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.)

Christmas in Xenia, 2013

Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning unfold each year in the same spot where it unfolded for me and my sister for most of our childhood. 30 years later, it looks much the same; the number of bodies (and gifts!) in the room has just multiplied.  Here are the highlights from Christmas in Xenia this year!

We kicked it all off with Christmas Eve boxes with pajamas, treats and holiday surprises - a tradition that dates back to Christmas Eves at my Mimi & Pop's house.

The cousins are always SOOOO excited to see each other and all the cousin-hijinx that go with that.

(As it turns out spouse-hijinx were also to be had - Lou just didn't realize I was taking screenshots while he was making faces in the baby monitor we set up with our phones.)

Christmas morning was everything Christmas morning is supposed to be! (Except for the part where I forgot to bring my real camera - gah!)

The girls got magic kits and the great Lyla-Bird-ini was born!

Santa brought karaoke machines and the girls worked on conquering "stage fright" with the help of the Sound of Music Soundtrack.

The BEST moment of Christmas morning had to be the kids in the hot tub watching the Disney Christmas parade. Everything about it was adorable. And hilarious. It was really fun to watch all the DisneyWorld sights and remember all the fun we had there. I might even have experienced my first case of Mouse-ache.

There was Rainbow Looming (and the cussing that goes with Rainbow Looming).

Even though the other room housed the holiday mother-load, these boxes were the runaway favorite!

In other top moments, DD busted out the unicycle!

VIDEO?

I woke up in my childhood bed each morning. And there's some magic in that.

It finally warmed up enough that we could get outside and had some fun helping the kids climb trees we used to climb.

Really, this is the best way to sum up all our time there.  Pajamas well into the day & lots of jolly, happy souls.

Still going strong! Two days later! Special thanks to Grandma & DD for all the holiday magic - spoiling us all rotten, cleaning up after the Christmas morning explosion, keeping lots of tummies full and always making the house we grew up in feel like home. XOXOXO!

Christmas at Home, 2013

I have such fond memories of Christmas at home with my little family of four growing up and it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy to think that one day Josie & Bea will look back on our Christmas mornings the same way. (Ha, even if those Christmas mornings here happen on December 24th rather than 25th.)

The prep work for the big morning is big work around here. In addition to the traditional milk & cookies for Santa, the girls decided a little salad was in order for the Reindeer. They made good use of all the extra herbs still lying around from Thanksgiving and all the greens that would've been wilty by the time we returned home from the holidays. I hope reindeer like kale!

They also made dessert for the reindeer. Their signs were pretty priceless.

Bea sacked out early so Josie had the important task of setting everything up. Venus was *really* excited about a cup full of milk and gave us all a good laugh.

In the morning, the girls awoke at a respectable hour after the sunrise and we got our Christmas Morning on. They found a thank you letter from Santa & the reindeer, an empty salad bowl and nothing but cookie crumbs.

Then I made them pose in front of the tree, because well, that's what you do!

It was a flurry of wrapping and squealing and smiling. And I was having so much fun that I never even got up to grab my big camera.

Josie gifted Bea a glow in the dark marker board so she could make her own "glow in the dark parades" a la DisneyWorld.

We made an epic mess that fanned out across the room and would stay there for the next 10 days. It was awesome.

Then we played and played and played and played. Bea gifted Josie a 'build your own balloon animal kit' that was an instant hit! (These girls really know each other.)

Bea got her "squeaky pig" and was instantly smitten.

Josie loomed til her heart's content and scored some new dress-up clothes for Julie. Our gift to the girls this year was these FAIRYBIRDS wings, headband and book.

It was a perfect, quiet, wonderful Christmas at home. Later that afternoon, we finally made it out of pajamas and out of the sea of wrapping paper to head to Xenia. But that's another post....

The Nutcracker, 2013

"Pose Like A Nutcracker"

So yeah, technically going to see The Nutcracker is a December tradition, but the trip was so great this year that it deserved a post all its own - as if the picture above isn't justification enough for that. Last year we started the tradition of going to see the Cincinnati Ballet Production of The Nutcracker with Josie and this year we determined that, since Bea was old enough to start ballet classes, she was old enough to see the production. She was VERY excited to get dressed up and head downtown with us for the big show this year - so excited that she wouldn't even stand still for a photo. (Gotta love kid-blur.)

It was an unseasonably warm day and anticipation was running high. Nothing kicks Holiday Cheer into high gear more than The Nutcracker. Josie wore a special dress for the occasion - a classic from my sister's wee days that my mom saved and recently passed on for Josie to wear on a special day. This couldn't have been the better time to do that. She said, looking into the mirror, "Awww, I look like a real doll" and later remarked that she was straight out of The Sound of Music.

The show never disappoints, so I highly recommend checking it out if you're local. (Purchase early to get the most affordable tickets.) A good part of the fun is hanging out in the lobbies - playing in the scenery, posing with the "real ballerinas."

This is what happens when I pull pics straight from my phone versus editing them before including on the blog. Sorry folks.

Bea was actually more interested in posing with the girls than the actual show, repeating "Please we meet more of da ballewinas."

After the show we headed over to our old stomping grounds at Fountain Square. A trip to Graeters was definitely in order. Bea invented a new way to enjoy Cincinnati's finest.

We ran around and around the Fountain, as tradition necessitates, and Josie ended the trip downtown with belting out Sound of Music tunes in her fancy dress.  Pretty perfect day my friends.

"Raindrops on Roses..."