New Years Eve

We wanted to visit some friends tonight, but none of our babysitters are available. So we'll spend a quiet night together. Karen will likely make some cheese biscuits, which is sort of a New Years Eve tradition with us.

I've continued to read "Detectives in Togas" with the children, and to do "Mindbenders" (logic problems) with Bethany over the holidays. I also went through part of a cross-sections book with Joel while Bethany was doing the Mindbenders.

Karen is doing some "Once a Month" cooking today. Actually, its about 7 recipes that use ground beef because she was able to get a good price for some ground beef today. She likes having a variety of foods in the freezer, and it also saves money (since we buy the ingredients in bulk when the price is good, and having food in the freezer means we order less take-out food). Karen likes the cooking, and feels it isn't a burden on her.

Joel is learning to read. In fact, he is contastly surprising us with all the words he knows and sentences he can read. We have a lot of books in the house, and make frequent visits to the library. I think growing up in a house full of good books inspires children in the joys of reading.