Making some sort of Star Wars blaster. Sigh. Did they ask to use the hacksaw? They did not. But I am ever wanting them to learn to use tools and make things in the real world. So what to do? I gave them the lecture about how we don’t want to go to the emergency room for any reason. It’ll be fine, right?

Making a trade. It’s been a while since we’ve played Settlers, but it’s one of our favorite games and a fabulous way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Today was a tough day for the DPP. We made stuff, but the pics I took of the making aren’t my favorite pics of the day. So, do I choose the photo I like best, or do I choose the photo that fits my self-imposed theme best? I went with one of Clara, currently my most willing subject. She was making a contraption to sneak candy into school (I’m presuming she meant school school since she doesn’t really have to sneak it into home. But I’m keeping an eye on her; she’s a tricky one.)

Making cookies. And, yes, I do have some sweet ones that make it look like it was all Christmas music and teamwork, but this one captures more what it was mostly like. Surly almost-teen? Check! (I do have his permission to post this.) Jokester threatening to lick the powdered sugar? Check! (As far as I know he didn’t.) Both boys wearing the same clothes for at least the fourth day in a row? Check! (I don’t even want to know.) Sigh. But for real, this pic totally cracks me up.

Making (more) ornaments, this time with pipe cleaners and Borax.

Making a Fire || For a while now, I have been hesitant and uninspired to take photos. I have been buzzing with ideas for other projects, though, so I’m tricking myself into picking up my camera by adding a theme to the December Photo Project this year: I’ll be documenting the things we make. (And even though I do have plenty of crafts and such planned, I will try to shake it up a bit with what I mean by “make.”)

Making ornaments. || We dried orange slices to make ornaments today. The goggles were so no juice would squirt in their eyes. Not pictured real life: Ian’s sliced finger (he’s ok), burned orange slices (about half are ok).

Our elementary school’s sweet therapy dog, Bear, tore his ACL and had to have a costly surgery. A friend let the local news station know, and then the kids ended up on the 10 o’clock news. What a day.

They say it’s the hands-on projects they’ll remember. We are studying World War 2 and making model airplanes.

Ian finally got his reward for completing his BrainQuest workbook this summer. And he’s very serious about it.