{SQT} Christmas Octave, Continued

1. Weekend

Over the weekend, the girls attended a young ladies' Christmas tea and ornament exchange--always enjoyable! After Mass on Sunday, I organized our first practice with team members for the Catholic Quiz Bowl upcoming. There was much riotous laughter and some excellent display of catechetical knowledge! Then that evening, we continued on to a pizza dinner with friends and visiting the Kannapolis Christmas. We had the park to ourselves because of the slightest drizzle, which was hardly bothersome in the 65-degree weather. Tip for locals: Kannapolis is a great Christmas event for large families because entry to the park and viewing of the lights is free and the various activities (train, carousel) are only $1 per person.

2. Ice Skating

Monday and Tuesday mornings started bright and early for John, who did 90 minutes each day of a power skating ice hockey camp. They were tough workouts!

On Monday afternoon, our children went ice skating with a bunch of friends and had the best time. I stayed home with napping toddler so I could do major homeschool lesson planning for the next semester.

3. New Year's Eve 2019

On New Year's Eve, I tried to make a fancier meal to celebrate--pork chops--and only one kid vomited in disgust during the meal, so maybe that was a success? We had Mary's homemade chocolate chip cookies with (store-bought) ice cream for dessert.

After dinner, we went for a family walk to see Christmas lights, which was a grand adventure for the young'uns.

Then the little boys, followed soon after by Mama, went to bed while Night Owl Daddy stayed up with the older children, first praying the rosary and Te Deum, then playing board games and watching "Cinderella" (2015).

4. Charlotte Motor Speedway Christmas Lights

After a few years' hiatus, we visited the Charlotte Motor Speedway Christmas Lights on January 2nd. While the lights are fun, both the children and we fine the accompanying music so modern and jarring that we turn off the assigned radio station and drive through in quiet.

5. Gingerbread Houses

6. Friday Fun

Friday began with homemade hot cocoa and store-bought stroopwafels for breakfast.

I've been reading aloud "The Phantom Tollbooth" to everyone most mornings at breakfast and have been reading "The Happy Holisters" just to Joseph (almost 7) most mornings at 6:00 a.m. when he and I are alone. Both highly recommended! I will miss all this relaxed time to read aloud when school resumes.

John's thirteenth birthday gift from us, his parents, was a planned trip to K-1 Speedway with a buddy. The fellas ended up going on Friday, had a fantastic time, and let's just say that it was a Very Good Thing that this mama knew only that these were "fancy go karts" and did not know that they were 45 mile-per-hour racers.

Also on Friday, I took our two daughters to see "Little Women" (2019) (see the detailed review at Plugged In Online). One of our daughters has read the tome multiple times through and the other one is working her way through it. We had a wonderful time!

7. School Planning for Second Semester

Now that I'm juggling four grades combining all my own chosen curricula (not a boxed set), as well as online courses with five different teachers/organizations, I've decided yet again to try using an electronic homeschool planner. In the past when I've tried it, the learning curve was too steep to be worth organizing fewer grades and at lower levels. Now that I have more grades and at higher levels, I think it will be worthwhile. I asked around and learned that many online organizers have been developed even in the last couple of years and I decided to try Homeschool Planet. I cannot give a review yet, but I spent many cracks of time during our Christmas break learning how to use it and populating the lesson plans for all my school children for the second semester of the academic year.

We resume on Tuesday . . . pray for us!


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