mini vacation

December was a whirlwind of semester finals, Simon's 11th birthday, Christmas, and my mom coming to visit.

Now, I am on winter break until the 23rd of Jan. Nothing could sound sweeter to me. I do have things to do for school while on break like apply for a nurse extern position, order books for next semester, and try to get the house in order before I can't keep up. Once the spring semester gets under way I can't seem to get anything done around here.

Simon is 11 now. I am always amazed at how quickly they are growing. We had a nice little party here at home with some of his friends. He asked for a drawing tablet as a birthday/Christmas present. I try to make sure he feels like his birthday is a separate thing and doesn't get mixed into the holiday. He has figured out that if he wants something big he can ask for it as a gift for both. As long as it's his choice.

This year my mom and little (littlest) brother came out from the 25th-31st. It was a great visit. We were pretty mellow and didn't do a ton of touristy stuff. We went to the Statue of Liberty and walked around Princeton one day as well. Ellis Island is really fascinating. It was freezing when we were on Liberty Island to see the statue. Cold + water + wind = damn cold.

Rebuilding Ground Zero.

Seth didn't appreciate Ellis Island like we did. Think he might be a wee bit bored?

Close sleeping quarters in the dormitory on Ellis Island.

Three little popsicles.

There she is, in all her glory.

Hannah and her Uncle Paul. She loves him, he hates having his picture taken.

Hot chocolate was just what we needed after walking around the statue... and freezing.

Enjoying the ferry ride back to Liberty State Park.

I am planning on enjoying my little mini vacation from school. I still have to get up every morning and get the kids off to school, but then I can mostly do what I want. I already devoured read the Hunger Games books. I've sewn. I've watched movies. I could get used to this...