It has been a very busy season in the Hoberg household! Here's some of the things that have been up this week.
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Negative degrees are coming this week. Our area gearing up for the coldest Christmas in 20 years, and for sure the coldest cold anyone in our family has experienced. The time for creative ways to get physical activity into our day has arrived, so send me all of your ideas for getting out some high energy when it's too cold to leave the house with the baby!
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We are midway through the Advent season Ember Days today. This is the only one of the Ember Days in which no one in the family has any events or appointments, so today will be our biggest cleaning day! Catch me over on Instagram (@underthyroof) to follow along. Tag your photos with #EmberDaysObservance and lets encourage each other through today and tomorrow's Ember Saturday.
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Never heard of the Ember Days? Here's an overview.
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You know Christmas is around the corner when you do your LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!
We wrapped up yesterday morning.
I had started our year early in August, thinking I needed to build in some flex time for postpartum. Matt proved to be a very competent substitute homeschool teacher, and now we are ahead of our year by 2 weeks!
However, it is high time to re-organize the school supplies and clean out the endlessly multiplying art projects. I'm 90% sure almost all of the pencils have had their erasers chewed off, and most all of the markers are used up or dried up. Time to regroup!
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This baby is almost 3 months old!
I feel like each baby seems easier than the last. This one is just huge! She was 9lb 10oz at birth, and I had to size her up to the Ergo at 2 months because her weight was stretching out the Moby too much.
She has had her first visits to the child watch at the YMCA, and did fabulously. Big brother and sisters were very proud to show baby sister around "Y for Y". Her favorite things are quietly looking around and staring at people until they look at her (which she rewards with a big, toothless, smile.)
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I like to do a "learning show" as kids are waking up from nap, and the favorite right now are the various historical farm series from the BBC. We've done Victorian Farm and we're now on Wartime Farm. John in particular is SUPER into it.
BBC narrator: "While some things are moving along nicely on the farm, there is concern about the weather. It has been raining steadily for weeks."
John: "BUT WHAT ABOUT THE HAY CROP?!"
Farm shows are the soap operas of the elementary school crowd.
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I have been thinking I want to try some other forms of prayer with the kids, and teach them some more memorized prayers, in the coming year. This lovely book arrived today and I love it so far. Review coming soon!
I am so thankful that you started writing more about the Ember days in a very practical way! While I quasi-started observing them in the summer, this time around feels like the first time I'm really actually observing the Ember days. Lots of decluttering, cleaning, and some fasting! My toddler loved helping me mop the floor today, which was neat :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck figuring out life in the cold! I do not like dealing with cold weather and babies or toddlers, because it's such a hassle to go anywhere, and it's hard to keep from going stir crazy! So sadly no advice over here.
That's awesome that you're having your kids watch those shows. I really enjoy The Victorian Farm. I think we're on episode 5? I like it for all the historical details, my toddler likes it for the animals :)