December

Aaannnddd, just like that it's almost Christmas. 

Like you, I'm sure, life has been full. Full to overflowing of the routine and mundane, of the special and exciting, of the tradition and the discovery. And maybe, like us, of the winter colds too.

For some reason or another, I've not been up to par with taking pics and sharing them here this month... sorry Grandma and Nana. So, without further excuse, here's a snapshot of our month.

The kids and I took the train Uptown to visit the children's library, see the Bernstein Christmas Bears, and enjoy some peppermint milkshakes. Micah was elated to find 33 cents on four different seats on the train; Annalyse asked a multitude of times if "God was taller than all these big buildings?"; Jax slept most of the time (whew!); and Grady Lee was a rock star helper for me as we navigated the train and sidewalks.

The kids enjoyed watching a Christmas movie while stinging cranberries to decorate the mantle. Grady Lee puts all his attention into projects and did about three quarters of the string; Micah tried to play games and see how many berries he could fit on his needle at a time and thus probably strung a grand total of 13 berries; and Annalyse thought it was all fun and games until she pricked her finger with the needle and decided she was all done.

Annalyse and I spent a morning making roll-out sugar cookies and the boys joined in and helped decorate them that afternoon. What I missed in the clean-up process, Jax has successfully discovered along the floorboards and cupboards... I can always tell when I see bits of green or red sprinkle in his drool.

I declared gingerbread-house-making an art project one morning, and the kids frosted and decorated and tasted to their hearts content. Then, later that week we joined five other home school families for a visit to Gingerbread Lane, a local display of amazingly-decorated gingerbread houses. We oohed and aahed our way through the display and when we worked up our appetites,we enjoyed taking up every table and chair in a small pizza restaurant afterward. Very loud and very fun.

And, in between these December traditions, all of us have kindly shared cold germs and moaned our way through ear infections. Thankfully, when it was my turn to feel lousy, Grady was finally home and able to help out. Also, I've decided that a double ear infection with an ulcer on one ear drum is worse than labor. Seriously.

Oh, did I mention Grady spent four of the last nine weeks in South Korea? And how come when he's gone the house falls apart? The dishwasher stopped working, the bathtub drain is severely clogged, and one morning I woke up to the mailbox laying in the middle of the road. 

So, with my husband now home, my kids now all healthy, and Christmas parties wrapped up, it's time to enjoy a slow week entering into Christmas. Nothing planned the first half of this week and that's the way I want it to stay.