Hadestown with Norah

    Norah got to see Hadestown last year in Nashville when someone gifted her college tickets to share with all their students. 

After that, she insisted I download the album, listen, and that I go see it someday. 

So I listened to half the album, but left the second half to be a surprise. 

And I gifted Norah tickets to Hadestown (NYC) this Christmas. 

We went together today. 

It may be my favorite Broadway musical now, even topping Phantom. 

I see Christ in Orpheus. Norah does, too, and it's why she loves this musical so much. 

But I see Christ in every hero, or perhaps I see every hero by Christ inside me. 

But the picture of Christ was so clear at times during the show, I wonder how anyone could miss it. 

As I was listening to "Wait For Me!" time seemed to go back thousands of years and forward until the end of time and stand still all at once. 

It was as if Christ was singing that same song to every soul held captive in Hell before His death and resurrection.

Then, as the chorus repeated a second time, if felt more personal, like Christ was promising me that He will do/has done all that is required to perfect my salvation. 

But later, as Eurydice begins to sing the chorus with Orpheus and she starts following him out of Hell, I realized I have been, am, and I will be signing that song to Christ for the rest of my life. 

I am following Christ with the same faith Euridice had for her unseen Orpheus. 

The difference is that Christ is the Orpheus who won, and Christianity is the myth that came True. 

I just marvel at the Greeks and the the little-t trueness of their mythos. 

And I just marvel at my Christ, who fulfills every nations desire, and loves every soul with a particularity that makes each of us Eurydice. 

 

Christmas Memories of 2024

We attended a Christmas breakfast at the start of December with a big group of friends, moms and daughters, and our beloved friend/ adopted grandmother, Ms. Beverlie 

We attended A Christmas Carol at The Hartford Stage with homeschool friends mid-December. 

Norah, home from college! We greeted her with embarrassing noise at the airport. 

Norah and Dwayne both work at Preferred, so we all attended the company Christmas party together this year. 

Our family attended Handel's Messiah at our church, and we brought our friend, Ms. Beverlie, as our guest.

Adele is painting various winter-themed watercolors in her free time this Christmas break. 

Avril is crocheting various projects including this angel for me. 

We have a strict, rigorous routine during the weeks of homeschool that there are only a few hours in the day or read and create freely. So the girls respond to days and days of vacation with abundant creativity! 

The living room on Christmas Eve 

New pajamas on Christmas Eve after our nightly Advent readings

 

The living room on Christmas morning

Avril made this customized crocheted wood elf for Norah in secret. The unmatching socks are a real personal touch. My kids' socks only match the first time they are worn. After that, my kids just wear two socks, regardless of whether or not they match. 

Final Advent readings before opening gifts Christmas morning

Avril begged for this hideous Ravenclaw plush mellow. I obliged, because it's Christmas. 

Adele got a parlor guitar. Avril (and Adele) got a keyboard to practice on, since they are both helping on the worship bands at church. 

I'm taking Norah to see Hadestown on Broadway later this week. 

I hid the little tickets in a box on the Christmas tree. 

I was gifted Seven Wonders with real metal coins. So fun! 

And another painting on our mantle there, that one painted for us by Ms. Beverlie, who came over for afternoon tea on Christmas Day

All my kids home, reading or crafting in quiet, restful leisure, or playing new board games or eating leftovers

 "Santa Found Guilty!" the headlines read the day after his trial. Now Santa has to trade his famous red suit for an orange jumpsuit for a few years. Rudolph isn't so fortunate. He's going to prison for life. Public sympathies, easily swayed, are now with the two Christmas culprits. As long as Santa's interned at the North Pole Corrections Center, there will be no, no, no Merry Christmas for anyone.  

A photo of Grandma clipped from one the many newspaper articles about her death and the trial

A quote from one of the articles

"Grandma Gamer was an avid snowboarder even into her seventies. Ironically and a bit eerily now, Grandma  liked to dress up as Santa, not knowing Santa would be a party to her untimely death one day."

 

Christmas celebrations continued uninterrupted even though Santa was in the slammer. As usual, parents bought all the presents, but for once, they got all the credit and thanks. People made and shared feasts as always. It was almost as if Christmas was never about Santa, and his presence had never been required to make Christmases merry and bright. 

As Santa sat through another day of testimonies for the prosecution, his stomach growled, and quite naturally, he began to think of all those cookies and milk that would go uneaten this year, seeing that  he was likely to be forced into retirement by a long prison sentence. 

"Come to think on it, it's not so bad. Perhaps I'll finally get to settle down for a long winter's nap," he thought. "At the very least, I won't have to deal with that beastly chiwawa at 19 Lego Lane. They call him 'Ginger.' I say, 'Ginger snap,' since the little demon always bites my shins just above my boots. I'd have kicked her across their living room if I weren't such a saint..." 

On these and other such ruminations, Santa resigned himself to drink whatever cup of wrath the fickle, ungrateful public set out for him. He was seen to close his eyes right there in court, no longer taking any apparent interest in the tears and bitter eyes of the witnesses. To his lawyer's dismay, Santa was seen to actually chuckle softly to himself, cross his hands over his large belly, lay his head back and fall asleep. 

Santa sat in the courtroom for hours, staring at the clock, hearing countless testimony against his character set to the rhythm of the second hand. Witnesses maligned his saintly reputation claiming he only gives the best gifts to kids of the wealthy and fails to adequately compensate charities that, for years, have just been trying to make up for all that Santa wouldn't do for the poor... 

It was Gabriel Gamer's grandma who got run over by the reindeer. His family has been all over the news and their testimonies are also proving useful for the Prosecution even with the jury sequestered because of such a high profile case. 

Gabe's mom, Ann Abler-Gamer, has become a sort-of fixture on the five o'clock news: "Gabe has been the one most broken up about the whole thing, " she sniffles. "He isn't motivated to go to work. He hardly leaves his room. He finds it hard to sleep at night and sleeps all day instead." I have my suspicions that Gabe was a loser before his granny's unfortunate accident, but people are sheep and common opinion grows against Rudolph and Old Saint Nick and everything they represent. 

Disclaimer:

Many years ago, my brother bought our daughters their first Lego Advent calendar. But Uncle Donnie also wished to see the legos that were included in the calendar each day. To honor and humor his wishes, we'd post a picture everyday with a description of the Legos we opened that morning. Our description quickly turned into a story, and the story quickly became a saga, thus, "The Lego Saga" began. Now it is a cherished holiday tradition. The challenge is to make a coherent story from the pieces without knowing what pieces are coming next. The girls are old enough now to help, so many of the characters' names and plot points are their ideas. 

 The Prosecution's star witness is Katie Catlover. Her testimony about coming downstairs to find Santa drinking her cat's milk and eating his cookies is likely to keep Santa in the slammer for life or at least through next December. There goes Christmas.  

Caroline the caroler is also called to serve on Santa's jury. 

 

Izzy the ice sculptress is summoned to jury duty in Santa's trial. She doesn't qualify for an exemption to finish her art.  

 Congrats to Hans! for winning the bronze!

Hanz is a hockey jock.

He's always happy to get a little scrappy.

Turns out, the sign is a WANTED poster. 

This reindeer is being charged with manslaughter by hit and run. 

Santa is wanted as an accessory. 

And he's being charged with multiple counts of breaking and entering in his own right. 

What's the world coming to? 

 After Grandma got run over by a reindeer, they put up a sign to try to prevent any more deaths. 

Frosty the ski-man

Was a moody, brooding soul

With a big, bad 'tude

He was really rude

And he had no friends at all.

Frosty the ski-man

Is big, fat jerk they say

He was decked in red

With a helmet head

So your punch can't reach his face. 

Topstone- Summer 2023

We love our local pond, Topstone. It's a summer tradition. 

 

Norah was working full time all summer, but she was able to come with us one Saturday. 

We just enjoy sitting still and feeling the warm air. 

The younger girls took a week of swim lessons. They already knew all the strokes well from previous years of lessons at the pond, but it was a good review. And they learned to dive from the floating dock this year, something neither of them could do. 

Dwayne's new company car is a Jeep Rubicon. We often beg him to let us take it for the day. One of the days we went to the pond, we got to drive the Jeep with the front top off. It is SO FUN to drive in summer! 

 

Avril Begins Challenge 1

 

Avril started Challenge 1! 

In reference to the size of her book bag, Avril said, "I feel like Christian." (From Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress)

Annotating American documents on Day 1 Week 2 At Home 

Developing successful organizational techniques

I edited the seasonal decorations to capture the mood in our house as another school year begins.