Love that country pie

Our homeschool adventure for the week was to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Evan got to go with us, and we spent the entire time in the old country part of the museum.

A car with guns..

Elvis's gold piano...

Lester Flatt's guitar..

Bill Monroe's mandolin...

And, Eli's favorite, a bear, shot by Hank Williams, Jr. Eli spent some time checking out the bear's butt...

And then over to the Schemerhorn where these two gentlemen demonstrated the difference in a fiddle and a violin...A great day in Music City, USA.

Please tell her thanks a lot

So speaking of Christmas and all, I love thank you notes. I love hand written notes or cards of any kind. My grandmother did, too, and was often the first one to send Christmas cards. Now, I'm not that good, but I did inherit all of her old cards - boxes and boxes of them. They are all from the 80's and below. Some do not have envelopes and most, if not all were probably purchased at garage sales. I have a drawer full of postcards organized by states in ziplock baggies. I hope to write each card in my lifetime..I will never buy another card or envelope, but I will continue to send them for years and years. Thanks again, Sunny, for a wonderful legacy of friendship and family. (And, thanks, Mom for making me write them all of those years...)

He says, "Your wife", I say, "She's busy in the kitchen cookin'."

Here is a pretty typical picture of me. In qreat-grandmother's quilted house coat in kitchen, cooking. Even when friends come to visit, I tend to hang out in my kitchen. This was "Christmas" night with my family and the following are only a few of the many highlights.

Magnolia leaves painted together at our morning art projects done at the beach during Thanksgiving, framed and gifted.

My first quilt.. My grandmother pieced it before dying, and after years of trying to pay someone to finish it, I with a little help from my friends, finished it for mom.

Blue sock monkey and oceanic pop-up book..

And plenty of drinks, eats, and love..

If you're lookin' to get silly

We interrupt our regularly scheduled program for a scene from Mary Poppins..

My head tells me it's time to make a change

I tend to get very rejuvenated at the close of an old year. I love the new year and the symbolic renewal it evokes in me. I know all of the right things to do and the right ways to live, and I've tried desperately to incorporate lots of healthy habits into my daily routine, though I have had a hard time making them stick.
I can read all about them, agree, get pumped up, but soon revert to my old ways. So this year, I wrote my own "self help" book.
I have incorporated all of my own priorities in an order that I know I can handle. I have made a basic checklist, and hope to stick to it finally as I now own it and it is personal.
I have also made it obtainable for me and my family.
This first week, I am adopting exercise into my daily routine. I started on Tuesday of last week, and have either jogged or taken a bike ride four whole times. I am extremely proud of this and feel great, having ever loved these two activities but as of late have put them at the end of my priorities. I have done it even though it has been 20 degrees even! Yay!
I have also spent time each morning reading the Bible and praying. My goals for self improvement are simple and obvious, but for some reason I have let them slip. I am concentrating on mind, body, and spirit.
Wish me luck, and I may keep you up to date on how good I feel :)
Good luck to you in your resolutions and may you grow and change every day.

Well, if you go when the snowflakes storm

Merry Christmas from the family...

Notice Pumps tasting the ice on his gloves..

And the smile on O's face..

The sledding crew..

A few of our favorite gifts from Santa..

Our sweet Papaw....

One of my favorite gifts, also from Papaw. The note reads, "Japanese Ceremonial Head Band."

Eli pictured above with a game plan to marry Hannah and then "get her pregnant."

This is awesome!

Snow fun..

What perfect memory building for the children. We love our Emo and Papaw and all of the family and food that come with them.
Love to all.

An eternal flame, quietly burning,

What does a homeschool Christmas party look like?
Eli is pictured above decorating cookies, happy as a lark, as always.
We had vegan, mainly raw pot-luck, and exchanged handmade gifts.
The kids exchanged things like sock puppets (see below), hand dyed juggling silks, apple sauce and cinnamon ornaments, and imaginative "generators" while the moms got "bath snow" and handmade jewelry. We then participated as families in an advent spiral.

The boys built in trees...

Even though we are nowhere near 100% Waldorf (more on that later), I did enjoy this quiet, reflective ceremony. The kids walked with an apple candle holder to the center of the spiral and lit their candle from the one burning in the center (hand-made by yours truly :)) . They then placed the lit candles on a stone along the spiral on the way out. I walked with both of my boys. I suggested they think about God, our blessings, what they are thankful for, and the reason we celebrate Christmas. They were probably focused on the fire that they were wielding, but I was thankful for the time outdoors, fresh air, and quiet contemplativeness of the usually wild ones.