Tag Archive | Christmas

Anoka County Fair 2018

We entered so many things this year and EVERYONE did very well, so for the most part this is really just a lovely series of pictures of people’s entries and ribbons. But first, Some of the fun is picking them out when Ken and I go to the fair to see what is what. 20180725_211908

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Trinity

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20180730_173015Emanuel – this was his last year in the younger kids’ category.IMG_20180730_180917_458

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Gavin20180730_165756_HDR

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Christmas Etc In Brief and Delayed

So much went on over our Christmas unit but I have to share a few resources…

Snowflakes are all sorts of awesome. So we had to look into them a little. For books we used:

  • The Story of Snow by Mark Cassino
  • Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
  • My Brother Loved Snowflakes by Mary Bahr
  • Snowflakes Fall by Patricia MacLachlan and Steven Kellogg
  • Snowfllakes by Martha E.H. Rustad

For Christmas this year we went from nursery rhymes to Christmas carols. Origins and meanings are so interesting! To help us out I found two books:

  • The Carols of Christmas by Ideals Publications
  • Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas by Ace Collins

We read a few favorites… The Gingerbread Man, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, A Porcupine in a Pine Tree (a Canadian 12 days of Christmas), Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. The list goes on. 

What I really wanted to share was the idea of finding out a little history about the things we say and sing. Delving into the history of Christmas Carols made us stop and think about how long they had been around, why they appeared, how symbolism has changed. Christmas is a great time to look at the root of things, and to revisit old favourites. For more examples look at our Nursery Rhyme Posts. (a delayed one with that too, they will be linked)IMG_20171204_105716_262

December Brrrr

Yup, a quick overview of a month already well blogged… December…

Advent fun…20171214_110348

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Chinchilla….IMG_20171221_225121_574

YMCA time…20171223_114252

R.I.P.P.E.D

R.I.P.P.E.D

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Night out with Chris and Renee to see a play!!

Pre show Mystro time

Pre show Mystro time

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A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol

More Chinchilla…

So serious

So serious

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Taught Gavin how to clean the cage.

Taught Gavin how to clean the cage.

Crafting with Gavin…

He made all of our cards!

He made all of our cards!

Crafting period…

These are my final finish of the year and are an adorable set from the designer Knot Bad.

These are my final finish of the year and are an adorable set from the designer Knot Bad.

Neko-Chan is such a sweet model

Neko-Chan is such a sweet model

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Knot Bad rocks!

Knot Bad rocks!

The arrival of a lovely fruit box from Grandma and Grandpa Reinsch…20171221_145011

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Baking…

The twins made cookies as a present we mailed off!

The twins made cookies as a present we mailed off!

Monster cookies

Monster cookies

A somewhat surprise visit from Nana and Baba…20171227_092632_HDR

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And just plain old fun!

Cousin Robbie visited and mentioned never having had a scarf... well that problem was quickly solved!

Cousin Robbie visited and mentioned never having had a scarf… well that problem was quickly solved!

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Opening presents with Aunty Holly and Cousin Jimmie

Opening presents with Aunty Holly and Cousin Jimmie

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Don’t forget school time, we kept up a pretty good pace considering the amount of excitement. Lots of opportunity to learn as we researched some origins of our favorite carols.IMG_20171219_152151_526

We made crystals!

We made crystals!

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A handmade Christmas card

A handmade Christmas card

By Emanuel

By Emanuel

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Chinese for New Years…20171231_180435

If you want to see the already blogged activities.. here you are…

  1. Anoka Lights
  2. Santa Visits
  3. Christmas Pageant

So now that I have posted this WAY out of order (what with the blog back log), here’s hoping I can catch myself up before mid 2018!!!! Wish me luck!!!

We braved the insanity of Mall of America right after Christmas... someone asked for a gift card from Santa this year.

We braved the insanity of Mall of America right after Christmas… someone asked for a gift card from Santa this year.

She stood in line so long that some Christmas money made its way to the purchase.

She stood in line so long that some Christmas money made its way to the purchase.

Dungeon and Dragons with Dad!

Dungeon and Dragons with Dad!

Gavin asked for an item with sequins...

Gavin asked for an item with sequins…

Doing Home Depot at home

Doing Home Depot at home

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This entry was posted on 28/01/2018, in Uncategorized. 3 Comments