We made Christmas Cookies today! The kids were great helpers and Zac was an excellent teacher and supervisor.
We enjoyed our hike at New Hope Overlook so much last weekend, we decided to come back again 7 days later. Jess didn't have Anna this weekend, so we did the big 5.3 mile loop hike as exercise, while Zac took Alice and Simon along the shore to play. The lake was flooded and they had a great time finding treasures that had washed up. Zac also brought along the SLR camera and got some great shots of the kids. A good time was had by all!
The cat has started sitting in the paper bin on the art table, and Simon thinks it the best thing ever. He is always making up new names for her, and here she is known as "Bin Gitten."
Alice and Simon were pleased with their homemade ornaments from Grandpa Shogren!
On Saturday afternoon we met Jess and Anna at Jordan Lake for a hike. The ladies hiked while Zac took Simon fishing along the shore. It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon. Then they came back to our house for hot dogs at the fire pit.
We took our family Christmas photo this morning. It's always stressful because I have to figure out the clothes and fight with people, and we have to get everyone to smile at the same time. I just think it's hilarious how families all over make themselves miserable to appear happy in a photo. But, it's a good way to be sure to get a decent family photo every year.
Yes, that magical day, December 7th, 2020 when Alice could enter school as a fourth grader for the first time. What a weird year! She's does pretty well managing her online classes, but she misses the social aspects of school and is very upset that Simon gets to go more than her (since they prioritized K-3 for rotating back first). So she was pretty excited to go to school for four whole days this week. She won't get to go back again until sometime in January (if we're lucky).
Simon came home from school one day and was so excited because he'd won a lolipop playing Bingo at school. So I printed off some Bingo cards and now we play Bingo after supper sometimes. Simon gets really into it.
Since outdoor activities are the only safe way to socialize right now, I try to ocassional plan hikes or fire-pit gatherings with friends, so we can still stay connected. Today, I took Alice to Yates Mill Pond for a hike with Izzy and Natasha. This place is an old favorite of ours.
Now that the fire pit and most of the stone path are complete, Zac has been able to turn his attention to other parts of our landscaping master plan. He took down this scraggly cyprus tree, and replaced it with a magnolia and what will hopefully become a lovely shrub and fern patch. He loves being able to get a variety of activities done in his free time now.
I went on a cleaning rampage, and as I was cleaning up the art room, I came across some dragons Alice has been working on lately. Whenever I tell her to clean up, she usually just throws everything away, so I was glad to be able to take pictures of these before they got trashed.
