Christmas Break Recap Part I

Christmas break was a wonderful mix of packed full and so relaxing and boring.

Trust me, I know how much of a privilege it is to have time off from work around the holidays- it is certainly a perk of working in the education field, and having the same schedule as my kids is a big reason that I have this job. Theo still had to work his regular shift over the holidays, but he did thankfully have Christmas Day and New Year’s Day off!

We actually started our Christmas break much sooner than I wanted to start it, with the worst stomach bug ever. It started with one kid, lasted 5-7 days and then would start on the next kid. So our family missed most of the last two weeks of school. This was such a bummer as the last two weeks of school are the MOST FUN and basically what anybody in a school lives for. Lots of tears were shed. The kids basically spent two whole weeks completely off of routine and that was how we went into our break.

When the sickness was over, we waited a few days before being willing to believe that we could return to normal haha. By Thursday night, we were ready to breathe a sigh of relief and declare it officially over! I cleaned and disinfected every square inch of our house and washed every single linen and we were ready for a (much-anticipated) visit from Grandma and Grandpa!

We started their visit with a night out to Old Scratch and then over to Carillon Park! It was pretty cold and rainy but we braved the weather and met up with my parents to walk around.

We headed home late to get warmed up, and spent most of the rest of the weekend inside our house getting warmed up. We played with the animals, we did some crafts, did a puzzle, went for a few drizzly walks, had some good conversations, and played games together.

We also discovered a sick opossum in our backyard and Theo and my FIL had to terminate it. 🙁

We played bells and just had a GREAT time together. Sometimes it is hard for me have a lot of people in my space (no matter who those people are!) and to be knocked off my routine, but this time I was very intentional about choosing a better attitude and it was such a blessing to have them all visit.

After my in-laws left, we had one week before the Christmas festivities began. Theo had to work the whole week, but the kids and I were so ready to have a solid routine and normal days. We pretty much stayed at home and caught up on housework. Kiah set up an alarm on my phone for 2051 hahahaha.

We puzzled and hiked and read books and crafted and played all week long. Don’t worry, there was also a fair share of sibling rivalry and some breakdown moments. It wasn’t all perfect as these pictures may portray!

One evening, we loaded up and drove to Five Below. Every person in the family got $20 and drew someone else’s name. We all went into the store and shopped for each other with the $20. And that was our Christmas presents. We didn’t do anything big this year and this was SO fun and special. We loved opening the gifts on Christmas morning and seeing what everyone had picked for each other. And it saved me so much hassle and spending so much money just trying to get Christmas perfect for everyone. I love taking the focus off huge gifts that are supposed to fulfill all our deepest longings, but last for a week max. It was way more fun to let the kids and Theo be in on it, to not spend so much money, and it turns out we were just as happy on Christmas morning with $20 in presents than $200.

Christmas weekend rolled around, but I will save that part for Part II- coming soon!