Word Family Books

I was reviewing my Curly Girlie's spelling list with her today.  She's in 1st grade.  I noticed that all the words, except for 2 sight words, ended in "ay".  And it occurred to me that we could make a Word Family Book! 

I love ideas that have us doing something different than workbooks.  Especially when it's a quick and easy project to pull together on a moments notice.  I always get my best ideas at the last minute, so if it's not quick and easy - or I don't have all the necessary supplies - it just doesn't happen around here.  But this project was doable -

It's a Blog Hop!

Check this out!  I love this idea for sharing!  And the fun learning ideas that are on here are great!

Enjoy!

Advent Ideas

We have a few advent traditions at our house, and it seems to be growing each year.

A few years ago we did these candy ribbons.  There is a cute poem attached to the

ribbons, along with 24 candy kisses (we used 2-sided foam tape to attach the kisses).  A large jingle bell is attached to the bottom.  And there is a binder clip at the top for hanging.  The poem goes like this:  December 1st till Chirstmas is the longest time of year.  Seems as though this special day never will appear.  How many days till Christmas?  It's mighty hard to count.  So this little candy ribbon will tell you the amount.  Remove a Kiss every night, before your bedtime prayer.  And you will reach the bell when Christmas Eve is there.

This year we decided to make some alterations from the the candy ribbon countdown - and now we have Candy Countdown Jars! 

My First Worship Notebook

Looking for great gift ideas for your children?

 

How about a great gift idea that’s free?! 

Try “My First Worship Notebook”

It’s a worship notebook for your child. To ease them into note-taking, I have limited the writing to their favorite song and the sermon title and verses for the day, along with a spot to tally up common words they may hear during the sermon. Most importantly, I included a large framed spot for their artwork.   They can take notes right along side you, like the big kid they are!

Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. Matthew 7:24

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does no need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.  2 Timothy 2:15

I started this with my 8year old (now 9). He stays in “big church” with us now, so I thought he was ready for something more to help him focus on the message. 

December Menu Planner

With a week to go yet in my November Menu Planner, I have December’s ready to go – yay me !!

I loved having a menu plan for November!  It was a bit of work to begin with, but it sure made my weekly preparations a breeze.  I just looked over my plan for the week and created my grocery list according to that – easy!  I have to say this really has helped us.  Before, I would take so long deciding what to have and trying to create my grocery list at the same time, often putting off the dreaded grocery shopping trip by days.  Which would, in turn, force us to eat out more often.  So far, for November, we haven’t had that issue.  The plan is in place; making the list and sticking to a regular grocery schedule is much easier now.
Here’s the menu plan for December 4 – 31. 

We usually have Tacos/Nachos on Sundays, since it’s a favorite at our house and a great meal for such a busy day.  Also, I plan on one night each week being “leftover night”, so only 6 meals

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is my very favorite holiday!  I love the family getting all together, the yummy food, the closeness, the football games, the fall weather, and just the spirit of the day.  No gifts to distract us.  Just the beautiful spirit of THANKFULNESS!

In the days prior to Thanksgiving, I had so many marvelous ideas to post about.  But time was not on my side.  So I thought I would just do the highlights of those ideas in a few pics.

Here are a few of our Thanksgiving crafts:

And here's a craft project I did a few years ago.  I had seen a similar place mat in a Pottery Barn catalog, but not wanting to pay Potter Barn prices, I decided to try to make my own.  To say I am pleased with how they came out, would be

Lapbook Sale

One of the owners of In the Hands of a Child just came to my homeschool support group meeting this month.  Their products are amazing!  They are so thorough and creative - and everything is laid out to help you through the process of lapbooking.  I just couldn't pass up this opportunity to share these great deals.  Check them out . . .

Save BIG money at

In the Hands of a Child!  

Black Friday - Small Business Saturday - Cyber Monday
Are YOU Ready?!?!

HOAC is having a HUGE Black Friday Sale with up to 45% discounts on Hands of a Child products.*

They will also be offering additional discounts up to 30% on ALL other products they carry during Cyber Monday.*

Tooth Fairy

We sure have had a lot of loose teeth around here lately.  So, with the Tooth Fairy on my mind, I thought I would share what we do at our house. 

 I made these Tooth Fairy cards as a way for the kids to remember this exciting event.  The Tooth Fairy leaves a card behind, along with a dollar.

We also make these cute little tooth pouches.  I do this little project with the kids individually when they have their first wiggly tooth.  I just used white felt and cut 2 tooth shapes.  I used embroidery floss and a large needle to sew with - great for their first sewing project.

  

Fact Family Houses

I had been working with my Curly Girlie on her addition and subtraction facts.  I really wanted her to see the connection between addition and subtraction - how it's the same numbers, just switched around.  And then it popped into my head today - Fact Family Houses!

These are not a new idea.  But they are simple to pull together in a moment's notice.  And certainly more fun than another worksheet or another run with the flashcards!

The kids were busily working on their seatwork when the idea struck. So I grabbed a stack of construction paper and my paper cutter and began cutting.  Here is what I did today to create these cute Fact Family Houses for my Curly Girlie to put together:

Thanksgiving Song

How about a little song to kick-off your Thanksgiving celebration?!

"Gobble, gobble," said the turkey,
"soon will be Thanksgiving Day. 
The way they treat me,
they're gonna eat me,
so I'd better run away!"

It's sung to the tune of "Oh My Darling, Clementine". 
It's a hit each year with my kiddos. 
In fact, here's a video of them singing it for you!

We use our hands to make the turkey.  I tell them to give me thumbs-up with one

November Menu Plan

I did it!  I finally got on the ball and created a menu plan for the month.  I'm a little late in getting it ready, so this month will carry us through the first few days of December.  But I am so relieved to have it completed. 

I actually had a goal of creating a seasonal menu plan.  I had the idea that since I tend to prepare meals that go with the different seasons (i.e. - grilling in the summer, comfort foods in the colder weather, etc.) that this made sense. With each season being 13 weeks,  I thought I could come up with 5 or 6 weeks of menus that were organized by meals that fit nicely together for grocery shopping, as well as being balanced as far as variety goes.  Then I thought I would just pick whichever list I wanted that week.  The menu would be ready to go, I would just have to create a grocery list from that week's menu based on what I already had.  And I could repeat which ever weeks I wanted to to complete the season.  Great idea!  But reality and time are interfering.

So I will settle for my 4 weeks of menu plans.  Settle is and understatement. . . I am thrilled to have this completed!  And I thought I would share it with you!

I only make a menu for our evening meals.  That's the one that gives me the most trouble.  We have a handful off choices for breakfast and lunch that we are accustom

Navajo Sand Painting

I have to admit, I tend to shy away from "messy" art projects.  It's not that I'm extraordinarily neat - it's more that I just don't want to have to clean one more thing!  (I am really not fond of cleaning.)

But every once in awhile I take a leap of faith for the sake of my kiddos not being "art project unsocialized".  And this one turned out so well.  Not sure if I was more pleased with their projects or the fact that I stayed calm - even if I did chant, "it can all be cleaned up", a few times.  And clean up didn't turn out to be that bad anyway - no disasters - yay!

We did Navajo Sand Painting.  We looked at some images on the computer to get an idea for our paintings.  The detail was amazing!  So I really encouraged the kids to go simple with their drawings for our first time sand painting.  It took