Getting ready for Christmas! plus Science Experiments

We have been enjoying getting ready for Christmas. There is something about the weather being so warm, I don't feel quite as pressed as I usually do! I suppose that will all change the minute some snow flies and it gets colder. Perhaps I am just trying to go at it differently this year too. Maddie and I enjoy working on Amanda Bennett's Unit Studies. We have done several on Patriotic Holidays and did some of one on Thanksgiving. I have collected several for use this summer to help keep us sharp and in the swing of school. On her facebook page Amanda Bennett is running a Christmas Co-op using her unit study for Christmas. We are not doing the unit study, it is just too much at this time of year while trying to keep up with our regular schedule but we keep checking in to see what projects everyone else is doing. One of the very first ones was big letters: J O Y that could be printed and decorated then hung up. I loved the idea. Its just what I need at this time of year, a nice BIG reminder to add some joy into the season. So we printed it and Maddie planned out her project.


She painted each letter a different color then used glitter (of course!) then added pictures we found on the web of the Wise men on the J, shepards on the O and baby Jesus in the manger on the Y. Then, because she is Maddie she added big "jewels" to be the star on each letter and for reasons known only to her, a red one for the sunset on the shepards.



Viking hats must be removed before painting...you never know where those braids will go!


Once it was dry and I shook off about 90% of the glitter outside we hung the finished product on the stairs. We love the way it came out.


We have been visited by Bob Elf from the North Pole. He is here to keep an eye on Maddie and the day care kids. Apparently, this year, he is also into mischief! He brought breakfast with him the first day but got into it himself first!




He has gotten into the spices, played dino dice, tried to fish for goldfish crackers, read Maddie's American Girl magazine and this morning we discovered him playing with the doll smoothies, napkins and cupcakes on top of Maddie's bookshelf!

We also got our landing set up with our advent trees and calendar. We decided to recycle last year's playmobil advent calendar. I made envelopes from white felt then added numbers with a sharpie marker. Maddie gets to open up one per day to add to her Santa in the woods scene. The trees are for a Jesse tree, a family tree and A Christmas Carol advent calendar.



And, just for fun, we changed Maddie's workbox numbers to special ones for Christmas.


In the last 2 weeks we have done some super fun science experiments. The first one showed how fluoride helps to strengthen things made from calcium. First we had to coat one egg in toothpaste.

Then we let it sit overnight. The next afternoon we marked another egg with an X and rinsed the toothpaste off the other egg. Then we put both eggs into a bowl of vinegar. There was an immediate reaction of bubbles all over the eggs.

We kept checking on the eggs every couple of hours until bedtime. At first they felt a bit slimy and then "fuzzy" as Maddie put it. By the next day however one egg had lost its shell completely due to the acid in the vinegar and the other had just a bit left.



Today we used iodine to check for starch in different foods. Maddie thought this was fun too and probably would've checked every food in the pantry had we allowed it!

We are coming into a really busy week! We are still working on schoolwork. Wednesday Maddie will participate in her online American Girl club. She is very excited because they are starting on the Felicity books. Thursday Maddie has her third Williamsburg Field Trip which is called Westward! and includes Daniel Boone. We also have our 4H Holiday Party Thursday. Saturday we will be joining other kids at church to carol and have pizza. A busy season but we are trying to do it all with JOY!