Christmas break!

We had a lovely trip over Christmas to visit both sets of grandparents in Ontario.

After we finished her Tale of Despereaux, we read Kate DiCamillo's The Tiger Rising. It was a bit mature for Fina, in its themes, and given the chance, I would have waited a few years before reading it.

We read Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson and the final chapters with Francis of Assisi were so incredibly moving. I wasn't expecting it.

Fina's homeschooling dad read DiCamillo's The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane outloud to all of us at his parents' house. Fina's cousins and aunt really enjoyed it. The adults were crying at the end.

Here are some pics from our travels.

She got to skate in a brand new, state-of-the-art outdoor rink in Ottawa.

And she built this fort with nice, non MB sticky snow!

And in Hamilton, she got in lots of outdoor snow time with her little cousin.

sledding with her baby cousin!

And she got to feed lettuce to nonna's bird. She loved it!

We have been home for a few days now and are looking forward to starting back to school this week.

Fina painted this detail from a book on Egypt.

Neat, right?!?!

Happy new year, dear followers!