It is finally feeling and looking like Christmas around here. With temps finally staying in the 40's (maybe 50's), I am happy to say while finishing up Jake's HUGE crocheted blanket I have been making him for Christmas (and just finished 2 days ago. It is as wide as a queen size bed and should be good as length wise as long as he doesn't get taller than Aaron who is 6ft 2inches.) it has been nice to have it covering me up and keeping me warm. I am in the finishing stages of about a million other projects for this homemade Christmas and I am loving it. As you can see I am staying up WAY too late working on them. I just spent an hour and a half watching videos on You Tube to learn how to crochet hats. Blankets and scarves I can do...hats...I am still working on them. There is a stage when you start curving the hat and the lady says the hat should look a little wavy...To say mine is a little wavy would be an extreme understatement. Luckily I am seeing were I messed up and I am thinking this first one will be a perfect work hat for Aaron. :) The next one will be perfect! The fun thing about crocheting a hat is the that you see your progress much faster than when you are making an extremely humongous blanket. I am finally going to get the Christmas cards out tomorrow. I never even started last year so I am way ahead of the game. :) I am also going to send out a package to my sister and her family that will take about 3 weeks to get to them (they live in the Ukraine) so they won't get it too late...It will be perfect timing for the festivities to die down and then SURPRISE more gifts! It really is all part of my plan to make a big impact. :) A few more days of modge-podge, paint, and...lots of other stuff and I will officially be ready for the gift giving part of Christmas!
On a totally unrelated subject: Friday we went to our first homeschool group party and I wish I had done it months ago. It was very laid back (but well organized) and we got to meet a ton of great people. When we first got there the kids were playing on the playground (it was at a local church) and the mom's were setting up and talking. Long story short I think we have found the right group for us. They meet every month or 2 and have social events (and they administer a group standardized test which makes it much cheaper then if we had to do it on our own.) A lot of the other groups in our area get together to have lessons...We don't need lessons we need playing. :) It is a great way to get the support we need and socialize with people that have the same schedules and values we do. Jake immediately clicked with 2 boys-one in particular and we exchanged phone numbers to have some play dates after the holidays wrap up. I was THRILLED to find out that the standardized tests that homeschoolers have to take are no big deal. I was talking to one mom and telling her how we are basically doing the public school curriculum at home and that is NOT the way I wanted to do it, but I got so stressed over the test that I did a 180 on our original plans. She said she went through the same thing there first year homeschooling (nice to know it is not just me). It turns out that the state of NC doesn't care what your child gets on the standardized test-just that they take it...Sounds about right doesn't it? I am not worried that Jake won't do well. He is a smart kiddo. I just stress about tests and it is hard to break free from the conveyor belt education. I am back to the original plan: to raise a child who loves learning and learns how to be a good leader. I don't really care about comparing and contrasting our educational system with those in the rest of North America (yes that is one of the things 5th graders are supposed to learn in NC) and neither does Jake-but we had fun reading about the diverse cultures in North America...We are more excited to study the upcoming election and how the electoral college really works-so we are going to! We are going to stick with the basics and add on the things that really interest Jake and we will more then cover all the bases. And I am not going to stress about the test any more! Which means Jake won't have to ask me every day why I am so grumpy...Well...he may but not for that reason! Jake is also excited that b-ball season has started up and he is almost done with his...10 yr old scout badge...What is it called again? I don't know I need to go to sleep...
My rambling is even starting to bore me (I have to document it all or I will forget...) so I will wrap it up. Back to the original topic: We are all decorated for Christmas (my mom has a TON of decorations and we got them all out...minus some creepy looking doll carolers that I just couldn't handle...sorry mom)-except the tree. We are saving that to decorate with Nee. She gets back from the Ukraine tomorrow!!! We waited to decorate the tree and to start "A Christ Centered Christmas" Celebration with her (click on the link you will see where you can buy the book I am talking about...I promise it isn't $200 like it says it is...It is a great book but that is kind of steep!). The picture on the front is my FAVORITE picture ever of the Nativity-well at least of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. You will love it too. So even if you don't click the link to see the book itself-click it to see the picture. You will be glad you did. Hopefully Nee won't be too tired from jet lag to start! I have got to take pictures of all the Christmas going on around here. Jake decided the sun room is the "Narnia Room" because of all the trees...I will take a pic so you can see why (it involves the lamp post that goes with the creepy carolers. It made the cut but they didn't...). I love that my child looks at decorations and thinks of C.S. Lewis books...We must be doing something right because that man was a genius...Which reminds me I really want to read some of his books other than the Chronicles of Narnia...(yes that was random: I need to sleep). I took a picture of the "during" the decorating and it isn't pretty. The fun wore off quickly and there may or may not have been a few not so nice words muttered (it involved poor Papa and a whole big Rubbermaid container of lights for the tree and SEVERAL hours of finding some that actually worked....Poor guy. He was a trooper. I would have chucked the whole thing and gone to Walmart and spent $5 on new ones.) Any whoooo! ENOUGH rambling about nothing! I am off to bed. Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite! (We say that every night :) )
