So, Neils and I have been talking a lot, about a lot of things. Some of the things he’s been telling me are that he doesn’t like not seeing his family all day. I remember being about his age and counting up the hours of my awake life spent at school with teachers that don’t share my family’s values compared with the few hours at home and not liking that picture. And I started thinking about how much of Neils’ home life is actually spent in the car, being sent elsewhere so I can finish my work, or doing homework (the most important part of school, according to his teacher), or chores, or getting ready for bed. There was no time in the day to do the enriching activities I know he needs (such as handwriting practice, and better reading practice than what he’s getting at school). And so often he was rushing through his work to get to a few minutes of a reward held out to get him to just finish in a reasonable timeframe. He’s also been telling me that he would like to have school at home. For a variety of reasons, I’ve decided that would be best for our entire family. 

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Neils’ Christmas concert was on Thursday, and what a riot! Too bad the video didn’t take because it was awesome. Neils may or may not have been singing, but he sure can boogie! The teachers were all in hysterics watching his antics throughout. I thought it was awesome because it wasn’t anything inappropriate, he was just obviously TOTALLY enjoying the music.

Neils really is in this picture: he’s the one in a white T-shirt, back row, just left of the purple and red snowman. Or if you’re not seeing that, fourth child to the right of the Rudolph with a green nose. 

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I hate that silly tree stand. The day after we got the tree up again, still leaning slightly, but towards the wall this time, we hoped it would just lean against the wall if it toppled again. Instead the tree stand slid out from under the tree and let it smash against the floor. Again.

Ah, well. We’re just going to leave it that way. See how nice the star looks on top?

So we returned from a modest snowing in Indiana to our heartily snowed on homeland, and despite the snow saw some dry patches on our driveway where gravel was actually showing through. We figured, hey, it can’t be that bad, then, right?

Wrong. We didn’t quite make it to the garage before the car got stuck. Blessed Conan shoveled away until I could escape to take dinner to a friend who had just had a C-section. I was actually happy for the excuse, because I was running behind schedule anyway. But it gets better. I made a fancy salad and dessert, then figured I’d just pick up a rotisserie chicken and rolls on the way. I soon found that my chosen destination was totally out of rotisserie chicken and I’d have to settle for fried. Oh, fine, grumble, grumble… except that I’d forgotten my wallet. Ok, really, I haven’t been able to find my purse for a week, and there have been no unauthorized charges, so I know it’s probably somewhere safe but un-found so am being stubborn about finding the blasted thing before we needlessly get new bank cards. I knew this, but had planned to get a payment type from Conan but in my rush forgot. So; here I am, late, not with what I’d intended to get anyway (what kind of re-make can you do with fried chicken for pete’s sake?!), and no way to pay for it. A wonderful friend of mine out here came to mind, so I called her and she just happened to be out and about anyway, so she picked up the needed items and met me there. Whew. What chaos! Read on. It gets better.

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We decided to go for a drive this weekend. To Indiana. We had a great time visiting Adrian, Jodie, and Clark; and even got to visit with Kristen, Brian, and their kiddos. We played board games, played with the kids, talked a lot, and ate a lot. So much fun. Thanks for letting us come, guys!

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So, a random slice of what our life is like: Yesterday, I woke up at the usual 5:30am to get a head-start on the kids, stretch, read scriptures, attempt to post on my blog, etc., Neils was up before I could get in the shower, he decided to play on the gameboy (a new re-discovery) while he waited for me for our "Morning Activity." Conan went down for a nap, Neils & I decorated the boys’ little Christmas tree, then he got dressed, I got breakfast for everybody, got everybody ready to head out to the warmed-up van and I got a call from a friend saying there was a 2-hour delay for school since the roads were icy (I still don’t get why they delay sometimes & others not–today we’re having freezing rain but school started on time). So we decided to decorate the big Christmas Tree. Four broken ornaments and 5 minutes later, we decided to head out afterall and visit our friend until school started… 

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Sorry this post is so long in coming, but once again I have a million photos, so you’ll just have to click on the thumbnails that look interesting to you. We had a wonderful time with my family, and nearly everyone was there, except one of my nieces who lives in Oklahoma. So sad to miss her, but we did have a wonderful time with those that were there. The weather was fair the first few days, and freezing the last. We got to spend girl time, guy time, sibling time, aunt & kid time… it was really wonderful. Ate lots of wonderful food. Did I mention it was wonderful?

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