Christmas was...

...focusing
...baking

...resting

...gifting

...boarding

...crafting

...skiing

...driving

...knitting

...bundling

And so much more!

Crafts and Experiments

We spent the afternoon doing a couple of crafts. None of which were my original idea, but they did come together very nicely. Sometimes you find craft ideas, but they turn out to be flops. I don't think either idea was a flop. They can be linked her for the fabric covered styrofoam balls, and the recycled Christmas cards.

They are now hanging nicely from the curtain rod in front of our sliding doors in the living room.

I think they look very elegant.

Completely unrelated, but happening on the same day, is the following surface tension experiment performed by Eric. We went to the Walter Wick exhibit at the Walter's Art Museum in Baltimore last week, and there were some photos of things like below. Eric wanted to try this one out and was pleasantly surprised with the results.

Cool, huh!

Key to Christmas

Dear boy, don't you know that all the best things are invisible? Sometimes you have to believe in order to see.

-Auntie Claus and the Key to Christmas

Advent

I have seen many posts lately about Advent...my good friend Sarah has a link on her blog to some wonderful Advent ideas, many of which we will use this year. For our family, we have traditionally used Advent as a time to keep our focus on Christ during the Christmas season. It is so easy to get caught up in busyness and activities, so the daily Bible reading centered around the Christmas story, and some activity that encourages us to think beyond ourselves really helps us to celebrate Christmas in a meaningful way.

We started one new advent activity this year, and I wasn't really sure how it would go over with the kids. Though it has only been 2 days, I am quite impressed. The idea is called "Stocking Stuffers". The rules are this: Each person has to write one note each day, and you have to rotate to whom you write. Write a note that is encouraging to one of the members of our family, fold it and put it in their stocking. The note can be short or long, and can say anything you want, as long as it is encouraging. Christmas morning, when stockings are opened, each person will have a handful of notes to read from each other.

The reason we decided to do this activity this year was because our children struggle (and oftentimes we do as parents) with finding positive things about each other. It is so easy to focus on the negative. Instead, they will be looking for those little things about each other which they love and will be writing them down.

So, as I said, I wasn't sure how it would go over. This morning, without any prompting, after breakfast, each of the kids got out their little slip of paper from the basket and wrote their note, and slipped the notes into the stockings on the mantle.

Laundry Room Clean-up One of these days I will remember to take a before picture! Either way, I can tell you that the laundry room was cramped and poorly organized. Before Christmas and all it's busyness arrived, it was my goal to get this room in better order. The first order of business was to take out the large and cumbersome old refrigerator. That alone made a huge difference.In its place I put the hutch that Dennis made many years ago. It was recently kicked out of it's home by a new hutch. This hutch looks so much better in the laundry room and provides me with tons of storage! I was also able to hang up my accordian clothes drying rack on some newly found wall space, so now it will actually get used.

I decluttered the corner around the deep sink, and Dennis moved the shelves that were on that wall to another wall, and made me some corner shelves and a long shelf to go above the sink. Everything is so much more functional and I actually have empty shelf space...which I know will not last for long!
The only adjustment is going from two refrigerators down to just one. I guess that means I will just have to keep my kitchen fridge cleaned out!

Oyster Dissection

At our home-school coop, Eric's class is doing anatomy through dissections. So far they have dismantled an owl pellet (which is NOT owl pool, as I once thought-it is regurgitated remains from the owl's last meals), earthworm, oyster and next a frog. It has been a wonderful science unit.

Because my dad farms oysters at his house, I volunteered to lead the oyster dissection. It turned out to be a fascinating experience. In my experience home schooling, whatever I teach, I end up learning so much more than I thought possible. Just goes to prove that learning is a life-long process.
The oysters were shucked just minutes before class, so they were still very alive. What was so cool was that the kids were able to see the tentacles (yes, oysters have tentacles!) respond to stimuli.

They were also able to see the oyster's tiny heart actually beating. It was amazing. If ever you are interested in doing an oyster dissection and you are in the area, feel free to let me know. Or if you can get your hands on a live oyster, it is a really cool experience. The lab I used as a guide was at this link: Oyster Dissection Lab

If you click on each of the links that are named -Figure 1-, -Figure 2-, etc. you will get some great pictures, but there is nothing like the real thing!

Veterans Day Parade

I have heard that our county hosts the largest Veteran's Day parade in our state. Whether it is or not, it certainly is quite a production for our rural little corner of America. All 3 high school marching bands are there, all of the scout troops, each of the JROTC squads from the schools, each of the rescue squads and fire departments, a set of Clydedale horses, bagpipers, a Confederate Army group, and a host of other patriotic groups.

We haven't been to the parade in a couple of years, but Leah was asking when we would go again. It is a beautiful fall day, so we went. Sometimes it is bitterly cold and not so pleasant! The kids have a great time...

My brother was coming into town and joined in the parade at the last minute with his Humvee. He cracks me up :)

Leah and Granni hanging out on the sidewalk waiting for it to start. The whole parade lasted more than an hour.

Where did she go????

Despite looking extremely bundled up, it really wasn't that cold. We were just very prepared!

Thank you to all those who have served...including my dad, brother and husband...

Happy Veteran's Day!

Halloween

It is finally cold enough to get the wood stove going. I was so excited to start a fire this morning...and it feels soooo good to have that warm heat radiating in the bones. Elsa has officially claimed her spot for the next 5 months. She literally did not move from this spot the entire morning.

The kids had a packed weekend. The kids started it all of for me on Thursday by all making changes to their costumes. Leah was originally going to be a giraffe and Bay the Transformer character, Bumblebee. As you can see, they changed their minds. Leah has a ton of costumes and dress up clothes, so her change of mind was easy. Bay's was a bit more involved, but I was able to use a pattern from another costume to create the basic yellow suit and improvised for the rest. He did get his head shaved for the bald effect. He wanted it TOTALLY shaved, but we just couldn't bring ourselves to do that!
In case you can't figure it out,
Eric is Billy the Mechanic
Bay is Ang, the last Airbender (from this show which our family loves!)
Leah is Tiger Lily (from Peter Pan)


Quick visit with Granni

Dennis thought up our costume this year.

We're M&M's. I am plain and he's with nuts.

We went to a birthday party for our friend, Sam. He was born on Halloween 3 years ago, so he will alway get to enjoy quite a Halloween party! Naturally, everyone dressed up. The kids painted pumpkins, had a pumpkin hunt, and ate scary food :)

On Sunday, we went to a festival at the church we have been attending. The kids had a great time. Eric helped out with the fire-pit and cooking hot dogs for the younger children. Bay and Leah enjoyed themselves playing games for candy and prizes. They had trunk-or-treating and bounce houses.

The only thing we forgot to do this year.....carve our pumpkins!!!! Guess we'll do it after the fact!

Hand Tantalizer

Leah got some of this in a goody bag. She calls it hand tantalizer. It cracks me up.

"Mom, can I use some of my hand tantalizer? It smells good. "

Family Visit

My grandmother from Ohio came to visit this weekend (my uncle drove her). Although she is getting along in years, she still gets around. The boys played in an All-Boys Piano Recital. This was Bay's first recital. I played the duets with him. Afterwards he said, "That was really fun!" Eric also played two very exciting pieces. Great-Gram really enjoyed herself.

My two handsome boys :)

Leah and Great-Gram chatting before the recital.

My grandmother loves yard sales and always brings suitcases full of yard sale finds for the kids. She loves it because she gets more bang for her buck, and never feels badly if they don't particularly like something. The above yard sale find, however, didn't fit in her suitcase, but I think Leah really loves it!

Look at that girl, already driving and talking on her phone.

Lots of people always think that this grandmother is my mom's mom. If you know my mom, you would understand why. She has the same build and pretty much the same hair as my mom. And, they look strikingly alike; however, she is in fact my dad's mom. All of her kids had dark hair and dark complexions.

{this moment}

a single photo...no words...capturing a moment from the week. A special, extraordinary moment, a moment I want to remember.

From Leah's Perspective

Recently, Leah likes to get my camera and take shots of things around the house that interest her. Usually she has set something up with her animals and wants to take a picture of that and then she ends up taking about 50 more pictures around the house. It is always interesting to get the pictures off the camera and see what she has captured.

Funny how she's already figured out the self-portrait pose!

Looks like he's been caught at something!

Is this a subliminal glimpse into her personality?

Treasures

***I found this post in my drafts from quite a while ago, but I really liked it, so I'm sharing it now!****

{this moment}

this moment...inspired by Soule Mama...a single photo, no words, capturing a moment from the week. A special, extraordinary moment, a moment I want to remember.