Busy!

Wow, you don't update for a day because you're so busy, and whooops, weeks pass! Of course I have all kinds of nifty pictures in my camera somewhere, and maybe one day I'll even post them. For now, you'll have to take my word for all the things we've been into:

1) knitting. Sophine has absolutely fallen in love with knitting, and her skills are so much better than last year. We're working on a sleeping bag for Heidi's favorite stuffed animal, so that should keep us busy for a couple of weeks.

2) drawing. Kid the Older keeps amazing me with wanting to do schooly work during our school hiatus. I had told her the story of Jorinda and Joringel two weeks ago. At the mention of the witch, her eyes got soooooooooo big, and a couple of days later she wanted to draw the picture. And wow, she did a wonderful job. With help, she actually worked on the drawing for 1 1/2 hours, on paper much too large for her lesson book, and just beautifully done.

3)baking: muffins, pies (pumkin pie with coconut milk rocks), but then we're kind of coconut freaks over here.

4) friends: after a very busy fall where we have seen practically noone, we discovered again just how fun it is to play with friends. Turns out we have a few of those, and they're very forgiving and inviting! Yay to friends!!! Sophine has been able to try on her independence as she ventures alone to a friend's house. Once I overcome the shock of being childless for a full two hours, I usually find a book to read or project to finish.

And then of course we had Thanksgiving. This year was the first time we were on our own, so we made two pies, roasted a chicken and enjoyed a quiet kind of day. The kids had a wonderful time making placemats for everyone. Sophine struggled a bit with her sensory issues, so it was just as well that we didn't have to focus on others along with her, and in the end we had a lovely meal and talked about things we are thankful for. There are so many this year, we feel truly blessed.

This week the busyness continues as we get into our holiday projects, present making, card sending, letter writing, gingerbread house decorating and myriad other tasks that make up this season of togetherness in our home. I hope you all get to spend this season with loved ones and away from the commercial crazyness and dogs barking Christmas carols. May there be gallons of apple cider, tons of cookies and mountains of love in your life instead!