Winter Chillin': December 17 - January 6

In My Life Over Winter Break

Family, fun and exhaustion! Isn't that the usual with Christmas and welcoming in the new year? (Wow! 2011 went by QUICKLY, huh?) Oh, and I turned ((gulp)) 4-0!

So, who made NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS? Wanna share? I'd share mine, but I, um, didn't make any! I NEVER seem to stick with them! Ha! Ha!

We hit the trails for what Sugar Maple calls our "Winter Wanderings"! Wanna see some December nature? Click here!

Oh, and I decided to join Pinterest. There's not enough hours in the day for pinning! LOL

And some snow fell! But would you believe it - it's all melted away again! I'm still not complaining, but we've been having some weird weather!

What'cha Makin' Wednesday!
Chocolate-dipped Coconut Macaroons from our favorite cookie cookbook!

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix together 1 package of flaked, sweetened coconut, 2/3 c white sugar, 6 T all-purpose flour, and 1/4 t salt then stir in 4 egg whites and 1 t almond extract. Place heaping teaspoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake about 10-12 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Remove cookies and cool on wire racks immediately. Melt 1/2 bag of milk chocolate chips in the microwave, stopping every 10-12 seconds to stir. Drizzle over the tops of cookies or dip one side of the cookies into the chocolate (which is what we prefer because it's MORE chocolate).

Don't these look great?

Homeschool Happenings
Let the 2nd half of our year begin! If we stay on track we should finish our 175 days by the end of April! Exciting!

White Pine studied land weathering and erosion in Earth Science, creating a really cool diagram to explain the types. His Earth Science Notebook is looking fantastic!

Weathering and Erosion Flow Chart
Click to Enlarge

Sugar Maple and Balsam Fir began their US Geography studies. Maple is using Teacher Created Materials US Geography and Fir is creating a State Notebook, but they're BOTH using the same books, card games, "How the States got their Shapes" TV shows, and Sheppard Software on-line games.

Fir's Alabama Notebook Page - Front

Fir's Alabama Notebook Page - Back

Sugar Maple's Southeast States
unscramble worksheet

Oh, and Sugar Maple received a fabulous sewing machine and book for Christmas and has been learning to sew.

Sugar Maple practiced stitching and pivoting without thread
to paper

Helpful Homeschool Hint
Have you seen Lunchables at the grocery store? I don't know about your kids, but my younger two seem to gravitate towards them, but have you read the ingredient list? Eek! So, for school-on-the-road or school-at-the-park, make your own lunches in divided plastic containers! I bought our containers at Walmart and fill them with more nutritious choices, a special sweet treat (to make them more Lunchable-ish) and water. Healthier, more convenient and less expensive!

Ham and cheese slices with Wheat Thins, celery sticks with
peanut butter, a chocolate granola bar, baby peeled carrots,
and tin-foil covered sunflower seeds

Here, There, Everywhere

❄ Hangin' out with S_, C_ and X_ ❄ Decorating cookies with Mimi and Pop ❄ Girl Scouts ❄ Visiting Nannie and Grandpa, Aunts and Uncle and cousin Noodle ❄ Playin' with cousins O_ and J_ ❄ Library Lego Club ❄ Scout Camp-in for White Pine  ❄ Basketball ❄

One of My Favorite Things

Even an ALMOST teenager can enjoy a
playground even if he won't admit it. LOL

Ponderings
So starts the time of year where I start REALLY looking into next year's curriculum. Have you started? I'll have a HIGH SCHOOLER next fall! And a 5th and 2nd grader. Most of my choices are made but I'm still thinking about 9th grade English. Do you suppose the perfect literature-based, writing, vocabulary-building, grammar all-in-one curriculum is out there?

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