It’s that time a year again for the bustle and hustle of holiday preparations. We are incorporating some of these activities into our homeschool days. The kids always make contributions to the family newsletter and putting them into the Christmas cards, but this year I am enlisting their help in addressing the envelopes and writing little messages in the cards themselves. In the past I have taken several days to do this, but with their help we should make short work of it. This will be in lieu of some of their English assignments. We are also planning to do some festive cookie baking and will need recipes doubling and even tripling. This will provide some good math fraction practice and excellent home economics skills.

My son has chosen to read Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol for his literature this month. I am so tickled by his choice not only because Dickens is one of my favorite authors but also because he has finally shown an interest in reading to a certain extent. Last month he read The Time Machine and the month before The Call of the Wild and totally enjoyed them both. I consider this a huge accomplishment considering his disdain for reading. My daughter has discovered the original Nancy Drew books and has finally found a vein of books that she thoroughly enjoys. The kids finally enjoying reading something is just huge in my book.

On a completely different note I wanted to share some exciting news. The day I went into the hospital my oldest and his fiancé announced a date for their wedding. They will be getting married March 20th. I am so excited for them and can’t wait to have a daughter-in-law. There is so much to do and so little time but I am sure it will be the perfect wedding for them.