SNOW DAY!!!!

We are having our first real snowday today! Very exciting for sure! So far, we have watched the original Grinch movie, Charlie Brown Christmas, and are starting in on Ichabod and Mr Toad as I type. Of course he has also spent the morning stamping, playing with Lego's, making a "movie" with his Little People Nativity, and building his new lego kit from the Lego City Advent calendar.

Busy Busy Busy!

I personally am exhausted (long night...see yesterday's comments if interested in an update but all is fine!) and have just laid here on the couch all morning watching the flurry of activity!

We do have big plans for the afternoon however! We are making a button wreath from our Advent activities list. (yesterday's activity...good thing I saved it huh?) He has also decided to make puppets with the cutout nativity people. (todays activity!)
http://sjbacb.blogspot.com/2009/11/advent-calendar.html (LAZY LINKAGE TODAY!) Oh yeah, and FINALLY finish decorating the tree!

We are likely to have another snow day tomorrow, they are predicting 2 inches an hour all night. So I think I will gather up the supplies for gift making and try to get some of that knocked out if we are home again. Also, tomorrow should be a bit better for outdoor fun so for sure we will be heading out to enjoy the snow.

Enjoy your families!
Shannon

Please...if you pray...

Andrew's brother is having surgery any minute. He was injured and is having his eye socket repaired. Please spare a thought for him and the family today. They are struggling with the weight of all life is throwing them right now.

Thanks so much
Shannon

Christmas Fun!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Mocha Cappaccino or Frappe (wait...what IS the difference?)

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Well, it is our tradition to just sit them out...it is also our tradition to worry nonstop about "the gift perfection" until it stresses us (read ME) unreasonably! (Funny (now) story, last year Josh woke up at like 4am and went downstairs and checked out all his Santa gifts. I cried! Stinker!)

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? On the rare occassion that we actually get to hanging the lights...we do the white ones.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Definitely! Josh actually asked yesterday when we would put it up...just after he kissed me under it at the dollar store. (makes up for #2)

5. When do you put your decorations up? Usually the weekend after Thanksgiving but it is slow going this year!

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Fudge and Snowy Trail Mix

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? The year my Dad had me pick out a gift for my Mom. On Christmas morning I opened it and thought he had messed up. Still not getting that it was actually for me! I even hid it in my closet for him for like a month!

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? ...What do you mean?

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We have Josh open up gifts from extended family. Helps to break it up a bit!

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? mostly with Josh made ornaments and old stuff from Andrew and my childhood! We also have a couple nice collections (Lenox Snowman and Beleek Doors)

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Dread it.

12. Can you ice skate? I went once when I was in 6th grade, did okay then???

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? That is really hard...I have received so many wonderful gifts. Maybe my Ipod!

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Making it great for Andrew and Josh.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? see #6

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Advent Calendar

17. What tops your tree? Silver Star

18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? Giving

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Santa Baby and God rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

20. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum? No thank you...unless it is made of chocolate!

21 Favorite Christmas Show? Josh and I love Christmas movies but I guess my favorite is still the original Grinch!

22. Saddest Christmas Song? Ugh, the one about the boy who wants to buy shoes for his dying Mom...I must turn that off as soon as it comes on!

Feel free to copy this post and fill it out on your blog. HT- Missy

Celebrate Snow!!!

Well, if you live where it snows there is just nothing you can do about it...so you might as well at least pretend to enjoy it! Here are a few ideas of fun things to do with the kids on a snow day!

• Paper Snowflake patterns (ht-Craft Jr. )
• Wooden/button snowflake
• Sock Snow People
• Snowmen
• Faux Snow!
• Salty snowman picture
• and...wow...build an igloo!

Advent Calendar

Here is our schedule for advent activities. I would like to have all the required materials assembled beforehand so I can just grab it and we can do it. But we shall see... I have an advent calendar with 24 little drawers, so I just print the activity on a slip of paper and stuff in the tiny drawer. Josh opens the correct drawer in the morning and sometime that day we do the activity!

Hope you have a Very Merry Christmas!

1. Begin Lego Advent Calendar!
2. Decorate for Christmas
3. Glittery initial ornaments
4. Christmas Cookies
5. Cookie exchange and Talent Show
6. Picture With Santa
7. Roll a Christmas tree
   Dotted sheet Tree
8. Button Wreath Ornament
9. Nativity Cutouts
10. Santa With a cotton beard!
11. Reindeer Addition Roll and Color
12. Christmas tree Puzzle
13. Christmas Movie marathon w/ Popcorn
14. Pom Pom Garland
15. Magnetic Bookmarks
16. Decorate felt Stocking
17. Photo Ornament
18. Wrap Presents
19. Pretend Christmas Eve at Nana's
20. Pretend Christmas Day at Nana's
21. Make Fudge
22. Felt Holly Napkin Rings
23. Reindeer food
24. Christmas Eve at Grandma & Grandpa's House

Daybook- November 18, 2009

FOR TODAY
Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Outside my window... it is cold, rainy, and oh so dark today.
I am thinking... of Joshua's teacher who has been home sick for 3 days...Please pray...
I am thankful for... a loving, happy, healthy family.
From the learning rooms... today we worked on the Story of the World and The Story of the Orchestra. We are beginning to cut out and assemble a lapbook for Ancient Egypt and I am wanting to create a timeline that we can use for both "world" & "Orchestra".
From the kitchen... Mmm, I can smell the Cream Cheese Chicken from the crockpot. It just seems to warm up the whole house.
I am wearing... A forest green "Camp Catch A Rainbow" t-shirt, Forest green hoody, and Yoga pants. Bare feet! Took it easy today...obviously...
I am creating... A December menu plan.
I am going... christmas shopping tomorrow...again! I am struggling to find just the right item for my Mom. ...also, those frustrating stocking stuffers I always make more difficult than need be!
I am reading... The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks
I am hoping... to settle holiday plans soon.
I am hearing... utter silence! Josh is home from school but having quiet time in the basement.
Around the house... ugh! Still working on preparing to sell the house. Exhausting!
One of my favorite things... Dr Pepper Lip Smacker
A few plans for the rest of the week: More staging, finish sorting Joshua's Legos into bins, prepare Kitchen/dining to be painted.
Here is picture thought I am sharing...
Josh and me his first day of school! I love his constant enthusiasm. I must strive everyday to see it as a blessing.

Join in at The Simple Woman's Daybook!

Penguin Unit

Sheesh, I love Penguins! I had so much fun planning this unit. We are going to read Mr. Popper's Penguins and a few other gems. We will also study Antarctica. We live in MI so snow will be here soon. We will launch this unit after the Christmas crazy!

Other Books
The Life Cycle of an Emperor Penguin
Penguins (True Books)
Penguins: Level Four (Usborne First Reading)
Antarctica (True Books: Continents)
Penguins (Animal Information)
Counting Penguins!

Other Penguin Unit
Mr. Poppers Penguins Book study (Funny, I found this after I did the rest of this post...nothing like reinventing the wheel. Oh well!)
Mr Popper's Penguins Lapbook

Science
Penguin Lapbooks Lifecycle and many other amazing resources. (ht- My Montessori Journey)
Penguin Puzzle and cards/book
Antarctica Website
Ice Melt Fun Game

Language Arts
Many Simple Penguin Literacy Ideas Dot to dots, easy reader book, name recognition, abc activities.

Math
Printable Penguin Counting Activity (scroll down for penguin activity link)
Penguin math Ideas Varying levels!

Geography
Penguin cards (Beautiful Cards from A Bit of this and that)
Cool Antarctica Website

Art
How to draw a penguin
Penguin art

Crafts
Penguin puppets
Handprint penguins
Potato print Puppets
Felt Penguin w/ printable directions

Misc...
Penguin song etc... cute ideas!
Penguin Memory Game
Save the Egg game

Report Card and a question for YOU!

At Josh's school they do conferences a month or so before report cards so that a "turn around" is possible. I get the idea just not sure how I feel about it yet.

However, we are really happy with our school choice still. Josh loves his teacher and is really enjoying school. He is learning a ton because the young 5 class gets to do fun stuff like all the lifecycles and only inadvertently works on letters and sounds. Which is great for Josh since he does not need that. Having said all that...

Josh brought home his report card Thursday. It is a 5 page report that covers a ton of subject areas including math, science, language, social studies, and moral focus. Their grading scale is 0-4.

0 means does not understand skill or concept yet.
1 means beginning to understand skill.
2 means at grade level.
3 means at end of year level.
4 means exceeds expectations.

The included letter stated that we should see a lot of 1 & 2's at this time of the year.

Josh got 15 4's, about 18 0r so 3's, and 5 2's.

So I have a question, did we make the right choice? Should he have gone straight to Kindergarten? What do you think? I am too blinded by my utter fondness for his teacher to think it through.

I do want to say, we are really proud of him. We knew he was bright but we really expected to have some behavior issues. He can be a bit spirited! But he does really well...now if only he could extend that to his after school behavior....but that is for another post!

In His Words!

We are watching The Wizard of Oz (no school today!) we just got to my favorite scene where Dorothy opens the door and everything is magically in color. Joshua says, "why do all those leaves look like they are made from rubber?"

UGH!

Have I mentioned that he wants to be a movie maker?

Wednesday's Websites

This is where my head is right now...thought I would share!

Mrs Pancake Super cute printables!

Michigan's Fun Learning Activities Great ideas for every family....Yeah MI!

Homeschool Share My "go to" for ideas/activities for themes. Especially great for lapbooks.

Planning a bit for Christmas!

Nativity Cut-outs

Bookmark Christmas Present idea

Fun to watch

Where ** is Matt? Cool for geography!

Trying to keep in the forefront of my mind...

Great advice for Boy Mommies! Intended for homeschoolers but adaptable for all.

November Seasonal Activities

We had so much fun last month I thought I would throw together a list of fun activities for us to do again this month. Please note that we have NO INTENTION of doing everything on the list. These are just our options to pick from.

Crafts
Turkey napkin Rings We did these when Josh was 2 or 3 and still use them every year!
Hand & Footprint Turkey
Thanksgiving Story bracelet
Shape turkey
Cornucopia Cute but may be too difficult!

Language Arts
Turkey paper
Thanksgiving Words! Print, hole punch and put on a ring for easy writing!
Thanksgiving 5 senses Book LOVE THIS! It is right where Josh is at!
Thanksgiving fill-them-in Tale

Practical Life
Turkey Sewing- Easy! !!!!!!!

Activities
Thanksgiving Memory Match game

Recipes
Fruit Gobbler Definitely doing this!
Edible Indian Corn How can I do this dye free????
Thanksgiving Blessings Mix
Teeny turkey sandwiches

Misc
Thanksgiving Printables
Activity page Might keep them busy while waiting for pie.

Menu Plan Monday~ October 26

I just noticed I have not posted a menu in almost a month! I guess it has been busy/crazy. I had the flu, parent teacher conferences, volunteering in Josh's class twice a week, 2 dental appointments (got a crown), and Josh had a fever for a few days; not to mention that Andrew has been working long hours. Mostly it has been good...except when I was very sick.

So I am going to post a month long menu for November (prob. December too). Trying to save a bit of time during the holiday season. I am also scheduling certain types of meals for certain days...trying to simplify and avoid the crazy!
Therefore,
Monday= Mexican
Tuesday= Italian
Wednesday= Misc...
Thursday= Chicken
Friday= Pizza
Saturday= Misc...
Sunday= Breakfast

1. Omelets/Bacon
2. Empanadas
3. Chicken Parmigiana
4. Polish Sausage w/ Macaroni & Cheese
5. Easy Chicken & Gravy with mashed potatoes
6. Pepperoni-rolls
7. Family Party
8. French Toast & Sausage
9. Taquitos and salad
10. Lasagna
11. Chicken Chili & Cornbread
12. Savory chicken roll ups/
13. Take out Pizza!
14. Hot Dogs
15. Egg in a hole
16. Nachos
17. Spaghetti
18. New recipe...yet to be determined
19. Cream Cheese Crockpot Chicken
20. Garlic Bread Pizza
21. EAT OUT!!!!
22. Bacon pull aparts
23. Taco cornbread pizza
24. Skillet pasta
25. Chicken Fingers & fries
26. Thanksgiving!
27. Pizza
28. Leftover Turkey Shepard's Pie
29. Breakfast Pizza
30. Tacos

Geography Songs

I was doing a little geography research for Josh's teacher and figured some of you may be interested as well.

Here is a link to several continent songs. I personally have always used the Love and Marriage version about half way down. It has the continents and the oceans but does not include the newer Southern ocean.

For a good state song try The 50 States that Rhyme Song. I had a hard time with this but got better after a few tries!

Wednesday's Website

http://www.iknowthat.com/com which is basically online educational games for pk-6th grade. You do need to log on but they do not even require your email address, just user name & password.


(ht: http://www.sarahsellers.co.uk/blog/index.php)

What Josh is Reading Right Now!

Josh just loves all of the Denys Cazet Books! Especially the Chicken pox stories. They really are silly and so much fun. The reading levels are 2 or 3 and are fast fun reads.