December was a busy, festive month!

As you saw, we had heating problems. A serviceman reset the flame roll-out switch, saying it was tripped on a false alarm and should be safe and good now. It worked for another week, lasting through the deep freeze that blanketed the country. Then at 5pm on Christmas Eve the boiler stopped working again. I spent hours trying to get a technician, but no one could come out sooner than Monday after Christmas. I started a roaring fire and Ben rummaged the open stores for some space heaters.

We finally got the boiler repaired the next week. It turns out the other company didn't really do anything to address the problem that tripped the switch. The boiler had to be taken apart, mineral build up cleaned out, and the expansion tank system replaced. Also he discovered the flue had rusty cracks, so it was replaced too. Also the regulator for the upstairs thermostat wasn't working, so that was replaced too. After all that work we have a heating system that works better than it has in years. But it was quite stressful to have so many problems needing repair, and it was a terrible time for it all to break down.

We had also been planning a trip to Seattle to celebrate Ben's birthday. There was a winter storm that Southwest Airlines completely failed to manage. Our flights were canceled and we had to reschedule our trip for later in January. I'm actually happy that we moved the trip, but it was another huge source of stress the week of Christmas, wondering if we were going to travel or not.

All that aside, Christmas was bright and jolly and fun for all. Andy was cat-sitting for Amanda. It was so nice to have him join us for Christmas dinner, as well as a couple other visits. We watched Glass Onion together and played a board game (after I solved the mystery of the locked garage and freed his car).

Just a fun piece of writing that Sam brought home from school.

Sam participated in the spelling bee today. A pre-test determined the top two spellers from each class and he made the cut. He did great today!

Sam made it to the third round before messing up. He correctly spelled "chunks" and "waist" before erring with "bossiness." We laughed it off together because he said this was the same word he missed on the pre-test in the same way: with a y in place of the i.

Boy, I hate the spelling bee. So much anxiety, so much emotion! I was glad I didn't have to stay to the end, and extra happy that Sam had a good attitude about it! He genuinely only wanted to do it for fun and was happy with his participation ribbon. He's a total champ to me!

Jack was very excited to play one of the boom-whackers at the in-school holiday concert. This holiday card from the teacher has a video of the performance. Jack was front and center, so enjoy!

Click the link, click "Read Now" and then open the card to play the video in the holiday card.

In case the card link expires, I also swiped the video directly:

Sam's fourth grade class learns about a different fungus every Friday. While I was there volunteering last month (sorting take-home papers), the teacher asked the class "Should we sing our song for Sam's mom?" They broke into joyful chorus. I barely got my camera out in time to catch any of it:

Apparently Sam is so skilled at reading aloud the mushroom facts, including scientific names, that he became the official mushroom reader. One day his friend sang the Muffin Man song as joke, and it took off amongst the students. Now they sing this song every week before learning about the featured fungus.

Our music school hosted a recital at a local retirement community. This was Sam's first piano recital. The boys played a duet together, the Carol of the Bells. They did so well!

At home they performed again for my parents, who recorded this video.

They worked hard on this song all week, especially Sam. He hasn't been playing for even a year yet! This was a difficult piece and he did splendidly.

We returned to Grand Junction for the first time in a couple years to celebrate the holiday. The Masons hosted us for dinner this year. The spread was beautiful and, as expected, we made too much delicious food - leftovers for days! It was a quick trip, but filled with conversation and chill activities.

Jack came down with a cold while we were there. He's feeling much better now and it seems no one else caught it (yay!). This week I made another batch of deviled eggs so he could enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with his appetite back.

A story by Sam.

Cold Seat
One day a little boy
named benny and he sat
on a cold seat on a
long drive. daddy, he said.
I'm cold. You'll make it.
responded his dad.
however, benny did not
make it. by the end of
the drive, benny was
an Iceblock.
the end

Cold Seat 2
the rock wall
when bennys father
found out benny was
a block of ice, he brought
benny to the nearest
rock wall and threw
benny at it. it chipped
a bit of ice away. So
he kept throwing.
(( OW.OW.OW! ))thought
benny. (( just put me in
the sun! )) but his dad
kept throwing.
The end

Cold Seat 3
revenge of the ice
after 100 throws, benny
was out of the ice.
hey! said the ice. I have
your butt mark! and
you broke me!
Sorry. Said benny in a
sarcastic voice. I
demand Var! said ice.
its "war," not "var".
said bennys dad. but
ice already was
gathering varriors.
to be continued . . .

Cold Seat 4
"Var"
at 11 oclock, there was
a knock at the door.
benny opened the door
and hundreds of people
ran in. some chanting
"war!" others chanting
"var!" they were
cornered. they ran
to the car. this
will be a long
drive. said benny's dad.
return to Cold
Seat 1.

hot Seat
one day, a boy named
tommy sat on a hot
seat. daddy, he said, Im
hot. You'll live. responded
his dad. tommy did
not know this was
a long drive so he
stayed on the hot
seat. however, he
melted! he did
not live.
the end.

hot Seat 2
cool down
tommys dad saw his
melted son and brought
him to antartica to
cool him down but it
didn't work. he threw
benny on it but it didn't
work. he tried putting
sunglasses on him
and it did work!
he was cool.
the end