New Year's Week

It's been fun to see the kids play with their new toys and pursue their own interests in the downtime of break, but I'm starting to get itchy to get back to our routine on Monday.

I'm looking forward to hitting the Early Middle Ages, and working on more art projects.

Speaking of art, Brianna did some painting this week.

This is a work in progress shot.  It turned out quite nice when she finished it.  I like the way the background blends from dark to light.

With the exception of the canvas, which I bought in a pack locally, the supplies she's using came from a class my mom took.  Grammy passed the art stuff, including the book, down to us, and Brianna was inspired by one of the projects in the book.  

And the finished piece.  I think following the step by step instructions (for the most part!) was really helpful to her.  

Lots of construction toys got played with this week!  Eli's K'nex were built into planes and go karts.

Brianna's Magna-Tiles were built into all sorts of towers and shapes.

Eli is helping Jack work on his Snap Circuits set while Sam gets to play with the toddler Bristle Blocks.

The Snap Circuits were a big hit, and I got called to see and hear several new projects during the week.  I don't seem to have any pictures of the Lego creations, but 3 new sets were built this week.

The tree came down 12/26 (remember, our Christmas was early) to make way for...

a project that took Paul, Josiah, Eli, and myself to complete.

Ta-da!  One of my Christmas gifts was a new couch for the front room.  The old one has gone into the playroom, and to replace the previous playroom couch, which the kids destroyed.  We're hard on furniture.  I think the next step here might be some aqua sheers for the windows.

Miss Hannah shows off her completed puzzle.  (Katie got a 35 piece puzzle, and Hannah got a 60 piece one.)

See the necklace?  It's an H on acrylic.  Eve's Addiction has all sorts of unique, personalized jewelry.  Click here for 25% off!

I've noticed both girls need to be encouraged to actually play with their new toys, instead of just hoarding them into a pile.  I think it's the result of not having personal possessions during their early years.  They do okay with direction, though.  Here, they're playing with the Beads and Lacing bucket, since Katie got some new wooden beads in her stocking.

You see why I'm ready for the big kids to go back to school?  Brianna is flapping the box "wings."

And Sam is a Wii zombie.  The Wii is actually our first video game system.  It was a family gift from Annaliese.  Suddenly, I get it.  The kids will sit in front of the TV and play together reasonably well instead of having to be wherever I am.  How did I not know about this years ago?

Another fun thing about the Magnatiles is their translucency.  I really want to make a light table for the kids, so they can play with these against the light.

Katie, Hannah, and Brayden take a break from playtime to enjoy a handful of leftover gingerbread house candy.  We still have candy canes, too.

Excited to be starting a new year and hoping that this one is a better one for our family.

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Snowflake Dresses, a look back

Once upon a time, a long time ago, I bought some matching snowflake plaid shirts and dresses.

The kids wore them to a Christmas party for the fire department Paul volunteered with at the time.

Back in the days when we had 6 kids, 0-10 years old.

My "matchy" thing goes way back.

At the time, I did not know how long lasting these particular garments would be.

Eli, Jack, Hannah, and Brianna 2 years ago

2014

Jack, Brianna, Katie, Hannah

The older kids aren't delighted to see these--again--but they're good sports.  Jack wore his just long enough for a picture, but Bri kept hers on through presents.

Brianna is the only one of the kids in both the 2001 group photo and the 2014 photo.  There have been other pictures down through the years, but we lost a lot of photos in a computer crash.

I'm at the point now where I'm not sure what to do with the littlest pieces of our collection.  I gave away our small dresses as Brianna outgrew them years ago, and ended up kicking myself later, as I wished that I'd had them for Hannah and Katie in prior years.  Luke wore the 2T shirt this year, so I really ought to get rid of the size 18 months shirt, since I know that our family is complete.  But there's a tiny part of me that wants to hold on to it to pass down to Zach & Heather's kids when the time comes.  Crazy, right?

Anyway, I just thought some of you might like to take a glimpse back with me.  I can't believe how well these have worn.


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Favorite Reviews of 2014

As we wrap up 2014, and I get my review info together for our taxes, I thought I'd share with you some of our favorites.  We tried a lot of products this year!  Some of them have dropped out of circulation around here, of course, but many of them continue to enrich our lives.

January:  WooBamboo Toothbrushes  I like these well enough to buy them.  They just feel nice, and I'm happy that they're sustainable.

February:  St. Patrick's Day t-shirt  Eli wore this shirt quite a bit, and will pass it down to Jack in the new year, still looking good.

March:  Spelling You See  Still using it, plan to continue using the next level for Jack next year.  One of my favorite curriculum reviews ever.

April was an amazing month for reviews, and with several runners up I managed to narrow it down to two favorites:  Einstein In A Box and ARTistic Pursuits.  EIAB was super fun, and if we ever have extra homeschool funds, I would love to spring for a subscription.  ARTistic Pursuits introduced us to watercolor crayons, one of the most amazing art mediums we've played with ever.

May:  There were a couple things from May that we still use often, but my iPad case from Trident Case sees the very most use, every single day.  Also, I haven't killed off all the Air Plants yet!  4 of them are still holding on, which is impressive for me.

In June, we got to try out Happy Family toddler foods!  Luke still eats from pouches regularly, and Katie plays with the lids.

July was more about summer vacation than about reviews.

August:  The Paradise books from Deborah Brown.  I just finished another one of them for a review in January, and I really love this series.

September:  While we're still using Alpha Omega Lifepacs for Jack's math, I think both boys would say they enjoyed Under Drake's Flag a little bit more.  They have a new audio drama, In Freedom's Cause, out that I'm really hoping to be able to review in 2015.

October:  Montessori By Mom.  We loved this, and the tools from our box still see frequent use.

November:  Another tie, this time between the Chalk Markers (my kids love drawing on the window with these, and even Paul had to give it a try) and the Peg Stackers that, surprisingly, Jack gets out rather frequently still.

December:  Although I, personally, enjoyed the photoshoot with Katie in the boutique wear the most, I'm guessing my kids would pick the VeggieTales DVD Beauty and the Beet.

Bonus A favorite from 2013:  Glasstic water bottles.  Josiah and Eli talked me into get them bottles, too, since they've seen me use mine every day for over a year.  I just recently started putting seasonal window clings on the glass layer, which makes them a little bit more fun.

Doing reviews has been a huge blessing to our family, and I'm looking forward to sharing new things with you in the coming year, including another art program we'll be starting soon.

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