Christmas Time Is Here!!

My favorite season is finally here! I love the Christmas trees, the holiday music, the crafts, the cookie making, the lights, in short I love it all! It is such a wonderful time of year! People seem to be happier and everything seems to me to be brighter and more joyous. I am so amazingly blessed to have such wonderful family on both sides to enjoy my holidays with. Also a very tolerant husband, he is in his heart a Grinch but he stows the green guy while I decorate, craft and sing holiday songs all around the house!
We put up our tree and decorations a couple of days ago and Santa's little helper Bernard showed up last night with donuts and cocoa!
This is the first year we have done the Elf on the Shelf and though I still find the little dude a bit creepy, I just love all the funny things you can do with them. I can't wait!
Happy holidays!
Stay tuned for elf mischief and our Count Down the Christmas activities!

USS Razorback Submarine

We when on a Thanksgiving trip to Little Rock, AR and had so much fun.
Really, I am serious!
We went and toured a submarine and went to super fun restaurant that had trains that delivered your food to the tables! It is called All Aboard and if you are ever in the area you have to check it out! We really enjoined the Sub and I am planning to do a section on subs with James next week. The history is so different than what we see in movies.
This submarine served in WWII and it was hot (100-120) and cramped! The interior is basically a walk way flanked my either stacks of beds or machinery! Crazy! I can't imagine working and living like that, but the tour guide said they were very well paid and the top 2% of the navy.
God bless those who protect us and our freedoms, especially if they did it from a WWII Sub!

Here is my little sailor!

Eating out...outside that is

Helping mommy cook and having a fun dinner on the deck!
I was a beautiful night so we dragged the food out onto the deck, we also listened to Christmas music! It is almost that time of year, we are pretty strict about NO Christmas before Thanksgiving!

Samaritans Purse Toy Boxes

I have wanted to do the Samaritans Purse boxes for a couple of years and have finally gotten it all together in time, barely in time! James was very interested and glad to give to the "children with no money to buy toys", though he did ask if they were going to send him a toy in return. I told him that the gift that we get is knowing that we have make someone happy, and made God happy. He seemed OKAY with this! haha! I was also very proud that he was able to shop for the boxes without begging and was happy to pack them up and send them off. He is a good boy!
We packed toys and school supplies for a boy and girl about James and Lillian's age. Also we included photos and a note/picture the kids drew. The site said that if you include your address you make hear back from the child that gets your box. It would make James's day, and mine, to get a letter from Africa!

Scrapbook Paper Advent Calendar

While we don't celebrate the Advent calender in the traditional way, we use it as a countdown to Christmas, I am calling it that because that is the way most people know it.

I saw this on pinterest and loved the idea of scrap paper and all the fun embellishments that come with it. So here it is! I think that I will still add some more doo-dads, I love me some doo-dads! (yes, doo-dad, that is the technical term for embellishments) 

I have crafts like a making an ornament and paper snowflakes. We are going to do a couple of service project such as care packages for the troops, toys for tots, and a giving canned food.
I really want them to appreciate the holiday as a season of giving not getting, so one day is making Christmas cards for a family member, another is picking out a gift for the other sibling, and helping make our neighbors Christmas candies.
We will also read Christmas stories, watch the Polar Express, and we are doing Elf on the Shelf this year!

I can't wait for December so I can start the fun!!!

 

The insperation from pinterest...



 

Source: kimberlypetersen.typepad.com via Tiffany on Pinterest

Back in action!

I super enjoyed our little vacation home to Texas, but I am glad to be back home in Alabama!
I hit the ground running on Christmas stock for the Etsy store. A wreath and paper ornaments, next are clay ornaments and a Christmas dress. ;)
Enjoy the pretty...

Color Fun

I am an artist, so for me color and creating is really high on my pass-along-to-my-kids list. So any project that teaches color or is an outlet for me to see there little creative hearts, then I love it!
Here are a few we have done recently...

Zip lock bags and paint taped to the table. Say No to mess and Yes to fun!

 

 

(BTW I really need to make some real curtains for in here...PLEASE pardon the sheet!!)

 

 

Sidewalk outline people! The kids love being traced with the chalk and really really love adding features, hair and clothes to create themselves in chalk.



 

James came up with a great idea to stand against the wall to create a standing up chalk man.

 

 

Mod Podge + tissue paper + muffin pan = Awesome

 

Lillian doing it her way....the teen years will be super fun!

James showing her how to do it. I made it for her but he seemed to like it more.

Isbell's Pumpkin Farm Fun

We went Isbell's pumpkin farm in Leighton on Saturday and had a great time! James favorite part was the tire mountain and the hay maze, Lillian really liked the animals and the hay ride.
I am so glad that we found it, it is a lot nicer and had a lot more things to do than the the one we went to last year!
The only down side is that Jonathan and I have both been experiencing serious Hay Fever since then. We where defiantly not meant to be farmers!
Sniffles aside it was great and we will be back next year!

NANANANA! Batman!

Need a belt for the caped crusader? Well, diabolical duck tape, batman! Look no further!
Just a roll if yellow duct tape can make you into a well equipped dark knight of super cuteness!
Are you enjoying my batmanisms?

Supplies: Duct tape and scissors

All you need to do in double over the duct tape on itself in the length you need for the belt part. Then do the same, only smaller to create the pouches. Leave a little bit on the end to tape the two ends together with.
Then cut a piece for the bottom and fold it around.
Then make you a small folded over piece for the flap and tape it on to the pouch. I also added a little bit of tape to hold the flap closed.
Tape it to the belt and repeat until you have as many as your batman needs to defend the night!

 





You can also add a loop to hold your belt on! Don't want to be losing your belt in front of Cat Woman!

N is for nest

We are trucking along in our My Fathers World lessons! We are doing N for nest. He is really getting that letters have sounds, he knows most of them, and that the sounds strung together make words, we talked about "at" words today, so all and all I am pleased!
I will say that I am starting to hear the homeschool green eyed monster creeping up behind me. Comparing one kid to another is not helpful! I keep repeating my new mantra, "he is only four, he has his own special gifts, don't compare, don't compare!!". But, as I am sure any parent, homeschooling or otherwise, knows that that none-comparing attitude only lasts until I stop saying the mantra!
Anyway! Back to Nests!
We made butterscotch haystacks and added some marshmallow eggs to make nests! It sounded a lot better than the suggested edible nest in the book!

Quite books

Thanks to the wonder of pinterest I have found the greatest new church toy!
A Quite Book!!
I used the left over felt from Lillian's owl costume, so that was a win all by itself, and made these nifty little guys.
So far we have a fab Mrs Potato head and a cute little car track. They are pretty simple to make, just a couple of layers of felt sewn together for the book part and then I cut out all the shapes for the parts. I did the parts double thick for sturdiness and used fabric fusion glue, but you could sew them too. It was easier to glue them but I bet the sewing would look a lot better. Thankfully my kids don't score me on looks, just the fun factor!
I want to pick up a couple more felt colors to make more potato parts and add to the town, and make more...any ideas??

Apple Math!

I took an idea from our curriculum and ran with it! The actual game in the workbook was one for real apples and organizing them by size and color, but i was out of apples so i made paper ones and carried the idea over into math as well as organizing.
It is really working well for James. I think he is defiantly a tactile learner, so being able to see the addition and subtraction is really good for him.
I am having him add to one row, take away from others and so on. It is also great for listening skills!