Making Gifts

Austen and I decided to use up our old crayons by making molded crayons for his little cousins this Christmas.  Here is the mold we used.  It's a Wilson mold in the shape of snowflakes.

 

We unwrapped and broke up the crayons.

We sprayed the mold with a candle release spray that we got at Micheal's Craft Store. Then we filled the mold with the broken pieces and popped the tray in the oven. We left the crayons in the 180 degree oven for 15 to 18 minutes.

AH with the mold before it went into the oven.

After cooling for a short time, we just flipped the pan over and out they popped!

Here's our finished product.  I think they look great!

 AH and I packaged the crayons in cellophane bags and tied them with ribbon

 It was a fun, quick and easy project to do on a dreary day!

A Picture A Day: December 6, 2011

Okay, so it isn't homeschooling, but it was a great part of our day!!

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

Christmas at the Swedish Institute

The Friday before Christmas we went on a very Christmas-y field trip to the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis. We stopped for coffee and hot chocolate to sip on the 45 minute drive from home and listened to Christmas music and talked about all sorts of things.

The first part of our tour was an informational session about Christmas in Sweden. We learned about St. Lucia's Day, Star Boys and traditional Christmas decorations and foods. We then got to try our hand at making heart ornaments with construction paper. I thought AH would hate this, but he liked this so much he made three!

Our group learns about Christmas in Sweden

AH concentrates on weaving the basket

After the craft we were brought upstairs to the mansion proper. We learned that the Turnblad mansion is in fact classified as a castle because it has turrets and battlements. AH was so proud that he knew what architectural features were required to classify a building as a castle! We learned about the family that built this fabulous home, the Turnblads. During the Holidays, the Swedish Institute has 5 of the rooms decorated especially to represent each of the 5 Nordic nations: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland.

After the tour, we stopped in to the Kaffestuga, the coffee shop on site. We had lingonberry juice with Swedish cardamom pastries. Yum!

It was a great way to spend a morning before Christmas. It really got us in the Christmas spirit!

AH with one of his finished heart baskets

The Best Christmas Present...EVER!

My husband and I agreed that this year we were not going to exchange expensive gifts. But making things was okay. I once received a beautiful poem from him when we were young and poor and I mentioned to him this year that I would love another one. Doug loves to tease me about my fascination with the Twilight series of books. He often comments that he is my Edward and is always on the look out to save my life. Not much call for that here in central Minnesota. So when I opened up the card that came with my present and it said, "A love story Greater than Edward and Bella..." I expected a love poem about Doug and me, but what I received was much different. He wrote a love story about our youngest, AH, and me, his mother. By writing this poem, I get to see my relationship with our youngest through Doug's eyes. I debated whether I should show you a picture of the gift because it contains our son's name, but decided that it was worth it. It is entitled, Austen's Song, and Austen (or AH, as you have come to know him) decorated it.

Austen's Song

By Doug

She saved his soul

his self esteem

She made him whole

with eyes that gleam

a broken boy

now restored

Her rescue ship

to climb aboard

Her arms outreach

they search and find

She loves to teach

She sculpts his mind

A boy of length

his wondrous ball

He gains strength

She'll catch his fall

She gives every care

She ensures the fun

Journeys everywhere

She sees each run

Her gentle touch

His tender disposition

They love very much

their own tradition

from the very start

their love so pure

joined at the heart

the perfect cure

She loves his smile

and his frowns

Her love for him

knows no bounds

For him,

there is no other

no better friend

Only his mother

His song

sung for you

His love

forever true

The Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY Monday, December 15th, 2008...

Outside my window... is a cold, frigid day but a blanket of snow was laid last night making everything clean and beautiful.

I am thinking...that I have a lot to do before Christmas!

I am thankful for...the time I spent with my family yesterday.

From the learning rooms...Just the basics this week (Math, Reading, Writing, Spelling) plus a fun Christmas story and craft each day.

From the kitchen...hopefully, cranberry cookies, since we will be reading Cranberry Christmas today.

I am wearing...jeans and a sweatshirt(gosh I'm boring!)

I am creating...memories!

I am going...to drop AH off at Scouts while I do some quick shopping!

I am reading...Twilight...again!!!

I am hoping...I can feel better soon, I was laid up in bed Friday and Saturday and I still feel drained!

I am hearing...my beeper go off! Time is up! Back to our studies!!!

Around the house...Christmas decorations make me happy.

One of my favorite things...is having a Christmas tree to look at.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Shopping, picking up our lamb at the butchers, baking, having fun!!!!

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

Maggies Favorite Cranberry Cookies!

Birthday Wrap Up

Well, the weekend of celebrating came to a quiet end last night. It all began on Thursday night when we celebrated AH's birthday with a family dinner. AN and MB joined us for the carbo-load that AH planned for us! They were brave souls!!

On Friday night, AH had his buddies over for the night.

Six energetic 10 and 11 year olds, pizza, cake, snacks and pop! I'm sure you get the picture!! They claim they were up until 4 am, but when I woke up around 3 am, there was no sound coming from downstairs. They say they were just being quiet! Anyway you look at it, AH had a fabulous time with his friends. What a great bunch they are! Saturday was a quiet day at home for all of us. I think we needed some time to decompress. AH spent the day putting his new Lego sets together and having a nerf tag war with his older brother! On Sunday, I took my mother to an Icelandic language Christmas service. The liturgy and most prayers were in Icelandic, but the sermon and 2 songs were in English. It was a nice quiet late afternoon service. Afterwards she and I stopped in to our favorite coffee shope (the Dunn Bros. Coffee shop on Fairview Avenue) for a cup of coffee and a treat! Their roaster is great!!! I've never had a bad cup of coffee there! When we got home, I pulled out our Christmas decorations and put up our tree while listening to Christmas music. AH and I decorated while AD did homework nearby, Doug made dinner, and my mom watched, supervised, chatted, and ate with us.