The children are slowly recovering from their colds.  They're still coughing, but we've returned to our public lives.  We've actually ALL been at church for two weeks now, and today we'll attend our homeschool group for the first time in 2 months.  We missed 3 meetings (we have 2 per month).

We're studying Roxaboxen this week, using Five In A Row, volume 4.  13 yo A pointed out to me yesterday that she's too old for it.  So I sent her to the encyclopedia to research city government and dig in further.  She gladly went. 

This is just a filler, though.  We'll be starting Further Up & Further In, a unit study based on the Chronicles of Narnia as soon as it arrives, hopefully by next week.  We'll be reviewing it, and are looking forward to using the study.  The review is due in February, so we'll be using it that long, at least.  Probably longer.  This is a unit study we had planned to use in the past, but didn't.  We already own several copies of the book, and I just ordered the Companion to Narnia to supplement our study.  It's designed for the junior high age.  We'll try to use it with all the children, but if we need to, we can pull the younger children back to Five In A Row. 

We started reading Tabitha's Travels for our Advent devotions Sunday night.  This is our second time reading through the trilogy, our sixth year using the books for Advent.  We enjoy the books as a family, and keep hoping the author will get his Easter study (Mystery of the Temple Court) published, as well.   I was just reading about it at his website:  http://www.jothamsjourney.com .  It sounds like it will be wonderful.

Besides our usual Christmas preparations, I have 7 reviews still due in December.  You can be watching for those:  Time 4 Learning website, Aleks website, Puppetools website, Motherboard Press  e-book, All About Spelling, Peterson's Directed Handwriting, and Core Learning Crayola Art Studio. 

We're still trying to figure out what our schedule of family gatherings will be this year, and finishing up our Christmas shopping.  The children are working on their artwork for our Family Scrapbook Calendar gifts, and we're preparing to start working on Christmas cards.  I guess we'll watch lots of Christmas movies as we work on the Christmas card and calendar projects.  I know we may be unusual, but we usually send over 100 Christmas cards each year to our extended family, friends, co-workers, and church family.  

We set up our Christmas tree and decorations this past weekend.  It was a nice way to spend our Saturday, and we enjoyed the dusting of snow we received several times this weekend.  A wonderful close to a good Thanksgiving.  We hosted my family here for Thanksgiving.  We were blessed to enjoy the time with my parents, all 3 of my sisters, my nephew, and my soon-to-be Brother-In-Law.  It was especially cherished after our difficult October and early November, with the loss of Steve's Dad.We're looking forward to our Christmas celebrations with family, as well. 

Now I need to finish getting ready for our homeschool group, and doing our Five In A Row lesson with the kids.  I hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and are enjoying their Christmas preparations, as well.

Psst!  Don't forget to enter the e-book giveaway.  Only TWO entries so far.  Tomorrow is the last day to enter.  I'll announce a winner on Thursday Dec. 4.

Trusting in Him,

April