Working my way to THE day… next entry… I promise!

December 23-24

Two days until Christmas and the excitement is high! We recorded our yearly Christmas concert which I posted on Facebook (I am on there as Lisa Reinsch-Johnson if you wish to see it. Just request that I friend you due to my blog!). We did a single song this time – an extended version of We Wish You a Merry Christmas. I added in the Phrase 1 between each of the following and at the end to really get us singing and dancing. You can find the words we used HERE. Thanks to Noella Designs.

We had more classic movies and drawings to do…

What a reading list we have had this year and almost all of them from our own shelves!!!

The kids ALL volunteered to clean  the bathroom for Christmas and did a wonderful job!

The kids spent some time baking with daddy to round off our pre Christmas preparation. So much happy holiday vibes in the house!

Our Christmas Eve ended up much quieter than anticipated. Ken’s uncle and his family usually come over for a traditional Ukrainian style food dinner. Sadly his uncle was released from the hospital the morning of Christmas Eve with strict instructions to stay off his feet post surgery. We are praying for his fast recovery and that this is the end of surgery for him. But it did mean a lack of company with a table full of food!

The table looked amazing.

As did the brand new Christmas pj’s.

We had a gift for the bigger 4 to open from Nana and Baba – Wikki Sticks! what a fun activity!

And Echo opened one too… a frog that moves its mouth and makes noise. Surprised her a little!!

Of course we left cookies and milk for Santa and carrots and special reindeer food outside for the reindeer. The kids were so excited! And a night at home was perfect for a restful and quick settle down to bed in the evening.

Definitely necessary as Ken had a kitchen set to build (thanks to Holly and James) and we had presents to sort out and place under the tree.

Earlier in the day I made Echo a baby Jesus out of a sock. You can make this super simple baby as well using the instructions found HERE. Thanks to Catholic Icing for this super simple sweety!

October 14-16

Seriously I don’t think I can plug Art for Kids site hard enough. It is our go to place for drawing anything and everything… and right now they are well centered in the Halloween spirit.

Free styling

With Daddy’s help Monday also centered on a new science project. This time making our own frost using a metal bowl, ice and salt.

We also made Echo her very own Princess hat!

On Tuesday the twins and Nana had a baking/science session making pumpkin muffin/cupcakes using a recipe she found online with canned pumpkins and cake mix. We are loving the time together with everyone learning more about the world around us!

Then we crafted it up with the Perler Beads… some days fun is the way to educate!

With some time on our hands and lots of hands to help the twins were also able to get some rather spiffy haircuts! Short short short.

Mid week was another day of happy learning with Ken having the time to read with the kids! These special moments have been so rare lately and now, I am pleased to say… Daddy involvement has made a return appearance. It is so wonderful to have another hand involved in our schooling. It gets lonely being a solo teacher at times.

We took over the basement this time and sprawled out everywhere…

That included our bedroom for reading time. I love how they go off ON THEIR OWN and share this joy with the younger ones.

Zander and Gavin even helped Nana with dinner. HAMBURGERS made by my brilliant boys.

With an Echo assist

Emanuel finished off his first journal with some wonderful final pictures.

The fun we are having!!!

September 23-25

The last full week of a month is always a bit of a rush. I do like to keep our bigger projects confined to a one month span… though that rarely happens when we get so interested or side tracked in answering questions and enjoying the subject matter. But first we drew what we would be if we could be ANYTHING for Halloween… we did this last year and again this year it was a blast to see what they came up with.

And then we dove right back into Ancient Egypt… there is no end to the fascinating things to see and learn about!!!

We also made our Fall poster… Gotta find those signs and be ready for the season!

Egyptian knowledge runs rampant this week… Tuesday was more books and discussion…

Pen pal letters to decorate…

And on Wednesday story time with the long absent (ok sleeping in Echo’s bed flat as a board) Fat Sheep.

I love watching the kids all hard at work.

So to reward them we made some yummy chocolate rice krispie squares!

 And so we make it to midweek intact and tummy full of treats!