Month: November 2012

Gingerbread Displays 2012

Since the weather was so beautiful today, we took a nice, long walk up and down Main Street in downtown Belleville, to admire all of the beautiful gingerbread creations in the store windows.

There were all kinds of different displays, from traditional houses to mythical creatures, and more than one very “punny” creation!

Of course, there are different awards given out to the best and most creative designs. The Markel Family chose three particularly impressive displays.

A replica of the town library:

The very amusing “ninjabread men:”

And an amazing dragon:

Besides our three favorites, there were many other fun creations…the “Angry Birds” house was another favorite:

Bunny really thought this “Fleas Navi Dog” one was hilarious:

The design in the jewelry store window boasted a working clock:

Gingerbread space shuttle:

A castle:

Beautiful scrollwork:

I was amused by this cooler:

The snow in the store window made this one even more beautiful:

Gingerbread train:

We had a great time looking at them all!

A Moment in Time

Chickadee doesn’t fall asleep in my arms too often anymore, especially not when I’m sitting down. She’s simply too busy and social to rest when people are around. But today, she humored me, and let me hold her while she took a nap. I cherish these moments with our youngest child!

The Town Tree Lighting

As we do every year on the Friday after Thanksgiving, we went to our city’s downtown area for the tree lighting tonight.

Chickadee found the whole thing rather…surprising?

I’m always happiest to see the nativity on our town square!

2012-2013 School Year–Week Twelve

This was a short school week for us, because of Thanksgiving…we only had 2 1/2 days of school. The bulk of our schoolwork naturally focused on Thanksgiving:

We also finished our “Thankful Tree” on Thanksgiving Day. Here’s a sample of what the children have found to be thankful for over the course of the month:

  • Turkey–Legos, education, the military.
  • Bunny–Reading, policemen, warmth in the winter.
  • Ladybug–Clothes, our pastor, the Bible.
  • Moose (who declined to be pictured)–Birthdays, Christmas trees, Chickadee.

I”m very proud of the things and people they thought of, and the fact that being thankful is so important to them!

Other than Thanksgiving School, we did a lot of review on Monday and Tuesday. We practiced our newest math skill, multiplying double-(and triple!) digit numbers by double-digit numbers, a lot. In the process, Turkey managed to find a mistake I made in solving a problem I had set up! At least I know he was paying attention! We reviewed regular and irregular verbs in grammar, and went over our “i before e” words a little more in spelling. We finished learning about the story of Joseph and his brothers in religion, and reviewed the respiratory system in science. We even had some special Thanksgiving Bible verses for dictation/copywork/handwriting (I was not popular for that, because there was so much tricky punctuation in the dictation)!

Next week, we’ll be back to our regular school schedule, but only for one week…then it will be time for our Jesse Tree and Christmas School!

November 23–Clement of Rome, Pastor

From the LCMS website:

Clement (ca. A.D. 35–100) is remembered for having established the pattern of apostolic authority that governed the Christian Church during the first and second centuries. He also insisted on keeping Christ at the center of the Church’s worship and outreach. In a letter to the Christians at Corinth, he emphasized the centrality of Jesus’ death and resurrection: “Let us fix our eyes on the blood of Christ, realizing how precious it is to His Father, since it was poured out for our salvation and brought the grace of repentance to the whole world” (1 Clement 6:31). Prior to suffering a martyr’s death by drowning, he displayed a steadfast, Christ-like love for God’s redeemed people, serving as an inspiration to future generations to continue to build the Church on the foundation of the prophets and apostles, with Christ as the one and only cornerstone.

Thirty-Five Weeks

All of our children have worn this onesie, on either their first or second Thanksgiving. It’s too big on Chickadee this year, but I didn’t want to take the chance that it would be too small next year, and she’d never get to wear it. And to be honest, it’s not as big on her as I was expecting…she’s growing so fast!

Her siblings still love holding her any chance they get…the novelty has definitely not worn off!

One of her favorite activities right now is sticking out her tongue. And not just sticking it out, but trying to touch her nose. So adorable!

Such a ham!