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

Merry Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

We hope your day was filled with the delight of knowing Jesus as your Savior! 

With love and best wishes,

The Nelsen Family

Field trip: Christmas at Oak View Farm

What a fun field trip with our FIAR group to a local farm which highlighted Christmas through the years!  We have been to this site before and they always do a great job!  It was fun seeing a new program.  We split into 2 groups based on age.  The younger kids started in the barn.

The guide played Christmas songs and tried to see how quickly the children could identify the song.  She then shared some interesting facts with us about the carol including the time it was written or the circumstances surrounding the song.

 We then toured the house which was decorated from different periods.  Well, we actually started in the kitchen which was simply decorated from the colonial period.

 The guide shared with the children the types of gifts children typically received as well as describing how the home might have been decorated.

 As we progress in time, we will see things grow and expand from simple to ... well, not so simple.  This was from the 1800s.  

It really is beautiful with all of the natural greenery.  

Examples of gifts (dolls, nuts, oranges and candy).  

 Isn't this cute?  And in how many homes would these gifts stay wrapped?

 Victorian period.  The tree is introduced during this time period along with Christmas cards.

 The last room  had scenes from 2 different time periods.  World War 1 and 2 I believe.

This was the earlier time.

This is definitely WW2.  Looks a lot like today I think.

 We ended with a game of Christmas bingo.  It was really cute!

 The children enjoyed playing it too.

 I see a lot of possibilities for this type of game in learning to recognize things.  Now, if my energy would allow me to follow up in making things to use, that would be great too.  :-)

 This is the front of the home.  It was a gorgeous day and we stayed for a picnic lunch and time to play.

 Its always fun to spend time with friends and learning while we are having fun is always a bonus!

Thankful for the opportunity to explore, laugh and be with people I love.

Merry Christmas!
Leslie

Happy Birthday Eliana!!!

Another birthday for our family.  The fall is so full with birthdays!  Our little princess had her 6th birthday.  Truly, it doesn't seem like she is 6 years old.  Some of that is just the natural passing of time where things just seem to go more quickly the more years you have under your belt.  The other is that she truly doesn't seem like a 6 year old.  Still young in so many ways, not the least of which is her tiny size.  More than made up for by her huge smile!

Rebecca took her out for a photo shoot on her birthday and she was more than happy to comply.  Of course, Rebecca made sure that her hair was beautiful.

We are so thankful for you sweet girl.  For all that you have taught us about love and life, about God and his strength and grace, about trust and thankfulness.  Our lives have changed so much since you joined our family.  While we have faced challenges, they have been more than overshadowed by the joys.  We remain thankful for the good gift that God has given us in the children He has blessed us with!

We planned to have a party for her birthday, but as the day got closer it just seemed too much to pull off.  We really want to have a fun theme party for her.  This time of year is just so busy for everyone.  We decided to postpone her big party until next month.  When we have more time to plan and enjoy!  We still celebrated though in our usual way and she enjoyed it all.

We ate some of her favorite foods.  Pancakes for breakfast.  Tacos for lunch.  All with the red plate!  Oh, and gluten free pizza (homemade!) for dinner.

In the evening it was time for opening gifts.

Daniel spent some of his own earned money at the Awana store to buy her some dress up shoes.

A knitted cap and sweater from her Nana.  Doesn't she look cute!

A new sticker book which is so much fun!

Time for the cake!

She typically LOVES blowing out the candles and can't wait for this to happen.
Not sure why this year she didn't want to blow them out.  We encouraged.  Tried to help.  Cheered her on.  Yet, she resisted.

Finally though, she did blow them out.  Happy Birthday sweet princess!

Eliana, I thank God for you every day!  I'm so glad that He gave you to our family!  You bring laughter and love and soooo many hugs!  I love watching you learn and grow.  You have taught me so many things.  Things I didn't realize that I needed to learn.  I know that God has a great plan in store for you and for our family too.  I love you precious girl!

Love
Mommy