How To Draw the Nativity for Kids and Beginners

We are still on Christmas break, and I love to share extra things I find during this time period. Why not draw a nativity? Below you will find a video tutorial. After you get good at it, you could make an ornament. I hope all my readers had a wonderful Christmas, we did. I am thinking if I want to have my kids make a New Years Resolution this year, and see if they can stick to it. My son, and I, are doing a 30 day plank challenge, together, and it is a challenge. Do you have your kids make a New Years Resolution? Do they stick to it?

Kirby Farms Christmas Express Train

Merry Christmas! I hope your Christmas has been awesome, and full of blessings. On the 23rd we took a trip to the Kirby Farms Christmas Express train ride. Thank goodness the thunderstorms held off until after we had left. It was close, though. We bought our tickets online, and since they do not offer refunds, this is probably not something I would do again. The train is actually quite large, and I would say could seat at least 100 people. So, even if you had to stand in line it wouldn't be too bad. The train runs in 30 minute increments. It was nice, and warm, so the ride was very pleasant. You ride through the light display on the train. There are other activities, they cost extra, but we didn't stay for any of those. Everyone was so very tired from all the other holiday activities, and my husband was not feeling well. It is 10 dollars per person to ride the train. If you are interested, they run through New Years. All proceeds go to the running of the farm which eventually will be a learning farm for needy children. They have a website, and they are located in Bronson, FL. A super fun way to see the lights, and ride a train.

Annual 4H Bakeoff and Christmas Party

Last night was our annual 4H Bakeoff and Christmas Party. I think our county is the only one that does the bakeoff. The kids bake an item, or there are other categories too but most kids make a baked item. The most coveted prize is the Golden Spoon for each category. I think this is the fourth year the bakeoff has been done. DJ won a blue ribbon, and the Golden Spoon for his mint chocolate brownies, made from scratch. This is a modge podge recipe, put together by me, due to the fact I don't care for any of the ones I could find. I saved the recipe, so we could make it again. Caitlin made the kitty cake shown above.  We were somewhat unprepared to make this properly, due to a family emergency that ate up a lot of time.  She did get a blue ribbon, but still has not won a Golden Spoon.  Then the kids in the Guitar Club play Christmas songs, and then games for all the kids.  All in all a good time, and the kids love it!

Resume Writing Lessons for Homeschoolers

On Friday, we had a monkey wrench thrown into our homeschooling life.  Due to circumstances beyond my control, I resigned my position where I was currently working prn.  So, now I have to dust up on my resume writing skills.  I decided it would be the perfect time to introduce resume writing to my 9th grader as well.  Below are two different lesson plans for resume writing.  Check them out, and give your homeschooler a chance to apply for a job.  I am going to have my son look for positions in the paper, and write a resume for the ones he thinks he can do. 

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/resume-writing

http://www.schoodoodle.com/weblog/2009/06/19/free-resume-writing-lesson-plan-for-students/

We Finally Got Our Face Art Lesson In Today

So, I decided to make our Art lessons homework assignments. It is the only way to get it done. Our next assignment in the lesson book, was drawing faces. Because, it is Christmas time, I decided we would do faces on ornaments. I did the snowman mandala, DJ did Link who is some kind of video game character, and Caitlin did Elsa from Frozen. Caitlin was really very unhappy with hers. I guess it doesn't look a lot like Elsa, but I really think she made a beautiful and feminine lady portrait. These will all be sealed, and hung on the tree. You need to look back in this blog, about three years ago, and see how far we have progressed with painting on ornaments. It is dramatic! I am not sure what the next lesson is, haven't looked that far ahead yet. This week we have an Osmosis experiment, and Caitlin found a Lava Lamp experiment she wants us to do too. Those will be on Friday, and I will share how they go. Next week, I believe we have a dissection to do. That ought to be interesting. Then, can you believe it, it is almost Christmas. Wow, and I am so not ready. I have never, ever shopped on Christmas Eve, ever! This year I might not have a choice. Ugh! This year, we decided we would try to start two new traditions. 1- On Christmas Eve, we will sit down to watch, It's A Wonderful Life. Then #2 will happen. Instead of Christmas stockings, I am going to make up Christmas Eve boxes, with small gifts like pajamas, some treats, and maybe a book, game or movie. I forgot to share our Advent Calendar again. I will get that up hopefully Wednesday. We have two of them this year, one for each child to do, oh and there is the cutest app called Elf Adventure Full. I think it was the FAOTD, but I might have just found it by luck. Check it out, it is adorable.

How To Paint A Christmas Tree and Some Homeschool Books Listed on Ebay

I love books, especially homeschool books. If you are a long time homeschooler than you probably have 8 thousand books that you are probably never going to use. I buy them because I think I will use them, or they are kindly given to me when others don't want them anymore. I accumulate them, until I have nowhere else to put them. Then I have to start decluttering. I have listed several homeschool books in my Ebay store. They are not auction format, so plenty of time to get in on them. I will be listing Magic Tree House Books, soon, hopefully tomorrow. Both my kids have read them, and loved them, but are both too old for them now.

I thought I would share some Christmas art videos. I love the one below, it is in three short parts, but I can't wait to try it. Do it with your kids, and hang them up every year. We still have to do our faces art lesson. Can you tell I am trying to avoid that one? LOL! Hopefully we will get to it this week.