December 2018

As it is with most families, December was a month full of activities and celebrations.  Here's a glimpse of just SOME of our December 2018 happenings:

Winter dance recital
Gemma is in the red.  :o)  This recital is held at our dance
hall and is also a fundraiser for our non-profit dance school.

Each year we go to the Oregon Zoo's ZooLights.
Tradition is to eat dinner at Noodles before heading out late (7pm)
for the zoo, to hopefully snag some parking when all the
group-school families are leaving to get their kids to bed on time. :o)
It makes for a LATE night for us but it is always fun!

We saw an excellent performance of Mary Poppins at the
NW Children's Theater in December.  I run the homeschool
field trips for my group and I always include NWCT!

Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit and
grandma was a big help with our schooling.
I wish she was here all the time! :o)

Grandpa likes spending time in the kitchen,
teaching the kids new skills and revisiting
old ones (like applesauce-making).

Christmas Fun Day at the mall!  We go to see Santa, walk the
mall, then have a nice dinner.  We try to go during school hours
 so that there is no line at Santa's Workshop
...another small benefit of homeschooling. :o)

Red Lobster feast!

Field trip to see the llamas at a local farm

The family! with grandma and grandpa
It's always so much fun when they come visit at Christmastime :o)

Me with my Altar Society ladies at our Christmas dinner.
I love these women!
This was on a very very busy day; Marcus had some of the other
kids at a music recital, and Bunny drove herself and Mariposa
to the Franciscan Girls Club party.  Then we had a family dinner
in the evening.  Whew!  December weekends are packed...

...but we always have time for a nap.

Bunny ran the St. Matthew Christmas Eve play this year.
She did great!  She is a natural leader.
Cousin Aidan and friend MaryLou helped.  Bunny learned
a lot and also racked up hours for her NHS service requirement.
I was grateful that I didn't have to run the play!

Christmas Eve Mass--my sweet family <3