find some alternatives that will work this weekend..  If not, I'll just hang on to the unit and actually buy the books to use next Christmas, as I'm sure as soon as I blink it will be right around the corner again.  lol

So, since I couldn't start the unit I wanted, I've been throwing together some videos and handouts for them.

Our Elf on the Shelf, Jack, came back the day after Thanksgiving so he's been hanging around doing his thing.. Today we woke up and he had a suggestion for us.. Seems that Jack felt there wasn't enough snowflakes in our Christmas repertoire and so he had the materials and instructions ready for us to add more Christmas to our decorations.

This really proved to be a great project as all three kids worked together to make their giant snowflakes (which, btw, is a project out of The Old Schoolhouse's publication Homespun Holidays which is currently free to download and has lots of great ideas and recipes for Fall and Winter).  To my surprise, Garrett was the best out of all three of them as he quickly caught on to the technique necessary to make them and had his completed before both girls were even halfway done..   Each kid completed their snowflakes and after using them as hats, we decided they will be hung up over our entryway.  Hopefully this meets Jack's snowflake quota ;)

We had a second craft on our agenda for the week.  Since this is week one of Advent, we decided to make an advent wreath.   After looking at a few various crafts online, I pulled together the best of what I saw and designed our own using cutouts of both kids hands as the greenery and toilet paper tubes covered in construction paper for the candles.  A bit of glue and some glitter (which I believe is the spawn of all things evil) and we were all pretty pleased with how they came out :)   I am debating if I'll add some additional "trim" to the greenery but for now, it works.

If your curious as to how to make them here's what we did.

I used 6 green, 2 brown, 2 purple and 2 pink pieces of construction paper as well as white glue and red and gold glitter.

Stacking the green and brown paper, I traced the kids hands and cut out the stack.  This gave me roughly 16 hands.

The hands were then stacked  and stapled together to make the greenery for the base.

I then used white glue to attach purple and pink construction paper to four toilet paper tubes. Hot glue could also be used but the white glue worked fine for me.

These I glued to the "greenery" base with a bead of white glue along the bottom of the tube (which, surprisingly, holds very well).  The wicks were yellow printer paper cut in the shape of flames.   A bead of white glue along the bottom and top (as well as some extra to look like drips) with gold glitter to finish it off and voila, Advent candles. :)

We have a many other Christmas/Holiday crafts planned for this season.   I'm one of those who searches Pinterest and pins so many different things in the hopes that we can get around do it and I'm hoping to knock some of those holiday crafts off the list..