Here Comes Santicló

Thanksgiving is really a sort of holiday kick-start, isn't it? The week before Thanksgiving, we finished giving the house a thorough cleaning, down to the ceiling fan blades, and we wrote a dozen iterations of our proposed menu. With Danny still working on midnights and averaging about 4 hours of sleep per day, he was, as usual, very concerned about the details. And I, as usual, was excited for my parents to come because I knew that when they arrived everything would fall into place. And it did!

We hosted my parents, my brother and his wife, and my cousin, and her family for the Thanksgiving weekend. Our Halloween pumpkins (uncarved) and tangerines were quickly repurposed into table decor, with a couple leaves from the front lawn.  Mom baked a turkey, and we spent the weekend sight-seeing at the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum and the National Harbor. As soon as our guests left, the Christmas tree was put up and we haven't stopped writing, shopping, wrapping, singing, licking envelopes, planning, scheduling, thinking, or shopping for Christmas since. Except for that time Fidel Castro died. What's a Cubanita to do? Celebrate the end of that symbol of oppression with a modest, silent salsa dance. In Virginia? Si señor!

I suppose we are in the middle of the holiday season now. My room is buried in wrapping paper shavings and Christmas card envelopes that were discarded for imperfect cursive slants, misspellings, and accidental duplicates. Gigi decorated the stair banisters with my nativity stamps. She won't be doing that again. The kids are super excited. The three oldest used their birthday money to buy each other some really great gifts! They chose to do it of their own volition and I have been really impressed by their sweet spirit. I overheard this conversation between Nico and Danny a few days ago:

N: I am excited about opening presents this year, but I am even *more* excited to see people's faces when they open their presents cuz I got such good presents!

D: When another's person's happiness is what makes you happy, that's part of knowing what it is to love someone.

Tear jerker, right? There, now you don't have to watch It's a Wonderful Life. Boom. You're welcome. Maybe I will call that tender moment to mind next time Gigi uses half a bottle of Elmer's glue to paste her coloring sheets to the wall. But she won't be doing that again.

This morning, after a quick perusal of Ponce de Leon, Hernando de Soto, and Jacques Cartier, we officially wrapped up our homeschool studies for this year! One of my favorite learning adventures this year was to a nearby homestead. The kids learned what it takes to raise dairy goats on a small farm. Part of their responsibilities for the afternoon included bringing in the goats from pasture, brushing them, checking for signs of disease or poor health, clipping their hooves, and milking them. They also got a quick run-down on egg-laying operations, and rabbit farming. Farming is one of my dreams. God has not allowed me (yet) to see it through, but who knows. Maybe one day Gigi will buy me a farm. It's the least she can do.

The farm trip was one of the ways God underscored that His hand has been with us in this year's homeschool journey. Having just finished our science unit on birds, the kids understood the difference between fertilized and unfertilized eggs, the social psychology of hens, and the safety features of the coop and chicken run. When we visited the rabbit pens, the farmer explained that the mother rabbits would pull out their own fur to create nesting material for the newborn rabbits. The kids were able to draw on their science lessons to compare that to how hens will pluck bald patches on their chests to increase their eggs' access to their  body warmth. This of course segued to the sacrifices of motherhood. And then Gigi sneaked a touch on the electric fence. She won't be doing that again either!

We are now on the drive down to south Florida. As we chug along, the older kids follow the route with an old road atlas. In between shouts of "what mile marker did we just pass?" we are listening to an audiobook of Scott O'Dell's "The Hawk That Dare Not Hunt By Day." And when we get tired of that, there are various music playlists on my phone, or rounds of Rock, Paper, Scissors, part 2. The kids will say, "Rock, paper, scissors shoot, anything you wanna choose!" And then one of them will say something destructive like "a fire-breathing lion!" And the other will answer back with something like, "Fidel Castro on a red golf-cart!" and then they would describe the cataclysmic confrontation and who would win and how. Somehow, an "egg salad sandwich" became the wild card that trumps all others. We are excited to be almost home. We will spend the next two weeks trying to see family and homeschool friends and church friends every waking hour of the day! Park dates, Christmas concerts, luncheons, sleepovers.... If we look a little haggard, you know why. But it's going to be worth it!