The Holidays Are Winding to a Close.....

These past two weeks, our Christmas break, have been a gentle, home-centered span of days, for the most part. We did do some fun Christmas activities--- we went to a movie as a family on Christmas eve, played in Historic St. Charles both on the 19th and the 26th of December, took a small roadtrip to my folks' home in Columbia the weekend after Christmas.... I took all three kiddos to the zoo on Christmas Eve Eve and had a fabulous outing. Joe took the kids to play at the mall playplace one time and I took Noah on a movie date on New Years Day. And we had visits from family members and from Genny just yesterday. But in between those highlights, we did a LOT of late mornings, pj-wearing, slow days at home with toys and Legos and cartoons and togetherness--- both good and bad. 

Joe was off of work from Christmas day until this weekend, and it's been awesome. We have traded off sleeping in, since one or two of our three kids have been sleeping in until 8:30 or 9 each morning. The other parent gets up with Quinn about 7:30 and gets him breakfast and in my case, convinces him to snuggle on the couch while I close my eyes a little longer. Ha!  The kids, once up, alternate between all getting along doing the same thing, getting possessive and screechy while doing the same thing, and moving apart to function in individual orbits, which is usually pretty peaceful. For the most part, all of us have loved the homebody life.... but one of the best things about having Joe around is that when any of us get a little itchy to GET OUT AND DO SOMETHING, it's pretty easy for a parent to "run away" for a bit, or for one of us to take a kid or two out to do errands or something fun. It's worked out to be a pretty balanced week. 

Too, there's been just a whole lot of letting go. Setting aside high expectations for the to-do list, for my businesses and the minutiae revolving around them, for the routine, for the typical way the house is ordered.... And that letting go has been so lovely. Naps and novels and snuggles and snacks and just a lovely lovely span of time together. 

Anyway... So as we did another day of the same yesterday, there was a touch of wistfulness as I realized we were almost done and about to head back to REALITY. So I grabbed my camera and decided to grab just a handful of shots that embodied this year's Christmas vacation homebodiness.... To not overshoot, and not plan... just go grab a few photos in the morning, and again in the evening, as a snapshot of the way life has been feeling over here. 

Breakfast with Lucy, in one of her Christmas present dressups and a felt crown I whipped up for her to get her to stop wearing the blue Santa hat she wore for days and days once she realized it matched her dress and her blue butterfly wings (not shown here). PlayMobil are keeping her company. 

Noah, in jammies, having so much fun with the PlayMobil jewelry robbers set he got for Christmas. 

Just my kitchen eggs, a daily sight....

Quinn and dad, both in jammies, watching some Elmo on the computer (while dad reads soccer news or something)... Quinn with a handful of trains keeping him company-- a common sight.

The slow beginning of the Christmas takedown. I am NOT as motivated here as I want to be...

Thrice daily, this sight.... Wiping the vintage high chair after every meal.... Jamberry manicure most of the time.... Great window light....

Part of the Christmas takedown, as well as the end of 2014 via the chalkboard slate... These counters. Always a catchall, but currently specifically catching loose Christmas things needing to be boxed, some last Christmas cards that need to be sent, other post-holiday clutter.

Aha! New chalkboard art for 2015! Fun, though time-consuming to be so precise....

And in the P.M., one of this quartet's FAVORITE activities--- bringing out the tubs of Legos. Every single kid adores this-- and Quinn is shockingly good at playing WITH them and not just smashing them. This is Joe's parenting heaven, too. I cherish these nights: how well they all play together, how Legos facilitate their imaginations, the bonding time with Dad.... It's amazing.

Noah's creation this time--- a ship or vessel made of all "plants", featuring Steve from Minecraft as the pilot. 

And at the end of the day, a quick big-camera "selfie" getting me into the photos for the day--- Not building Legos-- probably headed off to clean up toys or something after this, but still--- I was here. I saw, I smiled, I loved.... And here's the photo to prove it.

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Today is the official end of this two-week stretch.... (Barring any surprise snow days. Gosh, remember last year, how we had two weeks of Christmas break, then, like, NINE consecutive snow days beginning the very day they were supposed to go back to school?? Insane. Please not this year. I'm ready for the routine back!) and it was one more at-home day with much the same as you see above... and we loved it. We're ready to get back into our groove, but we've loved the time off. 

Happy new year, my friends! It's going to be a good year, methinks.