Christmas Vacation: Week One
I took the entire week of Christmas off for the first time since going back to work a few years ago.I had the vacation time saved up, the kids were off school, and vital computer systems were going to be unavailable at work, so it seemed like a good idea. While the week hasn't been as relaxing or productive as I (foolishly) thought it would be, it's still been a lot of fund. I'm glad I had the time to spend with my kids and family even though the time went by much too fast.
Last Sunday night S-Boogie went to spend the night with her cousin, and then spent most of Monday with her as well. I woke up on Monday morning feeling energized and spent a few hours cleaning the house. Little Dude and P. Bibby helped out for a while before I sent them downstairs to watch Dora so I could finish things up by myself. That afternoon Little Dude helped me shovel snow off the driveway and make some candy cane cookies and a batch of Rolo turtles. It was a relaxing, fun day and a good way to start vacation. My parents arrived that night after the kids were in bed and we stayed up a bit talking.
Tuesday was Christmas Eve, so we baked and decorated gingerbread cookies. I was a bit tired from the night before and found baking with three helpers to be a little stressful. Thankfully we mostly still had a good time and came up with some creative and lovely cookies. After lunch everyone relaxed by watching The Polar Express (I think it's a weird movie but it was the only Christmas one available at the library last Saturday). I snuck off to Costco to get my brother a present--I bought him and his wife a membership as a gift. It's a bit of a joke since he gives me a hard time for always talking about how fabulous Costco is. The money was totally worth the look on his face when he opened his gift that night. For Christmas Eve we went to my brother's house; we had a lovely family Christmas program and a very tasty dinner. I brought the kids' Christmas pajamas so they could open them and change into them before we drove home; I'm glad I did because they were all fast asleep when we got back to the house. I put them in bed and then stayed up a bit too late cleaning the house and stuffing stockings.
Wednesday we celebrated Christmas Day--thankfully the kids were tired and didn't get up too early. We opened presents and then ate some yummy brunch food. It was a bit difficult to coax the kids away from their presents and into their clothes to go to their dad's house, but from what I've heard they had a busy day getting a lot of Christmas presents and going to multiple parties. After I got back from dropping them off I spontaneously decided to see a movie; I chose Catching Fire since I hadn't seen it. My mom came with me and I think we both enjoyed it. We went straight from the theater up to my brother's house, and then we went out to eat Thai food for dinner. This is the second year in a row we have gone to the same restaurant and it has been delicious both times. I was exhausted when we got home and slept well all night.
Thursday morning my parents and I picked up the kids from Mr. Fob and then drove up to Ogden. The plan was to go to the Air Force museum, but it turned out that the museum was much more fascinating to the adults and the kids were not in the mood for it at all. So instead we got lunch at Wendy's, stopped off at my brother's house so S-Boogie and Little Dude could try their cousin's new BB gun, and went to see Frozen. I really liked the movie, though I want to watch it again some time without a three-year-old writhing on my lap the whole time. That night we had some tasty egg rolls for dinner (a gift my mom received from a student's mother) and tried to put the kids to bed a bit early.
Friday morning I took the girls and my mom to the mall for some haircuts. S-Boogie just got a trim, but P. Bibby and I went for shorter styles. The girls had fun hanging out with Grandma while my hair was cut and styled; we also visited a few stores at the mall but decided against too much shopping because everyone else was out shopping and things were a bit crazy. When we got back to the house my parents packed up their things and then we drove over to Noodles for a farewell lunch before they drove away. Then we went home for a few hours of down time before I dropped the kids off with Mr. Fob for the rest of the weekend.
Friday night and yesterday I just ran errands and spent a number of hours getting things ready for the new year in Primary (I'm the secretary so it's the busiest time of year for me). I did exercise yesterday and I went to bed fairly early last night. It was a busy and fun week--not as relaxing as I would like, but it was nice to not have to go to work and to be able to just spend time doing things that I don't normally do. I think it was particularly good for the kids to spend time with me that didn't involve hurrying off to school and other places. This coming week I have to work, but only for three days. The kids will be spending some time at their dad's house and I don't have any visitors, so it will probably be relaxing in a different way. At least it won't be like last year where Mr. Fob was out of town and Little Dude broke his foot on New Year's Eve (well, I hope it's not).
Last Sunday night S-Boogie went to spend the night with her cousin, and then spent most of Monday with her as well. I woke up on Monday morning feeling energized and spent a few hours cleaning the house. Little Dude and P. Bibby helped out for a while before I sent them downstairs to watch Dora so I could finish things up by myself. That afternoon Little Dude helped me shovel snow off the driveway and make some candy cane cookies and a batch of Rolo turtles. It was a relaxing, fun day and a good way to start vacation. My parents arrived that night after the kids were in bed and we stayed up a bit talking.
Tuesday was Christmas Eve, so we baked and decorated gingerbread cookies. I was a bit tired from the night before and found baking with three helpers to be a little stressful. Thankfully we mostly still had a good time and came up with some creative and lovely cookies. After lunch everyone relaxed by watching The Polar Express (I think it's a weird movie but it was the only Christmas one available at the library last Saturday). I snuck off to Costco to get my brother a present--I bought him and his wife a membership as a gift. It's a bit of a joke since he gives me a hard time for always talking about how fabulous Costco is. The money was totally worth the look on his face when he opened his gift that night. For Christmas Eve we went to my brother's house; we had a lovely family Christmas program and a very tasty dinner. I brought the kids' Christmas pajamas so they could open them and change into them before we drove home; I'm glad I did because they were all fast asleep when we got back to the house. I put them in bed and then stayed up a bit too late cleaning the house and stuffing stockings.
Wednesday we celebrated Christmas Day--thankfully the kids were tired and didn't get up too early. We opened presents and then ate some yummy brunch food. It was a bit difficult to coax the kids away from their presents and into their clothes to go to their dad's house, but from what I've heard they had a busy day getting a lot of Christmas presents and going to multiple parties. After I got back from dropping them off I spontaneously decided to see a movie; I chose Catching Fire since I hadn't seen it. My mom came with me and I think we both enjoyed it. We went straight from the theater up to my brother's house, and then we went out to eat Thai food for dinner. This is the second year in a row we have gone to the same restaurant and it has been delicious both times. I was exhausted when we got home and slept well all night.
Thursday morning my parents and I picked up the kids from Mr. Fob and then drove up to Ogden. The plan was to go to the Air Force museum, but it turned out that the museum was much more fascinating to the adults and the kids were not in the mood for it at all. So instead we got lunch at Wendy's, stopped off at my brother's house so S-Boogie and Little Dude could try their cousin's new BB gun, and went to see Frozen. I really liked the movie, though I want to watch it again some time without a three-year-old writhing on my lap the whole time. That night we had some tasty egg rolls for dinner (a gift my mom received from a student's mother) and tried to put the kids to bed a bit early.
Friday morning I took the girls and my mom to the mall for some haircuts. S-Boogie just got a trim, but P. Bibby and I went for shorter styles. The girls had fun hanging out with Grandma while my hair was cut and styled; we also visited a few stores at the mall but decided against too much shopping because everyone else was out shopping and things were a bit crazy. When we got back to the house my parents packed up their things and then we drove over to Noodles for a farewell lunch before they drove away. Then we went home for a few hours of down time before I dropped the kids off with Mr. Fob for the rest of the weekend.
Friday night and yesterday I just ran errands and spent a number of hours getting things ready for the new year in Primary (I'm the secretary so it's the busiest time of year for me). I did exercise yesterday and I went to bed fairly early last night. It was a busy and fun week--not as relaxing as I would like, but it was nice to not have to go to work and to be able to just spend time doing things that I don't normally do. I think it was particularly good for the kids to spend time with me that didn't involve hurrying off to school and other places. This coming week I have to work, but only for three days. The kids will be spending some time at their dad's house and I don't have any visitors, so it will probably be relaxing in a different way. At least it won't be like last year where Mr. Fob was out of town and Little Dude broke his foot on New Year's Eve (well, I hope it's not).
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