Monday, January 5, 2015

Monday, December 22

Some children are away from daycare this week, others are visiting with us since they are done with school until the new year.  It turns out to be a nice little group with a mix of older friends and younger ones.  We make muddy buddies to put in the bowls we made for our parents.  It will be a nice treat for them to munch on during these last days of Hanukkah or on Christmas.

Tuesday

Today is big kids day.  Some of the younger children have brought their older siblings to daycare with them, and with the addition of some other visitors, the big kids outnumber the little ones.

It is the last day of Hanukkah, and we haven't even made latkes yet.  I just don't have the ambition to do this today.  They are so delicious, and make the house smell good, but most of the kids won't eat them, go figure.  What is not to like about potato pancakes?  Sara, Steven and I enjoy them, but we don't really need them, so I skip this activity this year.  I feel slightly guilty, but get over it when I realize the kids don't care.


We make candy houses instead, which is always a treat.  I take graham crackers, cut them into squares and glue them together with sugar.  The kids then cram as much candy onto their houses as they can hold.  This year, they are more interested in eating the chex and kix cereal than the candy.  What a remarkable bunch of kids!

In the evening it is just me and Linda at knitting.  It is such a busy time of year for everyone, we knew there wouldn't be many people around.  It is nice to have this one time and place that is calm in these days before the holiday.  Linda has brought cookies once again, and we enjoy them as we knit.

Wednesday

This is the last day of daycare before our holiday break.  We are open most of the year, Monday through Friday, closing on most of the federal holidays.  Sara and I take the week between Christmas and New Years Day off every year.  Since the year starts on Thursday, we are taking Friday off as well. It gives us the chance to rest and recuperate from the holidays.  When my children were younger, it also gave me some time to spend with then on their break. It is a time I look forward to every year.

There are only a few kids today, so I send Sara home after stories.  My nephew Brian, and sisters Jill and Sara are free to start their Christmas eve celebration early.  The few children I have are here until four, which even gives me a head start on Christmas eve.  Once they are picked up, I call let my kids know that I am free, and we meet up with some friends at the Gourmet House for a Christmas eve dinner.  After that we to go see the movie Annie.

This is not the way we traditionally spend this evening.  Our family usually meets with Steven's brothers families' at their mom's house, but this year things didn't work out.  We decided that our immediate family would instead spend the night together having Chinese food and taking in a movie.  Alex is spending the evening with Filipa and her family, and Josh and Chauncey are off visiting theirs.  Julia comes with us, and with our friends, we are a long happy table.  We talk and joke and draw on the paper table cover.  We converse as well as we can, share our fortunes and have a happy time.  We part with hugs for all, although we know we will be together again for breakfast in the morning. They have decided to forgo the movie, since there are still preparations to be done for tomorrow.  We also have much to do, but somehow it will all get done in time.  We drive to the mall to see our movie.

Annie didn't have great reviews, but we all agree it is a fun uplifting movie worth seeing. We all thought there were some strange musical choices made in the updating of the movie, some of the songs didn't fit the story, but those songs didn't detract from our enjoyment of the film too much.  Even Steven, the only male in our group agreed it was a fun movie.

It is not too late when we get out of the theater, so when we get home I start getting the house ready for tomorrow.  I vacuum and set the table, and hide the accumulated odds and ends from daycare that take up room in my house.  Some things are left undone, this is okay.   My house doesn't have to be the neatest house right now, the important thing is that everyone will be together. 

1 comment:

  1. Hope your week was great! We certainly missed you and Sara.

    ReplyDelete