From Park Day to Parkas

Yesterday it was 80 degrees and gorgeous! We spend hours at the park with a great group of homeschool friends. Nicholas brought his swords and nerf guns to have battles with the other boys in the open field while Rachel brought two baby dolls and played Mommy with the other little girls on the playground.

The kids also held a craft fair/bake sale where kids could make items to sell. They all set up on some picnic tables under the big tree.

I actually forgot to tell my kids about it (*bad mom*) so they didn't have anything to sell...but that didn't stop them by buying a few things. I only had a $5 bill but they got a popsicle stick crossbow, popsicle stick sling shot, a Christmas ornament, a brownie, and a cupcake. My kids had fun looking at all of the creative things kids brought.



But today the high will be only 37 degrees with rain, ice, and wind to only make things worse. Here's a picture from the National Weather Service. 



Ick!

This weather should continue through the weekend with the wintery mix slowing down Sunday. I don't like being out in icy weather but Rachel's Nutcracker performance is Saturday so we will at least venture out for a little fun. But other than that I plan to stay warm and snuggly indoors and stay off the road as much as possible.

I did find a neat website today that helps you learn about the road conditions in your area before you venture out in it. 



Check out the Drive Texas website by TxDOT.   It is pretty cool. You can find snowy conditions as well as construction and even incidents that you might want to avoid. Click on Traffic and you can see color coded traffic conditions that may help you know if you need to plan an alternate route. You can also find out where rest stops and travel information centers are located in the state. I love finding cool resources like this!

A friend just posted this on Facebook...HA!


Community Bible Study: Children's Christmas Program

I am really enjoying our Community Bible Study (CBS) classes this year.  We are studying the book of John and I'm learning so much.  They offer a complete homeschool Bible study class for kids infants through high school.  Starting in 1st grade the children study the same scripture as the mom classes.  So Nicholas and I read the Bible together and discuss the scriptures as he works on his homework for the week.  I do my homework on my own since there are a lot more questions that are also more in-depth for the moms than for the children.  Nicholas is good about following the schedule and working on a section of his homework but I kind of wait and do it all the night before our next class!

Today we had CBS.  Rachel brought along "Big Baby" that my mom gave her for Christmas last year.  She has also started calling this doll "Rachel" but I'm just used to calling it Big Baby (plus that is less confusing!).  Anyway, Rachel got upset when I wouldn't let her bring Big Baby into class.  I told her that the baby was tired and needed to just take a nap in the car.  Rachel insisted on buckling her into the car seat "because she might wiggle out of the seat and fall down".


Each year the children put on a Christmas program for the moms.  Rachel is in the preschool class but you can see how she towers over everyone else.  It doesn't help that they put her on the top step when they were placing the kids in rows.  She may look older but she's still just 5 like many of the kids in her class.  And of course, they all have the attention span of a gnat!  Check out the video:

And here is a video of the rest of the performance where Rachel is totally distracted by her newly discovered ability to snap her fingers.  Then she sees big brother Nicholas line up by the stage with his class and all hope for actually participating in this performance is lost!
  


Nicholas' class did a short performance of the Nativity scene.  He was a wise man.  The teens group was going up after them and needed all several tables on stage but I wish they would set them up after the Nativity scene performance because they were kind of in the way a few times.  The class actually wrote the play, came up with costumes, etc all on their own.  Check out the video:


Raingutter Regatta

We've never participated in a Raingutter Regatta before but our C3D group was holding its first annual competition and Nicholas was excited to try it out.

He worked with his dad to come up with some designs.  I'm sure there were some videos they found on YouTube - because you can learn how to do anything from YouTube right?

We gathered for the race and everyone put their boats out on the table.


Nicholas' boat was made in a catamaran style with foam and popsicle sticks.  He was number 31.


The boys race 2 at a time.  They put their boats in a sealed raingutter that is full of water  They can only use a straw to propel the boats down the raingutter with their breath. The first to reach the end of the gutter wins.


I don't have the exact time for the first race but Nicholas won with somewhere between 7 and 8 seconds.



Each person raced 2 times against different people.  Both the C3D boys and the American Heritage Girls competed together.


Nicholas won both of his races, hands down.


Nicholas had the overall fastest time of the night with his second race at 7.04 seconds!



The boys have been reading an amazing book called Quest for the Keys which teaches character development to young people through an exciting adventure story. The boys were very lucky to have the author, Scotty Sanders, come to our meeting to meet the boys.


Make Your Own LEGO Advent Calendar {LEGO Challenge}

I love the wonderful LEGO Advent Calendars out there!

However, those cute little kits are as expensive as $39.99 each..and if you have two or more kids you know you will have to buy one for EACH of them. That gets expensive!  

But why spend that money when you can make a DIY LEGO Advent Calendar?


Make Your Own LEGO Advent Calendar

Make Your Own LEGO Advent Calendar

I pulled out an old Advent calendar that we've used in the past and created a DIY Lego Advent Calendar.

I first bought a small LEGO kit.  This one was about 90 pieces and cost about $10.



I looked at the directions enough to see how the pieces would go together.  Then I grouped the pieces that went together and placed them in the daily boxes on the calendar.  You'll have to come up with 25 groups.

LEGO Challenge

Each day in December, Nicholas opens a drawer and takes out the LEGO pieces (and maybe a few pieces of candy that managed to find their way in there).  He can build whatever he wants with the pieces he collects and even try to guess what the kit is really supposed to be.  He likes to think of this as his Christmas LEGO Challenge.


On Christmas, he collects the last LEGO piece and displays his final creation that he has made with all of the pieces he has collected for the month.  It may or may not look like the kit is supposed to look but that is half of the fun.  After he has showed off his creation, THEN he gets to look at the directions and put the pieces together like the kit was originally designed.  


Make your own LEGO Advent Calendar this year.  It's a fun LEGO Challenge that helps kids countdown the days until Christmas!

Here is another LEGO Advent Calendar that a friend of mine made.  The actual calendar part is made of LEGOs!!  Isn't it amazing?!

Holiday at the Dallas Arboretum and GIVEAWAY!

The Dallas Arboretum is glorious this time of year!  Holiday at the Arboretum is a great way to experience wonderful Christmas events that are fun for the whole family such as a Holiday Tea, family fun weekends with Santa and his live reindeer, festive music and tasty treats!  

It will also be the last opportunity to visit the houses of The Adventures of Great Explorers, a tribute to the newly opened 8-­‐acre amazing Rory Meyers Children’s Adventure Garden.  The Rory Meyers Children's Adventure Garden is not just a garden!  It's full of fun hands-on activities that teach kids about nature, science, math, and art!  Learn more about the amazing Children's Garden HERE.


The Angels in DeGolyer is an amazing collection of 500 angels, courtesy of the Dallas Pi Beta Phi Alumnae, presented in the lavishly decorated DeGolyer Mansion.  Moms and Dads, please note that strollers are not allowed inside the DeGolyer house.  And obviously before you take children into the exhibit, you will want to talk to them about the importance of the rule "look but don't touch" and of course, no running and horsing around inside the mansion.




The angels are simply beautiful but in order to make the exhibit a little more fun for the kids, you might want to challenge them to find unique angels on display.  Nicholas noticed that one blue angel is slightly different than the others.




He was also very impressed by this amazing pine cone angel.  I asked if he thought he could make one like it for our home!



The Seashell Angels were some of my favorites.  They are just naturally perfect.



Rachel loves angels and she was very excited to see so many on display all around her.



These beautiful angels are wearing starched paper dresses!



Here are some details on the Holiday at the Arboretum events:

Angels in DeGolyer:

Over 500 angels on display courtesy of the Dallas Pi Beta Phi Alumnae
November 29–December 31, 2013 10 a.m.-­‐4 p.m. daily

Pictures with Santa Claus:

Bring your own camera for this great photo opp as your child sits on Santa's knee to share their most desired toys this year.  
November 29 -­ December 22, 2013
Friday, November 29: 12-­‐4 p.m.
Saturdays and Sundays: 12-­‐4 p.m. 

Live Reindeer and Costumed Characters:

November 30 -­ December 22, 2013
Saturdays and Sundays, 12-­‐4 p.m.

Holiday Tea:

An elegant, three-­course holiday tea for a special Christmas memory for ages 12 and older.  Prices range from $47-$57 and include parking, admission to the Garden and access to the Angels of the DeGolyer display.  Reservations are required. 
November 29 -­ December 31, 2013 
11 a.m. and 2 p.m. seatings

The Adventures of Great Explorers: 

November 29 -­ December 31, 2013


The Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden is located at 8525 Garland Road, Dallas, Texas 75218.  They are open daily 9am – 5pm and closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day. Admission prices: Adult - main garden and children's garden $18, main garden only $15; senior age 65+ - main garden and children's garden $15, main garden only $12; children ages 3-12 - main garden and children's garden $13, main garden only $10; children age 2 and under free.  Parking is $10 onsite or $5 at Gaston/Garland lot. For more information about the Rory Meyers Children's Adventure Garden, please check out the Dallas Arboretum website (be sure to watch the video tour at the top of the page!)

Want to win 2 free general admission tickets plus free parking to the Dallas Arboretum?  Follow the Rafflecopter instructions below on how to enter the giveaway - you can enter all five ways if you want!  And don't worry, your email address will not be published and you will not receive any emails from me (unless you are the winner!)



a Rafflecopter giveaway


Terms: Passes are for free general admission and parking.  Passes must be used by 12/31/13.  Winner will be chosen by random and notified by email.  Winner must respond and claim prize within two days or forfeit the prize.