A Christmas Vacation Well Spent

This week between Christmas and New Year is the most leisurely of my year. It's the only week without appointments and lessons. That said, I've done a lot of calling, planning, paying, etc. for the activities that are coming this season. I'm getting the regular cleaning done, and a lot of extra cooking and baking. I'm also reading for hours in the middle of the day and napping some, things I hardly ever get to do. I actually took time to simply sit in the silence and think. That never happens. I wrote a letter to a friend, and I completed some of those more random household tasks that needed to be done, like inventorying and reorganizing my pantries, closets, and storage rooms.

We started re-reading The Chronicles of Narnia (in order of their publication, of course) before our oldest, Norah, left for college. Now she's finished an entire semester of college, and she's back for Christmas break, but we've been moving so slowly though read alouds lately that she was actually home to finish the last few chapters of The Last Battle with us. We were all sobbing happy tears. I wish we had been going faster and getting more reading aloud done this season, but I also can't say that regret the fact that my oldest was home with us to finish the series that means so much to everyone. Moments like this make me consider that what I call delay may, in actual fact, be God's perfect timing. Next, we promptly started re-reading The Hobbit. When we discussed what our next read aloud should be, our youngest, ten, said she couldn't remember hearing The Hobbit read aloud, so that's a crying shame, and we all agreed resolve the problem without delay. 

We are spending the evenings beside the fire, reading, chatting quietly, playing games, or as it was last night, listening to the soundtrack from The Phantom of the Opera, recalling our recent visit to see it on Broadway, and discussing the lyrics and story in detail. While we listened, Norah worked on a holder for her dad's drinking horn that she gifted him for Christmas. She added the wire and decorative beads that will hold it to the stand. My husband still needs to cut and sand and stain some of the base, but it's coming along beautifully. 

 

Books!

 I gave the girls Barnes and Noble gift cards in their stockings, 

our very generous neighbors also gave them gift cards, 

and Barnes and Noble was having a big sale the day after Christmas since it is moving locations and wants to get rid of inventory, 

so it was a happy, happy day for these three bookworms! 

Christmas Day 2022

After breakfast and Christmas readings, we opened gifts. 

Avril asked for crochet supplies galore. We gave her one of every single size needle and this Harry Potter character kit. She's getting great at crochet and takes a lot of joy in the works she makes.  

Wearable blankets were the biggest hit with everyone.

Arcus enjoyed the festivities, too. Later, he destroyed a few of the empty boxes bite by bite. Turning boxes into confetti is his favorite past-time. 

Norah, now being an adult, now making her own money, now having access to cool antique stores and craft festivals in and around here college in Franklin, TN, bought Dwayne an awesome drinking horn!

New converse for that college life- purple for everyday, black and white pair for special occasions

Norah bought me an antique book of poetry! There are ample notes in the margins from the previous owner who was quite well-read and who loved mythology! I love it when previous owners make notes in old books! She also bought me a doily that happens to fit perfectly over the cork round where I sit my drinks. My side table is starting to look like an eighty year old's side table with this doily, my favorite hand creams, books and pencils for cross words, etc. 

Dwayne gifted the family an amazing chess set. The pieces are massive and the base is inlayed wood. The coolest thing about this gift is that the girls and I saw an antique chess piece from The Middle Ages at The Cloisters. The piece was one of the favorite things we saw (and similar to the king in this set.) We all agreed we'd love to have an entire chess set just like that piece, but Dwayne was not there with us, he did not see the Chess piece, or hear that conversation. Yet he bought this. It's uncanny. The girls promptly played a round. The moved the new chess board to the small table in the dining room where we have been keeping our old set, made of plastic. This new set looks so beautiful near the grand piano. 

The queen in this set is also holding a drinking horn, just like the one Norah gave Dwayne today, which is another neat detail. 

I got a new cookbook that I wanted! I've already read it through and I'm interested in making almost everything, especially everything in the dinner section. 

Adele made me this Christmas cross stitch (with her big sister, Avril's, help on the design) 

Arcus devouring a Lego box

CS Lewis said he didn't take naps, but, "Mind you, sometime a nap takes me." Well , a nap took me in the quiet hours of the afternoon. I pulled our Santa hat down over my eyes to block the sunlight and snuggled the Christmas pillow. It was the perfect nap. 

Our neighbors gifted the girls Barnes and Noble gift cards, which they are eager to go buy books with tomorrow firs thing. Our neighbors are the most generous people we know. 

Norah worked on some items for her Etsy shop to raise even more money for college life. This time- mushroom earrings!

Legos, legos everywhere! A treehouse and Dumbledoor's office

I made Italian Annisette cookies with anise, and we enjoyed them after dinner. I remember tasting these when we first moved to Connecticut twenty-ish years ago and I remember thinking the anise flavor ruined these cookies and that they were far too dry, etc. But these a very popular cookies around here. So over the years and years and years of living in Connecticut, these have become one of my favorite cookies, especially with hot tea or coffee. I truly love them now. 

Dwayne took a few minutes in the garage to create a holder for his drinking horn from a piece of our old upright piano. But this is a just mock-up. We're all giving input on the design. The wires holding the horn now will be replaced with something the girls will carefully form and finish. And Dwayne has to make some careful cuts and do some staining on the base. 

It was a truly lovely day, everyone working together in the same room on various things while listening to Christmas songs and hymns. 

Thank God for Christmas! 

 

Christmas Eve 2022

 

We attended Christmas Eve service in the afternoon. 

As always, we did our Advent readings after dinner and opened our new jammies before bed. 

Breakfast Casseroles at Christmas

Dwayne's company sends us a gift of ham and bacon and various, assorted, related goodies at Christmas. It's a lovely gift. 

I usually plan dinners or Sunday afternoon meals with these items in the days and weeks following. But this year, I'm planning four breakfasts for the four days we're together and home around Christmas. 

We don't often get to eat breakfasts as a family on weekdays, because the adults get up hours before the children and my husband usually prefers not to eat before leaving for work. And even on weekends, we can't have a nice breakfast together because there events, errands to run, or church to attend. 

But on holidays like Christmas, when we all just stay home together, there's plenty of time and opportunity to gather around the table in the morning. So I get to try some breakfast casseroles I don't usually have opportunity to make. 

I'm specifically trying casserole in the Foster Family's Cookbook. The Foster family was Dwayne's second home growing up and they are still friends like family to us. 

Breakfast Casseroles may need to become another Christmas tradition. (We have many.) Or I may need to add some of these recipes to our "breakfast for dinner" category if they are a big hit with my family holiday. 

Phantom of the Opera

Norah and Laura are best friends. They met in Challenge B at Classical Conversations and grew up together through Challenge 4. Now they are both freshmen at different colleges, but still staying in touch. As things go with homeschooling families, it isn't just the kids who are friends, it's the families who are friends with the other families. Ligian and I are old friends now and have taught each other's kids at Classical Conversations for years. We moms decided to surprise the girls with a trip to NYC to see "The Phantom of the Opera." It was a great night! The Phantom of the Opera is leaving Broadway soon, even though it's the longest running show in history, so we were glad to see it before it's part of history. 

Norah Made Us Dinner

Norah is home from college for Christmas break. She's been working all day to earn money for college, but she still made us dinner tonight. Her black bean soup was way better than mine or even Panera's. She's been planning meals, and grocery shopping, and cooking with her roommate since going away to school. I didn't even learn how to really do that till a few years into marriage! We are very proud!