Fire 101

Nearly every day, Luke asks me if he can build a fire.

I am completely useless when it comes to the fireplace, so he always has to wait until Ben is around...and awake!

I'm sure he has a good idea about what he's doing, but I can't risk being the responsible adult in charge if something catches on fire.

One of these days he'll get cleared to fly solo.

We are both anxiously awaiting it!

One Last Hurrah

Today was the last day of Christmas Holiday.  

Our last day of sleeping in and wide open days.

So sad.

I figured we'd make the most of things, but we got a jump start on our regular routine and went to 7:30 Mass and then promptly came home and took naps and vegged out in front of the TV for the morning.

It was painfully clear that tomorrow is going to be a rough day for all of us night owls!

Catching up on some sleep before hitting the sledding hill

By afternoon, however, the fresh snow started calling our names!

Ben and I wimped out and only made a couple of trips down the hill each--it was super cold, plus I'm apparently still terrified of the dip in the hill after last years fiasco!--but the boys tore it up for about an hour.

After that it was back home for more lounging around.  I hoped to get a couple chapters in our book read, but nope.  I just couldn't find the energy.  Instead we watched Malcolm in the Middle--the boys favorite newly discovered show! 

It wasn't quite the day that I had planned, but, really, it was just what we needed.

Back to our routine in the morning...

At Least The Bathrooms Are Clean....

Judging by the state of my house, we all apparently went on a cleaning holiday once the boys were out of school.  

We've kept up with the essentials, but not much beyond that.

Today, however, I needed to get at least one clean space.

The boys were enlisted to get the basement picked up and the bathroom cleaned.  I lured them into my chores with a promise of Orange Leaf for a job well done.

The rest of the house is still a disaster, including the basement, but I've got not one, but two clean bathrooms!  I've decided to give myself until Monday, when we sadly say goodbye to our schedule free days, before I start really cracking down on the mess.

One more day left....I always hate sending them back to school.