There is not too much I love more than having all my precious ones home for Christmas break. Today was the boys’ last day of school until 2013.

The past two weeks have been fun-filled with several opportunities to be in both the boys’ schools (which I LOVE), but now we can settle into a different (dare-I-say-slower?) pace together as a family for a couple of weeks… [insert deep exhale here]

And while I’m not looking to fill my lunch-packing, carpooling, school-serving hiatus with more busyness, I did brainstorm a list of fun possibilities to consider over the next couple of weeks… We may do none or all of them… We’ll see! Wheeee!

paint something (whether it’s an ornament or a canvas or something else entirely, kids just love the mess and creativity of painting)

drive around as a family to see Christmas lights

go caroling at the neighbors’ houses or at a nursing home

have a movie night in, complete with popcorn, hot chocolate with marshmallows, and comfy jammies

go see a movie out (did you hear Monsters Inc is being re-released in theaters?)

take some stuffed animals or dolls to the children’s floor of a hospital

make & hang a homemade birdfeeder using a pinecone, peanut butter, and birdseed

bake and deliver yummy little treats to neighbors

write some little notes of encouragement and leave them around for strangers to find (did you know more people consider suicide at Christmas than any other time of year?)

make and/or decorate cookies together (in my experience, kids will shake on a grotesque amount of sprinkles, piled high.. but they will love every minute of it)

serve a meal as a family at a homeless shelter

build a gingerbread house (I’ve seen complete kits for as low as $10, but you can also use graham crackers for walls, chex cereal for shingles, and icing for mortar, etc.)… or maybe a “gingerbread” nativity?

grab a stack of pipe cleaners (bodies) and big beads (heads) and challenge your kids to “sculpt” carolers (use a sharpie for facial features)

So, anyone else out there planning something fun for your family over the holiday?