Posted in Books and Reading, O Come, O Come Emmanuel, Playing/ Free Exploration on Dec 12th, 2009
The dolls hosted a little Christmas tea party for their sparrow, cardinal and swan friends yesterday morning. Pretend mint tea, fruitcake, gingerbread, and bird seed were served under the Christmas tree.
The girls were inspired by my favorite childhood Christmas book – Tasha Tudor’s, A Doll’s Christmas. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it. [...]
Posted in O Come, O Come Emmanuel, Uncategorized on Dec 6th, 2009
Yesterday evening, we strung popcorn and cranberries and decorated our little Christmas tree. We have quite a collection of bird ornaments, and as we hung them by candlelight (dark at 5pm!) I was reminded of Oliver Herford’s little poem, I Heard a Bird Sing –
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December
A magical [...]
Posted in Crafting, Giving, Moderation and Economy, O Come, O Come Emmanuel on Dec 5th, 2009
The girls are reaching an age where they really enjoy being able to participate in making Christmas gifts. So, for their cousins (ages 5 1/2 and 3 1/2), we put together little paper-crafting kits, so Aasha and Ruby can enjoy an afternoon of Christmas crafting.
This is a very frugal gift, costing us less than $1 [...]
Posted in Changing Seasons, O Come, O Come Emmanuel, Uncategorized on Dec 3rd, 2009
My apologies on being absent for a bit – we’re once again struggling with sick kids, especially Firecracker, who has had multiple trips to the doctor and the ER in the past few weeks because the colds are wreaking havoc on her asthma.
That, plus my first time hosting Thanksgiving for extended family, and now scrambling [...]
Posted in Changing Seasons, O Come, O Come Emmanuel, Outings, Playing/ Free Exploration on Dec 24th, 2008
Posted in Changing Seasons, O Come, O Come Emmanuel on Dec 22nd, 2008
This is truly a Christmas to be counting our blessings, with the treacherous weather and all. We wish our flight wasn’t grounded and we could be lounging on the beach with Grandma and Grandpa, but we’re enjoying the crazy snow as best we can, and looking forward to New Year’s in Florida!
Merry Christmas from our snowed-in [...]
Posted in Knitting, O Come, O Come Emmanuel on Dec 20th, 2008
Kristi – don’t read below – Christmas present spoiler!
Finished a pair of these for my sister-in-law for Christmas (I also plan to make a grey pair for myself, like A Friend To Knit With’s originals, after Christmas).
They were knit from Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride in Victorian Pink. I made a few little modifications, and am really happy with them. Two [...]
Posted in Books and Reading, Changing Seasons, O Come, O Come Emmanuel, Outings on Dec 20th, 2008
Pictures from earlier in the week, when it was a little warmer and less blustery, and Firecracker thought she might like to go play out in the snow. She quickly thought better of it, and came in to warm up on the sofa, looking at some Dr. Seuss books with her sister and enjoying the snow [...]
Posted in Crafting, From my kitchen, Giving, Learning, Locally grown, O Come, O Come Emmanuel, Outings on Dec 13th, 2008
Our table at the Portland Homeschool Children’s Holiday Market, where our family sold homemade gift tags, peppermint bark, and marshmallows. It was a wonderful venue for the girls to show off their projects, to raise money for various charities, and to network with other Portland homeschoolers.
We raised $28 dollars for charity and sold nearly everything we brought (prices were [...]
Posted in Changing Seasons, From my kitchen, O Come, O Come Emmanuel on Dec 12th, 2008
This is an easy holiday candy that preschoolers/primary-aged children can make with only a little supervision. The entire project (minus chilling time) takes about 15 minutes.
You will need: 2 lbs white chocolate, chopped, or 2 lbs white chocolate melting chips,
about 10 candy canes, crushed (to equal one cup) (my girls put the candy canes in a [...]