Christmas Break!

Yay we are on Christmas Break!  So, of course I am catching up on grading and report cards, right?  Wrong~  I am doing way more fun things than that, lol.  I will do those though, just not today.  We have a very busy week with choirs and band, parties, and of course Christmas.  My son has given permission to share his solo of Mary Did You Know, but he is doing my favorite O Holy Night, on Christmas morning.  So, I will just wait til then.  My little one is singing in a choir tomorrow night, but I can not share hers here, because other children are in it, and I don't do that.


I think my camera has died, so I only have this image for now.  I am thinking of Easter already, lol.  If you make, and sell crafts, you have to keep ahead of the game.  Anyway, we have all these plastic beads from when my daughter was making friendship bracelets.  That didn't last long, and I decided to try a Pinterest thing I found where you melt the beads.

So, I got my old toaster oven out on the back porch.  You need ventilation because of the fumes.  I didn't find the smell all that offensive, but I was outside, so that might be why.  You have to use metal cookie cutters, plastic will melt.  I had these from when we did Easter cookies one time.  The big bunny head broke, and those white beads were different plastic and barely melted.  The other bunny, and carrot, as you can see came out quite nicely.  Today, I did a small heart, two Christmas trees, and redid the bunny head, which came out perfect.  I tried a teddy bear, but the cutter must have been too old because it broke.  The hearts and trees will become earrings, and the bunnies and carrots will get holes drilled in them, and made into sun catcher planters, or wind chimes.  I only filled the cookie cutters about a 1/4 of the way full, one I did half and could not get it out of the mold.  450 degrees for 20 minutes is all it took.  You can make any number of things.  I will now be on the look out for other cool metal cookie cutters.

Crazy December Month!

See that picture of the beach? That is what I need right now. What a month December has been, and next week is even busier. On a relaxed note, we will be having a family day Saturday, to do something relaxing. Our Singing Christmas Tree Choir, has the grand finale tonight. What an experience, and blessing it has turned out to be. When we first started this, I thought this is a huge commitment, every Sunday for 3 months to practice, then 4 nights in a row for the actual event. But, we have met some amazing people, and I hope we are bringing blessings and joy to those who come to see it. My son is doing Mary Did You Know, as a solo. No solos for me, no one needs to be deaf, lol. I am keeping track of hours, plus his Praise Band, and Reading Music, he should have enough hours for a whole credit. I am hoping my daughter, and husband will join us next year. With 59 other people in the choir, you really don't have to worry about being able to sing great.

I am behind on my record keeping, on this blog, but it is all in my trusty calendar. We ended our first quarter, last week, and I am still working on grading, and getting a report card done for DJ. DJ opted to change his Chemistry from textbook format, to CK12. It just wasn't working doing the textbook, and already he is moving along faster, and improving his grade. We will be taking off a full 3 weeks for Christmas break. This will give me time to catch up on grading, re-evaluate where we are so far, and get some much needed Winter yard work, and storage issues taken care of.

I hope everyone is having a beautiful Christmas season. If you are blue, or feeling lonely, I encourage you to visit your local church, or get involved with a charity. So many people need each other this time of year, maybe you will find something new and beautiful.