Christmas '14

Christmas has come and gone, and left behind a flurry of memories.  For the first time in many years, we had a green Christmas!  The grass was green. on. Christmas!

Here's how we celebrated Christmas Eve and Christmas day with our families:

We spent Christmas Eve morning at home.  We did some last minute cleaning, and the girls opened their gifts  each other.  I took each girl out shopping before Christmas.  They each got $10 to spend on their sister.  It was really hard to for them to stay under budget, but they both bought really thoughtful gifts for each other :)  Millie give Elise a Yoo Hoo and Friends hedgehog, and Elise gave Millie earrings and a makeup kit.

In the afternoon, we left for the farm.  The best part about having a green Christmas, was not having to worry about the roads on the way to and from the farm.  It was the first year in recent history that no one ran off the driveway :)

Between eating our Italian feast and opening presents, the kids played a few "Minute to Win it" games.  

Snowball toss

Stack the cups

Cookie from forehead to mouth without using hands

Opening a box with giant mittens on

She won the cash prize!!

From the front

From the back :)

It was a wonderful day at the farm :)

Christmas morning!  Santa Came!  We spent the morning at home, relaxing, and enjoying a nice breakfast together (egg dish and monkey bread).  

Even the hamster joined in on the fun.  See her in Millie's lap?

She got a phone!

Elsa, Anna, AND a stroller?!

In the afternoon we went to the other grandparents for more Christmas fun!  

It was a great Christmas spent with family, making memories, 

and filled with love!

Journey as a Juliette: aMuse Try Out Badge & Amazing Daisy

Journey as a Juliette:

aMuse: Try Out Badge

&

Amazing Daisy

Only a couple days left in December, and we finally had our last Girl Scout meeting of the year!  It was super fun.  Here's what we did:

We started out by saying our pledges. Instead of learning a silly Girl Scout song, we watched a silly Christmas song, "The 12 Cookies of Christmas."  

After that, we did our monthly activity.  This time, the girls made pretzel/Rolo/M&M treats.  It was fast, fun, and of course delicious!

The girls decided that they wanted to do each others activities together, so we all sat down and watched Alexander Who Used To Be Rich Last Sunday.  This helped Elise understand that Money Counts!  Then we talked about wants vs. needs, and a little bit about how we budget  for our needs and wants in our household.  She has officially earned all 4 leaf patches!  Woo hoo!  A trip to the Girl Scout store is in order now :)

Then, it was time to complete Millie's Try Out portion of her aMuse journey.  Last month she did the first portion, and today she finished the last task.  She made a poster using watercolors, a picture of herself, and words that describe herself.  If she ever needs a "boost," she can look at her poster, and have the confidence to tackle any of the roles in her life.

While Millie worked on her journey, Elise painted a picture, and I read the story of Amazing Daisy.  If it was not Winter in Minnesota, we'd totally go out and plant a daisy garden.  Unfortunately, that's not an option for us.  Instead, Elise planted an amaryllis plant.  She'll take care of it and watch it grow.

That sums up our Girl Scout month!  

The Week Leading Up To Christmas

This was a really light week.  In fact, I almost declared it "Christmas Break - Week 1."  I didn't though, because we had some loose ends to tie up before break.

Here is what we did in academics:

• Elise, my girl who doesn't ever want to learn to read, actually completed 3 lessons in one day, and 2 lessons another day in All About Reading.  Her proficiency is improving greatly.  Shh, don't tell her!  ;)
• Millie passed the "Bridge" that she'd attempted to pass 6 times in Life of Fred.  Improper fractions appear to be a struggle for her.  I whipped out the manipulatives from her old Saxon Math days, and did a little visual demonstration for her.  I think she gets it now.  Woo hoo!

We had a LOT of fun doing other (Christmas-y) things this week.  Here's what we did:

Christmas program at church.  

Made pomander balls at the farm, with Grandma

Our favorite lap dog, Lady.

Macys display with friends

Annual bell ringing 

Cutest elf

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!!  

Find out what other homeschoolers were up to this week, here.

A Very Quick Week.

This week was highly unphotographed ;)  We had a great week, but I certainly don't have much proof!  We did a little school, learned about England, had a great piano lesson, had SciGirls, went ice skating, and spent a day shopping.  That sums it up!  Here are two pictures from our week.  

A Hindu Temple and Christmas In Italy

Things are a little "off" since we're gearing up for Christmas.  Academics are slowing down a bit, and our Christmas Around the World study is gearing up!  It's such a fun time of year :)  Here's what we did this week:




Monday:

The girls got all their academics done early in the day.  They were going to do DIY projects in the afternoon, but I fell asleep and the girls ended up playing the day away.  Fine by me!  I needed the sleep.






Tuesday:

Playgroup day!  We met at a nature center, and the girls played outside most of the time.  This of course, is the highlight of their week.  I love that my little ladies have such nice friends to play with!  Afterwards, they packed up their bags, and we dropped them off at Grandma Suzies for the night.  Bud and I got to go to a work party at Mancinis.  Mmm, steak!  We got a bottle of wine and a Starbucks gift card in the gift exchange.  Woo hoo!

Wednesday:

In the morning I woke up and left to pick up the girls.  They had a fabulous sleep over :)  When we got home, I let them unwind a little bit before doing school work.  They didn't do a full load, but at least worked on math, reading, and writing.    In the evening, Bud and Millie went to get our Christmas tree!  The girls did a nice job decorating it :)





Thursday:

Today we did something super special!  We got to go on a tour of a Hindu temple!!  It was so amazing to learn all about Hinduism, and learn about Indian culture.  We weren't allowed to take pictures, but Millie did a few sketches while we were there.

Friday:

Today we started our Christmas Around the World unit study!  It's going to be so much fun!!!  The first one was Christmas in Italy.  We found Italy on the map, read Tony's Bread, read all about Italy, learned about Leonardo de Vinci, made Mona Lisa drawings of their sisters using pastels, and read about Christmas in Italy.  We'll be cooking a nice lasagna dinner, too :)  My original plan included going up to the Cathedral of St. Paul to look at the Nativity scene, but I realized that it doesn't get set up until December 13th.  Such a bummer!  I wish I would have done Italy later... Oh well.

This weekend will bring: A 4-H meeting, 4-h Project Pursuit (I heard that Millie will be making a candlestick out of wood), Sunday school, and a trip out to Brickmania to see the Christmas display.

Last weeks happenings:

Minne-So-Da Tater Tot Hotdish (only 4 ingredients!) 
The Regions of the USA - A (Very Basic) Unit Study
The Events Leading Up To Thanksgiving

Find out what other homeschoolers were up to this week, here.