A DIY Greenhouse

Bethany's older sister, Emily, gave her a DIY greenhouse kit for Christmas. She started working on it a week or so ago and it is really coming along. This little greenhouse is so cute. She has to make tiny flowers, watering cans, a tiny little pencil, a birdhouse, and all kinds of little things. I'm really impressed at how nice it looks. She has worked really hard on it and says she should be finished tomorrow or Monday. She spent about three hours on it today and seems to really like doing it. Bethany is always ready for a project so this was a good choice for a Christmas gift and it is going to look really nice in her room when she is done - and it has given her hours of entertainment. 

The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas - Day 17

Today our special thing was to make gingerbread houses. We do this every year but usually much earlier. They had fun and we have a lot of gingerbread houses - most of them decorated. Claire ate most of her candy and only has a few pieces on her house so it basically doesn't even look like she decorated it. We usually have a house full of kids when we do this, but this year we just did it alone since we are not supposed to have any gatherings with more than 10 people. It was sad to not have all of our family and friends, but the kids still had a great time and it was definitely less hectic! 

We finished our chapter book and started a new one - The Special Guest-A Christmas Story by Lee and Donna Allen. This book is a little different than most we read - mainly as it is not geared towards kids - but, I think they are going to like it. We actually had two books in our canvas bag today to read - Christmas Magic by Michael Garland and Alabaster's Song by Max Lucado. Both were loved.  

The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas - Day 15

Today our special thing was to make Christmas Cards for Sunday school teachers. The kids have missed their teachers so much and this is the first Christmas we have not been at church and done a Christmas program. This has been a really big deal to my kids and today they were talking about their teachers and Bethany suggested making cards today could be our special thing. Everyone agreed. So, they made cards to send to church to their teachers and had snacks while they made them. They had fun and I think sending these cards will make them feel a little better. 

We continued reading The Birds' Christmas Carol and our book out of our bag for today was Penny's Christmas Jar Miracle by Jason F. Wright. We enjoyed both books. 

The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas - Day 14

Today's special thing - I gave the kids a scrap book to decorate and fill with Christmas pictures so they can remember this season. They got to pick out pictures and paste them in the book and also color and decorate the front of the album. They will continue to put pictures in until Christmas is over. Now they will have an album of their own they can take out and look at and enjoy remembering all they did. This seemed to be a hit and I think they will have fun filling this book with pictures for the rest of the season. 

Also, today the book from our bag was Lassie - A Christmas Story which we enjoyed. We also started our new chapter book - The Birds' Christmas Carol by Kate Douglas Wiggin. 

The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas Day - 5

Today our special thing was to color, cut and glue ornaments together. I had a book of them and the kids colored the ornaments and then cut and folded them and we hung them on the tree. It actually took quite awhile as some of the ornaments had intricate patterns. We also made our first batch of fudge for this Christmas. Bethany did it for the first time. Her first try was way too hard and the second was a little soft but she is getting the hang of it. It usually takes us about three tries to get it right each Christmas. 

The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas - Day 4

Today our special thing was to make a Christmas tree for the birds and squirrels. We did our usual pinecones but we read about another way to make goodies for the animals. We were looking at one of our books and it had an idea that the kids wanted to try. You take bread and cut out cookie cutter shapes and then put them in the oven for about 10 minutes to toast a little and then add peanut butter, birdseed, cranberries and anything else you want. So, we tired this and it was fun and easy. We made holes in the top of the ornaments and hung them by red twine. The kids think it is the best tree they have ever made and I'm pretty sure the birds and squirrels will love it.