Five in a Row ornaments!

Our local Five in a Row group has been making these ornaments for some years now and this year was one of our biggest swaps yet!  At this rate, we may have them all by next year (well, those who started the first year with the swaps).  I think we'll just keep going though so everyone can have a full set.  :D

I love these ornaments and it makes me happy to pull them out each year for several reasons.  One, it brings back memories of fun books I have read with my children and the activities we have done to go along with them  Two, it reminds me of friends who have made them.  Three, it causes me to be thankful for so many things - a precious friend who wrote this curriculum, the blessings of friendships I have made on this journey and the treasured memories I have in using FIAR.

I have shared the pictures of the ornaments with their books.  If you have questions on any of these, please ask!

To get ready for the swap, we arranged the ornaments along with the book that they represented on long tables.  We have books from Before FIAR, FIAR and Beyond FIAR.

 A colorless, soundless representation of Helen Keller.

She did each family's last name on their ornament.

 Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?

 Make Way for Ducklings

 I am an Artist

 We're Going on a Bear Hunt

 The Snowy Day

 Climbing Kansas Mountains

 It was fun seeing them all lined up like this.

 Down, Down the Mountain.  Are these little crocheted turnips not adorable?

 The ABC Bunny

 The Bravest of Us All

 Sarah Plain and Tall.

 Amber on the Mountain.  (My daughter made this one.  Aren't they cute?!)

A closer peek.

 When I Was Young in the Mountains

 Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel

I have to show you this a bit closer so you can see the detail.  Can you see the little steam shovel down in the hole she has dug?

And Chester inside his matchbox?  A Cricket in Times Square

 Papa Piccolo.

Love them all!  Delightful, fun and a perfect way to remember these fun books!  Thank you sweet friends!

Love
Leslie

FIAR Ornaments

We host a wonderful Christmas ornament exchange with our Five in a Ro  homeschool group.  We've been doing this at least 6 years.  Each of us makes an ornament to represent one of the FIAR titles.  The first couple of years, we didn't sign up for what we were making, but ended up with some duplicates of titles.  With that in mind, we decided to sign up for the book titles and are working on having a complete set!  :-)

So we sign up for a book (choosing from the titles that have not yet been done) and make our ornaments.  We swap the first Sunday in December.

This year, we set out the ornaments with the book.  It was a really fun visual and especially nice for the books that might have been unfamiliar to some people.  We put the Before Five in a Row books together.

 And then the Five in a Row books.

Having the books out also served another purpose for my family.  It prompted us to read them before hanging up our new ornaments.

I really liked doing this.  It was especially fun for Daniel as he wasn't familiar with all of the books yet. I think next year I will plan to put up this tree early and read the books as we add them to the tree.  I need to put a reminder in my calendar to do that!

For those that aren't familiar with Five in a Row, its a curriculum based on wonderful children's books. The are books for the younger ages (Before Five in a Row), early elementary (Five in a Row) and upper elementary/early middle school (Beyond Five in a Row).  We read the books and then use the book as a springboard to learn so many fun things!  Since we have been doing this now since 1997, we have a lot of memories tied to these books!  Its fun to have a tree and ornaments that bring back so many of these memories.

So here are our new ornaments for this year.  First the books that are part of Before Five in a Row.

Goodnight Moon

Angus Lost

Yellow Ball

The Carrot Seed

Katy No-Pocket

Caps for Sale

 The six Before FIAR book ornaments.

The rest of these are all part of the Five in a Row curriculum.

The Glorious Flight

Andy and the Circus

The Finest Horse in Town

The Hatmaker's Sign

Babar, To Duet or Not to Duet

Katy and the Big Snow

The Story of Ferdinand

Grandfather's Journey

Here are the 8 FIAR ornaments.

I wish that you could see them all in person.  The details on each are so perfect!  Like the snow that shakes in the Katy ornament.

Or the musical score that really is the song with Babar.

Each one is just perfect and one of the sweetest parts is having memories of my friends to add to the tree too!

These books have been a huge part of our family in so many ways and this is a delightful reminder of the sweet memories that we have made!

Love
Leslie

Homemade Christmas Ornaments

One of our family traditions is that each child gets a new ornament for Christmas.  My Mom did this for us growing up and I loved it.  I've been doing this since I first had Christopher.  I would spend time searching for just the right ornament.  Something that reflected an accomplishment or something about their character.  It was fun.  Some years though it was also really hard when I couldn't find just the right ones.  Last year was one of those years.  Nothing seemed right.  So I decided to make ornaments for my children and loved how they turned out.  I like that they are personal and special.

So this year, I did the same thing - made ornaments for my children.

I started with a wooden block.  I found pictures or clipart that represented something special about each child.  I also included a picture of them from this year.  The top of the block has the year and the bottom is a note from me including why each picture was chosen.  I covered the pictures with Mod Podge.  When they were finished I twisted a screw with a circle on the end (not sure what those are called) in order to hang them from the tree.

I hope these will be treasured for years to come.  I know I enjoy making them.  Its a gift of love from me to my children.

 I included a group photo of all the children from our summer trip.  I also included things like baptisms, missions trip, play performances, hobbies and more.

Just wanted to share in case others were interested in making something similar.

Blessings
Leslie

Five in a Row Christmas Ornaments 2011

Our Five in a Row group has been making and swapping ornaments for a few years now - 5 or 6?  I'm not sure.  We've been doing it long enough that I'm hopeful that we will one day have them all.  I love these ornaments for a couple of reasons.  First is that it brings back so many sweet memories of the books we have rowed over the years.  For most of my children, we have been doing Five in a Row for as long as they can remember.  Its woven into the fabric of our family.  The second reason that I love these is that they are made by friends, people I love and have walked this homeschooling journey with - some for many years and some for just a few.

We met on Sunday to swap our ornaments.  It was a fun social time together with some yummy foods and excellent company.

Here are our ornaments for this year.  Just for fun, I'll post the book that goes with the ornament under the picture in case some of you want to try to figure it out before seeing the answer.  Now, I realize that on some of these that I have the name in the picture.  Sorry, take that as a freebie.  LOL

This one was mine and I wanted the 4 sides to be visible.  It was important to me to capture the 4 pieces of this story.

The Saturdays - Beyond FIAR

Isn't this next one cute?  Just a perfect likeness.

Corduroy - Before FIAR

The wool on this one is from a cotswold ewe and is so soft!  The shape of the ornament will give you a hint too!

Warm as Wool - A story set in Ohio in FIAR

This one is probably recognizable to everyone whether or not you use FIAR!   A much loved story.

Of course, its Peter Rabbit.  (A FIAR title)

This is one in which I photographed the card to go along with it.  Cover that up if you want to try to guess.  Its just perfect for the book!

 George Washington Carver - Beyond FIAR

The colors in this next one were just perfect to me.

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening (FIAR)

You may have to think on this one.  And when you get it - you will see that it is just right for this story!

 Andy on the Lion from FIAR.

Can you read the mailbox?  If you can, then you will totally know what this one is.

Miss Rumphius from FIAR.

I'm not sure if you can tell, but this one is hand painted on the front and inside of the back to give it dimension!  Its beautiful!

 All Those Secrets of the World (FIAR title)

Reading the note will give you a big clue - and if you were here and could smell the lilacs that would help too.

 The Hickory Chair - FIAR.

This one is another with the picture card in it.  This is a Before FIAR title.

 My Blue Boat.

This is a picture from the book and the cover.  A very sweet book!

 Prayer for a Child - Before FIAR

Last one.  This one too is probably an easy one to recognize for lots of people as it is a classic book.

Madeline (FIAR)

So we have 13 more amazing ornaments to add to our FIAR tree.  I bought a new one this year (on sale for $20!) as I needed a bigger one to hold all of them.  Its a fun tradition and I'm thankful to have friends that want to do it year after year.

Traditions are a sweet way to tie together memories and hearts year after year.

Hoping that your Christmas season is full of sweet wonders and delightful friends.

Blessings
Leslie