Trimming the Tree

We got the Christmas tree up this week.  Todd and I unpacked it's artificial goodness and set it up one evening, sans kids.  Then after school the following day, the kids put on all the ornaments.  There was a clear line of demarcation about 3/4 of the way up the tree.  That was where their reach ended.  I left it that way, because it's kind of cute, and next year the line will be just a little higher.

There was a lot of discussion from the eldest that it was his turn to put the star on top.  We all knew that Henry did it last year because we took photographic evidence (so, so handy).  Josiah felt it should be his turn next, but upon closer examination it was determined that Caroline had never done it before because the year before Henry's turn she would have been only one and it was highly unlikely we would have given her the star.  So, after all of that, Caroline hung the star.  We again have photographic evidence, although it probably isn't necessary, as Josiah will remember all year long that his turn is next.  

They love the tree, they love turning on its lights, and they now love to do their schoolwork under it.  It started with Josiah taking his math workbook and doing it there.  It began nice and quiet, but then the other two got some schoolwork of their own and set up shop next to Josiah.  Then the talking began.  Henry was trying to do handwriting, which wasn't exactly proper handwriting posture, and they were talking non-stop which is really hard to write, think, do math, and talk all at once.  We did all of our corrections in the school room.  But they were motivated to do all their work that day.  They loved getting the next subject and going off to the tree.

Henry had his WAM concert this week.  Being a church performance, he wore his best pair of sweatpants.  He takes his comfortable pants seriously.   He did a really good job.  He did all of the hand motions,


the rhythm sticks,


and the ribbon.


He knew it all, but he didn't sing too much.  It was amazing how different Caroline's concert was with three-year-olds and Henry's with kindergartners.  Caroline's had about half the kids following the hand motions and maybe 1% of the kids singing.  Henry's had all the kids, but one, doing the hand motions and about 60% singing.  There was one kid, front and center in Henry's group which stood the whole time.  He didn't sing, he didn't do hand motions, he moved his body in no such way, he just stared at the parents.  It was pretty funny.  We were watching Henry for the most part and he was trying not to look at us, but every now and then he'd steal a glance and try not to smile.

We were really proud of him and he was quite happy with himself, too.  Later, Todd said that when he was watching the concert, he was looking at all of the kids and his thought was, "Henry could take down all of these kids."  Todd's been working on some jiu-jitsu moves with all the kids.  I did bring up the fluffier kid in the class and Todd said that Henry could still take him because he'd tire out quicker.

The kids were invited to a Christmas party from a friend at karate.  It was a big party and we knew no one but the host, but she had it planned out.  She used to teach early elementary school (and homeschools now), so she had a schedule!  She read books, did games, had crafts, had crafts to take home, and we had a potluck lunch.  I didn't totally realize it was a lunch, so when I was deciding on what to bring, I thought it was sweets.  I found an allergen-free gingerbread recipe because her son has a peanut and dairy allergy (like anaphylactic, super allergic).  I have never been more nervous to have someone eat something I've baked.  Fortunately he ate it without incidence.  We could never host a get-together at our house with someone with a peanut allergy, because we eat peanut butter every day around here and no matter how much I clean, I'm sure there's some lurking somewhere.

For one of the games, we had to tie cups around the kids' waists and fill them with jingle bells.  Then they went head-to-head against another kid, trying to get the bells out of their cup first without using their hands.  All three of our kids lost to their opponents.  Caroline still thinks she won her round, Josiah got over it quickly, but Henry was not a happy camper about it for quite a while.

This weekend was spent hanging around the house because we have this going on:

We discovered a few months ago that our patio roof/posts were breaking away from the house.

They were breaking on the one side and on the other side the posts were lifting up.  Todd was sort of hoping for a big storm to come around and knock the whole structure down so the insurance would help out a little, but no such storm came.  So, we discovered a guy from church had a business that did this sort of thing.  The workers revealed that the previous posts were sunk in 6 inches of concrete.  They were sinking the new posts in 3 feet of concrete.  Slightly more secure.  The soil here in this part of Texas doesn't seem to be the best.  I don't know exactly what they mean when they say, poor soil, but we've heard it several times.  We do see lots of jagged sidewalks, though.

As of right now they were supposed to be finished with their work on Saturday.  But they haven't finished the posts, and they haven't even started fixing the roofing or painting the whole underside.  Fortunately we aren't in a hurry, so hopefully it'll all get done this week.  It does keep the kids entertained watching them.

One more week of school before our two-week winter break!  Hallelujah!