Resolution Time!

The Princess and I training for a 5K at the end of March. We started December 1st and have been walking/running a mile 3 times a week. We plan to increase our walking/running a little at a time until we get to 3 miles! We also have decided to add this into our work out routine: 

Click to get your own.

We also spend some time reflecting on 2014. The Princess filled out this sheet for me to put up and save:

We also have set some goals for the new year. We printed this sheet and I helped her to think of goals as well as what to do to get there. We posted this completed sheet on the bulletin board in the school room. 

Happy New Year!

Christmas ornaments

We created several of our own ornaments this year for ourselves and to give to others. We started with plain ornaments like this:

(Click to order your own.)

Then we added all sorts of different things like...

different colored pom pom balls

clear shred

Christmas sprinkles

Here are some ideas for making your own. Click to order your own:

Kindness Elves

Our kindness elf, Evan made his appearance this week. We don't do Santa at our house. I made this decision before my daughter was born because I didn't want her to be distracted from the true meaning of Christmas only. Many of her friends, our friends, still celebrate Santa and that's okay. Some of them have an Elf on the Shelf. The Princess asked if we could have one too. I struggled with this because elves are part of Santa's story. I looked for a way to do something fun with her without bringing Santa into our celebration. The kindness elf was the answer. 

DAY 1:

Evan's purpose is stated in this first letter (typed in tiny font): 

"Hello. I am a kindness elf, a special kind of elf.

It’s my job to spread Christmas love and joy. I need your help. Make a list of all the nicest words you know and post it on the refrigerator for everyone to see."

DAY 2:

"Let’s spread some kindness together.  Make a card for someone you love. Call someone and brighten up their day. Do a good job and we might do something fun tomorrow.

<3 Evan" 


DAY 3: 

"Help your mom with chores today and have a good attitude doing it. Think about the Fruits of the Spirit as you go about your day. Something fun will come later 

<3 Evan"

DAY 4:

"Let’s have a good time baking some brownies for Christmas Eve! Maybe we can even bake a cake for Jesus’s birthday! Be a good helper and get ready to celebrate Jesus!

<3 Evan"

Jesus's birthday cake is our Christmas tradition. We've been doing this since the Princess was little. To keep the focus on the true meaning of Christmas we bake a cake. On Christmas day we sing Happy Birthday to Jesus! 

DAY 5:

Evan wanted The Princess to help with Mom's workout playlist. The Princess loves YouTube so she was great at this job! 

DAY 6:

"Happy Christmas Eve!  Make something nice for Great Nana and get ready to celebrate Jesus!

<3, Evan"

(Snowman project for her great grandmother)

DAY 7:

"Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday to Jesus! Remember to think about the real reason for the season. Be thankful for everything that you are blessed with today.  See you next year!

<3, Evan"

Evan was purchased at Hobby Lobby, but here are some of the alternatives to the Elf on the Shelf I've found at Amazon:

Thanksgiving Baking

I am not a good cook. I don't like to cook. I remember being a kid and trying to help in the kitchen. My LITTLE sister kicked me out! However, baking is something I have been able to manage. The Princess and I whipped up some cute desserts for today's feast. We didn't have the eyeball candy for the turkey, so we used white chocolate chips and drew on them with edible markers like this:

We used the broken or messed up candy corns for the beaks and the good ones for the turkeys' feathers.

 We also made sugar cookies like we did for Halloween. We discovered that the round sprinkles like to roll off and not stick to the icing :-(

Fall Tree Craft

The Princess and I discussed this art project in theory. She created this on her own: 

So I created my own tree. I also took her outside to look at the trees. I pointed out the branches to her. I showed her out the trees leaned some. I explained how the tree was thinner at the top. 

The Princess created a new tree to reflect what she saw. I love the growth from this project. She wants to know which tree is your favorite. 

Fall Art Projects

The Princess likes to create. Here are a few of her fall projects.

This is a autumn tree. She used a twig for the tree trunk. She collected a few small leaves and dipped them in paint and then used them to make leaf prints on the paper. She used green construction paper to make the grass. 

The Princess made a rake with Popsicle sticks. She traced leaf patterns and cut out leaves from construction paper. 

We experimented with negative space art. We used yellow and red paint.  We let them mix a little because we didn't wash out the brush between colors. This made the various shades of orange as well as still showing the red and yellow. We saw online where someone did this with a cut-out of their hand, but we just used our hands directly on the paper. It was a bit messier, but it was fun and the paint was washable so it came off easily. 

The Princess made some sugar cookies too!!! We used a leaf shape and some plain circles, but our favorite was the pumpkin shape. We covered it with icing and then added orange and green sprinkles to them. Unfortunately they were too yummy and we forgot to get pictures of the end product. :-(

Human Body: Nutrition

Print your own little healthy food choice book by clicking on this image:

This is a great little bundle of worksheets for older kids. It works in conjunction with the Fooducate app on a smartphone. Fooducate grades foods based on nutritional information on the packaging.  After a few of the lessons, we started scanning the foods in the pantry with the app to see how healthy they are. Then we went to the grocery store and used the app to help us shop. Very cool way to learn about foods!  

My Plate replaced the Food Pyramid. Here's a cool song/video that explains My Plate:

You can also print a blank "my Plate" so that your children can plan their own healthy meal. 

 

Here's another My Plate printable. The kids can cut out their selections and glue them onto the plates to create their own meals. 

 

This is a great little booklet for younger students. Click to go to the website to print your own. 

The Princess also helped to make a family menu for a few meals to demonstrate her understanding of the things she learned in this lesson.