I didn’t take a lot of pictures over the past two weeks, and it was actually really nice! It’s easy to fall into the document everything trap when running a blog and posting 5 days a week for years on end. It’s a habit, really, and one I often enjoy. But I needed a break, a breath of fresh air, a new perspective. And I felt really, really lazy. A confession: laziness is not a condition I catch often. I’m more often doing things, even if those things are tidying up or baking or doing laundry or running errands or browsing the shelves at the library, or… blogging.

Over break, however, I allowed myself to be tired and lazy. It felt good. Maybe because I was sick with thing after thing for basically two months before this, maybe it was the rainy, gloomy weather. Whatever it was, it wasn’t a bad thing! Laziness, loafing around, watching shows like Breaking Bad and Worst Cooks in America on Netflix with Andrew, building forts with my kids, playing board games, reading out loud in bed in the middle of the day while the boys crowded around me and the laundry piled up, it was all good.

Anyway, we couldn’t have been that lazy because we ate very well. I roasted Cornish game hens one night, Andrew smoked a leg of lamb another, and all the friends’ houses for dinner and drinks, it felt so gluttonous but took a lot of work to prepare. Good work, if it ends up in your belly making you feel all cozy and sleepy. 

Emil took an interesting wardrobe turn at the beginning of the break, changing dramatically from wearing Darth Vader pajamas as often as possible to wearing “fancy” clothes at all times. Every morning for about 4 days, Emil dressed himself in a button-down shirt, waistcoat, bow tie, and herringbone suit jacket paired with jeans and bright red sneakers. He dressed this way to play at the playground, read books (his favorite is the audiobook by  Pete Seeger and Michael Hays, Abiyoyo, the song from which still plays on repeat in my head at random times of the day), go to parties, and just hang out at home. I (along with the entire neighborhood) thought this was hilarious and adorable, but Emil did not like the attention and switched back to Darth Vader as soon as his Uncle Billy and Aunt Annie sent him a brand new Darth Vader sweatshirt anyway. He’s back to normal, whatever normal is for that interesting character!

Milo was very studious over break. He asked Andrew to teach him some algebra and geometry, so they watched a few Khan Academy videos and his mind was basically blown. What an amazing world it is now where a kid can learn anything at all…

We also got Structures for the boys for Christmas — score! Thank you, Nora, for introducing us! Andrew thanks you too, as he has been building with them more than the boys. 

We got organized, Montessori-style, with our art supplies, and colored for hours and hours on a giant coloring sheet (thank you Maggie & Alex) which fits in its entirety perfectly on our dining room table. I love coloring with the boys; they always talk to me about the most interesting things when their hands are busy! 

On New Year’s Day, we went to our neighbor’s house for a long breakfast — such a wonderful way to ring in the new year with a group of people we adore. It’s beginning to feel a bit like a commune on our street, only we have our own houses to go back to for a bit of privacy when needed, ha ha!

The boys spent the rest of the day jumping on the trampoline, building forts, playing with legos, and taking a break for a movie in the middle of the afternoon inside their fort. It was a good day. 

The final pull from our vegetable garden this growing season, harvested on Saturday afternoon once the frost had melted away and the warm sun brought a little life back into the kale, which is just holding on. One more freeze and it’ll be gone for good. Oh, this garden, I realize I barely mentioned it on the blog this year! It was a bit of a shoddy effort and not all that pretty to look at, starting with a giant flood in June, ending with a lot of neglect, but it still managed to produce plenty for us this year. I’m planning to make a white bean soup with kale ribbons with all of the above kale and carrots. The broccoli will probably be snacked on with some hummus.

Also, just wanted to throw this last one in for good measure — a photo of Emil, who decided during the middle of a dinner party to make his bed on the play table and put himself to bed. I guess we were being too loud.

Happy New Year! I hope your break was great, and I’m so glad to be back here with you!