Looking Back: Early December

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This is one in a series of posts that will look back at things that happened during the Fall 2010 semester when life got too busy to post.

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Well, December got down to crunch time, school-wise speaking. I started to feel like I was catching up, and then BOOM! I flipped the calendar to December and that feeling was GONE. Still, wife and mommy are the first priority, so I made time for the important stuff. . .

Like decorating gingerbread houses with the third grade! The kids were very serious about this task - some of them arranging candy just so, and some of them using the "throw a handful and see what sticks" method. Some rather creative boys even made palm trees out of ice cream cones and sour apple rings - a tropical Christmas, if you will. Here's Gracie in progress:


Gracie with her finished house:


And Gracie's class proudly showing off their creations:


The night I finished my current issue research report was also the night of our Sunday School Class Christmas party. It was so nice to have that report finished and kick back with friends! I actually remembered to hand off the camera and get a photo of myself with Jerry!


In the middle of all this rush, we decided to take the plunge into organized sports. When we were living in Texas, our church hosted an Upward Sports team, and we decided that would be a good entry point for our girls as well. Maggie decided to try out basketball, and Gracie wanted to do cheerleading. So far they are having a good time at practice. The first games aren't until the second Saturday in January.




Of course, the mad rush up to Christmas wouldn't be complete without trying to get a Christmas Card photo in. Here's the girls, giving me something to focus on:


And here's me trying out my new remote control shutter release - one of the best inventions ever!


And here we all are, right in our places with bright shining faces!


We barely got the cards ordered in time - UPS drove up and literally handed them to me as we packed the van to head to Texas. I grabbed the address labels to print out when we got there, but then ended up addressing them by hand as Jerry drove. Just trying to use my time wisely!