A nice man took this picture of our family. It's amazing how well the kids pose when someone else takes their picture. This is a giant Christmas tree on our local "trail of lights."
So... I'm not sure what I was thinking when I came up with the idea to take 3 kiddos, ages 7 and under, to the ice skating rink... It was something along the lines of, "Well, we get two for the price of one on Mondays, so if it goes really bad at least it won't be too expensive." Regardless, I had some doubts about my decision when faced with 3 pairs of ice skates that needed to be laced up to get us going... but it ended up being a lot of fun. We had a ball! Emily went ice skating last year so she knew the basics and was independent enough to go out on her own. David had never been ice skating but as my sweet middle child, he had a good attitude about the challenge and went out by himself with his walker and tore up the ice. I was so proud of him! And Lia, as the baby wanted to do it all because her siblings were doing it... So how did I get her on the ice? Well, it wasn't pretty but she hung on to the walker and I skated behind her, while also hanging onto the walker but hunched over, almost at a 45 degree angle. I didn't get a picture of it... but I can imagine I looked pretty silly. Lia did amazingly well and we managed to scoot around the ice rink really well. It was slow going of course and all the kiddos fell down a lot but everyone agreed it was really fun and they want to come back and do it again with Daddy when he comes home.
Look at my big boy!
Here is Lia when she decided she was ready to do it "all by my own self!" The wet bottom is telling of all the falling down. But by goodness, she kept getting back up. And she kept telling me, "Let's go around again!"
After skating, we checked out the light display. David and Emily liked the gingerbread men.
And this one was Emily's favorite. She had dance practice earlier in the day and told me she wanted to wear it to the ice rink because she'd "look pretty" on the ice. And she did!The next adventure is bowling. Stay tuned.
And the balloon guy. He made Lia this sweet butterfly and David got a fishing pole with a fish attached. The fish popped after about 30 seconds but the fishing pole lasted most of the night. 
I thought a good way to combat the "homeschooling blahness" would be to take a field trip and I had been wanting to see the Co-Cathedral in downtown Houston for a while. So, on Friday, November 12, the Nelli Family attended daily mass at this BEAUTIFUL church! For the benefit of those who would like to go, parking is free for daily mass and there is no problem finding a place to sit. This huge church made almost entirely of marble is probably full to capacity on Sundays but on that particular Friday there were probably only about 100 people there for mass and it seemed very empty. Emily loved seeing the 8 foot tall carved statues in the shrines of her beloved saints - Martin de Porres, Elizabeth Ann Seton, Juan Diego, Anthony of Padua, Therese of Lisieux and Joseph. I have been studying the saints with her since she was 3 years old and it was so sweet to see her eyes light up in recognition of her "friends" the saints. It struck me that having a faith you spend your whole life studying is something very precious. My 7 year old daughter pointed out a dozen things to me in her first five minutes inside the church. She noticed the 3 interlocking circles in the marble floor as we entered the church as being representative of the Blessed Trinity. She recognized the sacred heart of Jesus in a stained glass window and the dove representing the Holy Spirit at the top of the dome in front of the alter. She might not realize it yet, but I can see that the recognition of these sacred images are already bringing her comfort and I hope they continue to do so as she grows in her faith.
The self guided tour book can be purchased for $5 at the parish office across the street. The kids were given rosaries and holy cards in addition to our tour book. We even got to visit with a very sweet sister on her way out the door. After mass, we had a snack and tried to see as much of the church as we could. We had the place to ourselves for the most part and took some time to admire the stained glass and read as much as we could about the beautiful religious artwork we found inside. Now that I have the guide, I can study up for our next visit! With small children, it helps to be educated before trying to share new things with them. My kiddos respond better to the, "hey look at this"... rather than listening to Mom read long paragraphs out of the book. Ah well... I'm learning. All in all, a successful outing.
