January plans and theme

while blog surfing, i came upon the blog by sun and candlelight and love her idea of themes & plans for each month. i'm hoping this will help me to focus and organize so i don't think 'oh, i should have done _____ this month!' then, i'll have something to look back on and refer to each year and add to as i need. i hope it will also give us inspiration for our homeschooling ruts as well.

nature:
~begin collecting seed catalogs
~go through existing seeds and make a list of what's needed
~make a list of new plants/herbs i want to try this year
~snow? (becoming more rare it seems)
~tracks in the snow
~full wolf moon (30)
~fill the bird feeders daily
~gather and prepare maple tree tapping equipment
~keep a hole in the water pond ice for the fish; observe life through the hole
~observe the plants under the snow and ice
~log daily happenings in garden journal

food:
~citrus is in season
~make orange marmalade
~make salted lemons and limes
~make sugared lemons and limes
~make limoncello
~oatmeal
~dried fruits (dry more apples this fall!)
~hearty stews and pot pies
~homemade bread
~soups
~hot herb tea
~hot lemonade
~hot cocoa a la jim mcdonald
~ham and beans with corn bread

home:
~thank you notes
~finish putting away solstice decorations
~print off new calendar
~order any seed catalogs not received
~gather tax documents
~plan valentine's day surprises for kids
~plan imbolc activities
~dedicate a plastic bin for solstice to start storing away stocking stuffers and hand made gifts as i acquire them
~create a work sheet to list items for the storage bin
~play more board games with the kids


stories/books:
~read through the wild heart of mary
~sevenwater series

field trips and homeschool activities:
~visit alton for eagle days and try to see the nesting eagles
~resume thursday playdays

crafts/activities:
~knit 3-4 dishclothes to put away for solstice gifts
~work on jaden's knitting skills
~make snowflakes to decorate for imbolc
~watercoloring, coloring, beeswax modeling