Yay for snow! :-)

I hope everyone had a beautiful and blessed Christmas day with their family or friends!  :-)  We sure did.  I will share some photos next week when I get back into my regular blogging schedule.  I have been enjoying the "blogcation," spending time with my children, making photo albums, baking, playing bingo and just enjoying the time with each other.  :-)

As 2012 rapidly comes to a close, the kiddos were thrilled to finally have a "real" snowfall.  Ok, it wasn't a big storm, but it was enough to have a snowball fight, ride on a sled and even make a little snowman. (Kiddo #4 was thrilled to make it with tootsie rolls for eyes and licorice for a mouth)

Hope you enjoy your last few days of this year!  :-)

Linking up with On, in and around Mondays in addition to Wisdom Wednesday, Living Well Wednesday, Mom's Monday Mingle, Monday Mingle, Modest Mom, Crazy Mama, Homemaking Wednesdays and Raising Mighty Arrows and Titus 2sday and Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Mama to 4 Blessings, Create with Joy, NOBH, Musings from a Stay at Home Mom, Tina's Wordless Wednesday,Judy @ CoffeeJitters and Wordless Wednesday at Wordless and  Living Well Wednesday, Favorite Things, and Crafty Spices

Homeschool Mother's Journal/Weekly Wrap-Up- November 30

I seriously cannot believe an entire week has gone by since Thanksgiving.

(Kiddo #4 made the table decoration :-))

Monday was Kiddo #4's 9th birthday.  Our baby is in her last year of single digits!  ;-)  You can see some more pictures and a few of her as a newborn here, in my Thankful Thursday post.

On Tuesday, it snowed, so we didn't go to bowling and the Italian teacher postponed, by the kiddos were happy to bundle up and go outside and play in it after lunch.  :-)

I posted my weekly recipe linkup here, and shared my mom's sweet potatoes and apples.  The party is open all week. If you'd like to join us, you're more than welcome.  :-)

My favorite part of Wednesday has to be when Kiddos 3 and 4 were working on a bison coloring page and fact sheet that I thought seemed to go well with the chapter they are doing in science.  Kiddos 1 and 2 asked if they could take part, as well.  Don't you just love it?  That has to be one of my favorite things about homeschooling.  Sure, you want to learn something about bison, be my guest!  :-) :-)  So, they chose their own images and went online and looked up facts of their own.  We learned SO much about bison. After searching and finding some awesome YouTube videos of bison charging and roaming in Yellowstone, the kiddos are trying to convince us to make that a future vacation destination.  :-)

My favorite resource this week would have to be the National Geographic for Kids website where the kiddos found a lot of bison facts.  Lots of great info and photos there.

I posted on Wednesday about Kiddo #1's adventure in flying a real airplane!  You can read more about it here.

Thursday was just a "regular" ol' day of getting work done.  We look forward to our make-up Italian lesson on Friday.  Advent starts on Sunday and we will be doing a lot of reading, special activities and crafts to put our focus where it should be during this very special season.  Can't wait!  :-)

What I'm reading: I've downloaded lots of freebies on my Kindle this week, but haven't had the time to look at any of them yet.  :-(

What I'm praying for: some of my online friends have lost loved ones this week.  I had been praying for them for some time as they battled bravely against horrible illnesses.  One was 20 and had a young daughter.  One was only 2 and was rescued from an orphanage in Eastern Europe.  I also pray for our nation, our military, those who are unemployed, those who are ill and suffering.....

A quote or photo to share: we played "Christmas Bingo" after Thanksgiving dinner.  It was much fun.

Linking up today with:  Homeschool Mother's Journal, Weekly Wrap-Up, NOBH, Show-Off Friday, Learn and Link and It's a Wrap, Friendship Friday and Favorite Resource

Weekend in Hershey and Halloween

We spent last weekend in Hershey.  It is a lot of fun at any time of year, but we especially enjoyed visiting with all of the fall decorations. 

They had a lot of trick or treat stations for the kids in an area called Treatville. 

The highlight had to be their zoo, Zoo America, being open at night.  Everyone brings flashlights and you get to see the animals active at night!  They had all kinds of live animals to see, learn about and touch, as well.  Lucky we brought our winter coats and hats to brave the cold, but had so much fun!

Who would have thought that on October 29th, we'd be snowed in?  We were blessed that the hotel had an indoor pool.  So, the kids swam, soaked in the hot tub,

played in the arcade, played cards, rested, played dominos and swam some more! 

lol.  We did make it out for dinner at a lovely local restaurant.

On Sunday, after Church, we decided to try to make up for the day stuck inside and drove to the Railroad Museum of PA in Strasburg.  The kids loved climbing in and out of centuries old locomotives and other cars. 

Some of it was truly like walking back in time.  We are finishing up the Little House books and I loved hearing the kids squeal "wow, this train was built when Laura was alive!"  :-)  We ended our weekend excursion with a visit to an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord in Amish Country.  Nothing like the food or the scenery.  :-)

And, that brings us to Halloween.  In our house, we try to focus on the fact that All Hallow's Eve means the night before All Saints' Day, a day we remember the saints and martyrs who have gone before us to Heaven.  And, as long as we dress modestly and in something that is not in anyway ghoulish or scary, we can give glory to God and still enjoy trick or treating.  We made a craft today and started our morning with the "Pumpkin Prayer." 

The oldest kiddo chose not to dress up this year, but accompanied my husband and I in walking the kids through the neighborhood.  Kiddo #2 was a king, Kiddo #3 was a bat and Kiddo #4 was a little piglet.

Happy Halloween!
Happy All Saints' Day!