Happy Solstice

I had some time to burn this morning so I decided to be ambitious rather than just allow myself to sit around and wait. I took the kids to the store, helped them finish some "stocking stuffer" shopping, and bought the ingredients for a cake -- my very first YULE LOG cake. The recipe made it look a bit complicated, but I figured, what the heck. It's not as if I've never tried (and failed) at baking something before.

Look! Here it is! Isn't it pretty?



The good news is that it is quite tasty, too. That is, if you like walnuts and coconut. YUM!

So, why was I trying to fill my time? Today would have normally been a day for a short road trip to meet with our homeschool group. However, we did not have a reliable vehicle available to go BECAUSE dear hubby had taken the car for a JOB INTERVIEW!

... and yes, the job is his! Yipee! I've been trying not to show just how stressed I've been about this, but I am feeling much, much more relaxed. Now we've just got to get him through taking the bar and we will be back to "normal" again... a true, income-earning family!

So the kids and I have been reading/talking a lot about various holiday traditions and today we were discussing solstice and the fact that today was the shortest day of the year and starting tomorrow, the days will slowly start growing longer again. My middle kid looked at me and said, "Okay, so who started THAT tradition?" This led to pulling out the globe, using the flashlight as the sun, and going through the whole planetary motions thing again.

They're so much fun. Even on days when I've just determined to piddle, there always coming up with stuff to learn! In fact, maybe it's the piddling days that are the best days. This morning the seven-year old picked up a chapter book and started reading. I don't know which of us was more surprised at just how LITTLE help I had to provide.

Anyway, the sun is coming back! Lots to look forward to.