No man needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one. ~Elbert Hubbard
The holidays were busy here with plenty of last minute things to do and my parents arrived on the 24th. We had a great time playing games, chatting and just relaxing. Christmas day you would have thought my 13 year old was 5 again with her anxiousness to open gifts. It never seems like a lot of gifts, until you are waiting for the kids to open them, taking turns of course, so you can see their reactions to each item and take pictures (that my kiddos detest.) After gift opening it was on to plenty of snacks and… for dinner, a deep fried turkey. We had never done this before and Jim really wanted to try it. It was good, but probably not worth the time and effort to make it happen. Here are some pictures from our Christmas day:
So, what do teachers do on their vacation? Well, hopefully many of them are traveling away from the snow, or relaxing with their little ones and family, however, my “little ones” are not so little and have schedules and agendas of their own. There was no time to head anywhere warm, as my husband only had a couple of days off. So, I did some planning and preparing for when I go back to work. Between Jen’s dance schedule and her other activities, along with my commitments and playing taxi to my 17 year old, the school weeks are so busy. I also decided it was time to use some of those recipes for freezer meals I had posted on my Pinterest page. So, after many hours of grocery shopping to find what I needed, I was headed home to put more than twenty freezer Crockpot meals together. I was over ambitious, and probably didn’t need to plan on making so many at once; however, with Jim’s help, we prepared, packaged, and cleaned up in three hours. I can’t fit one more thing in my chest freezer or in my kitchen freezer. I feel like I actually accomplished something this vacation, besides the typical cleaning. I was able to talk my 13 year old into going shopping with me (ok, I bribed her, knowing she wanted to go to the mall to have her brows done.) Anyone who is familiar with me and my family knows that my husband (or my son) does most of the cooking here, so this was a major challenge for me. In three hours time, Jim and I were able to put together all of the freezer meals and clean the kitchen. Of course, no one said these freezer meals will taste good! I guess I will have to update as we try them. For now, a picture:
I seriously considered some crafting, and again, anyone who knows me knows this is a big challenge for me. This is something I am as talented with as cooking; however, I have purchased many craft items over time with intentions of making some cute things. Needless to say, the hundreds of dollars worth of items occupy blue storage bins, neatly tucked under the furniture in my office. Of course, prior to beginning this, I would have to actually clean my office (that was used as the Christmas room this year) in order to get to them. So, instead I turned to a book that was lent to me by one of the student’s parents. It is definitely a book I would recommend.
I also prepared three pans of lasagna for a late Christmas celebration with my family. I even made the sauce, all homemade (without the help of Jim or Justin.) We had a great day with my brother and his family, my sister and her family, my parents and Jim’s mom…and of course my kiddos…and Jenna’s friend who joined us as well.
New Year’s Eve this year was a girl teen party at our house. Jenna has been asking to have one and with no real plans ourselves, we agreed. I was looking forward to her and her friends being here; however, it was a long night. The girls wanted to go sledding the next day and were afraid if they went to bed that night they wouldn’t wake in time to go before all the parents came to pick up the kids. At 4am I was awoken to the sounds of a rowdy game of hide-n-seek. At 6am I again heard the giggling girls making pancakes, bacon, and eggs….all dressed ready to go sledding. They were not happy when I told them they were not leaving the house until 8:00am. When the last friend left, just after 11, Jenna headed in to watch some television. It was ten minutes later we found her sound asleep and there she stayed until 6pm. Justin was at a friend’s for the evening, because he had no desire to be here with a house full of giggling girls.
I hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday and best wishes for 2013.
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