Day 43 / 105 - Christmas Tree (simplified)

Early in the fall, I quoted Socrates in this post stating: Better to do a little well, than a great deal badly. I mentioned that this has been my theme in our home and in our educational journey this year.  Let's do less, but let's do it well!  Naturally, I need to constantly be reminded of this goal, especially during the holidays.

For the past several years, decorating for Christmas has been such a chore for me that I haven't wanted to do it.  I've always felt like I need to begin the decorating process by cleaning our home just so we can make a mess with Rubbermaid tubs of decorations.  Then, in just a few short weeks, we need to clean up the decorated mess, and attempt to once again cram the storage bins back into the attic.  There is little celebration as we decorate.  Throughout the entire season, I dread the clean-up.  Our decorations have always stayed up until mid-January just because none of us want to take the time to put them away.  Last year we were beginning our transition to Charlotte, so we didn't even set up a tree.

Because I was starting to feel a little bit like the Grinch, this year I promised to make it simple and enjoyable.  Less done well.  There is beauty and truth and goodness in this season all of which is worth celebrating.  Let us anticipate Christ's arrival with great joy!

This year, my family decorated this tree.  It is my new favorite.

This tree is simple.  This tree is enjoyable.  It is less done well.

The beauty is that everything on this tree can be eaten or disposed of come January 1st.  Except for the lights and a few strips of burlap, everything else on the tree is made of food or paper.  This year, I can appreciate the joyous anticipation of the season without the dreadful anticipation of the holiday clean-up.

We dried oranges. We used candy canes.  Nothing was dragged out of the attic.

We cut snowflakes out of coffee filters.  Coffee filters work wonderfully for snowflakes because they are already round.  What's funny is I actually ironed these filters so they would lie flat.  Ask me the last time I ironed an article of clothing.

We made these super cute ornaments out of cardboard.  Check out this link because hers are even cuter.  This was a win-win for us because it also forced me to unpack a moving box that has been sitting in my closet since July.

We spent the most amount of time tieing strips of burlap to the strings of lights to make garland.  I love how they turned out.  These I will hang onto unless the lights burn out.  (I don't believe it is ever worth keeping decorative lights if many of the bulbs are burned out.)

For the tree-topper, my daughter made a 3D paper snowflake.  Directions can be found here.

Less, done well.  May you appreciate the wonder, joy, and beauty of this season.

My daughter, who turned 12 two weeks ago, has been attempting to make videos with her new camera and editing software.  She enjoyed putting together some DIY clips of our tree.  If you have a minute, take a look.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8VfXJFwDQY

Day 42 / 105 - Steph Gonna Steph

Sometime during the last 24 months, our son (along with many, many others) has become fascinated with NBA MVP Stephen Curry.  Well, imagine our son's excitement when in early December we surprised him with tickets to see Curry's championship Warriors play locally against the Charlotte Hornets.

It was the perfect game to purchase tickets for as Curry played remarkably.  He scored (in just three quaters!) a game-high 40 points, 28 in the third quarter alone.  The Warriors won and moved to a historical 20 - 0 season start. To add to the excitement, Curry's father Dell was being honored as one of the best Charlotte Hornets in history so the entire Curry family was present.  Cam Newton, along with other local sport celebrities, were also in attendance to witness this momentous game.  For a 14-year-old boy, it was the best early Christmas present ever.

In November of 2008, early into our stint in Cleveland, our son participated in the Cleveland Cavs High-Five club where he was able to high-five all the team members before a game.  It happened very quickly, so my picture is not of the highest quality.  But, right below the digital camera in this photo, our son is high-fiving a much younger LeBron James sporting his notable white headband.  I thought it was appropriate to include this past photo in today's post so that my son can have one keepsake of his memories with this generation's basketball greats.  

Day 41 / 105 - Christmas Greetings

Virtual Christmas greetings from our family to yours. We snapped this picture today as we prepped for the We Believe 5K trail race.  

The race was hosted by the spectacular U.S. National Whitewater Center on a sunny 75 degrees day. Both of our children pushed themselves to their limits and exceeded their race day expectations. Just a few of the many reasons why Charlotte has been a healthy transition for us in 2015.  

Wishing you and yours a blessed 2016.

Day 40 / 105 - Menorah

Earlier this week, the National Gallery of Art posted the screen print Menorah by Ben Shahn.  I loved the picture, so naturally I made my children recreate it with colored pencils and sharpies.

I still believe there is much value in recreating a piece of artwork, especially this one with its many lines and shapes.  I'm planning on  my children and I investing more time into this simple technique this spring.

Day 39 / 105 - The Hiding Place

Looking back over our fall happenings, I was surprised to see I never posted about The Hiding Place.

If you are unfamiliar, The Hiding Place is the true story of Corrie Ten Boom, a Dutch Christian woman, who (along with her family) helped approximately 800 Jews escape the Holocaust.  I remember this book being a popular read when I was in college, yet I never opened the book until recently.

The Hiding Place was another literary assignment for my son this fall.  I read the book alongside him, and I am so glad that I did.  It is spectacular.  It paints an incredible picture of Nazi occupied Holland during the Second World War, as well as the Ten Booms incredible faith.  It is a reminder that our 2015 daily circumstantial struggles truly pale in comparison to many pioneers of the faith.

Early in the story, after the Germans occupied Holland, the Dutch were ordered to turn in all private radios.  The Ten Booms secretly stashed one of their radios beneath a curve in their staircase.  Corrie Ten Boom told her first conscious lie to a German army clerk when she turned in only one of the family's radios, claiming the family hadn't any others.  My son wrote his persuasive essay (more of an ethics paper really) on whether or not it was appropriate for Corrie to lie in this situation.

Is it ever appropriate to lie?  How about to those in authority?  Just like in day-to-day life, we witness in the book how this lie turns into many more lies as the cycle of dishonesty continues.  Yet the Ten Booms were a family of integrity who displayed to others that they were trustworthy.  And this one lie went on to save the lives of many others.  Etc.

Great book.  And even greater conversations to be had with a maturing 14-year-old.

Day 38 / 105 - History of Science Timeline

Last week, my children and I covered our dining room table with paper and drafted a timeline. Included on this timeline were the scientists my son has studied this semester.  He indicated who was the scientist, when s/he lived, where s/he lived, and what was his/her major contribution to science.

Once we had the timeline laid out, it was easy to discuss with my children what major world events influenced certain scientific discoveries -- like the Renaissance for Copernicus and Kepler, or World Wars for Curie and Einstein.

Day 37 / 105 - Foot Locker Cross Country Championships -- South Regional

On Saturday, our son raced in the South Regional of the Foot Locker Cross Country Championship.

We became aware of the race about five weeks ago.  Competing in the South Regional are cross country runners from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  However, the race is held annually in Charlotte, on a course that is practically in our backyard.  For that reason, our son was encouraged by his coach (and us) to run.

Since he's 14, he needed to run a 5K.  He only ran one other 5K road race this season with a time of  22:10.  His goal was not to win this race.  Some of the fastest runners in the nation were present.  His goal was to beat his previous 5K time and hopefully clock in when there was still a 20 on the clock.

He worked harder for this than I've ever seen him work.  Even though the season was over, his coach kept an abbreviated practice schedule during the week.  On the weekends, my son spent his Saturdays running sprint intervals, and he spent his Sundays running the race course twice.  One of the aspects I love about running is that an athlete is always able to train to beat their own personal goals.  Fortunately, he's seeing the results of that.

He finished the 5K course in 20:28.  It was a great weekend for him!

Day 36 / 105 - November Happens At The Table

Apparently Charlotte has had the rainiest November in history - 10 inches!  I do feel like we've gotten outside quite a bit this month, but we have spent many rainy days unloading our game cupboard.  In fact, I believe that games covered the table this month much more the school books.  We're all ok with that. 

If you look closely at the above picture, my daughter is monitoring the National Zoo's baby panda, Bei Bei.  Two years ago I posted about how enamored we were by the National Zoo's Panda Cam while we viewed baby Bao Bao.  If you are unaware, Bao Bao became a big sister in August, and you can watch all the adorableness of the new baby 24 hours a day.  (All the links for the Animal Cams are in the above post).  

I ended my Essentials semester with a BINGO game defining English grammar terms.  It was quite the hit!  My daughter and I will be breaking from Foundations and Essentials until after Christmas, and this break is quite needed.

Seven years ago, when I began homeschooling, I purchased a gigantic roll of butcher paper from a teacher's supply store which was going out of business.  I spent next to nothing on it, and easily it is the school supply we have used the most throughout the years.  For a quick Thanksgiving decoration, we covered the table with the paper and used Sharpies throughout our meal to list our blessings.

One final project from my son's History of Science study was a Shoebox-Scientist quiz.  Each student decorated a shoe box with clues from one of the scientists they studied this semester.  The students were then to figure out which scientist was represented with the clues.  The picture above really doesn't do his Johannes Kepler box justice.  He also was able to identify all but one of the scientists represented.  We ended his semester by (once again!!) pulling out the butcher paper and making a giant timeline incorporating where and when these scientists lived (more on this in a later post).  

Now that it's December, let us enjoy all the wonder and mystery of this season.  Follow along on Instagram for more updates.  You can find my profile here.  #LifeHappensAtTheTable

Day 35 / 105 - Tin Whistle

On the Thursday before Thanksgiving, my daughter and I celebrated a milestone.  After six years, it was her final Foundations class with the Tin Whistle.

Every fall, Classical Conversations Foundation classes are exposed to music theory concepts utilizing the Tin Whistle.  For six weeks, we study the vocabulary of music by becoming familiar with musical symbols, note values and names, rhythm patterns, pitch, and more.  Students also learn how to make music by playing simple songs on the Tin Whistle.  Both my children have always enjoyed the Tin Whistle time mostly because they have had a decent background in music from years of piano lessons.

I realized the other day that with all my years of blogging, I have never once posted about the Tin Whistle even though it is something we have completed annually.  There's probably reason for that if you are familiar with CC's Tin Whistle time.  ;)  However, since we just finished our final round of it, I figured this post was past due.  Worth noting, is my daughter still has her original Tin Whistle purchased in the summer of 2010.  Also, my favorite addition to her Tin Whistle this fall was the case that she independently sewed for it (pictured above).  For several years, my children's favorite Tin Whistle song to play has been Hedwig's Theme from Harry Potter.