December Update & Nutcracker

Hi friends!!

I hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas season. We are officially on winter break from homeschooling and done with all Nutcracker performances! 👏🏻 We are ready to relax and enjoy all the fun this week leading up to Christmas.

Here is a little update on what we have been up to:

After signing off from social media, the very next morning (literally,) the flu hit our home and took down all the kids one. by. one. There was a LOT of resting, watching ALL the Christmas movies, and trying to get Hazel especially, better by Nutcracker performances. Whoever wasn’t sick at the time, still got their school work done, so thankfully we were able to keep up before taking our winter break. 🙌🏼

We completed our Nutcracker Unit Study together by Little World Wanderers and loved it. This guide was amazing and just the right amount to give us something fun to read and do each day without being overwhelming. I didn’t take many pictures of us doing it, but I definitely recommend it! It was nice to continue our around the world studies too by learning about Russia and Germany through this guide.

We decorated the house and got our Christmas tree!

We had our annual Home Alone movie night; easiest tradition ever and a family favorite. We order a large cheese pizza and the kids are allowed a little Pepsi as we watch the Home Alone movies together.

Then…Nutcracker rehearsals began. We had a rehearsal or performance everyday for 2 weeks straight! It was a lot of work and we are exhausted, but it was SO much fun! Yesterday was Hazel’s last performance and she cried because it was over. It was definitely a magical experience to be a part of. I’ll drop a bunch of photos below! She was so blessed with lots of family and friends who came to support her!

Our Nutcracker is a little different as “Mother Ginger” is the “Fairy Godmother” instead. All the little “Cookies” that come out of Mother Ginger’s skirt are instead Fairytale characters that come out of the Fairy Godmother’s skirt. Hazel was one of the fairytale characters; Alice in Wonderland. Two of my nieces were also in the show, one was Tinkerbell, and they were so excited to dance together. It took 45 minutes to curl her hair into the special pin curls everyday. Every. Day. 🤣

Somewhere in the middle of Nutcracker we were all healthy enough to have our last co-op meet up of the year and we learned about snowflakes. We drew snowflakes and made some with beads and pipe cleaners. The amazing mom who led it also gave us all instructions and supplies to make our own crystal snowflakes at home. The kids hung theirs on the Christmas tree.

Learn how to make your own HERE.

We also hosted our homeschool Christmas party! We had so much fun playing games, decorating sugar cone Christmas trees, and doing a board game gift exchange. We have a great group of kids and moms!

And while Hazel had Nutcracker my amazing sister-in-law had 2 extra tickets and took the boys on the Polar Express Train. They were so excited and had the best time!

Whew, well I can’t believe that was all only 2 weeks worth. Even despite being sick, we were very busy. We finally have a slow week and some fun activities with family before Christmas.

I have been enjoying my time away from social media so much, it will be hard to come back. Obviously you can see I had zero time to get on anyway, but I’m excited to be back, share more, and connect with you all again soon. ❤️

I’ll see you in the new year and hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Blessings,

Lindsay