Tuesday, December 31, 2013

The "Break" Part of "Christmas Break"

No doubt, the Christmas part of Christmas break is FUN! But the BEST part of Christmas break is the BREAK part. There really is nothing like watching your kids running down the stairs and seeing their eyes as they take in the wonder of Christmas morning magic - except for maybe the feeling of a solid week without a school routines and ballet class and piano lessons and (if I am to be honest) getting dressed and brushing teeth and eating meals that don't involve cookies or peppermint pie. The final days of December are my favorite days on the calendar. I'm such a sucker for symbolism and I LOVE the feeling of closing down a year quietly and peacefully and focusing on what really does matter most. The post-present part of Christmas when we really do get to just BE together without even a shred of the stress that has a way of sneaking into the run-up to the big day.

So here are the highlights from those blissful days as one year ended and another year began.

New toys became a part of the rotation...


We resumed the regular bedtime cuddle fests...

The "make-up" from Grandma made for really fun face-paint...

We made short trips out for fresh air and fun...


We experienced all four seasons in the course of a week (and raked a dozen bags of leaves on Dec. 30th, which is just weird)...

We spent a whole lot of time in pajamas. (And by "a whole lot of," I mean that thing where you take off one pair of pajamas and put on another without ever wearing real clothes in between.)


The obsession with Sound of Music peaked then was knocked from top spot by the Frozen Soundtrack (all day, every day). Before the transition happened, Josie wanted "Sound of Music" hair.

As 2014 approached and much of the world returned to work, we kept on keeping on and held on to the magic as long as we could!

The chalkboard wall became a scene from Frozen - a project that brought Josephine much pride!

Bea was proud of her "Granny Train!"

Lou solves life's greatest mysteries with Legos and Duplos.

During one of our few adventures out, we took our first trip ROLLERSKATING with school friends. This spot is probably less than a mile from our house and it was SO FUN!





(And they played Thriller. And Lou did the ChaCha Slide with Beatrice in the center of the rink. And both of those moments were beyond words.)

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