What is a Jesse Tree?

“Jesse Tree” comes from Isaiah 11:1-2

 ”A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;

from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—

the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and of power,

the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD”

 This “tree” is a way of preparing our family’s hearts for the true “Reason for the Season”.  There will be a daily devotional, with an accompanying ornament, for each day from the 29^th of November to the 25^th of December!

So, if you are doing the math, you see that you will need 27 ornaments to help your child visualize the accompanying devotional.  That sounds overwhelming to me and probably you too -  BUT -

A SWAP:

So, to make this task much more achievable, I organized a SWAP through my local Mom’s Group.  A special thanks to my friend Sally for sharing the swap info with me!  Each person was responsible for providing 27 identical ornaments.  After a fun MNO (mom’s night out) each lady took home a complete set of ornaments!  We had such an incredible response that we made 2 complete sets!  The night of our swap there were 1458 ornaments there!!!  Pretty amazing sight!  Not as great as the smile on our kiddos’ faces when we brought our ornaments home to share with them.

I am going to share the devotional and accompanying ornament made/bought by one of our swap memebers over the next few weeks.  I am also going to share how our family is going to utilize our Jesse Tree. 

If you would like more information, please email me at katiepcottle@hotmail.com and I will be happy to email you all the information I gathered to organize this swap!

I am going to share some resources that were a great starting point for our group:

Devotionals:  If you would like these in a word format, please email me and Iwill send them to you! 

Ideas for making your ornaments

A Blog with more information on the Jesse Tree project:  Rocks in my dryer

Pictures from the above blog

A great printout/activity page for your child to learn more about/introduce the Jesse Tree

Be looking for more information and pictures . . .

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday!  Always has been!  I love what it stands for and the history behind the meaning!  When you look back at the beginnings of Thanksgiving, both the first meal with the Pilgrims and Indians and when it became a National Holiday -the idea was to give GOD the glory and thanks He is due!  I also love Thanksgiving because it doesn’t bring the expectations Christmas does and beccause when it is over CHRISTMAS is here!  As opposed to Christmas, when it is over – all that is left is taking down the tree!!!

Since Chad and I have been together, Thanksgiving has brought significant things:

2003:  First Date

Chad and I had our first date the Monday of  Thanksgiving week!  It was pretty amazing – enough said!

2004:  Bad Back

Chad and I celebrated our first Thanksgiving and my back was sore.  By the day after Thanksgiving I was in bad shape!  To make a long story short, I had a herniated disc in my back that left me unable to even walk and out of work for quite a while.  It was a long return to health and after treatments on my back 3 times a week for months and lots of drugs and prayers – I live a pretty regular life.  I wondered for a long time if I would ever be able to walk and regain a normal life.  Poor Chad – I know he thought “the for better or worse” was definitely for the worst!

2005:  Jury Duty

The week before Turkey Day in ‘05, I was selected for Jury Duty.  I was thrilled and hoped for a couple of easy days away from my kiddos at school!  Well, I was selected as a juror for a murder trial.  It was so upsetting.  I remember when they interviewed us for the jury, they asked if anyone had an objection to being there.  I was one of 2 that did, I was having my 20 week u/s and couldn’t miss finding out the sex of our little one!  I remember the DA asking me if I could manage not going and I told him I could, IF he told my husband the bad news!  Somehow it didn’t work out for me, but GOD (Right, Carol???) figured it all out and we actually got our u/s the night before our scheduled appt!!!!  I spent 3 weeks on the trial and we were almost sequestered for Thanksgiving – CAN YOU IMAGINE???  We had to work until the day before Thanksgiving and I remember being not thrilled that we were missing half our trip to the Mountains ( I was on holiday at school).  BUT GOD provided and we were able to pay for our entire Christmas with my stipend!  The whole trial is another blog for another day – ugh!

2006:  The Lord Gives . . . .

Charlie’s first Thanksgiving!  What a holiday this was!!!  Charlie had his first ear infection.  I overdosed him on his Prescription Cold Medicine (He was fine, I was a wreck, and I am thankful for Poison Control)  Chad almost ran over me leaving his parents’ house.  We were pulling out of his parents’ carport, when the trunk light came on.  I hopped out of the car to open the trunk and slam it back.  Unfortunately stuff starts falling out – I shriek and Chad jumps out to help!   Unfortunately the car is in reverse.  The car starts coming at me and I run out of the way before the car stops.  It was quite a mess and we were all thankful everything was ok, except for 2 destroyed car doors, a brick wall, and Chad’s dad’s 64 1/2 Mustang!  Oops!  Then the week after Thanksgiving my sweet Granny met Jesus!

2007:  And Takes Away . . .

We had our Miscarriage this Thanksgiving.  Still makes me sad to think about it!  Funny how 10 weeks of your life can change you forever.  Funny how society thinks nothing of a developing baby, but how I think about how sweet it will be to be reunited in Heaven one day with our little one.  Okay, this one still hurts to remember so I’m moving on ….

2008:  The Lord Gives . . .

We announced last Thanksgiving that we were 10 weeks pregnant with our precious Molly Kate!  How good God is!  I had recently herniated yet another disc in my back and had some kick booty morning all day sickness, but I couldn’t help but smile!

So here we are at Thanksgiving 2009 and I have nothing to share noteworthy -

Here’s to praying it stays that way!

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praises to your name, O Most High

Psalm 92:1

Molly Kate’s Precious Christmas Tree!   I just love it!  My mama thinks it is a little loud, but so is she!!   HaHa!  Truly – I just love all thinks pink and green and GIRLY!  Since Molly Kate doesn’t have a themed room, I had a little bit of room to be creative.  I decided on the Fruits of the Spirit.  I just love it! 

MK has a tree that Fancy Nancy would be proud of!! 

Up Close -

My friend Nancy did her letters for me!  She makes and sells vinyl lettering!  Check out her site here !  It looks so much better this way than if  I had tried to write the words!  I painted the dots – That was tough – Haha!  I tied them with Rick Rack because that was what I had around the house and once I started working on the project I wanted it done!

Added a little tulle for finishing touches! 

And some more tulle on the little balls!

What a fun project!  How fun it is to have a girl!!!

Only a Pirate Tree would do for our Lil’ Pirate!  HeHe

I love decorating for Christmas.  I went ahead and got a jump start this week.  Both the kiddos have their trees up.  Charlie has had a Cowboy tree for the past few years because he had a Cowboy Nursery!  But now that he is in a big boy room, he needed a new tree!  My mom bought him this tree and I made his ornaments with a little help from MAMA! 

Here are a couple of close ups:

The gold coins

He even has a pirate tree skirt!

Rock and Roll my Little Pirate Man!

Never been a huge Tattoo Fan (no offense if you have one – they just aren’t for me!), but this little man does something for them –

What do you think??

What a mess! It seems like everytime I take one off, my mom is putting them back on him!  Funny – how she isn’t here to take them off!

Molly Kate turned 5 months a few days ago!  She is such a blessing – high maintenance, but absolutely a gift!  You can tell from the pictures she is one busy lady!  She also loves to suck on her lip – -so funny!

At 5 months, Molly Kate:

• Weighs 13 pounds, 9 ounces (huge weight gain since last month — WONDER why???)
• Answer:   She went from sleeping ALL night (12 plus hours) to getting up at least 2 times a night!!! 
• Can roll from her back to her stomach, but doesn’t like it once she gets there!!!
• Is trying to sit up!  She is getting so strong!
• Can sit on my hip – I love that!
• Has had 2 ear infections this month – OH NO!!!!
• Been on breathing treatments for most of the month due to the Bronchiolitis from her Reflux
• Had an awful cough last week that we treated for Croup
• Still on Zantac  — 1.6 mL 2x a day
• Still on Prevacid — 1.5 tablet a day
• Laughs out loud
• She especially loves her brother!
• Loves watching tv, especially football with her daddy!
• Wears 1-2 Diapers – Pampers Swaddlers Only this month
• Wears 6 month clothing for the LENGTH, but can still wear her 3 month clothing in dresses!
• Insists on being held in the evening!  and she wants you to stand only!!!

What a precious gift she is!!!

 

 

 

 

 

We love my Daddy! Hope you have a great day!

Molly Kate is just a smiling and her brother — well – who knows and the TV was off this week!

No smiles, but looking in the right direction!  (It’s a keeper!!)

And – she is DONE!!!  along with a shoe!

It was off to church for us

I just read this in a novel, but it is quite a stunning thought.  Makes me want to ponder it –

Thought I would share.

On discussing the difference in a good and dutiful mother -

“A duitiful mother is someone who follows every step her child makes”

[A good mother] “is someone whose child wants to follow her.”

                                                                                                              Jodi Picoult  Handle with Care

Wow!  Made me stop and think about how proactive I need to be with my children.  I am not here to put out fires and keep them safe alone, but to encourage them and be a role model! Yikes!  I am praying, especially today, that the Lord will order my steps so I can be a “good” mother, going above and beyond because my babies are well worth it!