Book covers really are a double edged sword. I honestly look for books that have everyone well clothed (personal preference) and try not to let it colour my views too much. But let’s be honest, we all look! Jingle Bell Bride by Jillian Hart had a a bit of a contradictory draw to me. I love the pretty Christmas scene and am a sucker for a pretty white dress. BUT I was a little concerned by the fact that the author’s name was THREE times the size of the title. In fact, I honestly read the book as Jillian Hart first when I was just skimming books at the library.

Thankfully my concerns were unnecessary. I really rather enjoyed this adorable contemporary Christmas romance. Perfect for a bit of seasonal reading and an escape from a world that seems a little too full of hate and anger. Escapism reading at its finest.

Set in snowy Wyoming in a town named Summer of all things, Chelsea McKaslin is back home after completing her studies to become a pediatrician. Still mourning from the loss of her mother the year before, she, her sisters and father are all simply trying to embrace a holiday that meant so much to the woman they love and lost. Stung by a failed love and committed to her plans and lists Chelsea is not ready for widowed father Dr. Michael Kramer and his adorable daughter Macie. But then again, neither is he.

With snowstorms, and memories and two grown adults dead set against love, this story is all sorts of sweetness, faith and love. There are children battling terminal or potentially terminal illness but there is light there too. OH and sleigh rides, Christmas lights and presents! All in all a lovely read in a series about the extended McKaslin family!

March 8-12

Another weekend, another series of visits. Saturday afternoon/evening Ken and the boys went to a sleepover at Joe and Faithe’s. Total boy time. That left Echo, Trinity and myself to dinner and a rather quiet evening of a movie and popcorn.

Oh and dress up!!

We have some fairy hackers coming along it seems.

Trinity and I even took some time to start her Hello Kitty scrapbook.

And at bedtime we called Daddy to say good night.

With our ride gone overnight there was no Sunday school for us. Just some quiet play time before we had to get ready to go out.

Ken and the boys picked us up around lunchtime so we could head over to Aunty Judy and Uncle Jim’s for a visit. And to return their now fixed computer. Robbie and Jessica were there also, along with all sorts of puppies, a kitty, ducks… fish… and so forth.

We had pizza for lunch and hung out until almost dinner time. It was a great visit on a beautiful day.

Monday was the last session for the  twins’ first set of swimming lessons. With all the weather delays we actually went almost a month late. So the next session that we decided to schedule all 3 boys into gives us only one week grace to get Emanuel’s swim gear ready. They are all very excited to get to it. The twins have a little more work to move out of the beginners group to advanced beginners. But they are learning and loving it. Which is all we can ask!

Trinity was so excited… she completed her first addition AND subtraction book! With minimum tears and fuss no less!

With all the visiting and excitement we had gotten behind on our Art for Kids (HERE) drawing instructions so we had an art session using a variety of the newest ones.

We had penpal letters to illustrate…

And India to learn all about… a light lesson as sadly EVERYONE was getting sick.

Oh and I have to share our follow up on Paul Bunyan! Quite the interesting legend and a perfect chance to discuss how a story can be real or really cannot. I used two library books:

• Paul Bunyan by Steven Kellogg
• The Story of Paul Bunyan by Barbara Emberley

We had three worksheets from Education.com:

• Tell Fact From Fiction HERE
• Coloring Page HERE
• Write a mixed up fairy tale HERE

We are finally seeing some spring like weather… Perfect opportunity to go out in our light clothes and scrape some of the muck off the driveway. Now let’s not get too excited about this sudden warmth… it IS Minnesota and spring is not something winter allows easily here!

Ken and I got around (finally) to assembling a long forgotten shelf and organizing our school stuff even further. Organization is always a calming influence on my soul I swear! And now with some labels thanks to my Christmas present from Ken I even have some spiffy LAMINATED labels for three of our section. The kids were impressed by the fact that they could now SEE some favourite games and puzzles on the bottom row and keep better track of their workbooks.

Pre labels

I am loving the bigger boys helping the little kids. Their reading skills have smoothed out enough that at time they will VOLUNTEER to read the other two their workbook assignments!!

Ken and Trinity did our grocery shopping for the day on Wednesday… and Trinity made sure to come back with a special treat just for me! So sweet!

We finally got around to decorating our Valentines Day folder. It is also more full than expected! But everyone had a blast colouring hearts and messages on our folder.

Of course Echo had to bring out our 100 day markers and draw us up something nice. I think the past 100 school day have had their rough patches but were honestly very nice!

We are forging right on through the weeks with school mixed with fun! March is certainly following February’s lead!

January 6-10

The weather has gone cold cold cold… so cold in fact, that it has been declared ARCTIC! SO of course we had to try the boiling water thrown into the freezing air. Yes, instant steam and an impressive sound to boot. Ken was the adventurous one who ventured outside to do so. We also did up New Year’s Resolutions and pictures of some of our favourite Christmas moments in our journals. We did ATTEMPT a balloon left out in the cold but we did not see a dramatic change in its shape sadly. It was worth a try. The kids and I did an afternoon movie in bed – BRAVE! It was fun to snuggle and hang out together in our own little world. The twins also did another Christmas related drawing from Art for Kids. Seriously, click on their link on the right and enjoy the free art lessons! The next day we started storytime up again. I am determined to keep us reading. We lucked out over Christmas and ended up growing our book collection and of course there are always random stops at the library to find some seasonal gems. And lately, our day is never complete without a fairy! With all this cold weather we decided it was time to take on our next Little Passports country – Mexico! I did order some extra books from the library:

• Mexico in Pictures by Janice Hamilton
• Mexico by R. Conrad Stein
• Christmas Traditions Around the World by Ann Ingalls
• Countries of the World: Mexico by Beth Gruber

And of course we used Activity Village (search under Mexico) for some print outs.  We found this great Animal Planet show – Treehouse Masters. After watching a few episodes the boys decided to create some joint masterpieces of their own using their imaginations and Gavin’s art book.  On Wednesday Trinity figured she would come up with some dreams for 2014 and did an amazing job colouring the page up afterwards. In fact, everyone did some winter or New Year’s themed papers. All printed out from Activity Village (link on right). Emanuel and I took on reading about dinosaurs from a Christmas present. I have sorted through all the books I could in the house and have put everything dinosaur into a box. I am hoping we can vary up our dinosaur learning. Of course I still have backlog to share once I get off my bum and link everything up and all that fun stuff. Emanuel’s love of dinosaurs has not faltered. We are just reaching the end of our easily researched dinosaurs. Time to get more creative!  We had more storytime and more treehouses. Both Wednesday and Thursday. As well as a closer look at the amazing microscope bought with Christmas money. I cannot wait until summer when it is easier to get specimens for slides! Ken and the kids took on one of their new science kits and cracked open the magnet box.  We also got a good start on Chinese New Year. This year we are making a poster with our findings again. Lots of books and online hunting. This is one of the kids’ favourite celebrations. And this year it is the year of the horse.  With cousins coming Friday afternoon we rounded off our school week with the creating of our own ice rink. A really simple craft you can find HERE. We also made our own little critters out of magic clay and spent some time discussing how they would skate together and play.  Treehouses of our imagination… magnets… Chinese New Year… add in some interesting government stuff to accomplish – American passports, Social Security numbers and various medical appointments for Ken and we are keeping our 2014 active and exciting!!! 

And we keep on reading!