I Love Homeschool - Marigold's Buzz

Big news from the homeschool front -

Marigold has been working hard on her own newspaper.

It is primarily a compilation of the many writing assignments she completes monthly.

I'm proud that she has found an enjoyable way to share her work,

especially since it has brought her a renewed excitement in her tasks.

After fighting a losing battle with our printer, 

I've decided to simply share a link with everyone.

We hope to be able to mail out hard copies next month,

since that was Marigold's original wish.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-hLHYPK8HnFVFdaN3hWaWtQODQ/view?usp=sharing

Marigold would love to hear what everyone thinks :)

Please feel free to leave comments, as she will happily read them all!

I Love Homeschool - Dr Seuss Day!

We love Dr. Seuss, and so, 

we're having a full day of fun filled activities 

for homeschool in his honor. 

^_^

Each of us chose a favorite Dr. Seuss book to present...

Ashlynn chose Green Eggs and Ham!

I painted faces to go along with their choices...

Ashlynn helped me read her book to everyone.

Then, she handed out the treats she and I made ahead of time...

I do so like Green Eggs and Ham!!

Caleb Chose Hop on Pop!

He read us the whole book by himself,

and then we played a matching game he and I had prepared.

Marigold chose Oh Say Can You Say?!

We turned Hooey into a cute half feather mask...

so it would be more girly :)

She read us a few of her favorite tongue twisters,

and then challenged us all to some easier ones...

Can you say "Cheap Cheese Stinks" ten times fast?

We took a short break to watch the old 

"Horton Hears a Who" movie (found here)

It's one of my favs!

Then we read my choice -The Lorax

We discussed how we can be good stewards over the Earth.

We also prepped for the seed starting we'll be doing this afternoon.

Then we had a Lorax Snack!

Last but not least, we read The Cat in the Hat, 

and had Cat cheese sticks with our lunches

We plan to read every Dr. Seuss book in our house

over the course of the week...

which will be tough, as we have quite a collection!!

Wish us luck!

I Love the Holidays!

We had a wonderful holiday season this year.

First, at Thanksgiving, we had the Dorsetts come down 

and spend some time with us.

It was so much fun!

So fun, that I hardly took any pics...sorry!

As usual, we made heaps of food, including 14 pies...

(there can never be too many pies)

-

Then it was time to get ready for Christmas!

we made lots of gingerbread cookies in lieu of houses this year.

Caleb helped make this missionary 

and Marigold decorated quite a few on her own, 

including this tree

Since my niece Simran is so curious,

we all decided a smaller tree at table height 

would be the best choice this year

Everyone helped to decorate

and it turned out beautifully

Christmas Morning seemed to come quickly this year!

The suspense!!

We take turns opening presents from youngest to oldest

The kids were very polite and took turns well.

New sneakers!! I love that face!

Now that the kids are all a little older, 

 they bought/made presents for each other.

They were all so excited about the "secrets" we were working on.

And, you could see that excitement on their faces as they gave their gifts to be opened.

I tried to capture the moment by posting pics of some of the gifts being opened,

next to a pic of the reaction of the recipient. 

Caleb bought Marigold some rainbow loom bands with his own money

Caleb helped me sew Ashlynn her own super hero cape dress up!

(he was so cute sitting on my lap helping to push the fabric along as we sewed)

Marigold made a CD case coloring kit for Caleb, almost all on her own

I just had to use the exact knife and hot glue gun...

the rest she did on her own, and spent her own money for all the parts

Marigold also helped sew this tension rod puppet theatre for Ashlynn.

I didn't get any pics of her reaction, but she was so happy she squealed.

I was proud of how thoughtfully they chose gifts to give,

and how hard they worked on them.

I'm looking forward to doing this together next year.

-

There was a large crowd for the morning - 

12 in all - it was nice!

CJ and Christie spoiled everyone

George and Harjot did too

 it was Simran's first Christmas!

and of course, Grandma and Papa were there too!

(also spoiling the kids)

I had to include pics of this giant caterpillar

Cj and Christie got for Ashlynn...it's awesome

I love putting together stockings for the kids,

and this year I tried something new.

Using white crepe paper, I wrapped all of the tiny gifts and candies 

into a "surprise snowball" (thank you pinterest)

They sat for a few minutes slowly unwrapping it to find each item.

I think it was much nicer than just dumping everything on the ground.

And, they were thrilled about every small thing they found.

I think it'll be a tradition to have one in our stockings each year.

I decided to make New Years fun for the kids this year.

We decorated the dining room

My Mom has a great box with a clock on it.

It opens, so inside, I did an envelope countdown.

Each hour from 3:00-11:00 we had something fun to do!

some were games, 

some were treats,

some were crafts,

some were movies to watch

the kids each designed and made a party hat:

We made a balloon drop in the living room,

since we'd be watching the ball drop there

We had lots of party food too

The mini cheesecakes and oreo pies, 

and chocolate covered fruits

were the kids' favorites.

We added gold tinsel to the tree,

and I hid crackers inside for us to open at 11pm

We also did face painting

Everyone made it to midnight, 

and they were so well behaved the whole time.

(I think keeping them occupied was key)

We rang in the New Year with the balloon drop,

party squawkers, a toast and lots of kisses!

We wish you all a Happy New Year, 

and look forward to the adventures ours will bring.