The Little Things

I'd describe our break with a word like "relaxing" or "peaceful".  We did tons of reading, lots of sleeping, a good amount of movie watching.  But, I must confess something: there were times over this relaxing Christmas Break that I wished were not so relaxing.  I was sad that we were never able to pull together a trip to the city, or a trip to the mountains.  I felt bitter that when people asked what we did over break, I wouldn't have much to tell them.  Then I started looking through the pictures on my phone and listening to my husband, who reminded me that almost every day held something fun in it, and I realized that this was an AWESOME break!  Not because we filled it with spectacular day-trips, but because we filled it with friends and special close-to-home experiences.

I was blessed to kick off break with a wonderful lunch with all my co-workers.  Our Preschool Director treated us and it was SO good to get out of the classroom and laugh with and get to know one another better.  I really value professionally everyone I get to work with, and times like this make me think of my co-teachers as friends too.

After Christmas, we had a fridge full of left-overs so we called over our good friends Sara, Arend, Anja and Anika to help us eat up some ham buns (Anika did not help much).  While they visited, they taught us a challenging new Settlers of America game.  It took a lot longer than any of us anticipated when we set it up, so the girls got to stay up way past their bed time, cuddled up watching movies together.  I'd call us each responsible parents, but there is no way we'd quit on a good game before a winner is declared...even if the kiddos are getting tired! :) 

On Dave's birthday, we joined the VM Fam (all 91 of them!!), for their Christmas celebration.  It included open-air caroling on Grandpa Ed's restored fire truck, fried-up-fresh Oliebollen, and a crazy White Elephant gift exchange.  The next day, we did our annual birthday double date with Phil and Jetta (Phil's b-day is 2 days after Dave's).  We saw Unbroken with them, then spent almost 3 kid-less hours chatting about the movie, ministry, and life at the steakhouse.

Another day, I got the girls out of the house by taking them to the jumpy house place.  A new inflatable featuring those giant red Wipe Out balls was where they spent all their time.  Add "Getting all the way across the giant red Wipe Out ball obstacle course" to their list of skills!  Ella even started making me time her.  She can do it in under 7 seconds.

One thing that was definitely on the girls' Christmas Break list was a get-together with their new favorite friends Evan and Zane.  Evan and Zane's dad and mom, Pastor Chris and Rachel, used to serve a church right here in town.  They moved away for a while, grew their family, and just returned to the area.  It's been a great gift to rekindle our friendship with them and get to meet and know their wonderful sons.  My girls and Rachel's boys are kindred spirits, connecting immediately and asking constantly to play.  We met for a morning of bowling...which led to an hour at the bookstore...which turned into a pizza play date at their house!  We were all having too good of a time to say goodbye, I guess!

So, no, I won't be able to say, like I thought we would, "We went sledding in Yosemite!" or "We spent a day exploring San Francisco!" when people ask what we did this break.  But, I'm content to say, "We learned a new game!" or "We flew across humongous bouncy balls!" or "We drove fast down country roads, hanging off a fire truck, singing Joy to the World!"  It's not what I thought our break would look like.  It's actually better.