Happy New Year- 2016

I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and that this new year has started out smoothly for you. We've been fairly busy this past month. We took a few weeks off school for the holidays and then of course the holidays themselves took a toll on everyone. 

Before Christmas Shenanigans

Some of the fun things we've done since we were here last-  Our local G2K had a breakfast and board games day on Saturday.  All of us went and played some games and ate some donuts with some of Dad's friends. 

 

My friend's twins were born over a month early the week before Christmas and got to come home on New Year's.  Everyone seems to be doing fine. 

We attended a Library Christmas party.  Everyone brought in some snacks and the kids listened to a few Christmas books and then had snacks with their friends.

 

We went up to visit my family the weekend before Christmas, and got to celebrate Christmas at the hospital with my friend before we left.  It was fun getting to see her, even if we weren't allowed to see the babies.

 

We got to play some board games, and visited EnterTrainment with my dad.  Amazingly I only took one picture the entire day... and Ro-bear wasn't in it.

When we made it back I got two early Christmas presents... a chicken coop from one brother in law and two chickens to go in it from the other brother in law.  We're very excited to have chickens.

The girls got named Snowball and Ginger.  They seem to be settling in fairly nicely.  

New Year's Nonsense

L-bug got some new games for Christmas this year and we're just getting around to trying them out.  Ro-bear and I played her in Tsuro.  Ro-bear isn't quite old enough to play well yet, but she really loved being part of the game.  Another of this new favorite games is Cash N' Guns.  Ro-bear just likes to aim the little foam gun at people, but everyone's enjoyed that one thus far.

 Who would have thought we would still be playing outside in January?  The weather has been fairly nice this year, but I hear that's coming to an end any day now.  It was nice while it lasted.

 The library did a program on trains this past week.  No one was really in a mood to leave the house, until we remembered the theme was train and Ro-bear loves trains. The library had a large model of the polar express for kids to take their picture with, the girls had a blast.

This was our first full week back to school after such a long break.  It was a little rough on Ro-bear and Boo, but L-bear was a trooper.  She learned about World War I and the properties of light and worked on an essay for a contest due next week.  She's also started a hat for the Chemo Kits she's wanting to make for the local hospital.  We went out after Christmas and bought some blankets and stuffed animals to go in them as well.  I think its a wonderful idea, but I do wonder how long she'll stick with it and how many hats I'll end up making at the end of the year. 

The other thing going on in the near future is Ro-bear's birthday.  She'll be 5 this coming week.  I find that very hard to believe.

Non Academy News

If anyone is interested in reading our craft blog head over to www.bluerabbitcottage.blogspot.com  For the month of January we're holding a contest.  Comment over there with your New Year's Resolution for a chance to win a 5$ gift card to our Etsy store.

I hope to see you back soon for more news from the Blue Rabbit Academy! Have a wonderful New Year!





Advent Activities

December Fun

I hope you have been enjoying all this month has to offer.  We've been working through our Advent Calendar we have a good mixture of baking, movies and crafts and so far everyone seems to be enjoying our time together. 

We're about pictured out this December.  Last month we did family pictures with cousins, then we did our yearly Christmas card pictures, and finally went to get pictures made with Santa.  Lots of fun, but tiresome for little people.  Expect for the price tags in the background I really like this year's picture with Santa.

 When L-bug was little we used to hang the stockings on the Christmas tree, but once the other two girls came along it just didn't seem like such a good idea anymore.  Last year L-bug had the idea to hang them up on the guitar hooks.  Everyone chose their favorite instrument and we hung them up above the TV. I love the way it looks now.

 Last weekend the weather was so nice we took a trip to the park.  Everyone had so much fun getting out and enjoying themselves.  This week the weather should be even nicer so a return visit might be necessary. 

 L-bug decided in November that she wanted to buy an American Girl doll.  Just after she decided this they did a promotion, that for every doll sold they would donate a doll to a girl in need.  At that point she knew she just had to buy a doll.  Her dad told her he'd match her dollar for dollar.  She made rainbow loom bracelets and little yarn hat ornaments to sell at work, the library, PE and gymnastics and she managed to earn her half of the money.  Her doll arrived today, she chose Kaya.  This picture is actually her posing in her new hat, scarf and gloves with the little hat ornaments she was making at the time.  She thinks she might keep selling out of her box and use any more money she earns to put together cancer care packages for the local hospital.  I still need to look into this and see if the hospital is interested or not. 

 Here are a few random pictures of the girls decorating the tree.  Each year we get a special ornament.  This year each girl got a princess in her favorite color.  Every year as we unpack the ornaments they ask where we got all the ornaments, or as L-bug gets older she takes over telling some of the stories. 

 Ro-bear had the bright idea that she wanted roasted marshmellows one day, but was too lazy to hold up her roasting stick.  So L-bug had to copy her proper upper device.

 I was working on a fleece tie blanket when Boo and L-bug decided to play Nintendo on it.  They were very careful not to wrinkle. 

 November Highlights

L-bug decided to join the Lego club at the local library.  Her dad didn't get off work in time to keep the small fries so they came along.  Luckily there were some bigger blocks for them and their friends to play with as well. 

With L-bug's Little Passports box we decided to do an embroidery for each country we 'visit' so far she has done Japan shown here, an outline of the islands with Japan written at the bottom. Some reason I don't have a picture of it completed.  And she chose a fleur du lis for France with, of course, France written at the bottom. 

 Finally, L-bug has gotten a new round loom to knit hats on.  She managed to make two little red hats for my friend's baby shower for her twins due in January.  I wasn't positive L-bug would get them both finished in time, but she did manage and they turned out very cute. 

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and I hope to see you here again after Christmas as we bring in the new year.  Share pictures of your tree below, I love to see how others decorate for the holiday!

A wedding, a trip and a bug

A Wedding

On the 11th, we were lucky enough to go to the wedding of one of my best friends.  She's been out of country for years, so getting to see her was exciting to say the least, but a wedding just makes it that much better.  We also got to meet her now husband, whom we'd only met online. I must say it is a shame they do not live closer because they are both such wonderful people.

A Trip to Cincinnati

Our trip to Cinci just happened to correspond with Books by the Bank, which was a book festival to say the least.  The girls got to get face paint and do different crafts and activities.  Adults could shop for books from lots of authors, get signatures, and attend panel discussions. 

We also did our yearly trip to the pumpkin patch.  Boo and L-bug used some of their tickets to hold baby animals, but Ro-bear wasn't having any of that.  She chose to play on the playground and buy a sucker with her last ticket. Boo held a bunny and L-bug a chick.  Boo didn't want to hold onto her bunny, so I didn't get a lot of pictures because I had to keep catching the rascally rabbit.

This year the girls are dressing up as Anna, Elsa, and Artemis from Young Justice.

A Sick Week

 One our way home I noticed I was getting sick.  I was down with a cold all week, relying on Librivox for our school readings Monday and Tuesday.  Wednesday Ro-bear and L-bug both got struck down and spent the whole day asleep on the couch.  Thursday was a little better, but they were still pretty tired and blah.  Finally Friday they seemed better, but we still didn't do a traditional day of school.  Ro and Boo started out the day playing bingo, memory, and the snap circuits.  Miss L got up and joined in the memory and pick up sticks.  She then made a case for why pick up sticks can count as physics and math for the day.  Then said we could play concept with historical figures for history, and Halloween figures for fun. The best story of concept was me trying to have L guess Harry  Houdini.  She got it was a magician, then goes hmmm, its that magician you like... Zucchini!

 We also played wits and wagers for reading and social science.  We finished the day off playing Splendor for fun.  We also tidied up the house, because we don't want to clean too much this weekend.  

I hope you have had a germ free time and hope you enjoy reading about our adventures in the Blue Rabbit Academy.  Join us again in two weeks for the next installment of homeschooling.

Princess Pumpkin

Library Programs

Every year the library has a pumpkin decorating contest.  This year we waited until the last minute to buy and paint our pumpkins.  They are due Monday, and the girls spent Thursday night and Friday morning painting away.  L-bug's pumpkin is named Princess Pumpkin.  Boo wanted to make hers a crown too, though not in these pictures.  At first Boo's pumpkin was named Special Kitty. We all asked her why Special Kitty was green, but she didn't care to tell us. Special Kitty is a stuffed animal she has that is white, black and pink.  

Tuesday at story time they had a firefighter come in to read the kids a story and show them around a fire bus.  They girls had a blast.  Even L-bug wanted to make the little craft.  She helped Boo with her glue first though, she's a good big sissy.  

Kingsport Carousel

Sunday was free ride day at the carousel, so we brought the girls.  They loved it so much that we stayed for close to an hour.  The people were so nice and let them ride as many times as we wanted.  We must have been there at a slow time, because when I talked to a friend later she said they waited in line in between rides.  We lucked out and were able to just keep going.  

Backyard Fun

We finally caught the little guy who has been eating the last of our tomatoes.  Due to all the rain we've been getting the tomatoes were split open anyway, but it was fun to see the squirrel who has been enjoying our garden.   

The girls found badminton rackets so we brought them to the backyard to play.  L-bug was pretty bad, but she kept trying and got better.  Ro-bear decided to keep score for us, but her idea of score was- L-bug is always winning.  

Crafty Buisness

I've seen the trend on Pinterest about Sharpie markers and mugs, and was interested in it for a while.  I finally found some plain white mugs marked down and read up on the process and knew to not use regular sharpies.  I bought a paint pen and drew these for out as presents.  I have a couple mugs left to draw on so we'll see what other mugs I get to make.  I was really happy with these though. 

The only other craft I've been working on lately is this cross stitch.  I believe it was designed by Sisyphus or maybe the energizer bunny.  It just keeps going and going and going.  I'm almost finished now though, I'm very glad its a Christmas present.  

I hope you've been having a wonderful two weeks.  Come back and visit us again in another two.  We'll be here, singing ABCs and counting our 1,2, Fluffies. (Boo doesn't have a good grasp on numbers yet, and adds Fluffy in at random intervals)