Wow, what a Winter! Many of us are glad to see it go and thankful for the experience of a real Winter. I suspect that many of us had moments where we related to our ancestors and their
experience of Winter.
Waiting for the sun and warmth to return; What if we did not have our conveniences of weather reports, insulation, electric lights, central heat and grocery stores? We certainly saw each other less and experienced some isolation.
We spent many days inside on field trips and each other's houses. It is always fun to see how others live, but one thing that became clear is that not all of our families have the comfort of heat and insulation. This need, along with other basic needs for food and shelter, is what drives Apron Strings & Angel Wings to move towards a non-profit like organization that aids homeschool families in need. If you are interested in helping us with the logistics or even a donation please contact me at
melanie@alifeoflessons.com.
Now for a look back at how we kept ourselves warm and entertained!
Our Early Learning Circle spent Mondays at the library playing with letters, numbers and forms!
We went to the Virginia Aviation Museum for some flying time.
We braved the early Winter while we celebrated St. Lucia with bread making, hand warmer science, a St Lucia skit, light sharing and candle wreathes.
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| keeping warm around the coals |
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| hand warmers |
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| hand warmers |
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| hand warmers |
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| hand warmers |
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| Some warm tea |
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| candle wreathe |
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| St Lucia skit |
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| St Lucia Skit |
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| Our Bread |
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| teen keeping warm |
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| Digging the bread baking hole. |
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| candle wreathes |
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| hand warmers |
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| kneading the bread |
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| working together |
We ended 2013 with a craft exchange--we love these opportunities to share crafting together. We all bring an activity and we all leave with new crafts and craft skills.
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| craft exchange |
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| paper snowflake |
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| game plan |
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| measuring snowflakes |
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| concentration |
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| game time |
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| nail time |
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| needle felting |
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| snow fairy |
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| snow fairy |
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| beading |
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| painted glass balls |
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| mentoring |
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| our ornaments |
Of course we had lots more fun and took plenty more pics!
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| We turned T-shirts into aprons and bags |
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| We love our tribe babies! |
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| Dressed for the Cold! |
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| forest exploration |
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| Playing!!!! |
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| And Some More Playing!!!! |
We took a Winter appropriate field trip to Wintergreen for some snow tubing!
Our Mid-Winter Celebration, we included traditions from many cultures in order to honor the mid-winter season. We had some shadow play for the groundhog, a Spiral Walk to acknowledge our inner lights, we set off Chinese lanterns.
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| Preparing the apples for the Spiral Walk. |
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| hostess and nature guide of Winterlight Farm |
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| before we built the spiral |
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| after we built the spiral |
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| a dad cuddling with the farm dog |
Enjoying the wonderful trees
letting the lanterns go
We also had our annual mom's retreat! Not too many pics but lots of fun at Yogaville!
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| Up all Night with Girl Talk!!! |
And our final Winter activity we made Waldorf window stars and enjoyed a crisp day on the playground.
Want to join in the fun?
To learn more click here or keep an eye on the calendar and send us an email or call us so we can give you a proper welcome!
melanie@alifeoflessons.com or 804-476-4158
