I had about three more entries planned about vacuuming, dusting, mopping, and throwing random toys in the closet, but we are in a cleaning pause (until Wednesday night), so here I am about the rest of our life.

We had a great party yesterday. It was our annual tree decorating party, and Rose added on a children's performance. We had 5 different types of gluten-free cookies. (Yes, visiting gluten-free relatives, we saved some.) Some years they've come out too crumbly, but this year they were all excellent. John made most of them, of course. But Rose and I did the chocolate chip cookies she took to the cookie exchange at her school. Rose was assuming she wouldn't actually have anyone to exchange with, but one girl decided to make meringues thinking of Rose, and her teacher had bought a cookie just for her. I love not asking everyone to bend over backwards and people thoughtfully stepping up. Nice.

John also made the once-a-year exquisitely delicious Spanish style hot cocoa. Despite my chocolate obsession, I'm not actually a fan of milk based chocolate, except for this. We had none sweet things as well--cold cuts, chips, and the fabulous gluten-free Chex Mix Sally made. It all came together really well.

The kids did a beautiful job of decorating the tree. No fights over favorite ornaments. No broken ornaments. There were, I think, 22 kids all told, but my favorite decorator was five-year-old Jewish Benjamin. He was totally into it. We had great conversations about how to solve the missing hook problem. He carefully took care of the back. I knew his mom had grown up with a tree (as I did), so she had no trouble with him enjoying himself.

Everyone was very kind and supportive about the kids' performance. It was a bit excruciating for me. I just can't stand squeaky strings, and there were a lot of them. On the other hand, the kids did a great job organizing the program, doing group numbers, making sure everyone got a chance to participate and ending with the most advanced performer who impressed us all. It was a combination of violin, cello, piano, and voice. I'm mostly pleased that I promised Rose three months ago that she could organize a large group performance, and I kept my word.

The tree looks lovely. The house looks lovely. And we are almost ready for Hannukah.