Merry Christmas!

 

I realize it's the fifth day of Christmas, but at least I've got pictures up before the new year!

This is pretty much a photo dump from Christmas morning with my family.

The End of Advent

 So we are backtracking here, to explain some pictures and things from before Christmas.  The younger boys and I enjoyed a night of Lessons and Carols at the beautiful candlelit St. Martin of Tours in Louisville.

Then, the boys reminded me that I had promised to let them make Christmas turkey cookies.  Gyunay had received turkey cookie cutters shortly after Thanksgiving, and so I said they could make them for Christmas.  Naturally, I forgot, but the boys did not!

Here is one of the turkeys before decorating:

We also did some gingerbread men and Christmas trees.  They had fun, even though the icing didn't spread well.

And of course, this guy turned 11!

He got to enjoy his birthday the day before we had our family Christmas and then headed into my parents' house to have family gatherings and of course, actual Christmas.

Projects

 We've been busy getting ready for Christmas around here.  I finished my nephew's crocheted jellyfish:

I really do like making these, especially the tentacles.  

And the boys went to the extension office today for a crafting extravaganza.  They each brought home 4 wrapped presents, plus a real wreath!

So I added them out front.

We already had a huge wreath on the front door.  It was a gift for Nathaniel and arrived last week.

I've always enjoyed fresh wreaths, and sometimes I've been to workshops to make them, but we often don't have one.  This year, we have 3!

Christmas Break

 It's not Christmas yet, but it is Christmas break, and the youngest boys are really enjoying having all of their big brothers home.

Pilot has been playing basketball with them quite a bit, and they love that, too.  

We're all trying to get ready for Christmas.  I made my niece a nightgown:

It's been a while since I could make cute little girl things.  Now I just need to make the matching doll nightgown for her.  I'll have a picture soon of the crochet I've been working on for my nephew.  Things are starting to come together.  

Concert Week

 Last week was concert week.  We started off with Lydia's first concert, ever.

She did very well.  Emry and Gyunay were able to attend that concert with me.

The next day, all of the kids and I headed to NKU for Malachi's concert.

As always, his concert was amazing.  

We headed home without him or Pilot, since this week is finals week, but both of them will be joining us soon. 

Book Review - The Warsaw Sisters by Amanda Barratt

 

I'm no novice to WWII fiction, or non-fiction for that matter.  I started reading Holocaust accounts when I was about 12 and never stopped, so I can confidently say that the author did her research on this story.  I had to take this story slowly, as it is emotionally draining and very true to the historic period it describes.  The author doesn't shy from the horror of what happened to the Polish people during the war, and she depicts the Jews' plight as well as the Christian "average citizen".  I also love that she included real people and events that I recognized, though I won't spoil.  Read the author's note at the end!  It took me a while at first to sort out the sisters' personalities, and the jumps in time took a bit to get used to.  For these reasons, I give it 4.5 stars.  Overall, though, I enjoyed the development of the characters.  I liked the inclusion of many secondary characters, even ones that were only depicted briefly, because they gave a depth and realism to the story.  

I recommend this book.  It is hard in many places, but we need to hear these types of stories.  This would make an excellent book group pick for deep discussion.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but all opinions are my own.

November Harvest Totals, an Art Show, and Swimming

First up, our November Harvest total was:

153 eggs

That's it.

Next, you may recall that I have tried for years to get Gyunay into some swimming lessons that will actually teach him to swim.  Having one arm makes swimming more difficult, of course.  So does having autism.  Throw in the fact that he really only learns one-on-one, in a quiet environment, and well, it's taken me years of trial and error to get this poor kid swim lessons that may actual teach him to not drown.  

For the first time in years, I finally have a promising option, and his first lesson was this week.  It went better than any other lesson we've tried, and it was only his teacher and him in the pool.  He had a huge smile on his face the whole time he was above water.  Finally, we have hope that he may learn to swim!

In other news, Lydia's work is on display at her school's art gallery this week.  She had to attend a reception and answer visitors' questions about her art.  She was nervous, but it went really well.

She's particularly proud of her bowls, which were all made on the wheel.

Her platypus family was a hit, too.  We really enjoyed seeing all the kids' displays, and the younger boys were really impressed by what can be done with clay.  They love their pottery class, and they appreciated the skill involved. 

 

Thanksgiving

 

It's been a busy time for us.  For Thanksgiving, we always go visit my in-laws, and this year was no exception.

Malachi and Pilot joined us, on break from college.  We also got to see Nathaniel's sisters, brother-in-law, and our niece and nephews, plus our good friends.

We had our dogs with us, which was greatly appreciated by my niece!

On Thanksgiving day, we went for a nice walk in the woods at a nature preserve where my father-in-law volunteers.

I do so love a walk in the woods, even if I can't walk as long as I'd like.

Hickory Nuts

 This year has been a banner year for nuts of all types.  The acorns are everywhere, our walnut tree that has looked like it's going to die every year since we've lived here produced lots of walnuts, and the hickory trees have spread their nuts all over our yard.  We've never tried to harvest the hickory nuts before, but I've heard they're tasty, and there are tons this year, so Gyunay worked on filling the 5-gallon bucket while Emry worked on raking.

We had an impressive amount of nuts, and the boys took turns breaking a few open with a hammer.

Then the three of us tried a hickory nut.  The boys instantly ran to spit it out.  It gave the mouth a feeling of eating an unripe persimmon, with an unpleasant aftertaste.  I went inside and researched hickory nuts to see what we could have done wrong.  There are 4 or 5 types of delicious hickory nuts, described as having a slight maple flavor and being well worth the work of getting them out of the shell.  However, there is one variety of hickory nut that is inedible: the bitternut hickory.  I can guess which kind we have.

The younger kids and I made a weekend visit to my family last weekend.  We had a much-overdue family gathering.

It was great to see so many relatives that live close, but we haven't visited in years.

Naturally, we also spent time at Nana and Pa's, and the cousins had a lot of fun.

Introducing Maple and Camping Recap

So we got a bit ridiculous and got another puppy.

She's an adorable beagle.  We call her Maple.

Acorn is getting used to the idea.  

I haven't posted much because I've been having trouble uploading pictures.  I finally got some done, and here is a quick camping recap:

Lydia carved her first pumpkin.  She came home and carved two more.

The kids had a blast at camping. Nathaniel stayed for 4 nights, and Emry was there for the whole time.  Lydia stayed 3, and poor Gyunay got sick and only had 2 nights.  

We went to Spring Mill, which is my favorite park to visit, mostly because of the pioneer village.  I went up for 2 days/1night.  I'm still recovering.

Elijah also went for a couple of days, but I wasn't there when he was, so he isn't in any of my photos.