Yuletide Session 2016

It’s that time of year again … maybe even a little late for this post, but I’m just now getting everything planned for our “break.”

The first thing I do is remind myself of all the things we plan to do over YuletideSession by looking back at last year’s plan.

We had a great YuletideSession in 2015 – but we didn’t do any of the Whatchamacallit plan I made. So, I think that’ll be exactly the same.  (If I hadn’t already had a plan ready to go, I’d have been really excited to try out the FREE Advent Morning Time Plans that are available for download now. Jessica worked really hard to make these beautiful plans for you!)

I love our break time. Christmas is my favorite time of the year and there are so many interesting places and things to go and see and do. We enjoy this time of “going and doing” without the added pressure of doing formal academics, too. I like that we can sleep in and rest on the days we aren’t going and doing.  Those days can be filled with holiday baking, a little crafting, reading, and the occasional Christmas movie.

This year, the only big addition was a suggestion from Pam Barnhill on Facebook – covering the school table with a jigsaw puzzle for the duration. I decided on one with the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center in honor of M-girl’s recent adventure in NYC.

You likely won’t be surprised that much of the plan is the same. In general, I like to have a number of established traditions that we do year in and year out to keep the planning easy and to enjoy the season. I’ll share our general plan below.

After Christmas, we have a couple of weeks to rest, decompress, enjoy our presents, plan the new Academic Year, and clean the school room. Oh, and watch a lot of college football. Officially, we start back the Monday after N-boy’s birthday (January 5). So we have a birthday party during YuletideSession, too. We’ve been following this schedule for years – since 2010, at least.

Events:

• Cook Thanksgiving dinner with Mama
• Thanksgiving dinner(s) – and thankfully on different days!
• Christmas tree cutting and decorating the house
• A Christmas Carol play in Columbus
• A day trip to Pittsburgh and the Oglebay Lights on the way home 
• First Friday in our town
• My family’s annual Progressive Dinner
• Cookie Day with my parents – and a brother and a sister with their kids this year!
• We should have our regular Bible Study and Art with Friends groups
• Piano and Organ Recitals
• First Lego League competition
• Downtown Columbus Adventure – Ohio Statehouse, Main Library Train display, and State Auto  Christmas Corner
• Christmas shopping with Mama and Papa 
• Dickens of a Christmas at Ohio Village

• Columbus Zoo WildLights
• Fantasy of Lights
• Baking
• Crafting
• Christmas video cartoons …