Ummm....

This thread leads me to think that I may have misled some of you.  The Tomie de Paola unit was written ten years ago and, over the course of ten years, my family and I have indeed done all the activities, some of them many times.  But we have never, ever come even close to doing all of them in one year. During the new baby years, we pick a few favorites and that's all we do.  We frequently do it instead of "real" school.We are in full-swing baby-mode this year, finding that answering the cries of a wee one and rocking a baby to sleep are advent devotions in and of themselves.

I know that lapbooks are nearly impossible with a baby in one's arms.  And crafts can be tricky when everyone is under seven.  I've been there and those were the co-op years or the years of just baking some simple cookies and sprinkling sugar everywhere.

We are also in "Michael's last" mode this year, as in "This is Michael's last advent to..."  Since Michael is our resident artisan,he is taking this opportunity to do some of his favorite crafts with his little siblings.If all your children are very little, take heart.  There will come a day when one or more of them is better at some of this than you are.  And they will teach while you snap pictures.

Again, I don't want to leave anybody with the impression that we've done everything listed here.  It's not about the quantity; it never was.  It's about drawing closer to one another and to God.  And some days, in this home, we draw closer by just doing the best we can with a smile.God love you!