Merry Christmas Family and Friends!

Here I sit on Christmas Eve Eve, having decided to write an electronic, non-paper Christmas card this year.  For Eco-friendly reasons and due to time constraints, I figured this is the best way to reach the most amount of people before Christmas!  So, in honor of our kids attending a Montessori School where these are all the rage, I present to you:

A Christmas Acrostic!

M is for Monica who this year became a certified yoga teacher!  After years of just talking about it, she decided it was time to just do it!  After a year of studying and exams, Monica is pleased to announce she is certified at the 200 RYT level in Hatha yoga.

E is for "Every" night....every night it's something: from Max's choir practice to Swim team to ballet to yoga to...well, you get the idea.  Every night, there is something going on, and Monica and Mark most often feel like taxi drivers.

R is for reading!  Sarah learned to read this year and has already read several little books for us.  It is so fun to see her reading in such a natural way that made it so fun for her to learn.

R is for rhythm.  Both kids really enjoy music, dancing and singing!  If you ask them their favorite pop song, Sarah might say it is the "Better When I'm Dancing" song from the Snoopy movie, and Max would say probably Psy's new hit "Daddy."

Y is for yearly!  It was fun to make our yearly trek to Lakeside, Ohio this year to spend time with our dear friends Kelly and Zane and their kids Madelyn, Ciarra and Torin, as well as with Monica's parents.  The kids had a blast this year as we decided to take the plunge and share a cottage almost right on the water.  We saw some great shows, ate Sloopy's pizza, and had fun hanging out on the front porch painting rocks.  We also traveled to Canada for the Shaw Festival to stay at our favorite old inn, The Charles, and to see a few plays.  We also visited family in West Virginia over Spring Break.  And of course, there were the fun concerts at Blossom to hear the always amazing Cleveland Orchestra!

C is for cat!  This year we added another fur baby to our family with the addition of Weasley, a ginger tabby who is super sweet and a bit wild.  He loves to torment his big sisters: Grizabella, Agatha and Daisy.

H is for holy.  This year, our family, after much thought and contemplation, decided to become Catholic.  Monica is currently going through RCIA classes at St. Mary's Parish in Wooster, while Max will take his first communion on his 11th birthday in the Spring.  Mark is planning to take RCIA next year and Sarah will continue in her Parish School of Religion classes.

R is for riding our bikes.  This Summer, due to some great weather that extended late into Fall, we really enjoyed riding bikes together as a family, all over Orrville.  Biking to get ice cream, or down to our neighborhood hang out Jerry's, made the summer a blast!

I  is for Indians! One of the things we enjoyed most about this summer was our mini season ticket package to the Cleveland Indians' games. Our kids loved the games and the stadium so much, they both got the bug of collecting baseball cards, and their new favorite song became "The Star-Spangled Banner".  We can't wait for Spring Training.

S  is for Suzuki.  Sarah started Suzuki violin last year, and has already had several opportunities to perform in the community.  The lessons keep mom and dad busy as Sarah goes twice a week:  once during the week and then Saturdays for group classes.

T  is for total shock!  After a year of playing the drums, Max shocked his drum-playing parents with the shocking news that he wanted to play....flute!  He is apparently a natural at it, and seems to enjoy it, but Monica's hopes for another percussionist seem to be a bit lost.  He still plays the piano, which is often labeled a percussion instrument, so there's that consolation.

M is for Montessori.  The kids are enjoying spending another year at Montessori school. Max has been there for four years, and Sarah, since she was a baby.  Max is in fourth grade and part of the Upper El class.  He loves his teacher, Mrs. Gamble, and has worked on some interesting projects from Muhammad Ali to a project on his Aunt Lianne's youth in Germany to John Singer Sargent.  Sarah is in kindergarten and got to be the first class in the new building that went up on campus this year.

A is for "A" fixture...Mark is still at Smuckers, and Monica at the University of Akron. Monica intends on expanding her law practice this year in addition to teaching yoga and classes at Akron.  Yep, she's a busy girl! 

S is for Super....we feel super blessed and super fortunate to live in a great little town, in a great county, which is in close proximity to Cleveland  and Akron, with wonderful friends and family to surround us.  We also feel super blessed to have two great international students, Nanako Ito and Hero Endo, both from Japan and now Juniors at the College of Wooster as our extended adopted family.   

So, as I close this Christmas acrostic, we wish you a blessed Christmas, a very happy Holiday and a bountiful and peace-filled New Year.  May next year's election cycle not drive you completely batty! 

Blessings,

Monica, Mark, Max, Sarah-Grace, and ^^Lydia^^
And the cats:
Grizabella, Agatha, Daisy, and Weasley