Category Archives: Events

Holidays, Project 366

Packing Up Christmas

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We don’t like to rush through Christmas here, nor do we hurry along the close to the holiday season.

how many do you have?

An Advent train – Daniel counts the boxes.

But at some point you have to put things away.

You must say goodbye to red bows, ribbons and Advent Calendars. Christmas dishes, mugs and even lights.

some more boxes

I have a Christmas notebook that I bought at Barnes and Noble several years ago. I use it to record decorations, recipes, gift ideas, and more. I have a section where the contents of all of our Christmas bins are detailed. For example, Bin 3 has Christmas party supplies, a small poinsettia plant (obviously not real) and an angel (also not real). I love having everything all organized. I can find what I’m looking for by flipping to the decorating section in my Christmas notebook and then tracking down the appropriate bin.

If only the rest of my house were so well ordered.

so long, farewell

Sarah waves goodbye to Christmas.

Our Christmas tree, however, remains in its place of honor. Every morning, first thing, Tim comes down and turns on the Christmas lights. “It brings me joy,” he says.

How can I deny him holiday joy? It turns out the only reason, in years past, we used to pack up all of our Christmas adornments in a timely fashion is because we had a real tree. There weren’t enough needles to hold up the ornaments and the lights.

With a fake tree, we might still be celebrating Christmas in March. Anyone ever heard of a St. Patrick’s Day Tree?

I checked the official blog records (aka our archives) and it looks like we didn’t pack up the tree until January 20th last year. I’m obviously rushing things this year.

Just don’t call me Mrs. Grinch!

Kathy
Project 366 – Day 12

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Daily Life, Holidays, Homeschooling

When Does School Start?

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Don’t tell the children – we aren’t going to fully begin school until Monday.

Shhhh!

We’ve been doing a little math here and some reading there, but nothing serious. It’s not completely my fault. Oh, I wanted to get back on track, waking up early and hitting those books with a jam-packed schedule, but the house has been full of children ever since New Year’s Day.

And I’m not talking about the five who live here.

Let’s see, New Year’s Day we had a party. The evening came to an end much too soon so we begged to have the five P. children over for the night. They stayed until mid morning Wednesday when I returned them to their (very cheerful and refreshed looking) mother. I couldn’t just ‘drop and run,’ I had to stay for a little visit. Just being polite, you understand. There went the morning and lunch time.

stuffing their faces?

In the afternoon another friend called to see if she could come over for coffee and computer work (two of my favorite things). I somehow managed to end my exciting school planning session and welcome her crew of kiddos.

No school.

Today we had MORE visitors. Some dear friends are home from serving in Africa for a year. The parents had a meeting today and the two boys needed a place to go.

let's play a game

Joshua and the boys played an incredibly LONG game of Axis and Allies.

You see how we suffer, forced to sleep in every morning and then visit with friends all day.

Kids galore and no school, it’s a difficult life.

Of course, Monday is going to hit everyone pretty hard. This late night blogger is going to feel it the most, I’m afraid. I have a LOT to do before then.

  1. Christmas cards to finish (don’t worry, I’ve started calling them Happy New Year cards).
  2. Pictures to upload for our 2007 Family Newsletter (the one I’m pointing everyone to on our New Year’s cards)
  3. A school schedule to plan.
  4. Chore charts to type up
  5. Some curriculum to order
  6. A new blogging plan (one that actually allows me to get some sleep) to discover.

And that’s not including the general laundry, house cleaning, and meal prep that requires constant attention.

Fire up the French Press and pass the coffee beans!

How about your family? When does your school (home or otherwise) resume? Did your children go back to school Wednesday? Anyone else easing into school a little slowly? Do you think a true night owl can get to bed early enough to wake up before 8 am on a regular basis? What time does your homeschool begin?

can we go to the beach?

It’s much too rainy and gray here in WA, let’s move this game to Lake Michigan. Um, you boys are a little over-dressed for the beach!

Gotta love that Photoshop! :)

Kathy
Project 366 – Day 3

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Events, Project 365

One More Party

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Happy New Year!! My house is so tidy. Nothing like hosting a party to inspire me to clean. And, of course, there is nothing like having an inspired mother to motivate children to clean. :)

partying girls

Hannah, Emma, Annie B, Bethany and Rachel enjoy some pizza between giggles.

We had three families over for games and dinner this afternoon. We managed to play Carcassonne, Scum (lots of rounds), and Saga. The boys played outside with various weaponry. The girls sat on the couch, told stories and laughed. The little girls got into the dress-up clothes, the dolls and ended up with a game of Sleeping Queens.

We had pizza, taco soup, corn bread, veggies and dip, chips, and a lovely assortment of sweets. It was the perfect way to begin the new year. We even managed to keep five of the children overnight for an impromptu slumber party.

I’m not ready for school and structured life to begin again. I still have some Christmas cards left to send out. If our tree is still up and the Christmas cards list not finished, can I declare the Christmas holidays officially NOT over??

Kathy
Project 366 – Day 1 :)

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Events, Project 365

Happy New Year!!!!

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I love new beginnings and fresh starts. Although I have a skeptical side (enhanced by living 15 years with a programmer/realist/cynical husband), I am an optimist at heart. I love January with its New Year’s Resolutions, goal planning opportunities, and the hanging of the new calendar.

Most importantly I like a fun, family party.

sarah parties on

Some people get a little carried away on New Year’s Eve!

We were invited to a New Year’s Eve party with some friends from our church Bible study group. Yummy food, a stack of games, friends and laughter. What could be better?

Not having to host the party!!

ring in the new year

David cheers the new year.

We had a wonderful time.

Did you go out for the evening? How many people joined you? Did you watch the ball drop? Family only or friends? Dinner or just appetizers and desserts? Black tie or casual? I love to hear about how other people celebrate the New Year so leave a comment and say hello.

Kathy
Project 365 – Day 365

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Holidays, Project 365

The Splendor of Christmas

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One of the great things about having a large family and many generous relatives, is that Christmas gift-opening lasts practically forever. We’ve been concentrating on out-of-town relatives today, since people start to wonder by the end of the Christmas week (when you don’t mention their gift) if there was some kind of a mishap in shipping.

The problem is that many of our relatives are the careful, send-packages-early sort — the kind that make the temporally-challenged rest of us seem very slapdash and irresponsible. Their gifts were delivered much earlier in the month and so were at the bottom of the pile, covered up by Johnny-come-lately gifts purchased locally late in the day on the 24th. Now that we’ve worked our way down, the tops of these packages accuse us reproachfully, and so we rushed to open them.

Horn-warmers, the perfect gift
Gifts from Thailand and Norway, brought together with Daniel’s unique touch.

So many have been so generous to us, I feel rather shamefaced, especially when I think of less privileged people around the world. Then again, when I consider how these gifts reflect the love that is lavished upon us, I’m less embarrassed by the splendor, but rather I’m challenged to think of ways that we can splash that splendid love on others.

Purple in Pigtails
Now that Sarah knows her reindeer name (Prancer), it is killing her to wait to open a few last presents.

It is a glorious season, and our hearts are full of gratitude and thankfulness to the One who has made all this love and delight possible — our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Tim
Project 365 — Day 362

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