Jesse Tree Advent Devotional Book

I have been following a local homeschool blogger Jennifer at Planted by Streams for a few months now. She is always inspirational and fun. Earlier this month she blogged about Ann Voskamp's Free Jesse Tree Advent Devotional. It has been a blessing to our family. If you did not get a chance to do it this year, I encourage to you make it part of you homeschool adventure in 2011.

Christmas Decor: Homemade Mantel and Fireplace

Mom,can we have a Christmas mantel like we did in our old house? Sure son. (Internal grimace.)

During our move the kid lost a backyard, sunny Decembers and his life long friends. We can not replace any of that but try to give a little Texas Christmas by giving him a mantel on a tight budget.

I felt like MacGyver minus the chewing gum. I had left over USPS boxes, brown butcher paper, a Wii Fit Board Box and the Family Fun Christmas book from the library.

My normally none crafty son was very pleased with the results.
In true boy fashion he had to take it up a notch. "Mom, can we make fake fire?" He runs to the Michael's bag and pulls out two flickering tea lights (battery operated) then places behind our fake logs. "Mom this is going to be AWESOME!" It is awesome.

Mostly Wordless Wednesday:Christmas Edition

Our first rolled out gluten free Christmas cookies.

My Homemade Christmas Workbox Tags

I just got into a festive mood and made these Christmas Workbox Tags for our workboxes.

The Twelve Days of Christmas in Washington, D.C.

As part of our holiday celebration we are reading "The Twelve Days of Christmas in Washington, D.C." by Candice Ransom. This is a great way for us to discover the city and start new family traditions.

So far we have done 5 of the 12 activities discussed in the book. Most of which have been free admission and loads of fun. However the blistering cold of the last couple of weeks have made each an adventure dressing for winter.

I have been having camera issues so most of the pictures will be borrowed from other sources on the web.

Some of our favorites are:

Zoolights at the National Zoo

A chilly Saturday morning visit to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. The lobby has a beautiful glass floor with an amazing Christmas tree.

While there we visited the First Ladies at the Smithsonian exhibition. The gowns were wonderful and the space incredible.



My favorite dress. I loved it! The shoes were AWESOME!
Also on the display is the George Washington Statue from 1841. This was a different view of the first president. I personally did not care for it. Then Ironhide say "Look at your man, now look at your president" (reference the Old Spice commercial), I was well and truly done.




And of course the Ruby Slippers.


Our next adventure was on a cold and windy day to visit The White House and the famous squirrels at Lafayette Park.

The original black and gray squirrels where actual escapees from the zoo who found a home here in the park. These are the chubbiest squirrels I have ever seen. They have no fear of people and will come right up to you. When I did not feed them one actually stepped to block my way.

We were all in awe of The White House. It is beautiful sight.



And of course it would not be DC without the Washington Monument.
Well that is all for now.

Blessings,

Our Darling Daughter's 10 Year Homecoming Anniversary