I love Christmastime- the lights, decorations, music, food, cookies, traditions, anticipation, carols, school programs, picking out and giving of gifts, visiting family, and coming home again. But as much as I love all of that, I think these few days between Christmas and New Year's are my most favorite of all. At least when those days involve much lounging and relaxing and no working as they have this year and last year.
The kids got this pop up tent from my aunt and it is one of their new favorite things. JP read Landon his new chapter book in there Friday night.
Tia and Billy stopped by our house last night on their drive back to Colorado. It divided their 20 hour drive into 8 and 12 hour segments and we got a bonus night with them! Landon and Claire immediately offered Tia a place in their tent. It was an offer she couldn't refuse.
My mom surprised me with a stocking stuffer of a Teavana tea maker and sample of loose leaf tea. I'm obsessed with tea. I probably drink 8 cups a day on average (only the first cup has caffeine), but usually it's just Bigelow or Twinings bags. I hadn't used fancy loose leaf tea in many years and now it's like I have it on tap (I stopped by the store and bought a few more tins at 75% off on Friday; I'm ruined again for bargain tea). Claire likes it too.
My mom also gifted me with a snazzy new pair of workout pants and matching jacket (my mom never, ever gives a gift that doesn't involve matching; usually jewelry and shoes are involved as well, but I suppose even she realized I didn't need matching earrings for a jogging outfit). This has motivated to run not once but TWICE in the last two days. Tex and I are totally losing the 5 pounds we've gained in the last few months. (As long as we can lose it before I go back to work on Wednesday and immediately lose all motivation to exercise.)
Landon got a scooter for Christmas and it went with us on our 3 mile walk this morning. JP stole it on all the hills and Landon raced him on foot.
It was 30 degrees outside for this particular trek, but Eskimo Claire stuck it out on the swings for a whole 4 minutes before declaring it was time to go home and drink tea.
The rest of the day has involved JP tending to his fire pit (still burning through the wood he chain-sawed up after that huge branch fell on our gate in September; that branch was bigger than the biggest tree we had in our yard in Austin); Landon scooting circles around the pool before coming in to build legos and warm up; Claire alternating between snuggling with me and tending to her babies; and me writing thank you notes, playing JP in Ruzzle (and losing every single time; I scored perfect on the SAT verbal and have a pretty big vocabulary- why I am so terrible at word games?), watching The West Wing on Netflix (we are so fancy with this streaming DVD player thing- I love it!), and wondering which tea I should brew next.
The kids have now disappeared into their tent. JP is temporarily inside, smelling like wood smoke and filled with the pride of having made fire. And I'm loving this alternate reality of no school, no work, no unemployment- just us, in our house, in our pj's, hanging out.
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Friends
1 hour ago