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.

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving Day. Mike and Mindy and their family came up from San Antonio and our friends (the Lusks) joined us too. We had way too much pie. But managed to eat it all by Saturday night. Nate brined a turkey this year (it seems a popular option this year) and it was delicious!! We played the candy game. Not much candy, but lots of other prizes. I ran the Turkey Trot in Austin. It was very cold (39 degrees) but fun nonetheless. I'd never run a 5 mile race and really enjoyed it. But it took 3 miles to get warmed up! We saw Enchanted on Saturday. Everyone liked it. Very well done. Nate and Mike got up early on Black Friday for a trip to Best Buy. (Let's just say that I got my Christmas present early as it was too big a box to hide) and the kids have been playing in the box ever since. (I tell you, all you need to give kids for Christmas is sticks, rocks, and a giant cardboard box! Who needs ToysRUs when you can get a box for free!) Hope everyone else had a great holiday as well. We are now gearing up for Christmas...I got out my Christmas dishes! And the candle windmill and song and story books. We are good for the next week or so. Maybe some lights will get up if it warms up some. It's supposed to freeze tonight but be back in the 60's tomorrow afternoon, so maybe...)Happy Holidays everyone!

Remade

I found two tops on clearance at old navy and decided that they would make cute skirts for my girls. So I cut off the straps and added elastic for Aspen's and then made a top to sew onto Hazel's. It was pretty fun!

Enchanted Rock

We went camping with friends a couple saturdays ago out to Enchanted Rock. We love going out there and it was a perfect weekend for camping. not too hot, not too cold (it could have been colder) and we had a great time. The kids played on all the big boulders near our campsite and in the fire (of course) and we ate lots of s'mores. On Saturday we hiked to the top of the Rock. Even Hazel made the climb to the top all by herself (and most of the way down too). She slept so well on the way home!!! They call it Enchanted Rock because of the noises the rock makes as it warms up in the day and cools off in the night. We need to do this more often.