Yes, There are Snow Days

The morning I finished my Christmas letter and mailed it to everyone we know I was feeling a little *under the weather*. And when it's a homeschool day and the kids are well but mom is sick, it's not the best time to write the cheery "all is awesome" Christmas letter. So... maybe I was a little out of sorts that day. Anyway, in the letter, I plainly state that homeschoolers have NO SNOW DAYS and NO SICK DAYS. Which, essentially is true - the schools here have had 5 days of weather delays and we've had none. And even when mom is sick, kids can still work independently.



Finally, after stopping myself (yet again) from being a slave to the schedule, I declared last Friday a snow day. We read books, watched movies, and went sledding.


And the kids spent a lot of Monday creating this snowman village in our backyard. They were in the lounge chairs, in the sleds, in the pool, and even peeking in the window.





Happy to be enjoying the snow finally, despite that slave-driver mom. ;)

The Non-Traditional Thanksgiving

Spent in that great Renaissance town, Florence. With Michelangelo, da Vinci, and Galileo, we amazed at David that true Renaissance Man, dropped objects off a bridge to test velocity, and pondered the rotation of the earth around the sun.

We also side-stepped to Pisa and found ourselves in the middle of a large student protest - one of many around Italy that day, apparently. Something about budget cuts.


And a side-trip to a Tuscan vineyard. See how much the kids liked it? Never mind them. The boys have decided they want to be just.like.Ric. So they don't smile anymore. They're smiling on the inside. I'm pretty sure.


With an abundance of pasta, way too much gelato, and a capuccino a day. Add in Italy when it's not hot, there are no lines or crowds, and a family together and joyful; there's a lot to be thankful for.