Woodwater Farmhouse

It's been  a heck of  month here at The Joys of Home Educating.  Lots of sickness 8(  (still can't shake the head cold)   However, we were able to fit some fun stuff in this week! Right after Thanksgiving I decorate for Christmas!  This year, I am going with the LESS is MORE Concept .  I only put out about 1/2 of the decorations that I usually do.  Nativities are a MUST. We have several kinds. The girls have the Little People Nativity in their room.  This one shown was a gift from my mother a few years ago. I love it! One of the other traditions we have is getting out our seasonal books.  This year was no exception.  I am in love with the writings of Christmas and Winter.  Each night we read at least 2 of them. They never seem to get old! We had a quick visit with Santa (no one wanted to sit but Z gave a High Five) Dropped off our donations for Toys .   We were able to find a Mailbox at the San...

It's been  a heck of  month here at The Joys of Home Educating.  Lots of sickness 8(  (still can't shake the head cold)   However, we were able to fit some fun stuff in this week! Right after Thanksgiving I decorate for Christmas!  This year, I am going with the LESS is MORE Concept .  I only put out about 1/2 of the decorations that I usually do.  Nativities are a MUST. We have several kinds. The girls have the Little People Nativity in their room.  This one shown was a gift from my mother a few years ago. I love it! One of the other traditions we have is getting out our seasonal books.  This year was no exception.  I am in love with the writings of Christmas and Winter.  Each night we read at least 2 of them. They never seem to get old! We had a quick visit with Santa (no one wanted to sit but Z gave a High Five) Dropped off our donations for Toys .   We were able to find a Mailb...

Every year we donate new toys , donate our change to the Salvation Army  Kettle and drop our letters in the box (at the mall) for Santa.  Today we accomplished all that in 1 day! My gal pal, Deb, was visiting from Syracuse - BONUS - she got to share the joy with us We have not done traditional pics with the Guy in the Red Suit in a while....high five worked! What do you do to help instill the holiday spirit in your family? Linking up to:   Don't forget to come on over to No Ordinary Blog Hop to enter their 3rd year anniversary party!  You might be the winner of a $ 10 Amazon GC!  Hurry! ends today!

Every year we donate new toys , donate our change to the Salvation Army  Kettle and drop our letters in the box (at the mall) for Santa.  Today we accomplished all that in 1 day! My gal pal, Deb, was visiting from Syracuse - BONUS - she got to share the joy with us We have not done traditional pics with the Guy in the Red Suit in a while....high five worked! What do you do to help instill the holiday spirit in your family? Linking up to:   Don't forget to come on over to No Ordinary Blog Hop to enter their 3rd year anniversary party!  You might be the winner of a $ 10 Amazon GC!  Hurry! ends today!

Here in the Newell household we have CUT WAY back over the last few years and adopted the LESS is MORE approach when it comes to gifts at Christmas.  Late November the children write out their list for Santa.  Instructions are that they are allowed to "ask" Santa for 5 things they wish to get and are told they will not be getting all of them but maybe 3 if they are good.  Funny thing, it was hard for them all to think of 5 things!  Here are my PICKS this year for some of the best gifts out there! (these are tried and true in our home and NEVER seem to get old with any of the kids) LEGOS!  These new Duplo Building sets are great for the newest LEGO fans in your home. They come with instruction cards for easy building!  LOVE LOVE LOVE this book series for young girls. We are finished with 5 of them already and  our daughter will be getting 3 more for Christmas!  We have had Magna Tiles in our home for over 4 years and the children h...

Here in the Newell household we have CUT WAY back over the last few years and adopted the LESS is MORE approach when it comes to gifts at Christmas.  Late November the children write out their list for Santa.  Instructions are that they are allowed to "ask" Santa for 5 things they wish to get and are told they will not be getting all of them but maybe 3 if they are good.  Funny thing, it was hard for them all to think of 5 things!  Here are my PICKS this year for some of the best gifts out there! (these are tried and true in our home and NEVER seem to get old with any of the kids) LEGOS!  These new Duplo Building sets are great for the newest LEGO fans in your home. They come with instruction cards for easy building!  LOVE LOVE LOVE this book series for young girls. We are finished with 5 of them already and  our daughter will be getting 3 more for Christmas!  We have had Magna Tiles in our home for over ...

When my husband brought down our very heavy box of seasonal books over the weekend, the children wanted to open the box minute one!  It was time to put away our Fall/Autumn books and get out our Winter and Christmas Books (I don't leave these special books "out" year round - I think it makes them more special to bring them out for the Winter months)  Today, I finally opened the box and excitement filled the playroom.  I loved listening to them talk about what they remember from these books from last year.   We have enough to last us for almost 2 months reading one a day -  8)  Plus our library will help fill in the gaps.   Here are some of MY Favorites! If you are looking for more book ideas for the season, be sure to check out my friend Rebecca's Blog - Mom's Mustard Seeds! I hope you will check back with us in December when we review some of our favorites and where you can buy them! Until next time - be blessed! Linki...

When my husband brought down our very heavy box of seasonal books over the weekend, the children wanted to open the box minute one!  It was time to put away our Fall/Autumn books and get out our Winter and Christmas Books (I don't leave these special books "out" year round - I think it makes them more special to bring them out for the Winter months)  Today, I finally opened the box and excitement filled the playroom.  I loved listening to them talk about what they remember from these books from last year.   We have enough to last us for almost 2 months reading one a day -  8)  Plus our library will help fill in the gaps.   Here are some of MY Favorites! If you are looking for more book ideas for the season, be sure to check out my friend Rebecca's Blog - Mom's Mustard Seeds! I hope you will check back with us in December when we review some of our favorites and where you can buy them! Until n...