Photos from Phones - December 2021 Round Up

Well, where has the time gone?! Good heavens, I'm behind, and looking back at these photos from two months ago, I'm remembering why I like to post things a little closer to when they actually happened. Oh well. Better late than never. Let's take a look at the things that filled in the cracks of December, shall we?

12.1.21
(I get emails from the cornell lab of ornithology ever since
I entered numbers in a bird count last year. I always get a kick out of this
 name. Bramble Klipple. Seems like something you'd
read in a fantasy book set in a forest or something.)

12.1.21
(cravin' orange for breakfast today. (this is a throw back to a
pic I took with two friends on a band trip in las vegas back in 2002; 
we were "cravin' orange" snacks (cheese, orange soda, carrot?)
 on the bus ride and when I saw all these
shades, it brought back those memories)

12.1.21
(math time with Sam - he's illustrating subtraction
word problems that I read to him)

12.2.21
(After reading the mushroom book about Beatrix Potter, we became curious about her and found another fantastic picture book bio detailing more interesting info about her and her life. What a woman! I’ve been reading a story from the big collection of her stories each night with Cal before bed, and that’s been fun.)

12.2.21
(We enjoyed reading a couple Hanukkah-related books
each day during the eight days of Hanukkah, working our
way through this stack)

12.3.21
(Gingerbread house making with Grandma B.)

12.3.21
(aren't they cute? (even with those bandaids?! btw, they're
fine, they just have the picking gene from me, where they
can't leave scabs alone, so bandaids are often a part of their
look, keeping their fingers from scratching and letting their skin heal))

12.3.21
(we had pizza and a movie that evening, too. Grandpa had been
wanting to watch Pirates with the kids for a while, so Sam made sure
to bring his costume for the event. ha!)

12.4.21
(Christmas sewing project in progress)

12.4.21
(she's pretty dang good!)

12.5.21
(Sunday snazzies)

12.7.21
(we jumped into "Christmas School" a la
read aloud revival (only we used last year's guide
and book list since we could get those books easier
from the library and didn't do the activities then). we read
lots of Christmas picture books (especially Tomie dePaola ones)
and did lots of fun crafts, activities, or baking to go along with them.
here cal is working on a weaving to go along with The Legend of
the Poinsettia)

12.7.21
(peanut blossoms! They were the bomb!)

12.7.21
(finished! she made many more of these little
weavings throughout the month on her homemade
carboard loom - super fun!)

12.8.21
(not the most flattering pic, but a milestone: I had a goal
of cooking a whole chicken and I accomplished it in the
last month of the year!)

12.9.21
(snow! hooray!)

12.9.21
(I don't even know but it makes me so happy.)

12.9.21
(This was a delightful look at all the various illustrations and covers for age Ramona books. I loved learning a bit of background about the art and the artists. And it was fun to read the excerpts from the books that went along with the illustrations and to compare how different illustrators drew the same scene (or didn’t!). A big, beautiful book and a fun walk down memory lane (especially since I most recently have listened to these stories on audio, so hadn’t seen a lot of the artwork before).)

12.9.21
(Christmas sewing project: finished!
this little apron was a gift for cousin Zoe)

12.9.21
(and it's reversible! It was fun to remember making
this same pattern for Callie when she turned two
and now at 8, she's sewing one almost by herself
for her two-year-old cousin)

12.10.21
(This was SO interesting and also SO aggravating! I had never heard of Mileva Maric before and her story as a physicist and wife of Einstein was fascinating. I was cheering for her as she navigated a man’s world in the sciences, and I ached for her as her relationship with her husband deteriorated. I especially loved that she was looking for God’s divine patterns in physics. Reminded me of Henry Eyring a bit. Quick pace, very readable historical fiction.)

12.10.21
(snowflake science!)

12.10.21
(backyard views)

12.11.21
(here's my Christmas sewing project completed.
I've been meaning to make a tree skirt for 11 years
and this year I finally made it!)

12.11.21
(and it's reversible, too! (like two tree skirts
in one!))

12.11.21
(and it makes a lovely shawl, if I ever feel
like dressing up from Little Women - HA!)

12.12.21
(A classic Christmas read/listen (I highly recommend listening!) that never fails to bring a chuckle and a smile. It’s hilarious and heart warming and one of my faves!)

12.13.21
(art lesson with nana - humbugs!)

12.13.21
(Just found Sam like this and it makes me so happy! 😍 (Also, yes, his feet are stuffed under the cushion! 🤷🏻‍♀️ And yes, he's reading Dog Man, of course!))

12.14.21
(for our poetry teatime we wrote 5 senses poems
about Christmas. This one is Sam's. (I wrote as
he dictated, and I did it lightly so he could trace
over it, but then we never got to that, so sorry it's hard to read.))

12.14.21
(Callie is quite the poet, and wrote three poems
in one sitting!)

12.14.21
(we also decorated gingerbread cookies)

12.14.21

12.14.21

12.14.21

12.15.21
(more snow on the outside of my collection
tube than on the inside today!)

12.15.21

12.15.21
(attempting to get a shot of the fresh snow on the trees
in the canyon, but not the greatest pic)

12.15.21
(Gregg and I were jeans shopping at kohl's for a little date
and I spotted this as we walked to the bathrooms. totally looks
like a math exercise Cal had in her book just that day so I had
to snap a pic.)

12.15.21
(while we were shopping, the kids
got to play at grandma's - plus cupcakes)

12.20.21
(this morning's art project: watercolor Christmas tree
scene. L-R: Kim, Sam, Cal)

12.21.21

(putting the new donut maker gift from Cohen to

good use - apple cider donuts were delish!)

12.21.21
(Today we read Manger and sang The Friendly Beasts (and of course watched Brian Stokes Mitchell’s version on YouTube) and then we wrote our own persona/mask poems from the point of view of something in the nativity story. Cal chose the star and Sam was writing as a wolf. Fun poetry lesson this morning! (But you don’t have to do a whole lesson to just enjoy the books! ;))

12.21.21
(Cal's poem)

12.21.21
(Sam dictated to me first, then practiced handwriting
on a separate sheet)

12.21.21
(Here's Sam's poem)

12.21.21
(I had heard/watched the Christmas From Heaven story from the Tabernacle Choir concert almost a decade ago, but just this year I heard about this other (expanded, personal) version of the story of Mercedes and it was a delightful companion read this week with the kids. Cal and Sam were quite impressed with the story of Wiggly Wings. Just makes you feel optimistic about humanity with stories like this. :))

12.22.21
(I thought we'd do school today, but then decided it would be
better spent delivering cookies to neighbors and friends)

12.22.21
(Sam's letter to Santa)

12.22.21
(Cal's letter to Santa. She doesn't always write in
cursive, but I think it's quite beautiful when she does)

12.22.21
(note to self: six big packages of clamshell food containers
fit perfectly in the back of the sube)

12.23.21
(we read a book Called Carla and the Christmas Cornbread
and were inspired to make cornbread for breakfast, complete with
cinnamon butter)

12.23.21
(went on a walk around the triangle on my way
to deposit some checks at the credit union.
what do you think has been on this path?)

12.27.21
(world's hugest grapefruit from my stocking for breakfast)

12.27.21
(that's mine on the right, if you couldn't tell ;)

12.27.21
(Fun book mail yesterday for me! I commented on a blog post interview with this author about her new book, and then I won a signed copy and a few other goodies! So fun! I’ll let you know how it is when I read it, and then I’ll let you borrow it, too!)

12.27.21
(oh dear, things are getting carried away again around here!
(looking back from February, I'm happy to report that I did
finish six of this giant stack, one has been returned awaiting another try,
and three are still waiting to be read))

12.27.21
(that's a first)

12.28.21
(Read this one in a day. It started out like a hallmark movie (which is what I expected going in ... I actually knew nothing about it before reading, so it was purely a judging by the cover thing) but then it got a bit intense for a minute, and was back to the hallmark movie. And then you get to part 2 and whoa! Nothing is as it seems! A fun, fast, easy read, with the Christmasy vibes that are nice this time of year, and a few surprises to keep you on your toes.)

12.29.21
(Another quick read - not exactly an easy read, content wise, but somehow enjoyable anyway. Lots of sketches throughout were fun to see. And I learned a lot about life in Cold War Russia. Definitely worth reading, I think.)

Every other round up here (whew!):

2021: Nov | Sep | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2020: Dec | Nov | Sep | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar Quar + Mar | Feb | Jan
2019: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sep | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan
2018: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan
2017: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2016: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2015: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2014: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2013: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June