Daddy on TV

We all gathered around the TV and watched as Daddy was interviewed on 100 Huntley Street.  It was really exciting for the kids to actually see someone we know on TV . . . and it was our very own Daddy!  So cool.  

Good job telling your story hon . . . we were really proud of you!    

Oh, and the kids thought it was pretty neat seeing our family picture at the end.  So there . . . now we're all famous too!  

All about Christmas

I was talking to a friend at the end of November about school and other things and I was saying that I was trying to figure out how long to carry on with our regular curriculum before taking a break for Christmas.  I said, half jokingly, that I was ready to stop right then.  Later that evening, she sent me a link for a blog post of a lady who teaches her kids at home and they started the tradition many years ago of putting aside their regular curriculum and focusing on Christmas the entire month of December.   I loved the idea right away and it didn't take me long to decide that’s what we were going to do too.  Mike and I are both excited about the fact that Christmas will be so much more meaningful for the kids (and hopefully us too) this year. 

So we’ll be doing Christmas crafts, activities, games, baking, reading, etc.  To help us focus on Advent, we’re using this study.   

We're also making our own Jesse Tree using the study from here.   

So far we aren't as far as I thought we would be due to illness.  I had a little slip and fall incident last week plus Mike and I have both been really sick with the cold virus that's been going around.  I still have a ridiculous cough but I'm hoping one of these nights I can get some sleep and gain some energy back again.  The kids have been watching more TV than ever this past week since mom and dad have been "out of commission".    So hopefully next week we can get some more snuggles in and do some fun Christmas stuff together.  I'm looking forward to it.  

Christmas Books

We're starting a new tradition with the kids this year . . .  counting down to Christmas with books.  I saw the idea here.  I wrapped up all our Christmas books and we're opening and reading one a day until Christmas.  Here's our stack of books: 

This is the list of books we'll be reading, not necessarily in this order:

A Fruitcake Christmas – Max Lucado

Merry Creature Christmas – Dandi Daley Mackall

Mouse’s First Christmas – Lauren Thompson

The Christmas Star – Barbara Shook Hazen

A Charlie Brown Christmas – Charles M. Schulz

Usborne Lift-the-Flap Nativity – Felicity Brooks

A Special Place for Santa – Jeanne Pieper

The First Night – B. G. Hennessy

The Greatest Shepherd of All – Holley Gerth

Tomie’s Little Christmas Pageant – Tomie DePaola

Josie’s Gift – Kathleen Long Bostrom

The Night Before Christmas – Clement C. Moore

Clopper, The Christmas Donkey – Emily King

A Christmas Journey from creation to the Saviour’s Birth – Susie Poole

The Wonder of Christmas – Dandi Daley Mackall

The Little Shepherd Girl – Juliann Henry

What Happened to Merry Christmas? – Robert C. Baker

Clopper and the Night Travelers – Emily King

Christmas Around the World -  Brenda Trunkhill

The Shepherd’s Christmas Story – Dandi Daley Mackall

The Christmas Star – Christine Potter / Moira Butterfield

Listen, Said the Donkey – Jean Little

The Stable Where Jesus Was Born – Rhonda Gowler Greene

The Crippled Lamb – Max Lucado 

 

Winter Wonderland??

Well . . . not quite yet but here's hoping!  Bring on the white stuff!  

One of the perks . . .

. . . of learning at home is that we can do it in comfort.  At the end of last week, the tables we usually use for school had been taken down temporarily and so we did school work on the floor in our comfy clothes.  Pillows, blankets, stuffed animals, a real animal . . . !  Fun.  The kids loved it - it was a nice change.  

Frodo was right in there with the two stuffed animals.  Cute!  

And when he was done helping the kids with their school work, he curled up for a little nap.  

Building Blocks

Speaking of busy work . . . these blocks were given to us this summer by a neighbour.  And normally I'm not a big fan of more toys entering our house – we have too much as it is!  But anyway, these blocks have been a hit . . . especially with Samara and Denver.  If I'm working with Victoria and Austin on something, Samara and Denver have been known to play quietly in the room with these blocks.  I'm don't know what they’re called but I guess they’re the same idea as Lego and they sure bring out the imagination (as you can see in the pics below).  Denver often will carry the bucket out of the school room and go play on his own with them even.  I love simple toys like these – easy to get out and play for a while with and easy to clean up too!  

Three Dimensional Pop Out Shapes

I like the kids to do "busy work) while we do our read alouds.  Sometimes they can come up with their own thing - finger knitting, drawing, colouring, bracelet making, a puzzle, etc.  But sometimes I give them an activity to do too.  The other day I had Victoria and Austin do these three dimensional pop out shapes.  I got the idea from here.  They drew them with pencil first and then traced the lines with a black sharpie marker.  The colouring in was done with oil pastels.  I love how they turned out.  

Victoria's is the blue one and Austin's is the red one.