Monday, November 17, 2008

The Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY...

Outside my window... I see and hear house Sparrows as they roost in the hedge outside my living room window.

I am thinking... about what I can do with my kids this afternoon to keep them busy and out of trouble.

I am thankful for... the safe delivery of a healthy baby boy our close friends had yesterday.

From the learning rooms... beginning a Thanksgiving unit study and working on a Thanksgiving lapbook.

From the kitchen... spaghetti casserole (for the friends who just had the baby) and tacos for us.

I am wearing... comfy jeans, white long sleeve T with gray T over, and bare feet.

I am creating... a Christmas calendar for gifts for the grandparents.

I am going... out tomorrow night for a girls night out at a pub that does stone baked pizzas.

I am reading... Making Life Work by Bill Hybels and Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver

I am hoping... to get to bed earlier tonight.

I am hearing... my boys giggle as they wrestle in the family room.

Around the house... some cleaning needs to get done after a busy weekend.

One of my favorite things... chocolate in the afternoon when all my kids are either resting or sleeping.

A few plans for the rest of the week: planning a Thanksgiving party for the day after Thanksgiving. The kids will invite some of their English friends, show them their lapbook and tell them about Thanksgiving and how we celebrate it. Working on the Christmas calendar. To plan a time to get a photo for Christmas cards.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...
(my youngest and the joy he is to our family)

Visit Peggy's and see more Simple Woman's Daybooks.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Thankful Tree

Since November is here, we wanted to focus once again on being thankful. Last year, we made a thankful turkey. Each evening, as a family, we would all go around and share something we were thankful for. We would then write them on feathers, we made from construction paper and tape them on to our turkey. We all really enjoyed this time as a family. It gave us a good reason to think back over our day and remember something to be thankful for.

We decided to do it again this year, only we aren't doing a turkey. This year, after reading other blogs, we decided to do a "Thankful Tree." The verse we are using from Colossians 2:6-7 says, "continue to live in Christ, rooted and built up in him..., and overflowing with thankfulness." We chose this verse because like a tree has roots that drive deep for nourishment, so we need to press on with Christ and have our roots deep into him to live the life He wants us to live. We also need to remember to overflow with thankfulness. After all, we truly have much to be thankful for.

Can you imagine how full of leaves our tree will be by the time Thanksgiving arrives?


Here is a picture of the kids with last years "Thankful Turkey."

Monday, November 10, 2008

Apple Lapbook

A while back I did a little apple unit study with the kids. We read some books on apples, picked apples from our own apple tree and made a big pot of apple sauce. We also did our very first lap book. We did our lapbook on Johnny Appleseed. The kids loved doing the lapbook. After we finished our lapbook, they kept talking about all the things they want to make lapbook about. I can't find file folders over here, so we used some cheap folders that I could find. They didn't work very well in my opinion because they were so thin. I did, however, ask my sister to buy me some and ship them to me. Now I have the real thing and am ready to do our next lapbook. I am planning a Thanksgiving one now. Hopefully we will be starting it late this week or next week.