Christmas Vacation

Thomas has been on vacation since December 21st. I cannot remember a time when he had a week off at Christmas. He always uses his vacation days throughout the year and is lucky to get off Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. What a wonderful joy it has been to have him home with us for so long. Hayden and I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of his time off.

We have been able to make some great memories, along with getting a lot accomplished. As Thomas and I were talking about what we needed him to get done over his vacation, we decided that making memories with Hayden was the best way for him to spend his time. We wanted him to consciously make an effort to do something fun with Hayden each day, of course he would still take care of my needs and then accomplish what he could.

I have been having so much fun watching, and sometimes participating, in the fun that my sweet guys have been having. They have played electronic battleship over and over, rode bikes, built legos, went to the movies and saw the Hobbit, talked, laughed, had tickle fights, played the I-pad, battled in video games, read books and watched movies. It has been so fun to see the joy the two of them have spending time together.

Along with them spending time together playing, they have also really worked hard, side by side. I have felt my heart fill with joy as I have seen these two work so hard together. They have accomplished so much during this break. The hall game and art closet was totally pulled out and put back together, they cleaned out Hayden's closet, drawers, and his Lego creation shelf. The toy room was gone thru toy by toy decided what to keep and what to place up for sale. After all the new toys and games and legos were placed in their proper places, they moved on to the kitchen and tackled the appliance pantry and all of the kitchen cabinets.

They also tackled putting Christmas away and storing it away until the next beautiful season, besides my tree that I am not ready to let go of. I don't want this season to end, so I am letting it linger a little longer, if only by the twinkling of the lights on our dear Christmas tree.

It is no wonder I do not want to see this season end. I am not ready for Thomas to head back to work, for Hayden to go back to school and my life to go back to doctors and trying to figure out who is going to pick up Hayden from school, who can come stay with me, and who can run me to doctors appointments. I will go back to trying to figure out eight different people's schedules, so that I can make sure that Hayden and I are where we need to be with putting the least amount of stress and additional obligations onto those that I love.

This has been such a wonderful "break" from our day to day lives. I know that this is a Christmas season that we will always look back on and cherish. I have seen quotes stating the family that plays together stays together, the family that works together stays together and the family that prays together stays together. I have decided it is the family that works, plays and prays together stays together. And that is exactly how we spent this wonderful gift of time together this beautiful and precious Christmas vacation. Time together has been our most cherished gift of this season.