Christmas Eve 2017

Christmas Eve this year was wonderful given that it was on a Sunday and Gabe didn't have to work! So, we spent the day relaxing, making soup and getting the last few things ready for Christmas. The Christmas Eve service found the kids singing beautifully and they all ended up singing with Gabe in the "Not Quite Ready of Primetime Choir".  We came home, said Merry Christmas to Grandpa's tree and the kids opened up their Christmas Eve gift.  We left milk and cookies for Santa and the kids all feel asleep with their Santa hats:)

Christmas Preparations: Part 2

To check so more Christmas things off the list, we had the annual pageant Sunday at church this week.  Ben was Joseph this year, Noah was a narrator, James a shepherd, and Audrey was some type of shepherd too although it was still unclear at pageant time what she actually wanted to be. Noah played Away in a Manger on his violin by himself at the beginning of the service.  He was nervous and hadn't practiced as much as he should have, but he did an amazing job!

This week we also got to attend a school time (read: inexpensive) performance of the Nutcracker by the Portland Ballet.  We were a big "homeschool" group and we had amazing seats in the front of the balcony to see everything.  After we enjoyed more time with friends for pizza, throwing caution to the wind, and ignoring the snowstorm that was happening outside.  We still need to eat before we drive home in a snow storm, right?!?!?!?!?

Christmas Preparations: Part 1

We got the tree up and mostly decorated this week.  I don't have a picture, but the smaller tree is in our living room and as been named "the Grandpa tree".  The kids put all of Grandpa's ornaments on it as well as things they think he would like to see or know about in their lives... I don't want to cry every time I look at it... 

This weekend we hosted our annual Christmas party complete with sugar cookies, ice skating and a visit from Santa.  Ben received an early Christmas gift from a friend who saw this sweatband set and thought it would be perfect for him... can you believe someone was giving it away as a donation?!?!? Obviously the sweatband is still a thing, it only comes off for swimming and showering... I hope he doesn't start to lose the hair under it;)  Audrey is very ready for ski season to start and wears her helmet often, just in case.

Millinocket Half Marathon 2017

A year ago, after the 2nd Millinocket Marathon, I signed Gabe, Noah and I up for the half marathon thinking that we should hold spots just in case we decided to run it.  After our 10K Blueberry Festival run in August and Noah's comment about only running 5Ks from now on, I thought there was very little chance we would run the half marathon.  In September I checked with Noah to make our running schedule for the fall and to confirm that he definitely didn't want to run the half.  I should have known better... he was excited to run a half marathon and despite my efforts to stress the amount of training, etc. he would have to do he was still on board. So, we (here I mean Noah and I, Gabe thinks he is still young enough just go out and run 13.1 miles with minimal training) have been working hard all fall to be ready.

The race itself was a really cool experience simply in the volume of people it attracted.  We arrived the night before to check out the finish line with my nephew's log truck and to take some pictures.  The weather was really quite perfect and the sky was clear enough to see Mt. Katahdin from the Golden Road. We all had a great race, but were glad to be done;) Noah got to meet the race director, Gary Allen, after we finished and Gary gave him a special sea to summit medal.  Now Noah is determined to earn his own Sea to Summit medal next year, so I guess that means we will be running two half marathons next fall;)  

Chester Greenwood Day 2017

This week was a wild one, but we did get to check Titcomb Mountain auction, Chester Greenwood Day, getting a Christmas tree, Noah's violin concert and James' basketball off the list... that and some school mixed in there somewhere;)

Gabe finally got to march in the Chester Greenwood Day parade with the juggling group!  He wished he hadn't had such a fun time the night before, but he pulled through and had a blast. The kids and I always enjoying watching this parade and seeing all of the great floats.  It isn't often you get to see a parade in Maine in winter and when you get to watch it with friends, it's even better!

After the parade we stopped and picked out our Christmas tree... or two trees.  Gabe wouldn't allow us to get the biggest tree (per usual and probably for good reason) so the compromise this year was to also get this little tree for $15 that Ben insisted (adamantly) that we get.  What would we do with two trees?  Stay tuned, I'll try and remember to post a picture... as it turned out he had a specific plan in mind all along.

This week also brought the first concert of the year for Noah who played the violin and sang in the chorus.  James was also busy playing basketball this month on the Celtics.  He is really getting the hang of the game this year, but sometimes gets a bit too aggressive and forgets about going for the ball and not just the person with the ball.

School is going really well so far this year with more independent work for Noah and James while Ben and Audrey are filling their days with some work, but still more play than school work.  We are revisiting the human body in science.