Long time, no blog!

It has been such a long time since I last blogged! I must admit, feel a little guilty for petering out during the school year, but we have been very busy. Starting today, the kids are officially "off" from school for Christmas and I have a little more time than usual. Also, all of the kids' activities are on holiday hiatus, so that means no swim practice, dance class, theater, chess club, scout meetings or soccer. Hooray!

I still have much to do to get ready for Christmas and our upcoming trip to Florida. I have to report that (again) our family yearbooks will not be finished in time for gift giving, but I assure you that I am still working on them and will make sure everyone who wants one gets one. (For those of you who are wondering what the yearbooks are, just imagine a year-in-review magazine featuring just our family.)

A few topics to note:

Elora and Corbin did very well in their first scholastic team chess tournament this school year. Corbin's primary team (K-3) finished in third place overall and Elora won every single one of her games, despite it being her first year in the elementary bracket (4-6) plus she played first board.

The boys had their first theatrical performance last weekend and I must say that they did a great job. The director was a little nervous about what the outcome would be, seeing that Jacob tried to play duck-duck-goose on stage during the dress rehearsal, but fortunately he pulled through for the actual performance.

Corbin as Sniffwhiskers and Jacob as Tripalong in The Mouse That Didn't Believe in Santa Clause

Corby and I were able to attend the annual Margarita Ball at the VBCC this November. This is a charity event that collects Toy-for-Tots in exchange for a night of dancing, food and free margaritas. Since we almost never get to spend a night out together, this was a real treat. Thanks to those who made it possible with tickets and babysitting!

Before leaving for our night on the town

A brief Holiday warning:
For those of you visiting us for Christmas, I just wanted to warn you that our Christmas tree experienced a near topple, multiple items volleyed into it (mostly shoes by Jacob) and a near fire (Corbin playing with the lights) all in the first week of putting it up. It has since had three strands of lights go out (I was able to replace two with solid blue strands we had on hand, but the third is still out), and the bottom branches are sagging nearly to the floor. Yes, Christmas is still on as planned, but you will have to excuse the half-lit monstrosity in the corner. It is still standing, but it does look the worse for wear.

Lastly, I have received a few comments that I perhaps should lay off the political blogs, and I apologize for sometimes voicing my opinion so loudly. I am thinking about starting a separate blog for such ideas. In all likelihood, it would just sit idle most of the time, but when that disgruntled political mood stuck me, I would have a place to release it! Does anyone have any comments or suggestions? What do you think?

Corbin and Jacob riding the Ron Paul float in the Madison Christmas Parade.