So how was your Thanksgiving?

Ours was nice and peaceful. We went to my mom's house to have dinner - she and my sister did most of the cooking, and I provided pies.... one pumpkin-hazelnut, and one apple-quince-mince pie from the beautiful cookbook Local Flavors. That pie was a lot of work, but it was good! I have never eaten mince pie before, or made one for that matter, so I am really glad it turned out well. We also read The Very First Thanksgiving Day, played games, talked about what we are thankful for, etc....

We're now gearing up for Christmas Around the World, which will take us through the next 3 weeks before our winter break. I have a few books from the library that I am still going through (will let you know what I think), but I did thumb through Christmas Crafts from around the World, and it looks promising. The crafts seem simple enough without being too easy or silly. Someone on one of the homeschooling boards I go to recommended this web site for Christmas cookie recipes from around the world. So it seems that we'll have a good full unit this month!

We're starting (tomorrow) to read Story of the World again too, just as a "story" book. After much thought, I decided to start at the beginning again, to refresh their memories. I figure if we read 2 chapters a week, we'll get through volumes one and two by the time we start a new academic year next fall. That will get us up to the Age of Exploration right in time for the Elf (and the Fairy) to dive into Native Americans, explorers, colonization, and so forth. Then I can read through volumes 3 and 4 over the next couple of years after that. I think that by doing this, even as we pursue other interests, the kids will get an idea of the flow of history.

My semester is winding down. I have two fairly major assignments left, and then nearly a month's break. In the spring, I'll be taking an additional class (have to finish my math off someday!), so I need to figure out a better schedule for homework... I'm a bit nervous about work too, as my store's manager is retiring early next month, and I have no idea what the new management will be like. Thankfully my schedule seems to actually be set in the computer, so hopefully there will be no changes to it. We'll see though - I have had Saturdays off cause a lot of dissention in the past.

In other news, our winter veggie garden is doing well. We have planted beets, carrots, various greens, snow peas, cauliflower and broccoli. I added some pansies to my front yard, planted spring bulbs (crocus and daffodils), and the Elf has taken over the chore of mowing the front lawn using our spiffy push-mower. That reminds me, I owe him two dollars for last week's efforts. We don't do allowances, but the kids can earn money going above and beyond with their chores. We got a "new" couch and chair-&-a-half for our family room yesterday, so the futon has moved into the kids room for the Elf. He is really happy to have the space to stretch out in bed, having now moved from a twin bed up to a full-sized one.

And that's it from our little corner of the world!