A Cozy Christmas Season

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving. Ours turned out to be lovely after a rather bumpy week. My husband was sick over the weekend and ended up not going to work on Monday. On Tuesday, he thought he was better enough and went to work. He lasted less than an hour before being sent home and told to get a Covid-19 test. After being tested, he came home and slept the majority of the week away.  When he was awake, he had a tiny cough and was a bit achy, but mostly just very, very tired. On Thanksgiving, he woke up feeling much better. By late afternoon, his test results came back negative. We are so thankful! So, we don't know what he had...just some weird virus or perhaps the flu (although he did have his flu shot). 

Thanksgiving was a light affair. I took more shortcuts than usual. We had store bought rolls and store bought pumpkin pie. I did make homemade stuffing, apple pie, and mashed potatoes. We asked the advice of the county extension office, who informed us that anything my mother intended to eat should be cooked in her house and then returned to our home. This would be best so as not to infect her. So she cooked the turkey and baked the apple pie, took a portion before it came back to us. We played Yard Yahtzee, watched The Crown and had an evening bonfire. I used my Spode plates this year instead of getting out all of the fine china. Each of our Spode plates are different, and I am slowly collecting them from a charity thrift store that runs a huge estate sale twice a month. It was an easy and light Thanksgiving.

My husband shocked me last weekend when he said that we could go out and buy our Christmas tree. He is a real stickler for tradition and waiting until the day after Thanksgiving is our tradition. However, I asked him if we could do it early since new restrictions were going into effect, and I just wanted to knock out as much shopping as possible before. His replied, "Whatever makes you happy." We were off and away within the hour before he changed his mind ~ lol. We decided to get two trees this year (one representing his childhood and one representing mine). The kids really don't want much in the way of gifts for Christmas. They are content. They miss travel, friends and events much more than stuff, so why fill the house with more of that? We decided to channel our funds this year into making Advent and Christmas big in family fun, events, and cherished memories. We decided to pull out ALL of the decorations and go wild (as my husband said when he made it out of bed after a few days and saw what Anne and I had done). Here is a little tour of our cozy Christmas home.

Our Library (the living room)

We put the Fraser fir in the library. That is the type of tree that my husband grew up with and what we have mostly had over the years. My childhood tree will appear when we get to the kitchen.

We put our Sarah, Plain and Tall Village and electric candles with fresh greenery cut from the back yard on our fireplace. Our fireplace doesn't work, because we haven't invested the money into repairing the inside and outside of the chimney. 

We placed the stockings on the bookcases.

We placed an angel and Boomer's ornament on his ashes.

One of my favorite "nativity" pieces (escape to Egypt)

Anne decided to add her small artificial table top tree to our library this year. We turned it into a snowman tree.

We even set up the nativity, which traditionally goes up on the first day of Advent, but nothing is quite the same this year. The Star of David chain that is woven through the figures is from my husband's childhood. The chain was purchased in the Middle East when he was a toddler and his military family was stationed in Saudi Arabi. Since his name is David, the chain was a nod to him each Christmas and was placed on their tree in a place of honor. It is very fragile and lovingly worn so I didn't want it to get tangled in the tree.

Lastly, we put the carolers in the library. The room is so cozy to sit in at night with all the Christmas cheer and lights.

Our Kitchen/Dining Room

We haven't done very much in the dining area yet (which is really part of our eat-in kitchen...this house doesn't have a formal dining room). The table centerpiece is still set up for Thanksgiving. We placed the smaller tree in this area. It is a white pine and what I grew up with in my childhood home every year. They are hard to find here in the south and are more expensive than Fraser firs. That is just the opposite of my childhood farther north. The kids decided that this tree was a female and named her Mrs. Patmore after the cook in Downton Abbey. We didn't add lights and kept the decorations very simple with homemade ornaments, fresh flowers, snowflakes and bells. It is our old-fashioned Christmas tree. 

Lastly, I will show you all my sink. It has been a goal for several months now to make sure all of the dishes are clean and the sink is shined before I go to bed. It makes for a nice start to the day to awake to a clean fresh start each morning. I added a bit of Christmas cheer to make the start of each day even brighter.

Wow, this post got long. I still have the snowman and Advent display areas to show. However, I will wait for another post and explain all of our plans for Advent. Hopefully, I will get that up before the first of December.

Blessings, Dawn

Spooky Season

Since most spooky season events are cancelled this year from haunted houses to fall festivals, Anne was hunting around for something fun and safe to do during her favorite season. She heard about a costume challenge on Instagram and decided that she wanted to do a variation of that challenge this year. She decided to create nine costumes from our closets, thrift stores and sewing projects. Her costumes are all based on musicals. I think she did a marvelous job and she had so much fun.

A Chorus Line

The Sound of Music

The Sound of Music ~ Take Two

The Phantom of the Opera

The Addams Family

Rent

Mean Girls

Newsies

Mary Poppins

Beetlejuice

We went on a few walks as a family this week. I also went on several walks while Anne was in dance class. I accomplished 14 miles of walking this week. We really enjoyed our family walk in the River Arts District. Our city is doing a wonderful job of making a greenway in the flood zone between the river and all of the old industrial buildings. Many of the buildings that are on higher ground have been reclaimed for artist studios and galleries, but the lower ones are mostly used by graffiti artists.

We also made our first leaf pile and spent a bit of time playing in it. You are never too old to play in leaves...right?! There are so many more leaves to come. I love autumn!

All the Rest ~

• Anne wrote three papers this week (two creative and one expository).
• She also did three sewing projects and three Latin lessons.
• One of the Job Coaches came out from Vocational Rehabilitation to get more details from Elijah so that they can start job sampling in the next week or two.
• Dear Husband replaced the pipes under the sink, and I put down new contact paper under the sink.
• Anne went to work and dance classes.
• My husband had his birthday...complete with grilled steak and homemade gazpacho soup.
• We all got our flu shots.

Stay safe everyone.

Blessings, Dawn

Weekly Wrap-Up ~ Week 36 Almost Done!

I had to face the facts on Monday that I was losing sight of my ultimate goal for this year. My goal was to keep it calm and help the children heal and grow. My goal was that everything we do be of value to my children and myself. I realized that I had become obsessed with counting the hours to completion of the school year and I had started to panic over some of our courses. Just as I was in my own school and college years, I was too focused on grades and completion of hours and not enough on what was truly important -- LEARNING. I am not required to count hours or even show what courses we have completed in our state. The goals for my children this year were mine alone and they are very close to achieving said goals. However, not close enough in math and science that they will make it unless I push them to extremes. Well, I am not going to do that.

Sometimes the best thing about your birthday is a good old Silly String war. Dean really got his sister!

So, I had to take a big breath and step back. I needed to get back to my goals and not drive myself  or them crazy. We had a good week and everything we did was valuable and worth the effort.

What we accomplished this week (Saturday to Thursday) ~ 

• Dean had a wonderful birthday overnight with his best friend. We went to a trampoline park and had a wonderful time. 
• Dean had two cavities filled that were hidden behind his braces. 
• Anne attended seven hours of dance classes.
• Dean attended four hours of dance classes.
• Anne completed her spelling curriculum for the year.
• Dean attended an extra rehearsal to prepare for Youth Group Sunday (when the youth take over the entire service).
• Dean attended guitar class.
• Anne attended sign language class and video taped the Star Spangled Banner in sign language for the end-of-year show.
• We attended our monthly special needs support group and dinner.
• Dean finished testing. This was extensive testing, including IQ, end of year testing, gifted and talented assessment, sensory testing, ADD/ADHD testing, and learning challenges. Hopefully, in the next week or so we will have some answers on why Dean is struggling to become an independent student. I decided to have him tested across the board so that we would be able to start him on the right path with the best support during his homeschool high school years.
• Anne started the CAT test. She will finish it today or Monday.
• Both kids completed over four hours in science and three hours in math.
• Both kids are done with language arts (except review items).
• Both kids accomplished some goals in their independent history lessons.
• I went with Goldilocks to her post-surgery appointment. She has a staph infection and it was somewhat traumatic for her.

Looking forward to a busy Friday and weekend ~ Today, we plan to wrap up our literature by seeing the movie, Jungle Book. The kids are performing in the Jungle Book on stage later this month, and we read  parts of the book months ago. We are also attending a special needs support group lunch today which is being held at an Indian restaurant. The Jungle Book takes place in India and we have been studying India as our focus country this year.  These two events will round out the year nicely. We will also watch a short documentary on India and Anne will do a few sections of the CAT test today.

My Indian Meal.

This weekend is jam-packed with events. May is a whirlwind in our family. I hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day.

Blessings, Dawn

Week 24 ~ Pushing Through the Never Ending List

In My life ~ The stress this week was more manageable than last week. I am thankful for that. We still had a host of doctor appointments to get through, and I am patiently waiting for a call back from the Duke doctor on what to do next for Goldilocks. I know that my endless To Do list will become more manageable with time. It is just hard right now because we had to put so many things on the back burner, while we sold the old house, bought the new house, moved and renovated. Now, everything seems to be the priority, and I need to just take it one day at a time.

Presidents Day ~ We had so much fun with our annual Presidents Day scavenger hunt. We hid the first 25 presidents, which brought us to the turn of the 20th century (right where we are in studying American history). This year we did activities or listened to a story at many of the stops in our scavenger hunt. This helped tame the wild running and screaming we have experienced in past years. For example, they built a log cabin for Abraham Lincoln and listened to the Declaration of Independence for Thomas Jefferson.

Key to Photos, clockwise ~ John Adams standing next to a book filled with his and Abigail's love letters; Rutherford Hayes is in a pile of Easter eggs, since he started the first White House Easter Egg Hunt; Abraham Lincoln, who was born in a log cabin; James Garfield, who could write in Greek and Latin at the same time with his right and left hands; James Madison standing next to his famous wife Dolly; Franklin Pierce, who struggled with deep mourning for his son who died in a train accident during his presidency.

Books We Read or Listened to This Week ~

• U.S. Presidents The Oval Office All Stars
• Life of Fred Cats
• The New Social Story Book
• A Picture Book of Thomas Jefferson
• Abe Lincoln The Boy Who Loved Books
• Andrew Jackson
• Dolly Madison Saves George Washington
• Mr. Lincoln's Boys
• Garfield books
• Two Minute Mysteries
• Casey at Bat Maestro Classics

Games We Played ~

• The Way Things Work (great physics game)
• Guess Who
• Apples to Apples

What We Watched ~

• London Hospital (found this one on Prime Amazon and I love it ~ the kids are a bit grossed out by it, though)
• Hotel Transylvania (just the kids)
• The Walton's a few shows from Season 5
• Downton Abbey (Can you believe they killed off Mathew? I'm way more devastated about that then I should be, since it is a TV show.)

What is Working for Us ~ The kids are really enjoying the white board during writing time. I write down on the white board the words they ask how to spell during writing class. I have a few perfectionists who will not write if they think the spelling is wrong. Using the white board is helping them so much with flow of thought.

All The Rest ~  The kids start extra rehearsals this weekend!! They will be performing in Swan Lake before we know it. In addition, the aerial arts class that my daughters are in will be holding its own show. Each of the girls will be doing their own solo. They are very excited and busy picking their songs. Unfortunately, there is some trouble brewing with another classmate. A boy in the studio is bullying my son. So far, I haven't caught him red handed, but my eyes are on him and he knows it. The studio is aware of it, too, and seems to be on our side. If you have a child on the autism spectrum or with social awkwardness, I highly suggest the book New Social Story Book. This book is helping my son so much. We are working our way through the chapter on Bullying this week.

A Picture To Share ~ My kids love the balloon artist at our local health food supermarket. He is always there for the Kids Eat Free night. He accepts only donations for his art, and the kids are even adding some of their own coins in each week.

Blessings, Dawn

Week 10 ~ Moving Right Along!

On My Mind ~ We still do not have an offer on our current home!  I am a little disappointed, but most of our friends think we should rent anyway.  We really do not want to do that.  We would rather have a chunk of money to put directly into the new home.  However, I am at peace and know that God will take care of us.  We will hang in there on the market for a few months.  We had the appraisal on the new house and now will have to see what repairs we can get Fannie Mae to make.  We are pretty sure they will do the electrical repairs (missing switch plates and fixtures ripped out of the ceiling).  A Homepath foreclosed home is supposed to be safe and livable so exposed wires won't be approved.  We will be talking to the realtor over the weekend and see what we can get them to do.  We would love it if they would prune back some of the trees from the house, but they are not likely to approve that.  My favorite things about the new house this week is the playground, basketball hoop, and the wood already stacked and ready for the wood burning stoves (there are two in the house).

Our Homeschool ~ We had a good week.  We did homeschooling with an emphasis on de-cluttering.  I am attempting to go VHS free in the new house.  For the next week or so, the kids will be watching an hour of educational videos as part of their education.  In this way, I will be able to get rid of some videos that I have been hanging onto for the right moment.  The right moment has come.  The kids watched Rossini, Little Lord Fauntleroy, and Tall Tales and Legends Davy Crockett.  Goldilocks finished another workbook.  She loves workbooks and gets very excited when she is nearing the end of one.  She also loves to do school in strange positions.  She recited her spelling words while hanging upside down this week.  I am okay with her goofy ways as long as she is getting the school work correct.  Tom Sawyer will be done with his current level of "Teaching Textbooks" next week.  I am going to have him take a break from "Teaching Textbooks" while he gets his times tables memorized. Tom Sawyer is also reading and enjoying a graphic Bible right now.  Our family has started reciting the Jabez Prayer each day.  It's a nice prayer and is very comforting in this time of so many unknowns.  The highlight of the week was making balloon animals and buildings.  This was another activity that has been collecting dust on the shelves.  We also kept up with our unit study, On the Shores of Silver Lake.

"Oh, that You would bless me indeed,

and enlarge my territory,

that Your hand would be with me,

and that You would keep me from evil,

that I may not cause pain."

Counting Blessings ~ We had several more showings this week.  For the most part, people are pleased with what they see.  I have a feeling we are priced a bit too high.  We will make a decision on the price after our open house next weekend.  We are blessed to have many people praying for a smooth transition.  I am so thankful for all of the resources I have found recently.  Also, I have been blessed to pack some precious memories this week.  It was delightful to go through old papers and pictures from my college years.

I am joining Homegrown Learners.

Blessings, Dawn

Weekly Wrap-Up ~ October Fun

We have had a productive week.  This is really a review of the last 10 days or so. 


Last Weekend ~
We went apple picking.  The kids also picked the perfect pumpkin at the orchard. I think it is the largest one we have ever purchased.

We also finished up our study of the underground railroad with a nighttime walk with our homemade candles in cups.  Harriet Tubman always carried a cup with a candle in it, because it could give very direct light and be easily put out, unlike a lantern.

Monday ~
This week we concentrated on music as our focused subject.  We still did math, language arts, reading, literature and occupational therapy/vision therapy each day.  We enjoyed listening to Peter and the Wolf and then acting it out.  I love to watch my kids take what they are learning and use it in their play.  We also reviewed all of the orchestra instruments.


Tuesday ~
On Tuesday we had the opportunity to attend a performance of Peter and the Wolf.  This was the children's first experience viewing an orchestra.  They very much enjoyed the performance.  The conductor introduced the orchestra and did a few extra songs.  He also came down and moved through the auditorium and answered the children's questions.  Lastly, they got to see a brief bagpipe performance. 


Wednesday ~
We attended the wonderful weekly library program for school-age kids in our area.  The theme this week was beads.  The kids got to make homemade beads and beaded necklaces.  We also were the fortunate recipients of five boxes of homeschool books off of Freecycle.  Many of them are textbooks that I will probably give away (since textbooks are not my style of teaching), but there are many picture books, math videos, writing programs and unit studies in the stacks.  I am looking forward to having the time to really see what nuggets of knowledge are in the piles.

Thursday ~
On Thursday we finished up our study of crystals and rocks.  This was our concentration in science for the first quarter.  Now that we are entering our second quarter, we are moving on to chemistry.

The rocks we tumbled in our rock tumbler.

Popcorn Rock

The crystals we grew.

Friday ~

Friday was filled with preparations for Little Red Riding Hood's evening birthday party.  We had a wonderful princess party.  The kids had dinner, played with Silly String, broke a pinata, played Pin the Princess on the Castle, cake and gifts, a princess movie, and manicures.  The evening was finished off with donuts.

My Mom drew the castle.

Saturday ~

Today is Boomer's birthday.  He is one year old and so full of chewy love.  He got lots of chewy toys (one made out of fire hose) and a new dog bed -- his third.  Let's hope he doesn't eat this one!  Lady even wore a birthday hat to celebrate the occasion.

  The birthday boy on his brand new bed.

"Do see the way they treat me? 

I am 12 years old and almost blind! 

They do take advantage of me."

Side note ~

This is for those who follow our son's food allergy story.  We decided to give him a donut at the party.  They have talked about eating a donut for nine months. It had wheat, corn, yeast, eggs and soy in it -- to all of which he is allergic.  Even though we are starting to retest a few foods, this was not going to be a fair test.  Also, we know that corn is a big problem, causing hives and behavior problems for up to a week.  After talking to our nutritionist and our friend a nurse practitioner (who was at the party the entire evening), we decided to give him 1000 mg of Vitamin C, Benadryl, and Urtica Urens (a homeopathic remedy for food allergies) before the donut to prepare his body.  He also had his digestive enzymes.  To my utter amazement, he came through with NO hives and only a few behavior issues.  He said his feet itched very badly for about an hour and he has been a little bit weepy today, but that is all.  I am not about to go crazy and let him have this kind of food on a regular basis, but it is nice to know that we may have found some support when we want to have a very special treat.

Blessings,

Dawn