We enjoyed a short three-day school week because of a surprise Friday holiday and the MLK holiday on Monday.
I don't usually take too many pictures during the week, as the boys are busy at school during the day and our afternoons are a fairly predictable mix of homework, activities and dinner prep. This week, I just had to snap a picture of Henry reading while walking because this is something Will has done for years.
It is so exciting to me that Henry is now a truly independent reader and adores books as much as the rest of us. We visit the library frequently and always have stacks of books at home, but Henry has recently started reading them completely on his own. His current favorite series is Henry and Mudge, beginning chapter books by Cynthia Rylant. We borrowed one from the school library on Wednesday afternoon. If you look closely, you can see Will trailing behind, reading his newest find. I love these little readers and the fact that they get lost in stories.
I snapped this picture Thursday evening at the International Festival at school. Despite this being our third year at WUES, it was our very first year to attend this festival! The timing worked out wonderfully. We went to Henry's violin lesson, stopped by the library to check out every single Henry and Mudge book they had, and arrived at the festival when it started at 4:30. The boys were so excited to visit the festival, despite the gusty wind, drizzling rain and very chilly temps. It turned out to be loads of fun and much better than I had imagined, even though we didn't stay to see the performances. The multi-purpose room was set up with displays by parents and kids, depicting all sorts of different countries. The boys had passports, searched for answers to questions, learned about all sorts of different cultures, and sampled food at every single booth!
This picture was taken in front of the Lebanon booth, which was Henry's favorite (he loved the baklava) but these kids devoured everything from Australian Vegemite sandwiches and Vietnamese eggrolls to Indian curries and Israeli falafel and hummus, in addition to countless sweets. Everyone was so excited to see the boys try some of the more exotic food and we got so many comments about how "kids don't always like this" while my two gobbled it up hungrily.
Yesterday, school was closed all over Houston as a wintry mix descended upon our subtropical city. The thermometer only reached 35 degrees, and icy rain and sleet paralyzed the city. It was reminiscent of Ice Day 2011. School was closed and Gene's company told him to work from home. The boys slept til 8am, ate fluffy buttermilk pancakes for breakfast and lounged around in their pajamas for most of the day. We played games, did some work, baked bread and made a huge pot of soup, and kept the fire going all day long.
My icy sago palm and
frozen rain on a rose.
Yesterday was lazy and quiet, an unexpected vacation day for all four of us, a beautiful gift from Father Winter.
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