Did a sort of Icelandic Christmas Book Flood at our co-op today (we’re diving into a Christmas Around the World study for the next few weeks). The kids drew names a few weeks ago and found the perfect books for each other, many of which were thrifted. It was simple, but so special.

Wrapped books beneath a small Christmas tree

Rowyn woke up and made @Mtt a cannonball first thing this morning.

A person holds a crumpled and taped piece of paper colored brown and meant to be a cannonball above a patterned rug on a wooden floor.

Stopped by my dad’s for the night Friday night on our way home from Missouri. Left there with 2 dozen eggs Saturday morning. Cooked almost half of them last night for dinner. 🥚🍳👍

An egg carton holds several brown and blue eggs.

I didn’t drink coffee for a week.

New Kindle case to match my new Kindle 😍 (Both thanks to @Mtt ❤️)

A Kindle Paperwhite with a matching colorful case placed beside it on a white surface.

Rowyn said the city we built with blocks today was “gi-massive.” I guess that means extra, extra big. 😊

Another fave family game: Skyjo. We played before bedtime last week on B’s birthday.

A family is playing a colorful card game at a wooden table.

I’m mom of a birthday boy this week.

Surprised him with coffee alongside his choice of eggs and venison sausage for breakfast.

He requested alligator at Prejean’s for lunch, so we went and they celebrated him too. 🎇

After baseball practice, we had pancakes and more sausage (by request) + gifts.

A smiling child wearing a red t-shirt is holding up a blue tumbler in a kitchen setting.A smiling child is holding up a piece of fried alligator while seated at a table with a checkered tablecloth and dishes of food and sauces in a restaurant setting.A child wearing a cap joyfully holds a lit sparkler while sitting in a dining setting with other people around.A smiling child in a blue shirt holds an open Bible while sitting at a table.

It was a beautiful, moody morning.

Sunbeams filter through the trees, casting light and shadows on a lush, green lawn

Since I seemingly started a photo series of games played with the kids before bed (here and here), here’s another. Phase 10 last night. Me and B.

A child is playing a card game at a kitchen table with a blue water bottle nearby.

More Recent Thrift Finds

I’ve finally been going through a box of stuff I’ve collected over the past 3-ish weeks and cleaning and washing things and putting them away. And I’ve decided I like documenting what I’ve found. It also looks pretty all together on my Pinterest board. 😊

These 3 items were from 3 different places. And cities, actually. Paid approx $4 total.

The basket is for who knows what. Might use it to hold some photo albums or Chatbooks. Might use it for gifting. Endless options.

I think I’ll really use the sun tea jar for sun tea. I’ve wanted to try it for a while. It’s such a happy looking jar.

My first thought with the spice cabinet was to remove the door and use it as art (I LOVE the font of the words, Herbs & Spices) and use the shelf part as an open wall shelf for one of the kids’ rocks or other curiosities. Or maybe Lego people.

A wooden table holds an empty glass jar, a small woven basket, and a wooden herb and spice cabinet.

Ready to go help Daddy with a project across the yard this afternoon. 👷‍♀️🔨🤍

2 kids posing for a photo, 1 in a construction costume and the other holding a drill

Setting a timer and sitting down to do this. Giving myself 15 minutes. 🧩

A 1,000 piece puzzle in progress

Thrift finds from last week: (Paid $2.43 for everything)

An old 2-hole punch because they look cool and the kids will have fun with it

A bowl for water for the cat

A saucer to use under a potted plant

An unopened set of stationary with pretty bird art…might frame one and use the rest

A 2-hole punch, a green ceramic bowl, a small plate, and a set of cards with a bird illustration are arranged on a quartz countertop

A me and B game of Blokus last night. Another game we really enjoy.

Game of Blokus in progress

Family game of Play Nine last night. One of our faves. The kids crushed us.

Family card game, Play Nine, in progress.

Co-op This Week | Subject: Olmecs (Ancient Civilizations)

Yesterday was our co-op day. We’ve been studying Ancient Civilizations this semester. Our focus this week was the Olmecs.

If you are not familiar with this group of people, they were an ancient Mesoamerican civilization believed to have thrived along the Mexican Gulf Coast from approximately 1200 to 400 B.C.

Our co-op is small-ish. Nine families. Eleven kids, ages 5-12. Five of the moms rotate lessons for the semester. Most lessons consist of several rounds of sharing information pertinent to the day’s topic and breaking between each sharing session to do a related activity.

This was not my week to teach, but I wanted to share my kids’ work, perhaps as inspiration, and definitely as a keepsake for myself to look back on here.

The first project of the day was making stone heads out of air dry clay, which was representative of the giant stone heads the Olmecs were known for creating. The kids were shown several photos as inspiration and given toothpicks and popsicle sticks to use to carve and shape.

A child carving a face with a toothpick into clay shaped like a head

A child carving a face into clay shaped like a head

A clay head with a face carved by a child She was so proud of the helmet.

Two clay heads with faces carved by children Hers and his. He was slightly less enthused with the project, thus putting much less time and energy into it. But he still did it and knew what it represented.

The second project was patiently wrapping rubber bands around a wadded up piece of paper to make a bouncy ball. They used the small rainbow loom bands. This activity was meant to correspond with learning that the Olmecs were the first known civilization to use rubber.

A child making a bouncy ball with colorful rubber bands

Two “homemade” bouncy balls

The last project for the day was constructing a pyramid with homemade Rice Krispie treats and vanilla buttercream icing (so, so yum…our resident baker was the teacher, which is always exciting 😋). This was a nod to the Olmecs building pyramids or pyramid-like structures like most other ancient groups of people.

A child making a Rice Krispie pyramid

A child making a Rice Krispie Pyramid

A Rice Krispie pyramid His. I took a photo of hers–which was wider and flatter than her brother’s–but some of the other kids were in the background, and I wanted to respect their privacy so chose not to post.

The Olmec lesson may sound somewhat simple, but doing projects with 11 kids can take up a big chunk of time. And some lessons are shorter or less involved than others. It’s so wonderful that each week is similarly structured, yet approached from a different mind. And we’re always encouraged to dive deeper into each topic.

Next week is my second lesson to teach for the semester. I’ve been excited about it since watching the Sight & Sound Theatre’s “Daniel” last month when it was in theaters on Labor Day weekend. So much to unpack and learn.

Went outside around 8pm a couple of nights ago to see if we could see any meteors (Draconid meteor shower). I came back in 20 or so mins later having seen three 💫 and with approx. 20 mosquito bites. Still worth it.

3 of us have also been doing a lot of baseball watching, while 1 does the playing. ⚾️🤍

A child in a blue shirt and hat takes a picture through a netting, while a "KEEP OFF" sign is visible in the foreground and a baseball field is in the background.

Been doing a LOT of thrifting, though. And that’s been a real fun outlet. One of my favorites when there’s time, actually.