Merry Christmas!

We've been having tons of fun with Grammy and Bompa visiting from Rochester, New York. We had a very relaxing Christmas morning and then had a delicious dinner hosted by the family on Stassney. Daddy gave the family a portable GPS and we enjoyed our first treasure hunt (aka geo cache) with Grammy and Bompa. On the 26th we celebrated Grammy and Bompa's 37th wedding anniversary (I hope we're still googley-eyed after 37 yrs) at El Mercado and took a ride down Congress and 37th St to "OOOOOH and AAAAWW" at Christmas lights.

Click here to view all of the Christmas 2007 Photos

Winter Solstice Celebration

(Click here for photos from our celebration)

Old Man Winter has officially arrived. During the cold and windy night Grandpa Chuck, Papa Lu, and Gramma Jan hosted a beautiful solstice celebration on the 22nd to welcome old man winter into our lives. At sunset we enjoyed a walk down the luminary lit path into the tree house with fluttering butterfly lights where we read a solstice story. Then we lit a fire in the chiminea and ate a simple (but yummy) dinner of baked potatoes, baked apples, and sandwiches. Annie and Emerson had a great night celebrating with Grammy, Bompa, Uncle Adam, Mary, Jeff, Mom, Dad, Grandpa Chuck, Papa Lu, and Gramma Jan.

The Winter Solstice is the longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere (the shortest in the southern). It marks the first day of our Winter. Click here to learn more about the Winter Solstice.

Santa Comes to Little House

We've read Santa Comes to Little House by Laura Ingalls Wilder and Annie was charmed! She thought it was so beautiful that Laura and Mary Ingalls both got a shiny tin cup (now they each had a cup of their very own), a peppermint stick that they licked "till each stick was sharp-pointed on one end" , a little heart-shaped cake sprinkled with white sugar and a shiny new penny.

Annie remarked, "What a beautiful Christmas, mommy, I would like to only get a tin cup, a peppermint stick, a little cake and a new penny for Christmas too."

Can you guess what my kiddos are getting for Christmas Eve in their stockings from mommy and daddy?

Of course, Santa will bring them other gifts to open on Christmas Morning!!

Thank you, Firefighters!

My friend Tracey had the beautiful idea of making cookies and delivering them to the fire fighters as a way of saying Thank You for all that they do. So we have had fun over the last week making cutout Kris Kringle cookies (my Gram's recipe), frosting and decorating them with Tracey and her 3 kids. We delivered them to the Fire Station today. The fire fighters showed us the inside of their truck and posed for this picture!

Break a Leg, Annie!

Annie's creative Drama class at Zachery Scott Theater had their end of semester Presentation today. They performed 3 short plays. Annie had the 2nd lead (is there a word for second lead?) part in The Terrible Giant. She was the dragonfly who's wing was used for the stew. She played the noisy monkey in Ananci. We all had a role in Journey to the End of the Earth. Mommy was a hungry pirana, Emerson a crocodile, Daddy a man eating bug, Gramma Jan a bear and Annie was an adventurer.
All the kids were super cute! No one froze up and they seemed very much at home with a large audience of about 40 parents and grand parents.

Why I homeschool...

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My kiddos are happy.

I have the support of my husband. I have the help of my mother.

I have great influence over what they learn and what they are exposed to. I get to spend a lot of time with my kids. I enjoy spending time with my kids. We get to go for Nature Walks whenever we feel like it because learning doesn't always have to happen at a desk. Plus we can take lots of field trips.

I can respect their natural rhythms. They get to eat when they are hungry and not when their scheduled lunch time is and they can go to the bathroom when they have to and they do not have to raise their hands. They can sleep until they wake up naturally and not to some artificial alarm clock. They do not have to wait on the corner for the bus that arrives promptly at 6:59 A.M.and doesn't return them until 3:15. I can teach them things when they are developmentally ready.

I care deeply for my kids. I have no faith in our public education system and instead of working a job to be able to afford private school I've decided to be the private school.

I love to teach and I love my kids.

I am trying to give them the gift of a happy and unhurried childhood.

Trimming the Tree

Gramma Jan, Grandpa Chuck and Papa Lu hosted a slumber party for the kiddos last Saturday night.
Their tree wasn't decorated so the kids decided to decorate it all by themselves while Gramma Jan was cooking dinner. Emerson even had to stand on a step stool to reach. They were so proud of themselves!