We had a fun filled day yesterday – Watching the Christmas Parade.  Try as a few might, it still isn’t called "The Winter Parade", and the press that that stirs up seems to stir up our freedom of speech all the more as the majority of the floats had mention of Christ or Christian Christmas Music.  What was a delight to my family, is that after about 4 years in Bend, we can attend a parade and constantly see people that we know by name, that we know the parents and they know the children.  You can wave and smile.  Shout at friends on the floats.  Scream and make silly faces. In the small area we were in were next to one family from church and two families from Awana.  I know of several families that were there and we did not run into, as we were not in the downtown area. I think my favorite part of this month is the way it forces us out, forces us to interact, get together, send a note, give a call, visit a friend.  LOVE it.  If only all of the other holidays evoked the same connectedness.

We put up our tree and watched some friends while the girls and parents went to see the Nutcracker.  So the boys played LEGOs all the live long night, Darren and I decorated the tree, and we had soup and bagels. What a wonderful day!

All the while, in the back of my mind, the question I’m most asked (outside of curriculum) is – arn’t you worried about your kids being socialized?  Ya.  To much Social Life for me!