homeschooling wrap up: december!

our felt song/Bible story for this month was obvious.  

and we used silent night, away in a manger, little drummer boy, and joy to the world as our four songs!

 K for Koala! 

and Kettle corn!

fresh!

and Keys!

and Kumquats :)

our culture series unit was on India this month...

so, we had spice tastings...

digging for jewels...

  

and decorating an Indian wedding ;)

L is for Lemon (stamping)

Lima beans

and fresh Limeade!

M is for Monkey!

and Macaroni, for our textile letter of the week

N is for Newt

and Nuts!

we practiced our tracing...

and we did lots of winter/Christmas-y crafts...

we even home-made some Christmas gifts!

we took a small break for Christmas and did a little of DC with our family...

Jefferson Monument

Washington Monument

and Lincoln...always a great time to teach a little!  even to very young minds :)

another great month!

chocolate avocado pudding

just trust me here.
trust me.
this sounds so bizarre.
it's actually one of the best "health" desserts i've ever, ever had.
hands down.

the avocado makes it super creamy and don't worry, you don't taste it at all.
now, the banana?
you can taste that.
so, if you don't like that flavor, just use two avocados and leave the banana out.

either way, it's really, really good.
i've been making it a lot.
my new go-to dessert for one.
we are big believers in the power of avocados so we have them every day.
the boys and i split one or two/day so this pudding is just a bonus ;)

Chocolate Avocado Pudding
Makes one, largish serving.
1 ripe avocado
1 ripe banana
3-4 tablespoons unprocessed cocoa
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 orange, zested and juiced (optional, but very tasty!)

Blend all ingredients in a food processor or blender until super creamy and enjoy!

my favorite crafts of the year!

getting to be the end of the year and thought i'd do a quick compilation of my favorite crafts we did this year!
this blog, after all, is first and foremost a journal for me :)

love my new nook. just went shopping around the house and made it all work! ...in my opinion, of course :)

the painted popcorn cans turned toy bins for the boys.

this whole party!

painted rock dominoes for daddy, from mv and jack jack!

felt tea sets for all the darling little girls in our life

autumn chandelier!

new curtains, sewn from an urban outfitters tapestry

growth chart for the boys!

our new advent bags!

i guess next year is actually getting around to ironing them...

dino hoodie for mv

of course! the magic milk paint!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Remember the Reason for the season!

mv and i did advent crafts and this was a series we did every sunday :)

need ideas for Christmas dinner?

now that my husband is home from 3 (long) weeks in the field, we'll be taking a break from here until the new year!
hope everyone has a great holiday!

if you need some last minute idea for Christmas dinner, see below.

i'll fill you in later about what we had this year!

(hopefully, this will be part of it!  *fingers crossed*)

inspiration: chocolateandcarrots.com

here for these:
herb stuffed turkey breasts
roasted garlic mashed red potatoes
grilled asparagus
avocado grapefruit salad
dark chocolate cake with homemade marshamallows

here for these:

crown roast with fennel apple stuffing and cider bourbon gravy

macaroni and cheese

roasted broccoli

black bottomed lemon cheesecake

here for these:

(valentine's day menu, but would be perfect for a small Christmas for two!)

lobsters with butter

roasted asparagus

new york cheesecake with red berry coulis

here for these:

(probably my favorite, total menu...and yes, it's Easter, but would be ideal for Christmas!)

roasted leg of lamb

scalloped potatoes

roasted brussels sprouts with thyme and red pear

hot cross buns

coconut cake