Week 17 ~ The Fun of Giving!

On My Mind ~  The children and I have had many conversations in the past week about what is truly important to us and what our purpose is here on Earth. In the wake of last week's tragic events it seems doubly important to review what our purpose is and make sure we are spreading joy, love and kindness daily. The kids are always asking people what holiday they love best.  I think the days leading up to Christmas are mine.  I love all of the giving, decorating, Christmas reading, baking and sneaking around hiding secret gifts. (The Norman Rockwell plates in the collage were a present to myself this year.  I found them in a thrift shop for a steal.)

The Fun of Giving ~ This year we decided to do a Secret Santa mission.  We picked a friend who we know is having a hard time right now and we are gifting her each day.  She caught us on day two, but we are having lots of fun sneaking up to her house every day anyway.  Tom Sawyer takes the days he is assigned to deliver the secret gift very seriously and commando crawls all the way to the house from the curb! LOL  I am sure this will become a new family tradition.  The kids are having so much fun.

We also delivered cleaning supplies and dog treats to the local no kill animal shelter.  We enjoyed visiting with the animals and doing some training exercises with the dogs.

Lastly, we delivered food to the local food bank Christmas tree.  I was happy to find out that all of my kids are old enough to volunteer there now.  We will look forward to doing some of that this year.

They used to all fit inside this train at the food bank tree!

What we are Reading ~

• The Crippled Lamb
• An Irish Night Before Christmas
• Grandfather's Christmas Tree
• The Dog Who Found Christmas
• The Legend of the Poinsettia
• Night Tree
• The Steadfast Tin Soldier

What We Did for School ~ We had a gentle week.  We mostly did lots of baking and charity work.   We also kept up with math and language arts (mostly Christmas worksheets).  We enjoyed a special Polish/Jewish meal to finish off our study of the FIAR (Five in a Row) book Mrs. Katz and Tush.  The latkes in the FIAR cookbook came out great. 

We will spend this blustery day cleaning and preparing for Christmas.  I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas!

I am joining homegrown learners.

Blessings, Dawn