Christmas and the days that followed were full of fun, play and excitement. I think we are still living on an excitement high!  My mom flew down from TN yesterday and we have been busy having fun. But let's back up a bit to Christmas. The kids left notes and cookies for Santa. The tree was ready to go. They woke up at 4:00 am all jittery and excited. There was no sleep for anyone after that. Up we all went and out to find stockings.

And then presents from us and family...

Daniel has tried to claim Ellie's new doll already ;)

We then sat down and enjoyed a full Christmas meal. We wished it was shared by friends/and or family. There was certainly enough. It was all so tastey. Grandma's apple crisp was delicious!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas week....

We relaxed, stayed in and had another wonderful poetry tea time. Daniel has become a fan and is learning how to be gentle with glass items.

 

 We had very warm weather all week and splurged on limeades for all ( a summer treat).

The kids were bored Wednesday and so Dillan invented "The Slowest Chip Eating Contest". It was a lot of fun for them. They each took about 10 minutes to eat that one chip. They also undecorated and redecorated the tree. Time was spent stacking presents and shaking them to guess the contents.

Daniel stacked blocks and unstacked blocks. We had a lot of fun with the stacker Grandpa made. We love his toys. This is a stacker he made when Dillan was a baby. We also made a tree to send to Mee-maw. These are sticks she sent from the farm in the shape of a tree and the kids decorated it. They did a great job! Ellie was most enthusiastic.

It was a long short week and I am still confused about what day this is! We spent Christmas eve singing Christmas songs, getting last minute items and wrapping gifts. I read some new books by a great author- Sarah Addison Allen. They are whimsical, magical and very warm hearted.

This weekend went by fast. I had plans to do a little homeschool- but that went out the window in favor of Legos, hair cuts and reading Christmas books. I will call it good :) Unfortunately, Joe had to work both into Saturday and again Sunday evening. As any wife in shipping knows, tis the season! We got to squeeze in a little Christmas party fun on Saturday night. Gift Wrapping Sunday afternoon.

We received a lovely package of cookies and napkins today. Thank you Bobbi! The kids will be using both for tea time tomorrow. Daniel has a new word "coocoo" is cookie and he approves ALL of them. He also can now sign - drink and open. YAY! We are also getting some play with sounds. Still working on that tongue/cheek muscle strength.

I still am unsure where this crazy adventure is taking us, but we are happy to explore. In all honesty, I missing my old house too. We will settle down again, just not right now. I am counting down to swim days again. :)

A fellow Momma told me about a great store here called Thrift town! The kids' kitchen got a little update and restock, courtesy of some lovely finds. (picnic basket, bowl, windmill jar, drying rack and casserole dish). The windmill jar reminds me of our trip to Holland.

I did go out in sandals today and saw many people in shorts. I feel like Christmas is coming too soon. I will be ready for Christmas in February... when it is finally been "colder" for a few months. We are all getting excited for Nana's visit next week. The kids are counting down until Christmas. We are fortunate and tired. I am taking next week off from homeschooling as well. Well..... if you know me well- you know I will still be playing with my planner. Some of our favorite books this week:

I know that I can never figure it all out. The only perfect way is the one with twist turns, stops, shortcuts, bruises.......it is in the living of life that we exist after all. I have always loved the poem "Birches" by Robert Frost. In this season of life, I feel comforted by these words.

"So was I once myself a swinger of birches.
And so I dream of going back to be
It's when I'm weary of considerations,
And life is too much like a pathless wood
Where your face burns and tickles with the cobwebs
Broken across it, and one eye is weeping
From a twig's having lashed across it open.
I'd like to get away from earth awhile
And then come back to it and begin over.
May no fate willfully misunderstand me
And half grant what I wish and snatch me away
Not to return. Earth's the right place for love:"

Separately, in this season of homeschool, I do not cling to any one belief or philosophy. I am finding the power and strength of what works for now. I am finding the balance of striving and contentment. We sat down today and had tea time and poetry. Dillan thanked me at bedtime, for this little pleasure. He is so thoughtful. We will weave it into our week and maybe more often than I first thought.

I have tried to balance letting the kids lead and still guiding. It is why Dillan learned his alphabet in kindergarten and how to count to 100 in his own time. Anytime I feel pressured to make him, myself, anyone preform. I stop myself and ask, WHY. It is a question I forget to ask still, some days. Why push, why pressure ourselves, why is this particular idea important? What is it representing? Is it important for this vision I am having or is the idea achievable some other way?
We were fortunate to have a teacher that understood his personality and learning style. She was instrumental in helping him feel like an empowered learner and not a railroaded bystander. I am grateful. This year, I have watched him grow into a strong reader. He still delights in the fascination of books- fiction and non-fiction. I pat myself and him on the back. It was in his time. He is, also, a great big brother. ;)

It is why when Ellie asks to do school work and strives to do what big brother is, I cringe a little inside. I want her to find her own strength, her own abilities, in her own time... and she will and she won't. And so, I make her little boxes of work and things to help her along in her goals. Letting her lead, but trying to guide. She loves her work. I am glad. It is my hope that she always sees her value in who she is and not what she does or doesn't do. This is one of her favorites. The other one- I trade out the numbers for sand-paper letters and put a little dry erase magnet board with magnet letters to trace.

 

I may also be ready for a spa day this weekend after re-reading this post :) 

 



Poor Daniel. Poor momma. Daniel took off after his sister and tripped on his own foot at the store. This resulted in 2 fractured teeth. One broken in half, one not. It was a crazy way to start the weekend. We were extremely fortunate that a local dentist happened to be in office doing paperwork and took pity on my frazzled momma voice, edged with tears. Luckily, no nerves are exposed and the broken tooth should re-harden ( it is loose). So, he is sporting a new smile! I had 5 minutes to grab pictures before leaving Sunday. It's usually fun to trial and error learn on a camera. I learned a few new things. The last picture shows Daniel's snaggle tooth glory.

We rode a train on Sunday and explored a brightly lit, very loud museum. Dillan asked for a castle and robot. Ellie asked for a doll and robot. "Santa" has no idea what kind of robot. It was a crazy way to end a crazy weekend.

 

 

Monday we played, read, created and did our usual stay-in Monday. It is always so good for my soul. I spent time Monday night researching a new phonics/grammar program called Brave writer. The freebies are amazing. I have been disappointed with our current spelling program. Her periscopes are phenomenal.

Ellie went to a ballet class; she was in her element! It was fantastic for everyone and I caught glimpses of a possible future dancer. It was put on by a fellow momma and so there was a small group and expectations were age appropriate :)

December 2015

We have had a lot of changes this year. We sold our house and move half way across the country. We are trying out small living and my husband has short drive to work. I also upgraded my computer to one from this century (Manly, because we are now homeschooling). The good news on that front, I can now blog again. I haven't decided on frequency or topic. BUT I do have hopes of keeping track of some of the great things we use in our everyday; as well as any ongoing for homeschool. Stay tuned ;)  I do my homeschool planning on Sunday nights, so this will hopefully just work it's way in naturally.

We wore sandals this week. AND didn't freeze our toes off. The holiday spirit is slow in coming, but the Christmas lights and songs are starting to help. I feel like I am cheating on Fall for a few weeks. Winter doesn't start until December 22nd. Therefore, we are still doing fall in homeschool. Sorry Fall, you'll have to share your last weeks.

We purchased a small outdoor tree for our small apartment and it is just the right size. I have a basket of kids safe ornaments set out. Daniel is having a great time taking them on and off.

This week, we had a holiday party for our Helios Collective group ( no pictures).  We did a our normal stay-in and relax/ hit homeschool hard Mondays. Before we started homeschooling, I designated Monday as a day to stay home and make sure we start our week off on the right foot.  It  is working out great and has also turned into toy rotation day!

Tuesday, we hit the library and picked up our books for the month. We have books on trees, the moon, and winter solstice. Dillan also finished his paper- he labeled it  "Night-time Fliyers" and did a Skype presentation to his Nana. He did a great job and Nana said if he was getting a grade, she would give it an A. He smiled with pride.

Daniel is making big progress and signs eat, more and all-done. We are working on the signs for help, drink, thank you and sharing. He has finally started saying some sounds and mimicking syllables even if the it the word "apple" and he says "ahah". It's progress people! I am excited.

I am going to get out my camera this week and take some pictures that aren't through the lens of the iPhone. This week we tried to go to a ballet/reading  put on by the library. We were turned away at the door. SO, we put on our big girl smiles and went out for ice cream and purchased a ballet outfit for an upcoming dance class. Book club on Saturday was a welcomed respite and I plan on curling up tonight with a swap-book I received . It feels like a hot chocolate and bubble bath kind of night. Here is a great photo for baby massage and essential oil placement for kiddos. We really like the EOS safety information website and Robert Tisserand's books on using oil safely.