Yep, I said Day 4 yesterday... writing about the day before, so today is Day 6 (or Day 7, if you started counting, properly, on Sunday, which we didn't.) Anyway.
Today may have been the highlight of Kerry's Christmas Season. Why? Because it was Tuba Christmas! All over the world, tuba players gather to play Christmas carols. They're benevolent souls, and open their arms to sousaphones and baritones (Kerry's instrument) too, but it's definitely all low brass.
Given that they had all of 1/2 an hour (as a group) to practice, their performance was pretty darn good, and a lot of fun :0) Jingle Bells, modified to include a famous March, is always a crowd pleaser! We invited a LOT of people to come by for a Christmas Open House, afterwards.
That was Kerry's idea. Don't misunderstand, I enjoyed it and was glad to do it. But bear in mind that we arrived home from Oregon on Monday night. Do the math, people. That gave me four days to clean the house, decorate, get a Christmas tree, and prepare cookies, treats, beverages, etc for... how many people are coming?
Not quite everyone we know! But folks from every different part of our lives... family, neighbors, soccer friends, homeschool friends, church friends, tuba friends, etc.
As usual, it all went fine :0) My friends' almost-one-year-old little boy had everyone smiling, a herd of boys had nerf-gun wars upstairs (and nothing got broken and nobody came downstairs crying or bleeding... although in an ironic twist, Tate - who gave Kerry a black eye two weeks ago appears to be developing a shiner he blames on Wyatt), and my dad regaled my in-laws and our contractor-friend in the dining room with stories about horrendous accidents he's had until my mom dragged him away.
We had to "shoo" everyone out late in the afternoon so we could get to Wyatt's soccer game. But by that time... well, I decided to stay home. (We have A LOT of soccer games... I'm trying not to feel guilty!) An hour of peace and quiet at home sounded like just about the best thing I could imagine :0)
So I had a quiet hour at home :0) Wyatt opened our book yesterday, "King Island Christmas" (Jean Rogers/Rie Munoz), set on an island in the Bering Sea. And today, Tate found the Hanukkah book I mentioned, "One Candle", by Eve Bunting. Two sisters tell their grandchildren about secretly celebrating Hanukkah in Buchenwald.
4 comments:
You are one seriously organized mama! I think I would have a heart attack if someone told me there would be a party at our house next week. You have some great Christmas books- I really need to start buying some more (above the board book level).
The One Candle book sounds very touching. Anything about the Holocaust just rips my soul to shreds. I remember reading Corrie Ten Boom's "The Hiding Place" and crying in many places through the book. It really makes you appreciate our religious freedom and freedom from persecution.
I'm thinking of reading that to the boys (The Hiding Place). Wyatt and Tate are fascinated by WW2 stories. Gunnar, however, has such a tender heart, I'm not sure he could handle that yet.
TUBA CHRISTMAS!! AWESOME! My husband is a professional musician in the Air Force, and at one of their concerts, the low brass ensemble played carols...and strung their instruments with chaser lights! It was awesome!
There's nothing quite like it, that's for sure. The woman who conducts the group has a band of all tubas called "Heavy Metal".
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