Happy New Year, Everybody!

Happy New Year! 

O.K., I know it's a little late. We have been busy with the holidays and then right after New Years we had that horrible cold with the cough that never stops hit our home. So 2018 hasn't started off all that great for us, but it can only get better from here. Right?

Christmas was fairly low key around here. We attended Mass on Christmas Eve. Mass was beautiful and was packed of course. I really wish all those people that only attend Mass on Christmas and Easter would see the beauty of attending Mass every Sunday. Mass and receiving Our Lord every Sunday helps me with my daily life. It just adds a peaceful presence to my daily schedule. We sang  O Come, O Come, Emmanuel in Latin and it was divine. Therese sang with such beauty. She has a beautiful voice. She just gets a little nervous when others are listening to her. I wish I could sing that well. Michael didn't altar serve at Mass, he ushered instead. He is a busy young man at church.

On a side note, he passed his test for his 2nd year confirmation prep class. He is well on his way to receiving the sacrament of Confirmation. 

After Mass, we headed out to our annual dinner at the local Chinese restaurant. The past two years it hasn't been that good, so I'm trying to come up with a different alternative for next year. 

What do you do for dinner on Christmas? 

The kids suggested the good, old stand-by of PIZZA!

I actually got to sleep in on Christmas morning. Now that the kids are a little older and no longer believe in the Big Guy, there's no made rush to get up. The actually sleep until 6:30. Yes, that is sleeping in on Christmas morning in this house.  

The kids were thrilled with there gifts. For there big item, Therese got a Fitbit while Michael got an XBox One. I got an Instant Pot and a fantastic pair of Ecco boots. I love them!

For dinner, we had the normal Christmas food...ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, corn, and pie. My in-laws were are only guests this year, so dinner was simple and pretty low key. 

For New Years, we stayed in and celebrated with the kids. I made Chicken lettuce wraps. They have become yearly thing on New Year's Eve in our house. We played the kids new Star Wars and Harry Potter Trivia Pursuit games. 

School was supposed to start back on the 2nd, but with the germs floating around we postponed till the 8th. I didn't hear any complaints from the kids though. 

I just love the flexibility of homeschooling!

So that's what we've been up to the last few weeks. 

I hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas!

Till Next Time,

Monique