Week 11 - Off

Saturday Daddy had an appointment in another town so while he went to that Monkey took a family friend to pick up some things at WalMart. ECJ watched Little Man and SweetPea while they took their naps and I pulled out all of our Christmas decorations to be put up sometime over the next few days. After that, while I waited for everyone to get home I worked on the blanket that I need to finish (really should have started it earlier in the year). Laundry was happily working away in the machines and I was drinking coffee like it was going out of style. Video games were played and YouTube was watched, some cleaning got done. There wasn't a whole lot of things that were exciting this day and we didn't do any lessons that were planned to be finished this day since I was fighting being tired ... I suffer from bipolar disorder and S.A.D. along with depression and anxiety and during the winter months when it's cold outside and the skies are mostly gray it's harder for me than the rest of the year. Yes, I am medicated for my conditions but that does NOT mean that it's easy for me. I still struggle to get out of bed some days, putting a smile on my face when I'm not in the mood to but to keep the children happy is sometimes hard, and everyday things become monumental tasks. BUT, I know these things about myself and keep on trucking every single day. The battle is worth it and with God and my family's help I always make it through until spring when the sunshine returns and it's easier to face each day with a real smile.


On Sunday Monkey and the grandkampers went to some friends house while Daddy, the campers, and I went to church with Grandma and Papa. We followed that up with a breakfast at the church with Santa and then we decorated Grandma and Papa's house with them for Christmas ... getting the tree up and the train going around the base of the tree. The only thing that we didn't do was get the decorations up on the tree itself. Grandma and Papa would be spending a little time each day during the week getting that done themselves. We ate pizza that day for supper with them before heading back home.

Monday Daddy went to work and I worked for awhile on some crochet projects that I had planned while I also spent time with the children. We had planned on doing school this week, but at the last minute I decided that we simply were not going to do it this week. Monkey spent the day cuddling with her children. When Daddy got home it was NCIS on Netflix and more crochet.

Tuesday I had an appointment in the middle of the day that Monkey took me to after her job interview in the next town. She sat in with me on my appointment and we were slightly entertained. When we got home it was another relaxing day just spent hanging out at home doing not much whatsoever but doing it together.

On Wednesday Noni came out to take the campers and I to the movie theater to see The Star!!! Before we left we found out that Monkey had gotten the job she had interviewed for the day before! When we got to the mall to go see the movie we found out that we had the theater all to ourselves for the entire movie! The movie was truly awesome and we completely recommend it to all Christian families as a must have for your movie collection, especially for this time of year. We'll be purchasing it as soon as it comes out into stores. On our way home Daddy text me a photo of the tree being up in our living room that he and SweetPea had put up together while Monkey and Little Man had taken a nap. Let me just say right here that I've had our tree and the decorations out in the living room since right around the day after thanksgiving and we've just gotten around to doing this ... my Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.) is in full swing early this winter type season and I just haven't been my normal holiday self this year. And in the evening we attended a supper with Santa in our community that the children really enjoyed each child came away with a gift/surprise and I got awarded a $25 gift card for Target!!!

Thursday Daddy and I watched SweetPea and Little Man for a while while Monkey went to work at her new job, I tried (and managed a cat nap) to take a nap with Little Man while SweetPea took a nap. Another quiet day around the house ... we didn't even decorate the tree this day. I crocheted, working on a hat for Monkey as a quick Christmas gift, and we continued to watch NCIS on Netflix. 

On Friday we were a little more festive and actually all got involved in decorating the Christmas tree. None of my breakable, vintage, or collectible ornaments went out this year due to little curious hands. My small glass nativity scene also stayed in it's box this year as I'd rather not take the chance of it getting broken after being gifted it nearly twelve years ago by Grandma and Papa for Christmas. Our tree looks like it was decorated by nothing but children and love this year and that's entirely fine by me, every time I look at it I smile widely and think that that's exactly what Christmas is made of. After the youngest two went to bed for the most part (six week old Little Man doesn't sleep through the night yet, so ECJ offered to watch him) Monkey, Daddy, and I played music and hung out together to do some celebrating of the season. Turning on some old bands and singers to enjoy music that we don't hear every day, dancing and using muscles that we'd mostly forgotten that we had, and just generally enjoying each other's company. I also finished the hat I'd been making her ... it's my take on a slouchy messy bun hat and she loves it!

Saturday Daddy had an appointment out of town and the campers and SweetPea went outside to play while I watched Little Man. Lots of fun was had in the snow. The beginnings of a snow fort was made, snow ball fights were had, a snowman was built, and just lots of fun was had. I'm typing up the last few sentences now as ECJ shovels out where the vehicles park and Monkey makes lunch for herself and the girls, Little Man is asleep in his bouncy seat behind me and SweetPea is napping in her bed. I can bet more relaxing is on tap for the rest of the afternoon with all this cold and snow flurries...

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Linking up for the Weekly Wrap Up and Homeschool Highlights this week.