Annual Homeschool Christmas Wrap

I can't believe December is almost over. Boy have we been busy! I have a lot of catching up to do here. Over the next week, before school ramps back up, I am going to try to get caught up on what we've been up to lately.

For the past few years in December our homeschool group has organized a Christmas wrap. This is where we wrap gifts for a donation. We then take the proceeds to support a needy family for Christmas.

Early in December, on a Saturday, we gathered at the church and waited for the gifts to start arriving. We were excited because we had more people sign up this year than we've ever had. We found out that the family we were going to buy Christmas for was a single mom with four young kids. I really hoped the families that signed up to let us wrap their gifts would be generous so that we could really spoil this family with lots of gifts.

Hey Seeeth!!!!!!!!!!!......

The first gifts arrived and all the kids were excited to wrap. That is once they woke up... we had our first drop off appointment at 8:30AM, but since we had to help set up we were at the church by 8AM.

I love this service project because at a time where my boys are tempted to focus on what they want, it reminds them that there are some kids that might not be getting anything for Christmas.

Some how this is the only picture of Joshua that was taken. He had just gotten back from an overnight lock-in with the church. He was exhausted! All the kids worked extremely hard, even the sleep deprived ones! I was so proud of their efforts. Wrapping presents is hard work.

Sometimes they worked together with friends.



As the day was coming to an end all the presents beautifully lined the gym walls.

Now all that was left to do was wait for our families to come pick up their presents decorated with love. We couldn't wait to see how much money we had earned.

Then out of nowhere came the unexpected... SNOW! What a great treat for the kids after a full days work. One mention of the word, snow, and they were gone!

What a special blessing. It was really starting to feel like Christmas!

Another blessing... we ended up with almost $500 to spend on our adopted family. Thank you Lord! A few days later we divided the family members amongst the group and we went shopping. The boys and I chose to buy gifts for the 3rd grade boy and a few gifts for the mom. I thought it was really sweet that the mom did not request anything for herself. But we made sure that we spoiled her too. We bought her a gift card to a clothing store, a bible, jewelry, and some awesome smelling soap. I wish we could have seen them open their gifts. This service project is one of my favorites. Can't wait til next year!

Operation Christmas Child

It's that time again! Time for Operation Christmas Child. We always look forward to November for several reasons, one of those being Operation Christmas Child. Every year our church is majorly involved in the collection of shoe boxes that later will travel across the world and be delivered to a child. In most cases this will be the only gift they receive for Christmas. More importantly than the shoebox stuffed with gifts is the little booklet they receive that tells them in their own language about Jesus and His ultimate gift.

Our home school group always picks a day during the collection week and volunteers to help collect boxes.

While we wait for people to come drop off their boxes we inspect, fill, and wrap other boxes. Here is Seth wrapping a shoebox.

Noah and Chloe finishing up a box that needed a few more goodies.

Seth is ready with the cart. They love it when someone comes with a car full of boxes. This was only the second day of collection week and you can see the mountain of boxes behind Seth.

Yea! Boxes are here. Everyone is ready to help out.



More boxes!



While we were there we decided to go ahead and finish our boxes.



The boys really enjoy picking out toys for their boxes.



Most of the time we purchase way to much stuff and end up trying to cram it all in.



Rearanging, trying to make it all fit.

Okay. I think we managed to get it all in and with the help of rubber bands manage to keep the lids on. The one thing I always like to include in our boxes is a personal letter from each of the boys. They write a short (or long in Seth's case!) letter telling their kid about themselves and asking them questions. One year we actually received a letter back and that was really special. His picture is still on our refrigerator and every time I notice it I try to stop whatever I'm doing and pray for him. I hope we get letters again from these boxes.

Seth with his finished box.

Noah and his box. It's really sweet to see the things they think of to put in their boxes. Joshua was in class so I wasn't able to get a picture of him with his box.

Oh yeah, we can't forget about the pizza. Another favorite part of Operation Christmas Child. LUNCH!

Moravian Field Trip and Service Project

On Dec. 4th our homeschool group went on a field trip to a local Moravian church to learn about early Moravian life and some of their traditions.

I classified this as a field trip and service project because our group was asked by another local ministry if we would write a Putz (which is short for Putzen) that would be presented at an out reach production later in the month.

First of all, I had no idea what a Putz was much less how to write one!

you can learn more about it here.

We found a local church presenting a Putz and decided we better check it out. I am so glad we did. Not only did we learn what a Putz was, but we also learned a lot about early Moravian tradition and how they lived their daily lives.

much different than our modern day lives.

First we sat in the sanctuary and heard about the history of the Moravian church. Look at that star isn't it beautiful? It has 109 Points and is made out of paper! I can't remember how tall they said it is, but trust me when I say, "It's HUGE!"

Next, we learned all about the Moravian cookies. YUM!

It is amazing how thin those cookies are. To know if you have rolled your cookies thin enough, 12 cookies stacked together should measure an inch!

After that, we learned about how they made beeswax candles. This was one of the kids many jobs. We also learned about the Tinsmith and how they made tools, candle holders, cookware and many other necessary items.

Then we moved to the star room and learned the history of the Moravian star. It originated from a math lesson! Geometry, none the less.

The stars can be made in several different sizes. Most stars are white (which represents the purity of Jesus) but some are red and white (red representing His blood)

I thought this one display was especially pretty.

Here is where we learned about the Putzen. It was presented in a small dimly lit room. While the narrator read the birth story of Jesus, she would shine a light on that specific part of the model. This is what the model looked liked...

so now I (and you) know what a Putzen is.

At the end of our tour each kid received a few cookies, lemonade and a candle.

Next we went back to our church to write a Putzen of our own. Last but not least, I'll leave you with....

...you guessed it...

...a silly picture!

Pinedale HSF May Service Project

MORE STRAWBERRIES!

For our May service project we decided to go strawberry picking and then visit some of our shut-in friends. We put together baskets of fresh strawberries to deliver during our visits

It turned out to be a beautiful day...

We ended up having a great turn out for the service project...

Seth found this unique strawberry... it looked like an ant... see the eyes, nose and the pinchers at the bottom?... This is one of my favorite pictures of Seth... He looks soooo sweet!!!

What a blessing to be having fun with friends while also showing love to others. We ended up visiting 3 different homes, but I forgot to take pictures while we were there. Oh well, maybe next time! One of my favorite things about home schooling is the time I get to spend with my boys. I really do enjoy being with them as much as possible. (except for a few times when I threaten to put them on the yellow bus that comes right by our house before they are even out of bed!!!) The service projects that we do with our home school group are great because we are working together to show the love of Christ to those we are helping.

April HSF Service Project

Last month our Home school groups service project was a clean-up day at Park Springs Christian Camp. My boys have enjoyed going to this camp for a few years now. Joshua will be going for a week for the middle school session and then he will go again as a camp volunteer with the 2nd and 3rd graders. Seth will spend his first week at camp and Noah will go for 3 days.

We decided to help the camp clean-up before the summer sessions start. Park Springs is located in Providence NC. It's about an hour and thirty minutes away. I have been there several times and I just love it. Check out the family day that is coming up, it's free and sounds like a nice trip to take with the family. You can find out more about the camp here.

We did lots of things while we were there like... pumping up lots and lots of balls...






sweeping the gym...

organizing the storage room... cleaning out the fire pit... stacking firewood... cleaning out the boys cabins... and much, much more!

Noah ringing the lunch bell... "Come and get it!"

After all that work, it was time for some fun!

The boys had lots of fun on the lake.



Look at those handsome boys... their Mama must be proud!!!


Awww... time to put up the canoes and get packed up for the trip home.




Seth made a new friend...




Here are a few random pictures of the camp...

This is the gym...


The boys cabins...


Gazebo...


The dock for paddle boats and canoes...


The rockwall zipline, which starts in the woods and goes across the lake...




The End...



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