Saturday, December 31, 2016

End of December Update

Seems like I've been spending more time doing and less time blogging lately. It's been a fun few weeks since my last update.

December Field Trips:

Electic Safari at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo: The best part was getting so close to the giraffes. Someone shared a leaf of lettuce so that Lauren could feed one. There's nothing like looking up and seeing a huge giraffe tongue just inches from your face.

Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station: This ranks as the all-time coolest field trip ever. Tim got to bring all of us into the mountain to see the NORAD watch floor as part of their family celebration for Christmas. Opportunities to go into the mountain are very rare, and it was cool to see all the things that we've just heard about. (No pictures for obvious security reasons.)


Books in progress:

Anne of Green Gables (read-aloud with Lauren)
Boundaries by Henry Cloud (for a class at church)
Loves God, Likes Girls by Sally Gary
Women of the Word by Jen Wilkin
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Say Goodbye to Survival Mode by Crystal Paine

I also just got a notice that it's my turn to check out a digital copy of The Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee (author of The Mysterious Benedict Society series). I need to hurry and finish some of the others so that I can read it.


Movies:

Tim and Lauren recently finished reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and then watched the corresponding movie. We all watched Matilda last night and this afternoon. The beginning closely matched the book, but they started changing details in the last half of the movie.

Tim and I had a date night last week to see Rogue One in the theaters. Very well done! All our kids have New Year's plans for tonight, so we're planning to stay home and watch movies -- a Finding Nemo and Finding Dory double header.


Games:

Favorite game under the Christmas Tree: Pandemic
Favorite game from Santa (for Addison): Betrayal at House on the Hill
Favorite game resurrected: Spades (thankfully Brennan played as Tim's partner yesterday-- I'm not good enough at keeping up with the details to play as his partner)
Favorites chosen for game day with Lauren last week: Monopoly Jr., Sequence, Expanders, Skip Bo, and Life


Other exciting news:

Brennan got his driver's license yesterday, and he's already enjoying the freedom of getting to meet up with friends without arranging for a parent to drive him. (He still has to make arrangements to use a car, but that's usually easier.)

I finished up my year with 550 miles of running. I didn't quite make my goal, but I'm proud of what I did accomplish.


A few pictures from the past few weeks:


I'm linking this post to the weekly Homeschool Highlights linky at Homeschool Coffee Break. Come join the fun!

Homeschool Coffee Break

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7 comments:

  1. What a lovely few weeks. I love your list of games.
    Blessings, Dawn

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  2. Women of the Word... I am not familiar with the book. Are you enjoying it?

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    1. It's very thought provoking. I'm not sure I'm at a point to dig into scriptures exactly the way she suggests. I can put some of her ideas into practice now (such as reading scripture in light of the way the gospel is woven into the Bible narrative from cover to cover), but I will still rely more on specific Bible studies (such as the ones I work through with the ladies from my church) more than she recommends.

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  3. Oooh the Trenton Lee novel - Kennady and I saw it in this lovely bookstore we visited but ultimately didn't purchase it. We're both looking forward to reading it though. Sounds like you've had a wonderful few weeks! Thanks for linking up at Homeschool Highlights! Hope you and your family have a wonderful 2017!

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  4. I get tired just reading your "doings" :-) I am going to try to read more books this year besides study books. For me more would be ONE!! Sequence is one of my favorite games :-)

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    Replies
    1. We need to find a time to get together and play Sequence. We all love playing!

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  5. Sounds and looks like you had a fun holiday. Good luck on your studies in the new year!

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