Long Overdue

A long overdue THANKS is in order to a dear friend who has been looking out for me. Arriving from England were:

the cutest linen towel, chicken serviettes (paper napkins) and a henkeeping book, along with a great big, long catch-up letter and a cup of tea with which to enjoy it all. Fun! What an indulgent afternoon all that turned into.

THANKS again! Girlfriends are the best, aren't they?

Socialization

I get a kick out of the inevitable question asked of anyone who finds out that we home school: "What about socialization?"

It's sort of hard to not be around other kids. Between scouts, church, sports, and friends - we get a little too much socialization some days.

But today's activity was what I think of as a great benefit of home schooling. The kids have been working with some friends on staging a play and today was a day to gather, play, and practice. This has all been self-directed and has transpired between kids who are 11, 10, 9, 8, and 7. different ages, different genders, different families. All "socializing".

Can you imagine a better day for rehearsals?

Sending Off 2007

What a fantastic time we had last night sending off 2007 in style!

A total of 9 kids and 8 adults gathered to eat, craft, run around in the dark, parade, make noise and burn things.

We had the kiddie count-down early (at 7:30) so we could all enjoy ourselves and not have to put up with cranky kids on New Year's Day. And here they are all assembled and bedecked with 2008 glasses for the count-down parade.:



And here is the parade kicking off. They paraded down to the dads warming themselves by the fire pit.



10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...Happy New Year! And the confetti went flying:



We wound down with roasting marshmallows and just warming by the fire:



Thank goodness for good friends - what a wonderful way to celebrate a Happy New Year!