What To Teach For Christmas

I usually will break out my Amanda Bennett unit study at Christmas, but this year I decided to do something a different. I still haven't really planned things out, but I do know that we will be using the following things.

1. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever study guide by Progeny Press
2. Jotham's Journey: An advent storybook
3. Adventures in Odyssey Christmas Classics
4. Traditions of Christmas by Ace Collins
5. Jingle Bells Batman Smells (PS So Does May) You know I have to throw in some Junie B.!

We have only done 2 of the Thanksgiving crafts that I had in mind, so I wonder just how many Christmas crafts, etc will actually get done.

This is such a fun time of year for the kids. It's fun for Phillip and me also if it doesn't get too hectic. It's a work in progress and I'm hoping this year is better than last! At least I am not having to keep the house clean because our house is up for sale (unlike last year). Having a house up for sale during Christmas is hopefully a once in a lifetime event. We are really close to many Christmas light displays where we live now and we hope to hit every one around within a 20 mile radius! We have already drove through Williamston Park and sat on Santa's lap (no long line either). I wonder how much learning will go on the month of December? :-)

SWEET WORDS

I was rushing the kids this morning telling them hurry up and that we were going to be late. I had it in my mind to start school at a certain time. Melanie was brushing her hair and looked up at me with a little grin on her face and said, "How can we be late for school?" I started laughing because she was soooo right! I usually don't make a big deal of getting started later than I want, so I guess to her it was a crazy thing to say. Just had to share.

I'M SO THANKFUL

Seeing what everyone is thankful for on facebook got me to thinking about what I really am thankful for. I hope I am honestly thankful for every single thing the Lord has given me, but there are things that I am thankful for that seem to be at the top of the list today. Here's a glimpse in to my thoughts.

1. I am thankful for my friend, Christine, who gave me information about legitimate work at home jobs. My little job has provided income for the kids and me to do extra things that we may not have gotten to do through the years. Sometimes Phillip has been able to join in with us if he took the day off or we would go on our trips on the weekend.

2. I am thankful for the past 15 months. It has been a roller coaster ride for sure. Phillip lost his job last August and with that came lots of changes. God blessed us with Phillip getting a job quickly, however it was not an ideal situation. The insurance was terrible, the environment was terrible, and the commute was terrible, but how can we not be thankful for it? God PROVIDED! The Lord provided for all our needs and some of our wants during Phillip's time at the job. God then blessed Phillip with a new opportunity a couple of weeks ago. Oh, how much different things are now. The insurance is great, the environment is great, and the commute is great! Phillip said he had forgotten what it was like to hear co-workers laugh( now that's bad).

3. I am thankful to be able to educate our children the way we believe God wants us to. We can get up and school at 10:00 in pajamas or be at the table schooling at 8:00 dressed in our best. We start the day in prayer and we discover TOGETHER the world around us.

4. I am thankful to not have to worry about "socialization". When we first started schooling the children 6 years ago, I was worried that the kids wouldn't "fit in". With the Lord guiding our footsteps, I have found out that socialization is not one of our problems. They each had a part on program at church this past Sunday and they WANTED to do it. Thank you Lord.

5. I am thankful for the many unique friends that I have. Each one is special and have many talents. I thank the Lord that they are willing to be there for me and that I can also glean information from them when I need to. I am amazed at what these friends can do!

6. I am so thankful for my parents. They took me to church and taught me how to love the Lord. They are so giving of themselves. They have compassion for people and I feel that they have taught me that as well.

7. I am thankful for the relationship that I have with my husband. I think we make a pretty good team. He's awesome!

8. I am thankful for Usborne books. We have a ton of new books ourselves and I thank the Lord for allowing me to bring these books in to other children's lives.

9. I am thankful for my new house and especially my porch.

10. I am thankful for my church family! I can't say enough about them.

Our Thanksgiving Study

I thought I would post how we are schooling for the next 1 1/2 weeks. I started by looking around on THIS website. I printed a few templates from the site mostly for Melanie. I bought the Thanksgiving on Thursday, which is a Magic Tree House book along with the reference guide that goes with it. I also bought the book, History Pockets, Colonial America. You can check it out HERE . I also got our craft ideas from HERE. All the books were bought on Amazon. I could have used my swagbucks and got the books for free, but I'm saving them (I don't know yet for what). Stay tuned and I will post Christmas very soon!

Here's some more information I found on the scholastic site. Click HERE to check it out!

GO GET YOUR FUEL PERKS!

If you shop at Bi-Lo, then you probably already know about the fuel perks program. For every $50.00 you spend, they give you 5 cents off each gallon of gas you buy at participating gas stations. Check it out here if you want more details. There's lots of sales this week, so it would be a great time to shave a little off your gas bill also.

Here's a few items worth mentioning that I have already taken advantage of some of these deals

Turkey $.49 lb
Split chicken breast $.99 lb
Green Giant boxed veggies $1.00 each (but you can go here here or here to get $.50 coupon off 2 AND it doubles, so you will get each box for $.50 don't forget you can print each coupon TWICE)
Aunt Jemima frozen pancakes go here for $1.00/2 coupon you will pay $.50 per box
X-14 stain remover $1.00 coupon smartsource 9/27 and it will be FREE
Endust dusting spray $2.00 coupon RedPlum 11/8 it will be FREE

A great site I use now for Bi-Lo is southernsavers I can check what I want and print the list from the site. This site lists what coupons to use and also has links to print some coupons for the items listed. So for the whole list of savings check out southernsavers!

It's Over

Fall sports is officially over tonight. Madison had her soccer banquet today and Michael had his last football game. Last Monday was Melanie's last game. It was a great whirlwind of about 3 months. This year was the first year the girls played soccer. They seemed to have enjoyed it, but they still like gymnastics better. Michael's heart is still in football. He told me tonight with a huge smile on his face that he wanted to play again next year. It really has been great, but we are one tired family. You know we really won't get much of a break with the holidays coming up. I am going to find a few good movies for us to watch at night and I have already bought a couple of new games to play. Friends will be over and I'm steady researching fun stuff to do for Thanksgiving and Christmas (crafts and recipes). I hope to post very soon what we will be doing the next few weeks. After this week, we will probably put our regular unit study aside (My Father's World) and pick it back up in Jan. Oh, we will still be schooling, but Jesus' birth and the Pilgrims will take the place of the Roman Empire for a time. So, let me go take a DEEEEP breath and get started on the next round!