Today, we finished making our Earth Tree--a re-dedication of our Christmas tree. Last week, after climbing, we collected pine cones to make peanut butter and birdseed decorations for the tree. This morning we popped corn, and the girls and I strung pop corn and cranberry garland. It looked so lovely, and we were quite pleased with ourselves. By dark, the dog had knocked it over and devoured every single ornament! Grrrr! Ah well, best laid plans and all. We still enjoyed our time together making the ornaments and talking about all the ways the earth nourishes and touches our lives everyday.

This week, the kids have been playing Age of Mythology with their father quite a bit. It's definitely the new favorite for all the gang, but especially Sam and dh. The girls have been playing Where on Earth is Carmen SanDiego? , and Em's been working more on her reading skills, considering she hasn't been asking me to read the clue notes. Another new game they've been enjoying is Cluefinders in Egypt, which they need help deciphering but enjoy it once I've broken the steps down for them.

Yesterday, they rediscovered their karate gees after we read some from Scooby-Doo's Karate Caper, and they all dressed up and practiced their moves together for about an hour. We've been finding fun things to do despite all the rain we've been getting recently. It's been making it hard to find energy burners, but we keep getting beautiful days interspersed with the rainy ones, so...it all balances.