lanterns for Lunar New Year

On Wednesday morning, PPS finally decided that our children were heading back to school (with a two-hour delayed start, but still very welcome news!). We've had 9 snow days so far this year - 4 in December, and 5 in January - plus 2 weeks for Christmas and MLK Day. Basically, we've forgotten what school is, and what work is, and we're just hanging out together at home. :)

One small nice thing: when there's snow on the ground and covering his soccer field, Sebastian loves to go out for walks with us. He kept saying, every day at some point, "Do you want to go out for a walk with me? Maybe down to the pond? How about up the hill, or the Bompy loop?" He would bring along his trusty red sled and throw himself onto it at every slight decline, shooting headfirst downhill. It was altogether delightful to have his enthusiastic company on so many snow tromps. Nice to exercise together; nice to talk and laugh with him.

Before school started on Wednesday, we decorated for the upcoming Chinese New Year. Liesl drew a dragon and a rooster; I wrote some Chinese characters; all three of us made paper lanterns.

On Tuesday, I baked a huge pumpkin bread and made them write about their winter vacations and snow days. Grumbling ensued, kept in check by the promise of some videos later in the day.