The Winter Sing!

All Hail Christmas Vacation!  Paprika had her last day of school today before break, and Mr. M finished his last day/night of work until next YEAR!  ;-)

We have been celebrating today by making fresh squeezed orange juice from our prolific backyard orange tree.



Ginger actually picked the oranges all by herself.  She got about two dozen of them with no help from us.

 

She had to wear her tap shoes to pick oranges - of course!  ;-)



Baby Violet tried her best to help, but for some reason, she had a hard time!  ;-)  Doesn't this just sum up the frustrations of being 13 months old?!  I can't tell you how many times I've felt this way, myself!  Haha.



Paprika has been busy planting who knows what in the backyard.  She is intent on having a little garden and spends a lot of time planting seeds, digging, and otherwise communing with the soil.  It will be interesting to see what pops up! 



Paprika's school had their Winter Sing this morning at school, where all the kindergarten students did a vocal recital for the parents. All the afternoon kinders had to come to school almost four hours early. Paprika is NOT a morning person. Can you tell?!  Haha.



Here are some photos from a happier, more well-rested time.  Earlier this week, Paprika's class had an art lesson and they studied Picasso (one of Paprika's favorite painters).  I love seeing her in her element, doing the things she loves to do:

 

Voila! The finished product:



I am happy to say that I'm done Christmas shopping!  We're having a minimalist Christmas- which has taken so much stress off of me.  Ginger discovered her present in the closet last night (!) so that complicates things - Santa is going to have to find her a new gift, perhaps?  Ginger is one smart cookie - nothing gets by her.  Nothing!

But other than perhaps a midnight trip to the Target toy aisle in search of a new present for Ginger, my Christmas schedule is clear and we are in full vacation mode! 

Paprika has planned a Christmas piano recital for our neighbors on Sunday, so she has been busy practicing Up on the Housetop (her favorite), Jingle Bells, and a few other tunes. 




But mostly, I am excited about this:



Glorious Sleep!

Sweet Slumber!

Not having to wake anyone up for any reason for the next two weeks!

(It's the little things...)



The chlldren were nestled, all snug in their beds...while visions of Sugarplums danced in their heads...

This is how Ginger fell asleep in my bed a few nights ago.  Even though the master bedroom is the coldest room in our house, she doesn't care.  She just wants to fall asleep near me, and she'll crawl in bed and patiently wait for me to come snuggle her.  A lot of times, I am busy putting Paprika to bed or taking care of Violet, and by the time I come back to my bed, Ginger is sound asleep.

This Christmas, all I really want is to snuggle up with my three little girls and my best guy. And if I could freeze time, that would be pretty great, too!  ;-)



The End.