My camera broke right after Christmas and so any pictures I have taken this month have been with Abby's new camera and I have just not borrowed it very much! I am hoping to get a new one before we go on vacation next month. I did a small slideshow below with some January highlights like our New Years bags and the winter's first snow. I will try to blog a little more this month...I am kinda missing being on here.

Hands of a Child sale!

This is one of my favorite places to buy lapbooks. I can't resist a good sale, so I thought I would pass it along!


Dear Valued Customers,
Due to the new CPSIA law In the Hands of a Child, for the time being, is discounting our Kit Pack inventory in order to lessen our possible loss in the event that an exemption is not granted.

While we are still praying for this situation to work out for all small businesses we feel that it is in our best interest to lessen our possible loss. And what better way than to pass the savings on to you, our wonderful customers, who are praying with us through this difficult situation!!

Please help us clear our shelves and enjoy a 35% savings on all Kit Packs!! Savings will be automatic! Spread the word and help us empty the shelves!!

This sale will continue until our Kit Pack inventory has been exhausted, so purchases will be on a first-come-first-served basis.

Once they are gone, they are gone!

In the event the law is modified, In the Hands of a Child reserves the right to bring back Kit Packs in the future at full price without any discount, implied or expressed, during this sale.

Cannot be combined with any other offer, special, discount, coupon or sale. Super Member discount DOES NOT apply to this sale.Tax and Shipping not included in calculating discount price. Not valid toward prior purchases. No rainchecks.

January organization

School is going well this week. We are reading quite a few books with winter as our theme. My sunshine loving Essie told me that she was not impressed by the books I had chosen from the library yesterday...they made her cold! Wait until we study the Iditarod next month..she will freeze for sure!

I have been tweaking my system for keeping paperwork organized this week. I found a wonderful blog from a lady named Dawn, who has some great ideas. I have a link on my sidebar to her blog...she probably thinks I am stalking her I have visited the site so much this week.

The reason I need something better as far as organization is that I will often find cool lapbook ideas or crafts and then I forget about them the week I wanted to do them. So I now have my very own file crate system!



The gist is you have a crate with 6 hanging folders, each one representing two months. Then within that folder, you place smaller manila folders, one for each week. Whenever I find something interesting to do, I simply slip it in the file for the week I want to do it. Then on the weekend before, I pull that file out while I am working on lesson plans and I can gather any materials needed. I will see how well it works, but I am excited about it





I also made myself two folders for out two vacations coming up. We have been planning to go to Florida in February to see family and camp at Disney. This weekend we found out that Greg's parents are going to take us on a cruise in May!! We are sooooo excited. I have my two folders now to put anything that come about the vacation, as well as paper to make lists of reminders and plans. I have them along with my church info folder all in this cute little magazine holder I bought at Target for $1!




Another idea from Dawn is a journal to go along with my monthly planner. It is basically a notebook where I put the date each day for two pages. Then I have a spot to jot down ideas, paste recipes, poems ect that comes up in a day that I am sure to forget. It is not very pretty to look at, but it seems to be helping me remember more things. I did go through our Christmas cards and clip any cute graphics I can stick on random days to brighten up the pages.

Well, we are puttering around the house all day today and so glad not to have to go out in the cold wind and rain. Only problem with theses lazy days is that we seem to stretch school out way too long for me! So, off to get some children back on task...again.

January Plans

Here is some of the things we are planning to do in this first month of the new year.

Cheer for the GATORS in the national championship game for college football

Esther to begin a rowing Katy and the big snow

Aesop Fable Literature Pocket. I think we will do a fable a week with our Bible lesson

Finish Jotham's Journey (It was for Advent, but we didn't quite finish in time)

Abby to begin a study on Betsy Ross

Learn to play our new game Ticket to Ride

Snowflake craft

Watch Arctic Tale

Winter Nature walks

Poetry Study ~ Stopping by the woods by Robert Frost

Ski/Snow tubing trip to WV (and to visit some dear friends up there)

Skating Day

Home school PE

January 19th is A.A. Milne's Birthday, so I think we will celebrate on Friday the 16th with a little honey cakes and Pooh bear

Martin Luther King Jr. birthday (read a book about him and do a lap book)

Watch the Superbowl

Learn to knit ( this is a New Years Goal for Abby and me)

Make a pajama run...haven't done this in a while

Create peanutbutter bird feeders

Chinese New Year on the 26th. We will read a few books on the Holiday, make some Chinese lanterns and origami, watch Mulan and end the day by going out for Chinese Food.

the 29th is National Puzzle Day, so I will pick up a new puzzle to work on that day.

Christmas 2008

New Years Eve Bags

We did this last year and it was so much fun, Esther reminded me of it back at Thanksgiving that she wanted to have "the clock bags" again. We had paper bags with clock faces on them and each hour the kids opened up a bag of activities for the hour. I had a little rhyme about each one. Instead of counting to midnight this year, we are going to start at noon and countdown to church time (7:00). Then we can go to bed whenever we get tired! :)


New Years Eve, the Countdown has begun! Are you ready to count are your ready for fun? We will spend the day exploring space! With “Moon Rock Pizzas” We will feed our face! (**ingredients for personal pizzas)


10…9…8 Ready set go! Let’s blast off in rockets made with Play-doh!
(**Space themed playdoh set)


7…6…5… before its too late, lets pop some corn and enjoy the last movie of 2008!
(*The movie Space chimps and popcorn)

4..3…2…That movie was a trip! Let’s make some cookies that look like an alien space ship. (* Sugar cookies with green M&Ms on top to look like aliens)


…1..Blastoff!!!!Here we go!!! The countdown is over tick tock tick tock. Time to make an alien out of a sock! (*Materials to make alien sock puppets)

The fun keeps on going, lets not stop! Let’s read a space book and enjoy a blowpop. ( *A space story and a bag of blowpops)


Only 2 bags left, what going to be inside? A sticker book about space…from these aliens you can’t hide! (*Stickerbook)


Today we went to the moon and to space. We watched a great movie and stuffed our face! We played with Playdoh and with our socks. To remember your spacy New Years Eve enjoy some moon rocks! (*Poprock candy)

Happy Birthday to me!

For my birthday Gre g got me a Bosch mixer. For those who dont really know a lot about mixers, this is the best mixer ever! I love it! I have already made sugar cookie dough, pizza sauce and calzone dough with it!

Christmas Cookies

Steak and Shake and Santa Clause

Kernersville Christmas Parade

An Essie Funny

While working on school today ...

I said, "Esther, what rhymes with sold?
Esther:..ummmm ummm ummm
Me: Something Captain Jack Sparrow likes
Esther: Rum??
Me: No!! Not Rum! What else that rhymes with sold??
Esther: Booty??
Me: Esther, You know how to Rhyme!! Gold rhymes with Sold!! Gold!!
Esther: ( in her best pirate voice) Keep to the code Mum, Keep to the code, nevr speaks about ye gold!