Ice Sculptures Day 1

We unwrapped and placed the ice sculptures outside this morning.

It was like Christmas morning!

We'll post the changes as they happen!

It's so cold, I don't anticipate much change for a couple of days.

Until then...stay warm!

Embree's Unschooling Day

Embree has been asking for a day when she would get to decide what we did in school. For those of you not involved in homeschooling...child-led schooling is often referred to as unschooling. We had planned a trip to the Cincinnati Art Museum and to see sweet Theresa today, but the weather caused us to postpone that trip. That left us with a nice snowy day at home and me with no plans. So, I decided to let Embree have her wish. We had a totally unschooled day (except for the reading I insisted upon). It was a pretty interesting day...though I think she ran out of ideas at about 3pm and then there was a great deal of pining away for the XBOX! But that had to wait until 7pm, as usual!

First, we made pancakes for breakfast using our new pancake writer (thanks Granny & Pop!).

A flower

A bee

Brice enjoyed the pancakes!!

Then we made molasses candy in the snow (like Laura Ingalls in Little House in the Big Woods)

The candy didn't solidify as expected, but Embree made us all molasses snow cream for lunch.

We all took a little time to play trains with Brice.

Then we made molds from recyclables, filled them with water and various treasures and glitter glue and set them outside to freeze. Tomorrow we'll free them from the molds and build an outdoor ice sculpture (pic will follow when complete.).

Ice mold with orange peels.

Ice mold with two fighting Bionicles.

Ice Molds with Christmas balls, sea shells, candy, cinnamon sticks...

Then we headed up to the classroom for an hour of reading and drawing,

followed by a few hours of work on our incredible mural of Martin Luther King, Jr. to start our study of Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement. We all helped (even Reeves!!) and we are all pretty proud of it!

After lunch we finished hanging the mural, played more trains, and painted with Brice. A neighbor dropped by with a gift basket filled with the fixings for pear gingerbread upside down cake, so we made that too. We put on a pot of black-eyed peas and some brown rice for hoppin-john for dinner and went outside to play in the snow and wait for Daddy to get home.

Embree...never without joy!

Reeves...never without apples!

A little snowball fight.

Snowy boots...

...and cold fingers.

I am happy with this day. It was a perfect wintry day to just follow our noses. I need to make sure we have the opportunity do this more often. It's good for our souls and good for the kids to have some say in our day. Guess it's Reeves' turn next. We'll be eating apples and playing DS all day, I'm sure!!

Hope you have the opportunity to follow wherever the path leads...sometime very soon!

Julie & Julia

We interrupt our regular posts for a movie review…We finally watched Julie & Julia last night. The movie is based on two books, Julie & Julia by Julie Powell and My Life in France by Julia Child. I enjoyed reading both books; the latter being one of my all time favorites! While I was a little bored with the modern day scenes about the blog project, I eagerly anticipated each scene with Meryl Streep as Julia Child. She was so entertaining and the depiction of the Childs’ love affair was envy-inducing. While I was a bit disappointed with the lack of screen time devoted to Julia’s first meal in France (it was such a momentous moment in her life, after all) the treatment of her humanness and determination matched her memoirs well. If you are a fan of Julia Child, it’s worth a watch!

What do you do to make the most of winter?

I have always loved January. I love beginnings. With the beginning of a new year, there always seems an endless array of possibilities in January. For the most part, I don't make difficult resolutions, but I do try to use the creative energy I feel at this time of year to propel myself toward a better me. Last year I decided to go completely vegetarian. It was not difficult. As a matter of fact, as the year has progressed, I've become even more committed to it.

I enjoy being hunkered down in a warm kitchen or in our classroom, wearing my slippers, sipping tea, snuggling with the baby, reading or playing games with the older kids. I always find that the two weeks in January before classes resume at the college, before I begin working on the spring children's theatre production, make me really wish I could carry this contentment throughout the year.

So, I guess I use winter to recharge, to prepare for the rest of the year, when it seems that life is in overdrive. Even in the summer, when we frolic in the mountains for a couple of months, we are always on a schedule. I am so happy to look up over my morning coffee cup and see huge white spaces on the calendar!

So what does winter do for you? Share your thoughts if you like! We'd love to read them!

Happy Snow Day! Here's to the silence of a snowy world at midnight and the excuse you need to stay home and bake a batch of brownies!

Let the Wonders Begin...

This year, may all your days be filled with the sound of joyful laughter and the warmth of fuzzy slippers. May you awaken to the surprise of a sparkling icicle and retire to the sweet "Goodnight" from someone you love.

May you remember what brings you happiness and make room for it in your life everyday.

"There is no way I can anticipate all the good things that are going to happen today." --Brian Narelle

May you find wonder in every moment, be ready for anything, and dread nothing.

Happy New Year,

Jeannie