Twenty Twelve! Goals and our latest homeschool projects.

The new year is officially upon us, I know, I know, we are halfway through January, but the year is still young. I really didn't feel like making any major resolutions this year, but I have spent the past few weeks  reflecting and goal setting. I like to set small goals for myself. It challenges me and keeps me from getting in a rut. I don't care for winter, so it keeps my spirits up to look forward to things. Here are some of the things I am looking forward to in 2012:


Cooking Goals:
I finally conquered my fear of bread and yogurt making and now no longer rely on store bought. I make 4 loaves (at once), once a week and at least a gallon of yogurt a week and we are covered. Now what? I received a beautiful antique cast iron waffle iron. So, I need to get it cleaned up and ready for my old recipe from my youth (when I made waffles for the 10 people at home on the weekends, gotta get those waffle skills back!) I also received some springerle molds from my Mom a good while back (25 cents each at a church rummage sale! She is that darn good!) I need to try that out already. I think pierogis and homemade pasta and raviolis may be in order for this year too.

Look at these glorious molds! Why have I not made them yet?

Knitting/Sewing:
I finally met my sock goal and wrote my own pattern for a cowl, so I think it is time to try a bigger project like a sweater or something. Not sure yet. I would like to try knitting cable-knits too. Maybe some lace crochet.

The boys are enjoying their new hand-knit socks that were made with the yarn they selected. An unusual color, I think they released balloons after we left to celebrate finally selling that yarn!

Self-improvement:
I NEED to break this swearing habit which has reached f'ing big a$$ proportions! Nuff said. Less complaining is in order as well. I think the key word for the year should be "positive". Words, actions, attitude should reflect positiveness.

Homeschooling:
Staying the course, meaning not letting the day to day get in the way of my plans. I need to anticipate the week better.  I want to add a new thing to our weeks, which is an animal project. I hope to focus on a different animal each week with a different type of project related to it. We have had 2 successes with this thus far. Our first week we went with an animal he loves and knows a ton about, the cuttlefish. We tried out google docs for making a power point presentation. This was fun. He learned how to fact check, organize his thoughts and dabbled with summarizing. Here is his report:


 This week he focused on beavers. We were inspired by a new magazine, Click, that he received from Grandma Kathy for Christmas. They showed a diagram of a beaver's lodge which we recreated.

So far, I feel we are off to a good start with this. I hope to incorporate our new zoo passes into this project too.

     This year should hold a lot of new and exciting challenges for me. Let me put a challenge out there to the people I love.... What was the last thing you tried for the very first time? If you can't remember, it has been too long! Try something new, a new recipe, different kind of book than you normally read, a puzzle, hobby, different type of exercise, unfamiliar cuisine, etc... As my Mom used to say, "Try it, you'll like it."