Homeschooling in December!
Posted on December 10, 2008
I have been meaning to blog about our December homeschool plans and the giveaway at Fortunately for You Books allowed for just that. Today’s challenge is to write an acrostic about what homeschooling is like for your family in December. Here is the one the boys and I did this morning using the word Christmas:
Curriculum has been put away,
Hours at the table pushed aside,
Reading, though, is still required.
Instead there is much to do
Sewing, gluing, creating, baking,
Taking in with all the senses.
Memories made to remember
A Christ Child that came,
Savior for us all!
This was a fun morning Holiday school work assignment.
Thanksgiving weekend I wrote up homeschooling plans for December for my boys ages 8,7 and 3. Here they are:
1/2 hour reading - their choice of book, my approval, they have narrated back to me without asking
1/2 drawing/writing - they have sketch books they are free to write/draw in
2 chores
outside time - weather dependant
The above needs to be done before the fun begins and that is where the real learning is: crafting, decorating, baking, volunteering, singing, visiting.
It has been nice to take the more relaxing approach this season. Anyone else doing the same?
» Filed Under Homeschooling, Christmas, Crafts | 1 Comment
More giveaways!
Posted on December 10, 2008
The blog at Fortunately for You books is doing giveaways all this week. I won the one for Monday which was a bit of a random guessing challege. Each day is a little different!
I also found a beautiful giveaway here, but don’t enter cause I want to win - just kidding, the more the merrier. Have fun!
Karen over at Craftermath commented that she is giving away an adorable pillow! Once again I find myself dreaming to win.
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No longer dreaming! Actually winning!
Posted on December 6, 2008
I won, I won, I won. I never win anything but this time I won three times, I have been walking on cloud nine. I am so excited about the great things I have won from the Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway Day.
Here is what I won:
- an activity tote from Melissa at WhatKnot - this will make a great present for my three-year-old son
- homemade Chrismas cards from Steph’s Cup of Tea - these will be a nice treat to send, and I honestly had no clue that serendipity was the name of her tea business, for some reason that word just popped into my head that night. I remember it as a vocabulary word in school and I liked it so much I wrote it all over my notebooks.
- travel jewelry cases from Abby at finally. - these look wonderful and they have courduroy, one of my favorite materials, we will have to see if I can resisit keeping them for myself or if they make it under the tree for someone. I was thinking the boys and I could make a necklace and bracelet to help fill them up.
Thanks, guys you really made my week! I have been going back to the list of blogs that had giveaways and spending more time at all the different ones, I am amazed at all there is out there to learn and share. I do find that I have spent so much time reading the blogs that I have not been going down to the basement to craft and sew. Only 19 days until Christmas and I still have a lot of presents to make. The plan is for a homemade Christmas, with the exception of a few minor gifts and most things for the kids - making a computer and legos are not in my skill set.
I do hope to post about homemade gift ideas for men and boys in the coming weeks, as it seems this is where I am struggling.
Thanks to all who participated to in the giveaway day it was really an amazing experience.
» Filed Under Christmas, Crafts, Blogroll | 1 Comment
Dreaming to win! And another bag!
Posted on December 4, 2008
I stayed up way too late last night looking at all the giveaways at Sew, Mama, Sew. I went to bed dreaming of all the beautiful things that I have a chance to win. I had wanted to give something away, it looks like so much fun, but my computer crashed and I have been playing catch and reinstall all week. It was fun looking at all the different blogs, I would definately say I was and still am lost in blogland.
Here is the latest finished sewing project. I finished this Thanksgiving night while the boys indulged in video games. I used some already cut fabric I bought at a yard sale, so it limited the size of the bag. I used the tutorial at turkey feathers for the design and adapted it to the materials I had on had. This is the first time I have done any sort of patchwork and so not everything is perfectly lined up.
» Filed Under Christmas, Crafts, Sewing | 3 Comments
Fall Birthday Presents
Posted on November 4, 2008
Almost everyone in my family has fall birthdays, all of my immediate family and my parent-in-laws were born in a two month span. My seven-year-old son was born on his great-grandmother’s birthday, I couldn’t have planned it better. For her 91st birthday I took her a fall floral arrangement I made and entered in the county fair. Surprisingly it won first place, I think it was because I made the container and I guess it turned out okay, too. I got my inspiration from here, but the actual supplies were too costly so I used fall silk flowers I found on sale and card stock I already had.
I must ad that the directions on the website are wrong on one measurement. When you measure to fold the corners in to make box it says 1/2″ but that should be 3/4″ in order for it to work out. I am thinking of making some for other seasons and holidays too.
My mother-in-law’s birthday was on Halloween so I only had time for something small. I have been loving all the tutorials on the just tutes blog, so I made my first chapstick holder.
I realized I may have goofed using something with stripes but thankfully everything lined up okay. My machine wouldn’t sew through all the layers when it came time to sew the D-ring in, so I had to hand sew that and the snaps. I want to look for other keys chains for making more of these for Christmas and maybe some masculine material for the boys.
» Filed Under Crafts, Sewing | 1 Comment
Learning to Sew and a return to blogging
Posted on October 30, 2008
I haven’t used my blog in over a year, we moved and I neglected to bother after we moved last summer. This summer I set up a craft space in the basement and set up my inherited sewing machine that I have had for 11 years but have never used. It’s a 1969 Singer in a table and so far still runs fairly well. So I set out on the internet to look for free patterns to try that would be good for beginners. I haven’t used a machine since 7th grade so I still need the basics. First I made a frog from Purl Bee, and I discovered that I needed more practice with sewing curves. I also decided I should have sew the frog then cut it out. I would post a pic but “Frog-A-Jump” is somewhere lost in the 3 year old’s room.
So more searching websites and blogs and being blown away by the crafting world on the web. I came across tiny happy’s blog and tutorial for a shoulder bag. I have been staring since August, made my pattern in September and just got to make the bag last week. It was fun and the directions were so easy to follow.
I think it turned out okay. I loved sorting through my neighbor’s button boxes to find the right one.
And I pleased with how well my pocked turned out, although next time I would make it a little lower.
» Filed Under Sewing | 1 Comment
Five eggs…
Posted on June 11, 2007
True to what we have read we had a new egg each morning for two days after we found the first three. Mom sits on the nest most of the day, coming and going when no one is watching. 
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Mickey Mouse
Posted on June 11, 2007
» Filed Under Birthday Cakes | 1 Comment
Click Beetle
Posted on June 11, 2007
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June 8 - Mom on Nest
Posted on June 8, 2007
After mom left the nest we were able to see that there are now four eggs. True to what they have read, they lay one egg a day, usually early mornings. She now is on the nest all the time and does not seem too bothered by our presence. 
» Filed Under Wren's Nest, Nature Study | Leave a Comment
