A Sunday Stroll on the Shore

Down a path to the shore.

Climbed on driftwood.

Observed and inspected washed up specimens.

Played in little found pouches of water.

Painted with a leaf.

Drawings done with a stick.

Finished with more climbing.

It was a lovely day for a stroll.
Many blessings.

Seasonal Tree Study- Winter

Here is an updated picture of our tree
we are observing this year.

With the recent cold snap we had this month,
all the leaves turned and fell.
What is left is a bare tree.

It is going to be fun watching little buds appear.
I think this will really catch my son's
attention.

Fresh Air

I love this image of a child surrounded by books.
The way the light enters is lovely.

Our term 3 is starting out slowly,
but right on target.
Lively slowly.

Our home school direction seems to be changing.
Not really sure were the path is leading.
Ambleside online doesn't seem to "fit" us anymore.
I found us tweaking a lot.
I guess I have known this for awhile.
When I first found AO, I thought this was an answer
to a prayer.
We tried, all books purchased, weekly outlines made.
We struggled.
We have tweaked so much that really all AO is to us
is a list of good books to choose from.

Though I am sad that AO is not working for us.
I am thankful that as a home schooling family,
we are able to seek and find what
does work for us.
I look at this as exciting.

Our rhythm, our balance seems to be finding us.
Our days are full.
Living slowly, learning at a natural pace,
seems to fit us fine.

We do not seem to "fit" fully into any certain
education philosophy.

So, I guess for now, we will define us as
nothing more than a
nature and book loving
Christian home school family.

Disney Marathon Countdown to Number Four

Six days till Disney marathon.
Highs around 59 degrees and sunny.
Perfect running conditions.
A little chilly at the start...30's,
layering a must.
That reminds me....
pack trash bags. LOL!
Fun, fun, fun.

Resolutions

Hope all had a very blessed Christmas.
We enjoyed ours
and will continue enjoying til the new year rings in.

The year 2010 is upon us.
Someone asked what my new year resolutions are.
Not really sure I can put them into words,
but I will try.

I really want to slow down.
This was one of my resolutions in 2009 too.
We did slow down,
but I want our family to slow down even more in 2010.
I want us to live slowly,
enjoy life more fully, more simply.
Taking more deep breaths.
Be more frugal,
less cluttered.

Get dirty, muddy.
Make mud pies, plant some seeds.
Be outside.
Enjoy our Lord's creations more.
Be bored.
Read lots of books.
Eat more whole foods.
Play.
Go camping.
More family Bible study.

I want our little family to be ourselves.
The Barefoot Cowboys.
Many blessings.

Christmas Eve

Stockings are hung by the fire.

Santa cookies are made.
Carrots for the reindeer.
Santa and his reindeer have a long night.

Knowing that Jesus is really the reason
for the season.

Food and Traditions

What are your Christmas traditions for food?

This year we are hoping to start a new one for our family.
We are having a brunch on Christmas Eve
with my Mom
this year because my youngest sister works 3-11
on Christmas Eve.
My hubby and I are excited.
Not that we are excited my sister has to work, but
this leaves Christmas Eve for the children and us, alone.
We plan on cooking hot dogs and box mac and cheese.
We will watch a Christmas movie and eat sugar cookies.
The children will put out the milk and cookies
for Santa and the carrots for the reindeer.
Before bed we will read the Christmas story
from the Bible with our Advent candles lit.
We will say a prayer.
Then off to bed early for the children.
Hubby and I will enjoy some together time
under our tree.
I think I might like this new tradition.

Christmas day, I always cook a rib roast
with roasted potatoes, carrots, and onions.
Also, some roasted asparagus with parmesan cheese.
There will be a rhubarb pie for dessert.
Simple, no casseroles to mix, just the oven
and we have two.
This allows mommy time to play with the
family.

Now, we do make lots of goodies to share during the
Christmas holidays- decorated sugar cookies, reindeer bark,
peppermint patties, coconut rum balls, coconut macaroons,
chocolate dipped pretzels, chocolate dipped crackers with peanut butter,
etc, etc, etc.
But, these are made around the 20th and nibbled
on throughout the week.
At the brunch at my Mom's, each family will bring home
a big tin of goodies, yum.

I enjoy having traditions.
Traditions make beautiful childhood memories.
Here's to tradition.

Angel

Made some of these angels several years ago.
Still love them.
Memories of stopping on the side of the road,
clipping cotton from a field that was already harvested.
There were a few untouched plants.
Then later getting stopped for speeding.
Was that ticket for speeding?
I often wonder.

Preparation

We are home from all our Christmas traveling.
Being away from home is rough
on the twins.
Nice to see family, but nice to be home.
We celebrate with my Dad this evening
and a brunch with my Mom
on Christmas Eve.
These are local, nice.
Traveling any distance with little ones
is a challenge.
My little ones like routine.
I do too.
Next couple of days leading up to Christmas,
are going to be spent
focusing on our little family.
Of course, also, on Jesus.
Many blessings.

Little Shepherd Man

Had fun creating this little shepherd.

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby,
keeping watch over their flocks at night."
Luke 2:8

Christmas Tour of Homes

This is my first Christmas Tour of Homes.
Let us start with our front door.
Welcome.

Coming in from the front door,
you come across the first of our Christmas trees.
Keeping the candy canes on has been
much of a challenge.

Also, in the foyer is this Nativity scene
that has been in my husband's family
a long time.
I think it is beautiful.

Here is our mantel in our family room
with another one of our trees.
I know all the tunes to the Hallmark santas.
The twins love them.
Last year we were unable to decorate the trees,
the twins had too much fun stripping them.
We just put lights on them,LOL!
This year also has been a challenge,
but funny too.

This is our tree by our kitchen table.
This is my favorite tree.
It has all of our handmade ornaments
and ornaments handed down from
our families.
Our kitchen table is simply decorated
with a table runner and our advent candles.
This is our work horse table.
And with toddlers I mean work horse table.

Well, just a little glance into our Christmas home.
This picture is from one of our porch doors.
I hope all have a Merry Christmas.
Thank you for stopping by.
Many blessings.

For The Grandmas

My oldest wanted to show his Grandmas
the frog he caught.

Yes, I check pockets before I wash clothes.
With 3 boys,
amazing what you find.
Many blessings.

Making Memories

Yesterday, the children and I made a few
Christmas decorations.
Like the lights I strung up in the playroom?

This star will adorn our tree for many, many years.

Snowman was fun.

Saw this Playmobil Nativity set a few months ago.
We have lots of Nativity scenes,
most are not meant to be played with.
This one is.
The children love it.
Really nice for the toddlers.

Now for a sip of egg nog.
Many blessings.

Enjoying Christmas

All Christmas shopping done, wrapping has begun.
Christmas cards to be mailed tomorrow.
Our Jesse Tree is coming along nicely
and our homemade Nativity looks heavenly so far.
Today, applesauce and cinnamon ornaments,
and others to be made with the children.
Hope all is enjoying this joyous season so far.
Many blessings.

Turning Three

December 6th
Our youngest boys turned three.

Where has the time gone?

Two boys sooo different.

Best of pals.

Loving your cake.

Our Advent Studies

My son and I made little sheep
for our Nativity scene.

We used air dry clay that
we had on hand.

We have never formed animals before,
so this was a challenge.

But overall, we thought ours turned out nice.
Next is the Shepherd.

We started our Advent studies yesterday.
As we read the Christmas story,
we decided that this year we will make
our own nativity scene.
One piece each day.
We started with the stable.
We gathered our supplies that we
found on our walk earlier.

Twigs for the opening.
Loving glue dots.

Oak bark completed the stable.
Again glue dots and tacky glue.

Here is the view from the back.

It is simple and beautiful.
We placed it under our Jesse Tree.

Finding ways to keep the focus on Christ.
Many blessings.

A Little Path

Yesterday, the weather was beautiful.
We decided to take a stroll down a little path.

Of course, the oldest took the lead.
He made way for the rest.
He pointed to poisonous berries and
what he thought were snake holes, oh my.

The twins picked out sticks.
They picked leaves and found rocks.

Big brother was our nature guide.

He found decaying wood and showed us how easily
it crumbles.
We listened and heard a woodpecker
and saw him above us in a tree.
We watched as he pecked.
We heard our footsteps on the leaves
and the twigs.

It was a wonderful morning.