A few random plans for the month of January!
Celebrations
* New Year's Day we have a traditional dinner - red beans and rice, cornbread, and collards (which are supposed to bring prosperity in the New Year). We have tried on and off to eat black-eyed peas too, which are a very traditional New Year's food and are said to bring good luck, but we don't really like them. This year though, we are going to try a black-eyed pea salsa to see if that's any better. The kids always get a new calendar, too. I have them pick one out online ahead of time and then wrap them up and put them at their place New Year's morning. I also get myself one and usually spend the morning filling it out. I do love a new calendar.
* Twelfth Night is something we started celebrating three years ago, when I decided that we needed a festive way to wrap up the Christmas season. It is usually celebrated January 6th, but we always celebrate it on the Sunday closest. We are not a religious family, so we have put our own spin on things. What we do is, we all plan a performance of some sort....a play or skit, a magic trick, reading a poem aloud, a puppet show, playing a tune on the piano.... and on that night everyone takes turn performing for the rest of the family. We also have a twelfth night cake, in which I hide a little coin or something...whoever finds it is king or queen of 12th night! And the kids each get three very small gifts under the tree. I usually just get dollar items or small treats like a candy bar or bottle of lemonade - inexpensive things, but still fun to open!
January is a bit light on holidays, but that is just fine with me after the bustle of December. We also celebrate Christopher's birthday this month- he will be 12!
Things to Notice & Do
* The full Wolf Moon on January 5th
* Downton Abbey starts again on January 4th!
* Christopher wants to take a trip to a Lego store for his birthday outing
* The seed catalogs are in, so I'd like to plan out our garden
* The kids are participating in Read to Succeed, so we'll start the reading logs for that
* I also have two doing the National Mythology Exam and one doing the National Latin Exam, so we'll be preparing for those
* Hopefully it will snow so we can get in some sledding and snowshoeing!
* The bird feeders need filling a couple of times a week now
* I'm thinking about taking the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge - Grace wants to do it and I'd like to think I can pull it off....can't hurt to try anyway!
Things to Make
* Marmalade. I haven't made orange marmalade for a few years, but I have been craving it lately
* Snow ice cream
* Paper snowflakes
To-Do List
* Get going on our bathroom renovation again. We haven't worked on it for weeks due to the holiday, now it's time to get it going again
* Buy more flannel sheets - some of ours have been getting positively holey.
* Take down the tree and decorations. Give the tree to the goats - they love to eat leftover Christmas tree
* Burn brush whenever the weather and our schedule allows. We have lots of fallen trees and branches that need taking care of
* Jot down notes for next Christmas (things we need to restock, update Christmas card list, etc.)
* Read through my favorite gardening book and consider starting some things from seed (or not)
* Purchase supplies for Valentine making
I wish you all a Happy New Year!
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