Halleluia!!

Last night we observed one of my favorite holiday family traditions. We went to hear Handel's Messiah performed by the Austin Symphony Orchestra. We took Toby, Aspen, and Isaac with us this year. The first notes played by the orchestra reminded me why I love to hear good music live. Instantly I felt calmed and uplifted. Handel's Messiah is such a beautiful piece both musically as well as it's text. Listening to this kind of music helps me to forget the world around me. It doesn't work with recorded music. It only happens when I hear it in person. I need to attend concerts more often I guess. The kids really enjoyed it too.

Homework

Aspen came home from school last week with an unusual assignment: she was supposed to make a flashlight from scratch. Luckily we had all the parts already...Toby had an electronics kit from a couple years ago. Even though the due date was a week away, Aspen had hers done the first night! She did a great job...got a 95/100. She had to present her project first and explain her circuit and how the light worked (so she was docked a bit for the nervousness). I'm glad when she gets excited about her education.

Lights...

I got the lights up the other day. I love my house lights!! I've decided to go slow on the decorating this year. I got out the important things: the Little People Nativity, the nativity candle windmill, the Christmas dishes that we only use during December, and the stockings. And of course the music. We'll get the tree in a couple weekends. Maybe some lighted garlands for the banister (I love the effect, but it is time consuming to straighten out all those pine branches after being stuffed in a box for the year. ) We are going a little low key this year.

Red sky at night...

There have been some glorious sunsets here lately. This one was particularly beautiful. It seemed that the whole sky was burning.