Friday, December 31, 2010

Getting ready to start fresh...again

Today we'll be cleaning, mopping, and getting a little organized since we are still basking in the after Christmas glow. Daddy has been off work and we've been spending quality family time together. We went on a lovely zoo trip yesterday and saw a baby giraffe and koala.
We have doing just a little homeschool these past few weeks. We have enjoyed crafting, advent activities, reading, and building. Olive really enjoyed putting this Lego camper together with her Dad...it's really cute.
Today the girls are playing store. Olive made these really pretty construction paper fruits. Each fruit is worth five cents and Jem has to count out five pennies. They are really playing nicely together, it makes my heart happy.

It's been a year with big highs and a few big dips, but we are so blessed. I know 2011 will have more surprises in store for all of us. I am keeping my eyes wide open so I don't miss a thing! May you have a peaceful and healthy New Year and thank-you for coming along on my journey.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Puzzle Swap

We go through puzzles like crazy around here. I was wondering if any of you would be interested in a puzzle swap?

You would mail your puzzle by January 20th. Just dump the puzzle pieces into a large ziploc bag along with the front of the puzzle box. Then head to the post office and mail the puzzle in a manila envelope. I will E-mail your swapper info by January 12th.

If you are interested, please E-mail me at sippycupcentral@gmail.com by January 10th.
Include:
-child's name
-age
-address

Thanks and have a fantastic day!

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Olivia Goes To Venice- SINKS!

We are big fans of the five previous Olivia books by Ian Falconer. We read them over and over again, but Falconer's new book, Olivia Goes to Venice, is one that sinks into the Grand Canal.
The part in question reads,"As they went through the airport, Olivia was searched for weapons. She was very pleased." The illustration is of two security pigs wanding Olivia with her parents looking from behind.

My girls are well-traveled children. We use to live on the West coast, while the rest of the family lived back East. When we would go through security check points I would remind them that we didn't always have to take our shoes off and it's not OK to have your rights taken away (but that's another topic all together).

I really wanted to like this book. The illustrations were lovely, we laughed when they ate a ton of gelato, and we enjoyed the trip through Venice. There is just something about the wording and illustrations on the third page that bothers me enough not to keep it in our library. The child pig, Olivia, being wanded for weapons is not cute or funny in my world!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Being Thankful

I am really excited to share a post with you that I wrote for The Homeschool Classroom.
The Homeschool Classrom

My goal for 2011 is to help my family be "thankful the whole year through".
I would also like to thank all of Sippy Cup Central's faithful followers. Thank-you for taking this homeschool journey with me and for being my support system. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Ginger Bread Houses- Hot Glued!

Tomorrow we are decorating these little houses with left over Halloween candy.  I think I hit the easy button this year when I got the idea to hot glue the houses ahead of time, it will make decorating a lot easier for the girls.
 The girls were so excited to see Santa and they are counting down the days with their Santa Beard Advent Calendar.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Creating An Advent Wreath

I have wanted to make an advent wreath with my girls for quite some time. We had some left over spruce from our Christmas tree and an extra foam ring from our coffee filter wreath project. The only thing left to buy were the purple and pink candles.

The candle lighting is progressive from week to week preparing for the birth of Baby Jesus. The Bible passages were recommended by a friend.

First Sunday of advent :  Hope
(just passed) Light one purple candle (Hope).
Read Isaiah 60:2-3

Second Sunday : Peace
Light two purple candles. (Hope and Peace).
Read Mark 1:4


Third Sunday : Joy
Light two purple candles (Hope and Peace),
and one pink (Joy).
Read Isaiah 35:10


Fourth Sunday: Love
Light all four candles  (Hope, Peace, Joy and Love).
Read Isaiah 9:6-7

Christmas Eve
After Sunset...
Light all four candles and add a fifth white candle
(the light of Christ).
Read Luke 1:68-79 and Luke 2:1-20



You can find a similar example here as well.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Fun Christmas Games

We spent an hour this morning playing these counting and matching Christmas games. Our favorite game was "Fill the stable" found over at Musing of Me. You need two dice to play or if you can't find the dice, like me,  just write the numbers on slips of paper. Jem was so excited when she got to add baby Jesus to the stable.

We found this cute Christmas tree matching game over at Kidssoup. Jem really enjoyed this game!
We also built and drew a Christmas tree by playing this dice game from Homeschool Creations. The girls want me to create a gingerbread house game next time.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Santa Beard Advent Calendar

 My girls adore this Santa beard advent calendar that we found here.  They loved adding a cotton ball each day as we count down the days until Christmas.
 We have also been busy elves making wreaths to send to our family out of town. The girls added the decorations and I hot glued them on.
It's been a busy weekend around here. We just started cookie baking, the girls were in the local Christmas parade, we added the finishing touches to our decorations, and put up the tree. How are your preparations going?

Linked to:
My Delicious Ambiguity
Homeschool Creations Pre-5
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