Christmas: gift suggestions ....

... for those wanting to give something unique that gives throughout the year.

1. A subscription to mater et magister Catholic homeschool magazine. This quarterly is packed with great information for novice and expert homeschooler! There is always a unit study as well as articles about teaching the classics, literature and incorporating good books into your curriculum, handcrafts (written by yours truly!), nature study and reviews of resources. This magazine is really worth every bit of the subscription price. It is also the only Catholic home education magazine on the market.
2. A planner/calendar from Family-Centered Living. These planners are wonderful -- they are well-laid-out and include saint of the day, prayers and meditation pages, all major feasts and liturgical year celebrations as well as the traditional two-page spread with lots of space for noting appointments. There is a "man's" and a "woman's" version -- I got my dh the "man's" version and he LOVED it! I've used this planner for a few years now and really like the way Michele has it laid out. The planners are 5.5" x 8.5" and come either spiral bound or hole-punched. There are some cool add-ons: menu-planning pages and lesson planning pages!
3. Linda at Sacred Heart Books and Gifts has a marvelous selection of home-education and Catholic resources that will make fabulous gifts. I check her website and want one of everything (or pretty much anyway). Through the end of November, she's discounting things even further to clear inventory. Her prices are as good or better than Amazon's and free shipping for orders over $25 (in the lower 48 states).
4. Couldn't let a "gift giving list" go by without plugging my own book: Great Yarns for the Close-Knit Family contains over two dozen original designs based on a dozen fantastic family read-alouds -- read the books and make the projects! How fun is that?????
5. As Jennifer comments below, a subscription for a family to Magnifikids would be a GREAT gift and each month the family would remember the wonderful donor.

As I come across more great gift suggestions, particularly geared to Catholic home-educators, I'll post them here! Most of these suppliers will be Catholic home-educators trying to make a living while teaching their children at home -- let's support our own!

Christmas: only 40 days left!

Can you believe it? We're halfway through November already. Thanksgiving is late this year (Nov. 27th) so Advent will actually start Turkey-Day weekend! Whew!

This year, what with the economy being how it is and the house in Colorado still not sold, we're having to cut back a bit. But we will probably have a better Christmas because of that. We told the kids last week that ALL gifts will be hand-crafted, hand-baked, and generally non-store bought (except for the ones from St. Nick himself, of course).

Over the next 40 days -- especially after November 29th -- St. Athanasius Academy will be a veritable North Pole workshop ... with cutting, sewing, gluing, hammering, knitting (of course!), baking, painting, sculpting and wrapping. I will help the younger ones, but all will be doing their own thing too.

We will record our progress here (unless it would spoil a surprise or two) and document our Advent Preparedness. Our goal is to spend zero dollars on something store-bought while spending lots of time and effort for our loved ones. This Christmas will be quite memorable for all of us!

Any suggestions for hand-made, hand-crafted, or hand-baked gifts are most appreciated.

Let the gift-making begin!

Christmas: the five best of the best

We try not to focus too heavily on gifts and the material, "I want" side of Christmas. But, some years we just have such an interesting blend of gifts that it just strikes me as a "perfect" Christmas ....

Let me explain:

1. THE perfect Santa gift -- String Bean got the Melissa and Doug doll house and has decorated, redecorated, made it into a hotel, a school and a BIG tent ever since opening it on Christmas morning. Definitely a BIG HIT! It is very good value for the money -- with furnishings and a family of 4 ... and it's plain enough where my daughter can really use her imagination, fabric scraps and other bits and pieces to make a wonderful home for her "family".

2. The most unique gift -- LegoManiac LOVES fish, especially smoked or fresh salmon. Bam-Bam drew LegoManiac's name for "secret sibling" and was having a time thinking of something really wonderful to give his big brother. Going with Dad on Christmas Eve, he finally solved his problem .... and LegoManiac was in heaven as he ate smoked salmon and fresh cooked salmon all week!

3. The best family gifts -- Granmere gave us a family membership to the Denver Art Museum as well as the kids a subscription to National Geographic Kids. Also, another g'ma gave the kids subscriptions to Your Big Backyard and Ranger Rick.

4. Most charitable gift -- dh's lovely sister and bil gave a flock of chickens (did I mention dh has a PhD in chickens?) in our name through the Heifer International program.

5. Best gift for Me -- flying Brikhead home for Christmas!

and adopting Molly, our new 2-month old border-collie mix puppy, from the Denver Dumb Friends League.

My prayer for the rest of Christmastime (through January 13) is that you all have as wonderful a Christmas and into 2008 as we have had here in our little spot on the planet!