One of my gifts for Christmas was a fitbit watch. It has been years since I've worn a watch, so it is taking some getting used to. This thing is kinda fun though! It tells me my heart rate, all day long. It counts my steps, alerts me when I get texts or calls on my phone, tells me how many calories I've burned, and much more that I haven't figured out yet. I think I will have fun keeping track of some of my health/exercise/weight loss goals with this thing.
Homeschool this week...
Not a lot of formal learning is going on since we are on Christmas break. I have been encouraging the boys to color and draw when they are bored, so we've been doing some of that over the break. Here is a glimpse of our table in the yurt while we were camping. Aric discovered he likes drawing. The lack of internet/screen time helped with that.
 |
| Aric is drawing on the left, my coloring book is in the middle, and April is drawing on the right. |
Reviews we are working on...
No reviews to report right now. Still on break from that!
Places we're going and people we're seeing...
We did something unusual this year. We were invited to go camping with Michele's family, so we decided to go. It was a great opportunity to get outdoors and be with family even though the weather here is not really great in December for camping. Besides it was in a yurt so we knew we would have a dry warm place to be for sleeping and down time. It turned out to be a great trip. Our yurt was so cozy and warm.
Aaron's cot was in the middle...
Our bed, which was a futon...
The bunk bed which had April on top, and the 2 little boys on bottom (Alex and Aric)...
It rained pretty much all day on Wednesday. We were there from Tuesday to Thursday. So that was our only full day there. We managed to keep dry under the awnings, and in the yurt.
The boys and Michele got to go on several rides in Uncle Marc's buggies. They had fun on the dunes. I never took any rides. I am more of a fair weather rider. It was too wet and cold for me. I kind of wish I had just gone once now though. It's pretty fun. The boys loved it.
 |
| Aric and Dad |
 |
| Alex in back. In front, Cousin Caleb on the left and Uncle Marc on the right. |
 |
| Aric and Dad again in the other buggie. |
My favorite thing this week was...
Our great Christmas pajama race of 2018. It is the 3rd year in a row we have done it, and I really love this tradition. A good friend told me about how their family does it every year, and we gave it a try and have loved it ever since. I don't have any pictures of the action because it's intense. I will have to video it next year. But, here's how it works: We acquire Christmas pajamas somehow. This year I let everyone pick from the Christmas sales. I had hoped for matching, but it wasn't going to work out for that this year. Whatever, no big deal. They all picked fun and cute ones. I wrap all the pajamas exactly the same way. I wash them, take the tags off, and make sure they are all equally wrapped and easily accessible so it is all fair. We put them in the middle of the living room. This year we laid them all flat so all names could be easily seen. It's fun to also hide all the names to make it more challenging. Before the race we designate boy and girl changing areas that are equal distance from the prize (which is set by the presents in the middle of the room). On the go everyone grabs their box with their name, unwraps the gift, runs to the designated changing area (this year was boys in the kitchen, and girls in the computer room), puts on their pajamas, and runs back to the prize to grab it (usually a candy cane filled with candy). It is so fun, and the laughter is heard throughout all the house. We've definitely discussed ways to up the challenge as the kids get older, like not naming the packages and each person has to figure out which pj's are theirs. But, we still have a young one who this is still a challenge for, so we have to keep it simple and fair, and give him a head start.
All of us in our pj's after the excitement...
My kids' favorite thing this week was...
I had each kid show me their favorite present on Christmas morning.
Alex's was his new Fire tablet...
Aric's was his Hogwart's Express LEGO set...
Aaron never did show me his, but he was pretty excited about his new tool set...
April never showed me hers either, but I'm pretty sure her favorite this week was Christmas morning. She just loves Christmas.
Things I'm working on...
I have spent most of this weekend taking Christmas down and packing it away. I found myself getting a little emotional as I took it down. Both happy and sad. On the one hand I was happy to be done, and getting stuff put away. On the other hand this was a rough Christmas for me. There was so much we didn't get to do. Either things didn't work out, or we just didn't have the time or energy to do them. We didn't even really look at Christmas lights except for the ones in the local neighborhoods that we drove by. I was a bit disappointed and discouraged many times during the month of December.
More Christmas fun...
We managed to get one Grinch Amazon box...
We made and delivered some Christmas cards to local friends and neighbors.
A local homeschool friend made some Petit Fours for Christmas. She has her own little bakery business, and always makes such great treats, so I ordered some from her. They were just as delicious as they look. Amazing!
What we're reading...
We are currently reading aloud The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson.
I'm cooking...
Thankfully we didn't have to do a lot of cooking while camping. Most of the cooking took place at one of the other campsites, and we just came over and joined, and brought our share to add to the grill or whatever.
At home we are enjoying things like chicken wings, hamburgers, and lots of unhealthy foods because we are on a staycation right now (Michele is home all week between Christmas and new years). So, we will have to get back on the healthy eating train again after new years.
I'm grateful for...
All the things we did get to do this Christmas season. All the many gifts that were given and received, and for the time that we had together.
That about wraps up our week! Linking this up to Schoolhouse review crew Celebrate 2019 all year long weekly homeschool linkup.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave a comment, I love to hear what you think.