Homeschool Recap, Dec 23rd (Christmas Break)...

In my life this week...

Christmas is merely days away.  DAYS!  Like... two!  Whooooaaaa!  Ok.  So, I made a last minute decision this past weekend that we would go ahead and take this week off of school too (was already planning to take next week off because Michael will be off of work all week then).  I'm glad I did.  It's been a nice break, for sure.  On Thursday, we found out that our car needs a major engine repair.  Our ONE car.  Yikes.  So, today I'll be calling and maybe visiting some mechanics/shops trying to find a place that can a) get us in and out quickly and b) not cost us an arm and a leg.  Not sure either of those is even feasible, but we'll see.  Sigh. The car will be paid off in May.  Figures, huh?

On top of that, Callen fell flat on his face last Saturday night, and I'm not sure, but he might have broken his nose.  It was crazy.  I felt so bad, but I didn't think there was much we could do.  His nose was swollen and he got some bruises around the top.  The next day I was able to poke it a bit and he didn't flinch or fuss, so I figured it must not be hurting him.  He kept pointing to his nose and saying "Boom!" like he was retelling the story of how it happened.  Poor kid.

A few days after the fall.

What's not working for me...

Broken car.  Broken laptop.  Yep, the lap top is still in disrepair.  We got the inverter part delivered (finally!) that we thought would fix it.  Nope.  Still dark.  So, we've ordered a back-light bulb and we'll see if that will fix it.  We're trying these low-cost options first, next will be to replace the whole screen... and after that?  Nothing.  We can't afford anything else at this point.  Christmas, broken big ticket items, end of the year bills due... it's been a bit trying around here the past week.  I know God will provide, though.  He always does.  So, it's not hopeless.

I'm praying for...
A blessed Christmas for everyone!  We've had a rough week, and could use some joy and peace.  I know nearly everything I wrote about this week was negative and depressing.  But Jesus is the reason for the season and with Him, there is only joy and love and hope and peace and prosperity!  I know that He is the greatest gift of all and He lives in our hearts!

In our homeschool this week...

Well, ever since I announced to Preston that we'd be taking two weeks off for Christmas break, he has been saying, "I wish it was January 2nd so we could do school again."  What?  This is the same boy that complains nearly every morning that he doesn't wanna do school.  Silly kid.  We have been doing Fall, Winter and Christmas activities, though... so we are kind of doing "school."  I had some Fall activities printed and ready to go for a while, we just never had the time (or energy) to work them in.  So, I figured, hey... earlier this week was still Fall, so we did 'em.  Preston liked it.  He traced and colored leaves that I had flattened from our various trees around here.  He also completed a little booklet about signs of Fall.

Our workboxes this week!

Then, on Thursday, we read books about the First Day of Winter!  And we have been reading Christmas books all week, of course, too!  See our book basket post from this week here.  We did lots of baking earlier this week as well... Nutella Fudge and Pumpkin Spice Cookies, which we gave to the neighbors and our delivery people (UPS and USPS mail carrier).  It was some delicious stuff!

Advent/Seasonal activity: Our first full week of doing the Names of Jesus Countdown Chain from Spell Out Loud.  Each day we take off a chain link, learn about that particular name for Jesus, color an ornament from here and put it up on our tree branch.  Preston is also doing the Advent Calendar to Color from Usborne each day as well.  Callen wanted in on the action this time around, and has lovingly scribbled his additions to the Calendar.  But that makes it all the more special.  =)

We are using My Father's World First Grade. See our curriculum here.
Blog Hoppin' with: