14 days. That’s how long my girls have been on their holiday break. It’s been an extra-long break this time around because of the new high school building being moved into this past week (of which this is pretty exciting news around our town, but more on that later!). And while it’s been nice having them home and having some downtime, I think we are all ready to get back into our routines. Fellow parents will say “Amen!” to this, especially working ones.
So what have we done with these past 14 days? After Christmas, lots of our friends have taken trips to warmer and not-so-warmer locales, but we stayed home or close to home. It was nice seeing their pictures on Facebook and living through them experiencing their adventures in whatever weather! I finally got to make our home’s Christmas wreath on the 21st of December – after completing my wreath-making workshops which I was grateful were well-attended once again this season.
I did our wreath a bit differently and attached everything onto a grapevine wreath. My classes involve wiring bundles of greens to a wire base….will definitely add the grapevine wreath technique to the 2018 classes. It worked out quite well. Our wreath has foraged bittersweet berries mixed in with the winter ilex berries, and some of the pinecones are foraged as well. I love foraging items and making use of what Mother Nature puts out there!
We went to Christmas Vigil Mass on Christmas Eve and while it was c-c-c-c-cold outside, we stopped by the Nativity scene to check it out before the service. The true reason for the season.
So grateful for our white Christmas this year! My father-in-law is the “weatherman” of the family and informed us of snow coming but I was skeptical. Glad I was wrong!
A few days later, we headed to the Philly area to attend a family reunion which was great, great FUN! Family members from as far as Texas came and it was a joy to have my girls with their cousins once again. My sister-in-law re-started a great tradition her grandmother used to do during Christmas – giving everyone wind-up toys (in stockings she filled for everyone with lots of little goodies). We all felt like kids again playing with them.
New Year’s Eve, we found ourselves relaxing at home once again with loads of junk food (of course!), sweets (oh yes!) and a marathon of The Hunger Games movies to take us into 2018. The past few days after that have involved mostly staying indoors due to oh-so-frigid single-digit temperatures outside. We did manage some shopping and skating too. Proud of my 9-year-old and getting real low during the skating “limbo”!
2018 is off to a good start. Now, get the kids back to school!!!
This Joyous Life 