PARENTING FREEDOM

Carol | December 20, 2011

obama christmas carol.mov

Hat Tip: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/the-12-days-of-christmas-the-obama-version-other-presidential-christmas-parodies/

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Carol | December 15, 2011

It’s a good job C1 can keep secrets, because a 15-month-old certainly can’t stand to be on the other side of the door when Mommy is wrapping presents. She liked watching me wrap and oohed and ahhed with her lips pursed, especially over the things that were for her big sister. She and I went ahead and opened the “After Eights” box and certainly enjoyed the minty chocolates in the little packets. She carried some to her buddies. Her warm little hands melted one or two.

As for the presents… I did exactly what I planned to do which was limit the presents this year. I showed Derek everything for all five children. When we had everything all laid out, he felt the same as I did, and we made the decision to get them just a wee bit more. I wasn’t happy with so few presents, but now I think it is just right. It is still less than previous years, but it will be fun and exciting for all of us.

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Carol | December 2, 2011

This is in the oven and Grammie S. and Nana are on their way here. Christmas music is playing and lights are on. A new game will be tried called “What’s Yours Like?”… Wishing M&C et al. and R&J were here, too.

http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/grands-monkey-bread/7a1e41b1-4708-4028-8ce6-fcb5baebbc19/

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Carol | November 30, 2011

This year, we started decorating for Christmas earlier than ever (not last weekend, but the weekend before). Even though we don’t decorate that much, I knew it would take a while to get it done. I still don’t have the garland on the stair railing. As you can imagine, C1 was pretty excited with all the “new” things all over the living room. Usually we listen to Christmas music or watch a Christmas movie while decorating, but who can miss “Cheaper By the Dozen” when it is on TV?

C1 concentrating on adding the lights to the ceramic tree

L7 and C10 setting up the manger

C1 examining the Baby Jesus

C1 looking at the Jesse Tree ornaments and Christmas books

C1 enjoying the Fisher-Price nativity scene

Baby Jesus

Here are some old pictures and comments regarding some of our Christmas traditions.
http://parentingfreedom.com/2008/12/04/christmas-decorating-and-family-christmas-traditions/
http://parentingfreedom.com/2009/12/28/decorating-for-christmas-2009/

We are on the third Jesse tree devotion as we started early in hopes that we won’t have to double up or skip as many as usual. I haven’t done it “right” since the first year we tried it, and we even skipped last year completely. So far so good this year.

Here is our Jesse Tree from 2008:
http://parentingfreedom.com/2008/12/04/family-christmas-tradition-jesse-tree/

Here are a couple links to free Jesse Tree Devotions:
http://www.aholyexperience.com/2010/11/free-jesse-tree-advent-devotional-book/
http://www.scribd.com/doc/73429505/Jesse-Tree-Guide

Although there is no problem fitting in the treat from the advent calendar house, we started that early, too, just because we were so excited. Beforehand, I had the kids sign a contract – no fighting, no jealousy, no complaining, etc. Greed, selfishness, and lack of appreciation can get out of hand if you aren’t prepared.

The kids guessed ahead of time that the theme this year was Lego, and although there are two different Lego advent calendars available this year, I decided to buy the Lego figures/items of my choosing. The doors of our advent house are so small that hardly anything fits in, never mind enough things for FOUR children, so I put only C1′s treat behind the door. (I only fill one day at a time for her, because I would never tempt a one-year-old by filling all the little boxes and expecting her to not open them all, especially since I want to keep it at her level.) C1 doesn’t get Lego, but she does get something special behind each door each day. I hide the Lego baggies for the three older kids in three different rooms, so they can hunt like crazy and will only find their own treat. I was very tricky the first day and C10 and B13 had a very hard time finding their Lego. So much so, that I had to play “Hot” or “Cold” with one of them.

Here is our advent calendar house from last year:
http://parentingfreedom.com/2010/12/31/christmas-2010-adventures-with-our-first-advent-calendar-house/

Cara gave me a link to Cinnamon Bear audio stories recorded in 1937! That was when Grampie S. was only six years old! We’ve been listening to the stories during lunch and clean-up and have finished four already. It keeps C10 in the kitchen to clean out the dishwasher, too. She is the biggest fan of audio books although L7 seems to like them, too. C10 thought the children in the stories had whiny voices, but she agreed when I pointed out that the little girl sounded like Shirley Temple.

Here are the Cinnamon Bear audio stories (24 Counting Down to Christmas):
http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2011/11/28/the-cinnamon-bear-an-old-time-radio-christmas-tradition-4/

I bought the Michael Bublé Christmas album on iTunes, and although it is nice, I realize I much prefer to listen to conservative talk radio.

I remembered to buy the pre-built gingerbread house this year! Maybe I will buy some more candy decorations at the Bulk Barn if I think of it. The kids could always use more gumballs!

I added the following new things to our Christmas decorations this year: a new ribbon (although I might be sorry because the sparkles seem to fall off too much) for the tree (which we don’t put up until closer to Christmas since we always get a real one), a pink decoration for C10′s pink tree, some blue trim for L7′s blue tree, and for the five Sundays of Advent, I bought new purple and white candles, a stand and greenery. We used our white candle for our Jack’o'Lantern on Hallowe’en.

As I mentioned before, I cut down on gifts this year. I did most of our Christmas shopping online and have purchased everything already. As a Canadian, I had my first experience with Black Friday where I got a few great deals at Amazon.ca and .com.

That’s all folks. Anything else you want to know? Have you come across any nice Christmas ideas that you want to share with me?

If you rarely or have never commented on my blog, I would love to hear from you. Especially any real life friends who found my website through Facebook. I love to know who reads my posts. Hundreds of people visit my websites every day, but most land here looking for articles on specific subjects. I write personal posts like this for the special people who visit here on purpose, and it’s fun to know who you are! I hope you are enjoying your Christmas preparations, too!

Edited to add:

I started our annual reading aloud of “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” tonight.

I am thinking I will get a puzzle with about 1000 pieces for the children to work on during the next few weeks.

Category: Holidays, Homeschooling Activities, Journal 2011 | 3 Comments »
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Carol | November 16, 2011

The children don’t need anything for Christmas – except the tradition and excitement of getting presents. I considered not getting them anything. Then, we would not add to the already full house. Seven people and their stuff take up a lot of space. I considered saving the money for something special or giving it to the needy. The latter is likely what we SHOULD do. But the memories made from the fun and anticipation of giving the children Christmas presents are hard to give up. Derek and I rarely exchange gifts – for any occasion. We talked about what to do this year about Christmas gifts for the children, and we think cutting back is the way to go. One main gift each and whatever I can find (that I know they would love) to stuff in (or next to) their stockings. That is the plan. We decided this on the weekend, and I have already ordered almost everything online.

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Carol | November 14, 2011

John Lewis Christmas Advert 2011

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Carol | November 11, 2011

Holiday on the calendar means school in this house… Do people even know what our war heroes fought against? Do they recognize the things that we used to be against, but now we accept or even embrace?

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Carol | November 8, 2011

I love this. Gov. Scott Walker calling it like it is. A Christmas tree. Reminds me of the ridiculous argument that spanking is not the same as beating.

Atheists Angry After Wis. Gov. Changes ‘Holiday’ Tree Back to ‘Christmas’ Tree
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/atheists-angry-after-wis-gov-changes-holiday-tree-back-to-christmas-tree/

“Republican Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin just ended 25 years of stupidity.”

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Carol | October 30, 2011

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Carol | October 26, 2011

It was fun to surprise my ten-year-old daughter with a delightful afternoon. She and her seven-year-old brother dressed in their Halloween costumes. C10 brought her American Girl doll, Kate. We picked up two of her friends (also dressed up) and their American Girl dolls. We went to Walmart to go Halloween costume shopping – for the dolls!! C10 was thrilled. The girls picked out the doll outfits, and L7 got some Lego for his brother and himself. We stopped at McDonald’s for smoothies and Mcflurries before we headed to the park. The weather was lovely for October, and they played and played!

Here are the dolls in their fairy princess costumes!

“Circle of Trust” folks, click here.

Bonus

(Log in)

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Carol | October 10, 2011

This weekend has been our summer bonus. The weather was incredible. The leaves are gorgeous.

 In the yard

 At the shore

 N18

 The Five Kids

 C1

 L7

 B13, C1, L7

 Nana and Papa

 The confluence point where the two rivers meet. It looked like a whirlpool.

 N18 and B13

 C1

 C1

 C1 an L7

You know who you are, click here.

(Log in)

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Carol | October 8, 2011

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Carol | April 26, 2011

Seattle school renames Easter eggs ‘Spring Spheres’
http://mynorthwest.com/?nid=11&sid=459668

Chicago school bans some lunches brought from home
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/education/ct-met-school-lunch-restrictions-041120110410,0,4567867.story

Category: Holidays, Politics, Public School | No Comments »
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Carol | December 31, 2010

Baby GC was the latest among the five best gifts I have ever received (outside of the gift of eternal life.) How did I get the best toy in the world? She is such a life-like doll. Just like a real baby! She has been such an incredible delight and joy in our lives. We are all very thankful for her. We have been having so much fun with her. Having a baby at this age is just as great as everybody (with that experience) told me it would me – even better! It is EASY because everything comes second nature by now. I know what to do, I know what works, and I am more relaxed. I am not exaggerating (much) when I say that I spend most of the day looking at her and making her laugh and smile. I get little else done, but you know what? I don’t even care!

Miss Christmas ~ 3 1/2 months old

Baby GC reading ~ getting close to four months old

Baby GC in the sling enjoying
the winter wonderland of our beautiful province

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Carol | December 31, 2010

I miss personal blogging. I miss the old way I used to blog. I am so behind that it almost seems hopeless. I stopped posting regular family pictures around July and never picked it up again. I haven’t even written Baby GC’s birth story. I want to get back into it, so for now, I think I will skip the summer and fall and only go back as far as the beginning of Advent 2010.

We had a very slow, low-key month of December. I made the choice not to do many of our annual traditions. I wanted peace without commotion. I was tired of feeling tired, so we did very little. It still felt very much like Christmas.

One new idea that proved to be quite fun was our new Advent calendar house. After Christmas last year, I ordered it on EBay. It sat in its box all year, so it was rather amusing when we opened it. Do you notice anything unusual about it? I didn’t until the children mentioned it.

Our Advent Calendar House

I bought some secret things. (The treats were often things we would do anyway, or candy from the Bulk Barn, or things we could have saved for Christmas presents. I had lots of ideas we didn’t even use.)

And I made a list of hiding places. (Examples: Look in the organ… Look in the drawer under the sock monkey… Look in the doll house… Look by the doll on the stairs… Look behind the ceramic Christmas tree… Look in the front bench… Look in the fridge… Look by the Cascade… Look on the computer desk… Look in the bathtub… Look in the black cabinet in the bathroom… Look on the dryer…)

Each day of December, I would either stuff a small treat or a “Look under/in/behind” note behind one of the doors. Instead of getting it ready all at once, I would do it one day at a time, so the most appropriate treat would go on the most convenient day.

Day 1: pack of crackling candy to share (funny)

Day 2: four lollipops and four Double Bubble gum (to divide among four children)

Day 3: four chocolate loonies

Day 4: Decorated wooden Christmas tree ornament crafts with marker and glitter

Day 5: Made T.V. advertisments with video camera – Sham Wow, Goldline

This was fun. We spent additional time watching home videos. (It makes me feel bad that I didn’t take more during the past few years. I have hardly ANY of Baby GC, but I guess it doesn’t matter.)

Day 6: bag of peanut M&Ms to share

Day 7: four chocolate peanut butter balls and four mints

Day 8: four mints and four rockets

Day 9: four pieces Hubba Bubba gum

Day 10: chocolate rocks (It took them a while to figure out you could eat them. It looked like a bag of real stones.)

Day 11: Ice Cream Moon Sand

The three middles really enjoyed this project.

Playing Moon Sand
See Baby and cat and lights?
I was getting ready to put the lights on the real tree.

Day 12: Decorated Gingerbread houses with Daddy

Derek is always responsible for the construction of the gingerbread houses.

Our Gingerbread Houses 2010

Day 13: Gum that tastes like SOAP. I can’t let them get TOO spoiled. It was hilarious, but they were mad and thought it was a dud. ROFLOL After, I told them if they had reacted like good sports, they would have got something else, but… FAIL… ?! (To clarify, for the biblically minded, it was a joke, not a character test… and they read the label before they tried it.)

Day 14: foam sticker wreath craft with glitter glue, one KitKat to share

Christmas wreath foam craft

Day 15: watched Ramona and Beezus on PayPerVu

I knew C9 would like this especially. I think she has read all the Beverly Cleary books by now. It will be a sad day when something happens to our cat. I LOVED all the baby wearing in the movie! Even Ramona was carrying around her baby sister in a forward facing carrier.

Day 16: four candy canes

Day 17: four lollipops and four Double Bubble gum

Day 18: Three oldest went to Voyage of the Dawn Treader in 3D with Daddy… L6 watched Cats and Dogs 2 on PayPerVu

I didn’t want to take Baby GC to Voyage of the Dawn Treader because it was only available in 3D. There is nothing worse than a seeing a 3D movie without the glasses, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep them on the baby, and she LOVES to watch the big screen, so I chose to skip the movie.

Day 19: The middles painted plaster tree ornaments with me, Derek, and his brother who happened to stop by.

Painting Christmas Tree Ornaments

Decorating chocolate cupcakes with icing
and Christmas sprinkles (with Derek’s brother)

Day 20: I forget what it was.

Day 21: two Kit Kats and two O’Henrys

Day 22: four pieces of Hubba Bubba gum

Day 23: four kinds of juice cans

Day 24: made things out of clay

Making things out of clay on Christmas Eve

Some of our clay creations

We had a nice, relaxing Christmas Eve.

Day 25: four mints

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