An easy relaxing month of family time...well that was my intentions.

We didn't exactly take the month off from school but we did cut our school day in half and filled it with crafts, baking and other Christmas festivities.
I would love to take a week every month to just bake and craft...relax and enjoy the benefits of us all being home. So many times I feel like we get going in school work, home projects, Corey's work and we forget that we need to stop for awhile. I guess a downfall of homeschooling and working from home is that we are actually always in the same environment but a benefit is that we can actually stop and have a holiday anytime we want if we just remember too.

And we do bake every week...and dig through the recycling in search of plastic bottles, cardboard boxes and metal cans in the hope of making anything that comes to the imagination of one of my kids.

This was Jillian's first year to really be involved in the making of things and she really loved being right in the mix of it all.

Massive amounts of tape and glue are bought monthly.....

because we go through it so fast,

luckily they love to have their hands busy being creative.

We've been staying up late playing games, waking up a little later in the mornings and really feeling like we are on a vacation

Munching on popcorn, drinking lemonade and hot chocolate and pretending that we don't have any responsibilities but to just have fun.

It seems like our home is full of signs on windows, drawings taped to doors, notes tacked on walls in funny spots, I get up in the morning and it seems like something has been added. The funny thing is that every week or so (at night)I sweep the house of it all because eventually it does take over and no one seems to notice..they just add more stuff, never wondering where there old creations have gone.

Corey has been home a lot this month, days off, slow work schedule....and teaching the kids how to wood burn. I love it when Corey is able to teach them...it is like getting a brand new curriculum, going through it, and seeing all these wonderful ideas and wishing you would have thought of them yourself. He always know right where to start and how to do it so precise.

It is always a breath of fresh air when I don't have to be in control of every project they do, when daddy steps in and leads the way.

And they are learning how hard art is, that it isn't just pick it up and do it but learning the right way.

During this time, kids are getting along..showing each other Peace and Goodwill. Working together to get projects done, coming up with plans and "Big Ideas" together.

There doesn't seem to be as much whining and bickering but more of the boys saying "Come play with our stuff," and the girls doing a lot less tattling. Our house is celebrating Peace on Earth and relishing in this time of rest and rejuvenation.

They are taking to heart the saying that it is better to give then receive. With the boys asking if they can go shop for their sisters, with money they have been saving.

And the girls go through their stuff to find little things to wrap for their brothers in this season of giving.

and as a parent...I can't help but think all is right when your children are getting along and living like you are teaching them but this season brings out our best and most joyful sides.

So I am soaking it all in...holding on to the beauty of Christmas and the brightness and joy my kids are feeling because....
routine will set back in, but we have this great memory of how much fun we are having and look forward to it next year.