Goodbye To 2021

"A fresh year" coming off of "the covid year" has been a mix of uncertainty and was in some ways harder for our family than the year before, but so many highlights and big memories were made. Always grateful for these amazing moments.

School - First Semester Fun

Here is what we've been up to with school first semester!

Full disclaimer...I don't get a lot of school-related pictures of Lorelei these days! She loves being at school three days a week, but is experiencing some of the woes that can come with middle school...including having a few teaching personalities she may not care for! Character building for us, but that's life! She is LOVING her extracurriculars: choir, speech, Spanish and art. She loves diving in and preparing speeches and speaks Spanish around the house more than the rest of us really care for. Learning some new art techniques is always a favorite for her as well! One other highlight from this semester would be having House Activities. Upper school is broken into four different houses grades 6-12, and Lorelei is in Veritas. They do various activities as a house, including putting together fun activities at the school picnic for the elementary students - they ran the inflatable water slide, and the Thanksgiving Feast - they had four long house tables which they planned and decorated and then ate a potluck feast for lunch that day.

Raze - to tear down completely; demolish
A new word this teacher got to learn.
He needed to hear mom say, "you were right." ;)

We are choosing various books for reading this year.
We find some great resources to go with our books from teachers pay teachers.
Frindle was the first book of the year - loved it.

Designing a tshirt from the town from the book.

We have a full history book, but also wanted to read some biographies from the Heros of History series.
Makin picked four heros he wanted to learn about and we have been reading those as part of our history as well. Then he does a project about the person. His first hero was Clara Barton.

When science is about rocks and you get to take a field trip to find some!

Making a mold of a shell and a cast of an acorn using plaster of paris as well as clay.

Loved learning about Thomas Edison from Heros of History!

How we all get along on home days... ;)

Miss Independant on a home day.
She typically listens to a variety of Harry Potter music.

One big blessing is that Mrs. Buman is working as Lorelei's math tutor via zoom.
(She is having her do problems on the board in this pic, while she watches from the computer!)
She helps Lorelei stay calm and helps her better understand her assignments, which is a HUGE win!

Makin and Charlie read Where The Mountain Meets The Moon for another reading assignment.
Then they each built a favorite scene from the book with Legos.

Sometimes working from home is tough.

Our December reading, which the boys didn't love,
but hey now we know what this "classic" is about!

We took a break from our usual writing curriculum and
 did some creative writing for most of December.
Love it so much!

Oklahoma Visit and 40th Anniversary

Bits of Oklahoma Fun

Pictures can never do them justice but loved the sunset drive as we arrived.

A great place to work on archery!

These two cannot get enough Gravitrax!

 

Amanda and I met up for a lunch just us girls!
We had to check out the small town's windmill collection too!

Family movie outing to see American Underdog!

Nothing like a cozy fire!

Celebrating 40 Years

This December marked 40 years of marriage for my parents! Some friends decided to throw them a party the evening of their anniversary. We were so happy for the whole family to be there to celebrate!

Christmas

We headed up to spend Christmas at Nana and Papa's this year. 

Decorating some cookies...

and eating them too!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Day

Lou loves gifts too!

"Remember that Christmas the cows tried to come to lunch?"

Mom decided to organize a game of Bingo after our feast that afternoon.
Everyone enjoyed it!

Christmas Highlights Week 3

Hat Creek/LE Lights

The OM after-party is always cherished friend time. We all headed to Hat Creek and then the Scotts joined us driving through lights.

Reindeer Games

We had our biggest crowd yet for our 10th annual Reindeer Games! This year I finally got organized enough to do a theme I knew some of the kiddos would love - The Twelve Days Of Christmas!

(The games kept me extra-busy this time, so sadly less pictures than I would have liked!)

Christine always puts together a fabulous hot chocolate bar!

Gingerbread house decorating again this year.
It was a hit!

The boys focused more on the yard,
which included a bowling alley, putting green and a soccer field.

Christmas Games

As you can see, Grandma and Grandpa arrived for a December visit! Grandma, the kids and I played Christmas Clue for our Christmas Game Day.

Grandma and Grandpa's Visit

Makin enjoyed showing them Cosmo.

The boys had a great time golfing with Tim twice!

Lorelei and Grandma enjoyed some down-time at home, which included some coloring.

We also enjoyed a chance to meet for lunch with Tim, Kaitlyn, Uncle Bob, and Aunti Di!

Playing a duet!

Fancy Breakfast

We had mini waffles with festive toppings, berries, donut holes, and turkey bacon.

Winter Artwork

This year the kiddos chose to create a snowy owl.

Movies

This year we watched The Nutcracker 4 Realms, The Grinch (2018 version always!), The Santa Clause 1,2 and 3, The Star, Home Alone, and Its A Wonderful Life

Early Christmas

Because we were traveling to Oklahoma for Christmas, we opened gifts a couple days before we left. It gave them all day to enjoy their new gifts while I baked coffee cakes and packed.