Thankful Thursday

 

Today I received a phone call from a friend that just moved across the country. In fact, they are en route to South Carolina right now so I have been watching their progress on FB. I was happy and surprised to see her name pop up on my phone today! She called after they had stopped driving for the day and we got to chat. So thankful! So nice to hear her voice and feel like she's still right down the street.

Wordless Wednesday: New ornaments

 Christmas 2023

Top 10 Christmas Day list

We had such a lovely Christmas day. I wanted to highlight the top 10 things about it:

1. April Came home
2. Cinnamon Rolls were made and consumed
   
3. We slept in!
4. We completed a Christmas puzzle
5. Nice dinner with Roast and baked potatoes
6. Games were played
7. Presents and stockings opened
8. Secret Santa LEGO gift from The Netherlands
9. Watched Elf movie
10. Christmas PJ's were worn
    

A Christmas Carol

I realized this year that we have never really read A Christmas Carol. I haven't even really read it. I've watched several versions since I was a kid, but never picked up the book.  So, we changed that this year and I obtained a few copies through various sources to see which I would like to own. I wanted to have an illustrated version for the kids so I decided on this one that is illustrated by Yelena Bryksenkova.

 

Now we have one! We are still making our way through it and loving it so far.

Do you read this at Christmas time?

Thankful Thursday

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

Thankful Thursday

 

Every night when I climb into bed I always say it's my favorite time of the day. It is! And I'm thankful for it. For a reason to stop and recharge. I'm also thankful for the warm and comfortable bed I have to climb into.

Wordless Wednesday: Winter

I love creating with LEGO. It's the first thing I've felt at least a little good at in a long time. So, I present to you my winter bonsai tree.

My Weekly Notebook: Week 48

 

Life this week...

It was a sick week again for some of us, including me. I woke up on Tuesday morning with a sore throat and stuffy. The next day a kid said his throat was feeling sore. I'm looking forward to being able to do stuff again next week.

Homeschool this week...

I made a big switch for Alex's school and decided to start him into Level H Bookshark curriculum. It's a book heavy curriculum, but I am hoping he likes the flow of things better. It just felt like none of his subjects were linking together very well. Everything felt disconnected. I love how things feel more connected with Bookshark. He is starting out with learning about the 1600's in history, robots in science, and reading some great books for Language Arts.

Mom-school this week...

I am lacking in any mom school from this week.

Helpful homeschool tips and advice to share...

I love this Christmas notebook idea!  (From the Unlikely Homeschool)
 

Places we're going and people we're seeing...

I had the opportunity to go with some friends to a fun Christmas tea in Aurora. I love this picture of us. 

 

Things I'm working on... 

I am really working on getting fun advent activities in each day, planned or not. Even if I'm the only one that ends up doing them. This particular LEGO challenge will probably mostly be me, and I made some cute little reindeer for day 1. I will post those pictures in the LEGO prompt. 

 

Random things the kids worked on...

Two of my boys worked on building Aric's computer when new parts came this week. It was heartwarming to see them working together. Basically Aaron was helping Aric figure out some things.
 

Something I accomplished...

I made it to 600 followers on my LEGO Instagram account. I'm amazed! I don't think I've ever had 600 followers on anything. I made this little mosaic to commemorate it. 

What we're reading... 

We are starting A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and Who Was Charles Dickens? by Pam Pollack. I somehow managed to get 3 different copies. I'm pretty sure the Eyewitness one is an abridged version, but it still has some great pictures.

Movies/TV we watched... 

Watched the new Indiana Jones movie with the Hubby over the weekend. It was my 2nd time watching it and it was still enjoyable.

Outdoor time...

We went on a beautiful walk at Chehalem Nature Ridge with our homeschool nature/outdoor group. It was sunny and beautiful.

 

 

Games we played... 

We played Tenzi with some prompt cards. This challenge was pretty fun to do.  

We also played this Disney version of Codenames. We've had this game way too long and haven't even played it until this week. It was difficult to figure out for 2 players, but we did!

LEGO...

I am so proud of my reindeer that I made for day 1 of advent building. Especially the pink reindeer.

 

I'm grateful for...

I am grateful for a warm home to sleep in, and protection from the elements (including rain).

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for a tree that is easily accessible and ready to put up any time (aka a fake one). It's not a real one, but it's easy. Thankful it's up and ready to decorate and makes our house instantly festive.

Wordless Wednesday: Black Cat

 

Thankful Thursday

 

Today I am thankful for friends. You never know when they might move away or not be a part of your daily life so make time for them and treasure them. They are a blessing.

My Weekly Notebook: Week 45

 

Life this week...

It has been too many weeks since I've done a weekly update. Sometimes there's just no time. But I miss doing this so I am making time this week. I need like an extra week in between the weeks just to catch up on life.

Learning this week...

We are still at the beginning of most of our books for the new school year and that means there is a lot of review. Or, what I think will be review. But, it turns out we really needed to go over these basic parts of speech again. Alex still struggles to remember what they are. So, we started grammar this school year with an interactive notebook and some Mad Libs. 

The only Mad Libs I could find was the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book. I think Alex is the only one who hasn't read these books, but oh well. Still fun, and funny. I know we have a billion other versions of these Mad Libs books, but they are no where to be found. Go figure.

Helpful homeschool tips and advice to share...

I was looking around for some new ideas for language arts and I came across this idea for a file folder with matchbook chapter summaries. This is such a good idea to do with read-alouds. We usually have questions and discussions after each chapter and this would be a great way to get something down on paper too. Kinda like a book report. I am really hoping to try this for our next read-aloud

Places we're going and people we're seeing...

We went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium with friends on Monday. It was such a nice visit. We haven't gone for a while so it was fun to go back again and see how the animals are the same but also different.

A few of our favorite things this week...

 

 Things I'm working on...

I am working on a LEGO winter village. I started an ice skating rink (my own creation) and I'm going to have that as kind of the center of the vilage. It won't be real big this year, but it'll have a lodge and an ice skating rink at least. Oh and a Christmas tree!

Random things the kids worked on...

Alex had his first entrepreneur fair/sale. He made some cookies, cards, and diamond art ornaments. He had a good time selling his goods, and he even got to share a table with his buddy. So proud of this kiddo.

 

Here you can see our highly sophisticated cash box. It was all we had.

 I sat at the booth for him to go look around for a short time. This is what it looked like from the other side.

These are the diamond art ornaments, nutcracker soldiers.

 

Something I accomplished...

Sometimes for this prompt I just want to say I survived another week. I am hoping I can accomplish more in the next week.

What we're reading...

I am listening to this book, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna. I have been enjoying it.

Movies/TV we watched... 

• The Polar Express: We watched this while making the ornaments that Alex was getting ready to sell.
  
• Indiana Jones: Watched this with the hubby on a Saturday night. We are making our way through these movies.

Outdoor time...

Our outside time has been almost non existent. I have been feeling so deprived of outside time. It's getting to the tough time of year when it's cold and we have nothing that forces us to be out there, so we choose to stay in. I've got to come up with a new plan!

Games we played...

Alex seems to be on an UNO kick this week so we played various versions of that including the "all wild" cards version. It wasn't as bad this time around. The first time it felt very pointless. This time we realized that it would be way more fun with more than 2 people.

LEGO...

I started building my ice skating rink for the winter village, but quickly ran out of pieces so I need to go back to the PAB wall at the LEGO store and get more. I also built the Christmas tree and the Brickheadz Nutcracker.

I'm grateful for...

I am grateful for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and my birthday. I love celebrating anything and so very thankful for these 2 particular holidays.

Thankful Thursday

I love being able to simply open an app on my phone and check the weather at any time. I'm thankful for this modern convenience.

Wordless Wednesday: Oregon Coast Aquarium

 

Thankful Thursday

Most of my problems don't have quick solutions, but I am always thankful for the few that do. Those quick answers always make life easier, and sometimes allow a faster time to act when needed.
 

Thankful Thursday

 

I am just amazed every autumn at the beauty created by the leaves and weather. It's just an amazing, awe inspiring time. I am so thankful for that gift every year around this time.

Wordless Wednesday

 

Thankful Thursday

 

Today is the world day of play. It means that we all have the ability to play and we all have a need to play once in a while. Whatever that "play" looks like for us. For me it is a lot of things, but lately it has been LEGO and I am really thankful that I discovered it.

Wordless Wednesday