The End

I asked the girls if they could help Daddy by raking the leaves.  They were happy to help, but in the process, they created a mini "city", with "roads" that led to everything in their imagination.   The lawn didn't get completely raked, but boy, did they have fun!

Every year, my Christmas cactus blooms at the end of October.  It reminds me of my Mom and I am always in awe of the many beautiful blooms.

The girls had Veteran's Day off of school and it was such a lovely day, that we went for a walk on one of the many trails in our neighborhood.  The girls found huge leaves and had fun playing on the tree stumps along the way.

I am grateful that both of my girls love to read.  We came home from the library and shortly thereafter, I found each girl in their own "spot" reading.  Not sure how they chose those "spots, but it worked for them, ha-ha.

After Thanksgiving, we did our annual "search for the perfect Christmas tree" tradition and we were grateful that we got a break in the rain to do it.

When you pick a Christmas tree that is very tall, you have to use a ladder to decorate the top half.  Amelia was happy to help with the high ones.  I preferred to have both feet on the ground and not watch Amelia on the ladder, ha-ha.  I used to be very particular about how and where the ornaments got placed, but this year, I just let the girls decorate along side me and I thought the tree turned out beautifully.

This year, we also continued our tradition of naming something we were grateful for each night at dinner.  This year, the "leaves" turned into flower petals, but we were still thankful. 

Out of the blue, Amelia decided that she wanted to have a tea party.  She made this invitation, and asked me to make enough copies for each person in the family.  When we got to the tea party, she had everything all set up and planned out.  I love that girl's creativity!

The elementary school had their annual Math/ Cocoa Night.  We used a gingerbread man to estimate and measure things around the school . . .

and then they were rewarded with a sugar/gingerbread cookie to frost and decorate, with plenty of hot cocoa on the side.

A friend invited us to join them at the zoo for Zoolights.  The weather was frightful that day with torrential rain and howling wind, but miraculously, the weather cleared just as we got into the zoo, and we had a delightful, but chilly evening with friends.

I enjoy our annual sugar cookies making at Christmas, but I still have to spread out the "joy".  We make the sugar cookies on the 23rd . . . 

 and decorate on the 24th. . . making sure to pick out their favorites to leave for Santa.

Christmas was a quiet and peaceful day, with no obligations, and plenty of time to enjoy new gifts, family, and food. 

And with that, not only does that bring us to the end of the year, but also to the end of this blog.  It's been a good journey and I've had fun sharing our adventures with anyone willing to listen.   But this year I've had a hard time keeping up with the blog and I decided it was time to bring it to a close.  If you're interested in following the Schnell's adventures, you can catch us on Instagram at sharon.schnell. 

That's it in a nut-Schnell.  Happy New Year!