Christmas

Sylvia's been too busy to update the blog, so I'll put a few words on here.

The Christmas season has been fairly busy for us as usual. I've been working hard to finish up a lot of jobs, and got them all finished! I've been relaxing quite a bit the last 2 days. Just what the doctor ordered. Nancy has been very busy with church planning. She and pastor Clayton have been working hard to develop a lessons-and-carols service for Christmas Eve (tonight) and Christmas morning service. We've got a large number of instrumentalists playing for both. I'm particularly excited over one college gal who will be singing a couple solos and in a quartet. She's the daughter of one of our members, now home from college, and she has the most beautiful voice! (And remember, this is coming from someone with two degrees in Vocal Performance.) I'm just about giddy to hear her sing "O Holy Night" tonight.
The choir is also well prepared on a few pieces, and the brass group should also be very good. It's going to be a beautiful service, and we give all the glory and honor to God our King for the gifts of music he has bestowed on us and for us.

My parents were here for a few days this week, but are now in Florida with my older brother. My younger brother arrives this afternoon, and will spend Christmas day with us. Then on the 26th, we all leave for Florida, but Noah will stop in TN to pick up his wife from an airport, and then perform a gig before joining us in FL on the 27th or 28th.

Last week the flu bug hit our family, and all the kids but Sylvia got it. It was a mild strain, though, and most of the kids only threw up once or twice. Glad to have that over early this year, and not share it with family as we have in years past.

Right now the kids and Nancy are cleaning house, and I'll soon be finishing the Christmas letters and doing a few home repairs. Wood box is full of good seasoned hardwood, sun is shining, frost is on the ground, and we're all really looking forward to the next week of rest and family.

We hope your Christmas will be as merry and loving, and give God all the thanks and glory!

A Typical Peterson Schoolday

School starts at 8:30 with mostly independent work. It's Knut's turn for the piano, I help Gloria with her violin lesson, Mom helps Thor with his schoolwork. Cecily usually starts her piano practice at 8:00 and practices until about 8:30, or else she goes over to Shady Oaks at 8:30 to practice there while Knut uses the piano at home. At about 8:45 or later, Gloria goes downstairs to do her other schoolwork with Mom and I start working on Spanish.

9:00 is Circle Time. We gather in the living room to sing hymns, or as we've been doing lately,  practice Peterson Family Singers or Lyceum Choir pieces for upcoming concerts. Then we move to the great room to work on Bible memory, read a chapter of whatever read-aloud book we're doing, and do History or Science. Mondays and Wednesdays are History days, for which we all stay together. Mom will read the lesson aloud as we all answer questions in our workbooks, and then some of us have map work and For Further Study questions (according to age). Tuesdays and Thursdays are Science days, and since Knut and I each have a separate Science program, we leave to do other schoolwork rather than listening in.

Around 10:45 is the optional snack break, then back to independent work. Thor and Gloria practice the piano sometime between now and lunchtime, and I practice piano and violin. (Not simultaneously.) Cecily does her flute practice and Knut and Thor each practice their trumpets. 5 pianists, 2 trumpeters, 1 flutist, 2 violinists... makes for a lot of practice time. :)

After lunch the younger ones are usually done unless they haven't been focusing. Cecily usually just has a little bit to finish up, and Knut is generally finished within an hour. I... am not. :(

That's the structure, but it doesn't always work. Bjorn and Rosemary can play quietly somewhere else in the house or sit quietly and listen, but they don't always like to be quiet... and when we don't see them or hear them, it usually means they're up to something. Some of their latest escapades (during school or otherwise) have been:

-Finding candy, hiding behind Knut's bed, and eating it
-Going into the Lego room and having... fun... destroying things
-Dumping spices from the spice cupboard all over the kitchen
-And pretty much wreaking havoc wherever they go.

Let's just say that they can make school interesting! :)

Or sometimes this happens:

Rosemary: Bi'cut! Rea'book!
(Rosemary climbs onto someone's lap and shoves a book into their hands)
Mom: And now we will read Biscuit Finds a Friend.
Sylvia: It has extraordinary educational value about the behavioral patterns of dogs and ducks.
(Someone reads the book to Rosemary)

Fun Quotes

Hope this makes you laugh. :)

In a large auditorium at university, the lecturer began by saying, 'If you can't hear me up at the back, put your hands up.' A row of hands went up...

Duct tape is like the Force; it has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the world together.

Two cows were standing in a field. One cow turns to the other and says, "Moo." The other replies, "I was just about to say that!!"

Police were called to a day care where a three-year-old was...resisting a rest.

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Some poems rhyme,
And some don't.
There are three kinds of people in the world: people who can count and people who can't count. I would fall into the latter category.

A balanced diet is a chocolate chip cookie in each hand.

Life is like a corn dog, I don't know why, it just is.

If Life hands you lemons, make grape juice. Then sit back and watch as the world wonders how you did it.

I am a nobody. Nobody is perfect. Therefore, I am perfect.

What happens if you get scared half to death twice?

Practice makes perfect... But nobody's perfect... so why practice?

My mind works like lightning. One brilliant flash and then it's gone...

I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying. -Oscar Wilde

I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger...then it hit me.
75% of all Internet quotes are fake. - Abraham Lincoln.

I'm not talking to myself. I'm having a parent-teacher conference. -Homeschool Mom
To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing." -Elbert Hubbard

"The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense." -Tom Clancy

"Failure? I never encountered it. All I ever met were temporary setbacks." -Dottie Walters

“Wear the old coat and buy the new book” -Austin Phelps

I’m not random; you just can’t think as fast as me.

Honk if you love Jesus. Text while driving if you want to meet him.

Some people blame our generation. But do they ever stop to think who raised us?

Homeschooling didn't make me weird. I'm just a weird person who happens to be homeschooled.

My high school reunion happens every time I look in the mirror!

Knowledge is Power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be Evil.

Note: These quotes are from various places around the Internet. As far as I know, none of them are copyrighted.