Thanksgiving 2009 pictures

Thanksgiving this year was a wonderful time for all, but especially for Taliesin. He so much enjoyed conducting a seder. Here you will see the lapbook pictures - some of Taliesin's and some of Nathanael's - and a couple from Taliesin's seder, too.

I love the way Taliesin is so impressed with meaningful things. Of course, he loves to just have fun like everyone else. But he understands deeper meanings. Just try to get through a movie with Taliesin with no questions. It is impossible! He always has a million questions about why this character is acting that way or how did this person really do that. And he really connects with ideas and traditions that hold a deeper meaning - such as with a Passover seder in which each item is symbolic of something else. This year, Taliesin has requested that we study Hannukah. So I am off to do research on this tradition as well. Should be fun!

Kandy

The Past Week or So

This week will complete our Thanksgiving lapbooking. We are, of course, studying being thankful and counting our blessings this week. As soon as the lapbooks are all finished, I will post some pictures.

Yesterday at church, our pastor did the neatest thing. He tied in Passover and communion with Thanksgiving. Well, Taliesin loved this, of course. You may remember how interested in Passover he is right now. So, of course, we now have to have a mini-Passover celebration for Thanksgiving this year. He is so looking forward to it.

On Saturday, poor Nathanael had to get a staple in the top of his head. He and Taliesin were in the backyard, digging in their favorite pile of dirt. Taliesin had a kid-sized hoe, breaking the dirt. He swung as Nathanael leaned. They collided, and Nathanael has a staple in the head to show for it. We are just so thankful it wasn't worse! He is doing really well with it. He has some pain where the staple and cut are, of course. Tylenol has been helping. Other than that, he's his normal, ornery self.

The Saturday before, I hurt my back. I leaned over to put Princess in the house and - wow - something happened. I'm not sure what. I made the mistake of sitting down. An hour and a half later, I was able to get up and go to the emergency room, where I was diagnosed with sciatica. I'm doing physical therapy, so I hope it helps. :^)

Kelsey and I are beginning the fifth week of new classes. It has been challenging keeping up with everything with injuries thrown into the mix. But it is still very worth it.

That has pretty much been our week - lapbooking and injuries. But we do have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. We are definitely counting our blessings!

Kandy

What to be Thankful For

As soon as the lapbooks are all finished, I will post a picture... Since November is the month of Thanksgiving, Taliesin and Nathanael have been working on a fun set of lapbooks from In the Hands of a Child's Daily Devotional unit. Each day, we have been reading about ways, watching DVDs and videos about, and lapbooking about ways that we can be more like Christ. For instance, we lapbooked about the Golden Rule. We've watched Veggie Tale DVDs about forgiving and letting go of anger. We have even read about loving one another as displayed in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Our units will culminate the week of Thanksgiving with being thankful and counting our blessings. Taliesin and Nathanael are both having a really good time with this. That's one thing I just love about homeschooling/unschooling. We can do our own things in the ways we are interested in doing it.

After this unit, Taliesin and Nathanael are looking forward to our Christmas Cheer unit and then the Twelve Days of Christmas. If anyone has children that enjoy lapbooking and unit studies, I would definitely recommend In the Hands of a Child. Their products, along with Five in a Row, are so excellent!

Kandy

Fall - Part 3

I'm sorry about the delay in getting these posted. These are some fun pictures from the past week's activities.

Taliesin made this fall picture for his dance teacher.

Nathanael at his dress-up dance class this year. Last year, he would not go. He was scared of the kids in costume. This year, he was happy to dress up as Obi Wan and went right in.

At the Mall. Taliesin was more into this than Nathanael was. But Nathanael enjoyed the candy. LOL

The Fall Festival at a local church. Nathanael loved the slide in the middle picture. He was on it most of the night! In the picture, you see a black streak coming down the slide. That's Taliesin in his Darth Vader costume. The bottom picture is one of the cars in the Trunk or Treat line.

Kandy