Our 2019 Tree: The Lowes Skinny Tree

After last year's tree cutting fiasco, we decided to try buying a pre-cut tree this year.  It was taller, and it was skinnier, but skinny turned out to be just what we needed since Luna's cage is where we used to put our tree.  Most importantly, it wasn't deadly and no insects were coming out of it.

We got the tree right when Advent began, but waited to decorate it until Gaudate Sunday.

Our Altar with our biggest nativity scene with our O Antiphons gathering in front as we do them.

The stockings were hung on the banister with care.

Genevieve has been working hard on her hand-lettering.  She even started a blog all about hand-lettering.  Here's a couple of her Christmas ones.

Some Home-made Christmas Gifts

I made this little Altoid Tin Dinoland for my godson.  It was remarkably easy and pretty quick, all things considered.  I bought the little dinosaurs at Hobby Lobby and was inspired.  

I made a wooden peg Nativity set for my nephew.  This was not quick or easy.  I started work on this before Thanksgiving and finished just days before Christmas.  I liked the end product though and might make a couple more sets for gifts next year.

Three Wise Men

The Holy Family

Donkey, three angels, sheep, and a shepherd

I painted Bethlehem on paper and decoupaged it onto the ends of this wooden box that I got at Hobby Lobby.  I took my peg people to the store to make sure the peg people would fit.  On one side I painted "Turner's Nativity."  Unfortunately, it was a little hard to read because of the dark background, despite adding the white and yellow.

I've been doing some religious mixed media drawings lately.  I posted this one of Mary on here before.  For another Christmas gift, I put it on a mug with the Hail Mary in Latin on the other side.

Here's my latest mixed media drawing.

Sacred Heart

I finally caved and got an Instagram account to post my arts and crafts specifically.

Her first dance! Wait, what?!

Hannah is a freshman this year and for the high school at Great Hearts they have a winter formal dance.  Normally, I'd not be a fan of that whole idea.  They have ballroom dancing only, no dates allowed, well chaperoned, and old school music to go with that ballroom dancing.

So, the girls and I spent the whole day at a retreat with some Dominican sisters.  We had confession, Mass, and adoration  All perfect ways to get ready for one's first dance, right?

I curled her hair and took her to the dance.  She had a great time and filled up her dance card with friends.  

Catching up in Pictures

Judah is getting better at doing his schoolwork willingly, but he takes FOREVER to do it.  One day he was trying so hard not to do his work diligently that he carried his math page, front and back, around with him all day as we went about our day, in the car many times and even to his sister's basketball game.  When he finally completed it, it was ripped up all on the edges.  Turned out during those car trips he was tearing off tiny pieces and throwing them on the floor in the van.  So he had a lot of cleaning up to do as well as having to start all over on his math page front and back the next day.  Hope that taught him his lesson!  That was all in addition to having to do his regular assignment the next day.  Things went faster, luckily, since I was worried he'd be compounding days of work going at that speed.

Bobby LOVES his reading lessons still and gets on to me if we miss too many days of it in a week.  He is almost halfway through the 100 Lessons book.

Judah is like Hugo, the Abominable Snowman, with Daffy Duck.  "I will hug him and kiss him and squeeze him and call him George" with Luna.  She was tolerant of it for a while and now she is kind of done with that.  We are working on him learning to read the dog signs and know when to give her space, but he can hardly help himself sometimes. 

Judah is moving along in his piano lessons and is starting the staff now.

Drew has been surprisingly helpful with Luna and likes to play with her and pet her.  He is afraid of the cat, by the way.

Brian got Luna this tactical vest with patches and all.  No one in the house was enthused about this masculine vest on her, but it has turned out to be a very helpful harness for her.  She calms down tremendously when it is on her.  We now put it on her whenever someone is coming over until she calms down.

Basketball season, and all it's craziness, has begun for the girls.  This year, Genevieve, made the A team for middle school again, but Hannah is on the JV high school team.  Two different practice and game schedules, team dinners, etc has proved to be quite exhausting.  The season is pretty short though and we only have two more weeks of basketball after New Year's.  These pictures were from a UTSA women's college ball game that the teams all went to watch one Sunday afternoon.

Isaac, King of Hobbies

Brian took Isaac and Drew to see the Aggies play at Kyle Field in November.

Isaac loves his music, but he also makes time to read voraciously, draw dragons, cook, and craft.  He's less into card tricks than he was last year, but he still does them sometimes.  He often makes riddles or puzzles for his family members to do.  He recently made a pyramid that opens and has all sorts of things drawn inside when he realized his brothers were studying Ancient Egypt (pictured below).  He also made a Newton's Cradle out of pop cycle sticks, yarn and marbles.  He comes up with these ideas on his own and does it all by himself, minus asking me where certain supplies can be found.

Isaac made this home-made Key Lime Pie for Thanksgiving.  He did it all, from the key lime squeezing right down to the decorating.

He's doing great at school still, and if I could get him to do the dishes without complaining and we'd have it made with him. 

St Nicholas Day

St. Nicholas Day started bright and early because it was a very busy, full day and before school was the only time we could all be together at home.  After school, we had basketball practice, my niece's first birthday party, and was topped off by Brian and I sneaking off downtown to see Seinfeld at the Majestic Theater.  

First thing we let everybody get dressed for school and let the kids look in their stockings.  The big kids got a few items bigger than would fit in their stockings.  Isaac got a ukulele, Genevieve got a weighted blanket, and Hannah got Chacos that unfortunately didn't fit width wise.

Lots of small gifts made these kids very happy!

Genna LOVES to listen to audio books more than anyone in our house.  She likes to craft and hand-letter, and work on puzzles while listening to our Audible library.  We got her her very own head phone for this purpose and the hat is a bun hat.

Isaac has learned quite a few parts of songs from his friends already and is learning songs in the beginners book he also received in just less than a month of owning it.

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

Bob plays with his mini etch-a-sketch.  The boys loved them!