Ashleigh Whaley
December Adventures and Activities.
December Activities:
Homeschooling.
With school out, December is always a fun family month, with time for the children to just be children.
Faith, family, farm, fun- is the order of the month, hence my blog name Faith4fun. The children so enjoyed their five weeks away from school and sports -and the pressure of it all. Spending time on the farm is what they both enjoy and they certainly manage to keep themselves extremely busy!
I really enjoy December, as I have a month to catch up on all the things I struggle to find time for during the year. I also like to take time out from our hectic schedule, to simply rest, relax and enjoy those around me.
Christmas puzzle. 
Christmas as Lego.
With the New Year around the corner I also need to be ready and organized for the next school year. I feel so blessed to be able to continue with homeschooling, whilst the world experiences Covid lockdown. Globally, many children have missed a great deal of their schooling year.
It is my goal to use this blog as an outreach, to share what we have achieved through homeschooling. If I am able to help just one person, I feel I have achieved what God has put on my heart.
Grandparents.
Finally, after a long year away, my parents arrived from South Africa, to spend December with us. What a wonderful bonding opportunity the children had, as they both spent some very special time with their grandparents.
Christmas Eve.
Christmas Eve Table. 
Christmas Tree.
Expectations were running very high on Christmas Eve, which was our gift giving time, after a lovely family Christmas meal… With Christmas music playing in the background, great excitement was had by all, as gifts were chosen from the stack of brightly wrapped packages, lying under our sparkling Christmas tree. Christmas means family, as we remember baby Jesus, who was born into a loving family.
Homeschooling Friends.
The children’s furry friends continue to bring our family so much joy and the children never tire of caring for their animals. With the rains about, they constantly need to make sure that their friends are not out on the wet grass where they could get infested with fly larvae.
Homeschooling Art.
December is time to make Christmas gifts and to think of some new, welded horseshoe art, which is our specialty. This year the children made some fantastic Christmas gifts, using Pinterest for ideas. I simply supply a variety of craft items for the children to weld and paint, or cut and glue… The gift results this year were astonishing and loved by all who received them.
Horses.
This month the children continued to learn to ride the many different horses in our yard. We are blessed to have a wide variety of horses for the children to learn on. We have Arabs, Welsh ponies, Australian Stock Horses, Bush Ponies and retired Thoroughbred race horses, from all over the world.
Paula Joy on Monty. 
Murray John on Poppy.
Developing their horsemanship skills comes from hours of riding a variety of horses and the children are slowly learning to adjust their riding styles to suit each horse. What a wonderful experience it is for our children to have this opportunity.
Many hours of outrides on the farm makes December a special month. We ride out for at least two hours at a time, whilst enjoying the environment and watching the farm activities.
Riding through the banana plantation. 
Riding past the Soyabean planting.
Homeschooling Sport.
We managed one golf tournament in December.
18 hole golf competition. 
Golf scoring.
December Adventures:
Farm Life.
Dalston Farm.
The arrival of late rains meant a busy farming month, as all the maize and soya beans had to be planted. Murray John spent most of his free time on the tractors, either helping with the land prep., or planting and fertilizing the crops. His farming knowledge continues to grow in leaps and bounds and I sometimes only see him, when he arrives home for meals.
Although Paula Joy doesn’t spend hours on the tractors, I make sure she is learning all about the farm and its cropping program. This we discuss, daily, as we drive down to the stables to ride the horses.
Trinity Rock Farm.
Trinity Rock farm hasn’t had much rain, which actually makes for easier tobacco crop management, as tobacco does not like its roots becoming too wet. The reaping of the irrigated tobacco crop started in December and, hopefully, more rain will arrive in the New Year, to help the dry land tobacco crop grow out.
The children continue to learn new skills on each of the farms and enjoy comparing the different agricultural practices. The end goal is for the children to know what it takes to manage a farm and earn a living.
Zimbabwe Economy.
Life in Zimbabwe is never easy and a huge amount of planning goes into sourcing everything one needs, to make sure that we can enjoy a special Christmas. As inflation continues upwards, together with increased petty theft and power cuts, we have become experts at ‘making a plan!’
My post in July 2019, “Homeschooling through Economic Collapse” , is still relevant today as Zimbabwe’s economy continues to collapse.
Environmental Awareness.
Our trip to Kariba was a wonderful adventure into nature. We spent a week on a houseboat, studying the nature around us, from the many different fish species we caught, to the variety of birds, trees and wild animals. A houseboat trip is an education all on its own…
Travel.
Celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary with family, on a houseboat, on Lake Kariba, was a truly awesome week. We left Kariba with lots of treasured memories and we continue to thank God for all our blessings. For more on this amazing trip read my last post “Our 25th Wedding Anniversary Celebrated on Lake Kariba.”
May God bless you all through 2021! Keep looking to Jesus to carry you through the year ahead, with its many challenges -and may His hand continue to guide you…
“Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever.” Psalm 118:19.
Happy New Year!
Please leave your comments below…..
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