Fa la la la. La.

Today was decorating the house for Christmas day.

Normally this is a really exciting day for me, but this morning I woke up with the headcold from hell and a sore throat to go with it, so mostly the kids and Michael decorated and I sat on the couch in a NyQuil induced foggy haze.  I say NyQuil induced...  I took NyQuil last night, so you'd think the effects would have worn off by now... but I still feel foggy.  Maybe the cold just sucks that much.

Regardless, we spent today decorating for the holiday and the kids were in HEAVEN.  Both of them danced around the living room to Christmas carols blasting out of the DVD player and both helped Michael as he strung the lights up and down the outside railings and on our cute little outdoor shrubbery.

I was sad not to participate in my usual way.  You'd think the least I could do would be to sting up some ornaments, but today it just wasn't happening.

Michael thought this snapshot might be funny...

I feel a little sad that I missed out on the fun.  Sitting and observing from the couch just isn't the same, but it was nice that the kids had a good time and that Michael got to spend some much needed quality time with them.

Lots of life discussions happened prior to the tree decorating.  We're trying to figure out where the next steps lead on this path we've chosen for ourselves and our family and it's tough to articulate everything exactly.  Unschooling has taken us to a level that we only really imagined in our wildest interpretations of what the future might hold - it wasn't something we thought would ever be reality.  Now that it IS reality, we're having to look at all of our family life with a new lens, and we're seeing that things really are possible - things we thought were just dreams:  the RV year, unjobbing, working toward unity in the Church...

This blog is going to grow and change and who knows where we'll be in 2011 at this time.  On the road?  Living in intentional community in NYC?  Homesteading in Bozeman?  Bunking with relatives in Denver?  Painting an old Victorian in Johnstown?  Or here in Southern Maryland playing music and gardening and exploring this world?  The possibilities are truly endless.

I've added a new tab at the top of this page to outline our goals in a little more detail and show you how you can help us get there.  Just click on the "aspirations" tab to check things out.

Looking forward to 2011 with fresh eyes and bated breath.  Hoping you'll be gazing along with me.