Let me introduce to today’s guest blogger Sarah and the rest of her clan from Chez Lee.

Sarah’s enjoyment of her children and Wellington just beam through her writing. Their family of 4, now have 5 members in it. Like other mother’s in her position she is discovering a different kind of rhythm now that she is a mother to a baby, pre-schooler and a school aged child. It is such a privilege to share this journey with her through her writing. Here she is introducing her gorgeous girls:

Charlotte,

Age 7:

Sarah – Mummy, blogger, cook, cleaner, entertainer, mediator, general dogs body Wrapped up warm on last day of term down at Lyall Bay.

Thanks for inviting me to do a guest post Meeks Happy Holidays everyone, from Chez Lee x
When the rhythm changes it can sometimes take a while to adjust. In term time we march to the beat of a drum. In the holidays we get to hold the drum sticks and beat out a rhythm of our own. It takes us a day or two to find our groove, to let go of our individual routines and pull together as a merry band. When we find our beat the fun really begins; we rediscover our creativity and revel in free time to discover and play.

We bake and take time to eat together. No hurried breakfasts and boxed up lunches.

We paint and create, with inspiration aplenty on the Internet. This week we’re inspired by a link on the ‘Crafty Crow‘ to make our own tissue paper window collage. We’re also planning to make wool pom pom balls (a first for my girls).

Painting is a favourite and we have upcoming Birthday cards to make (and Charlotte is working on her Birthday thank you cards).

We remember toys that gather dust in term time. Whilst the rain and wind beat down we open the toy chest and play our favourite board games; snakes & ladders, junior scrabble, charades, monopoly, memory…

We build Lego towns, string beads together, make up a batch of play dough. We dance and sing, jump around, crawl under sheets and feel the pulse of physical freedom. We hammer out some notes on the piano and learn some chords on the guitar.

We delve into activity books, read and play games on the Internet.

And of course we have the practical jobs of housework too – but even these can be fun when we all pull together. Help is often forthcoming when a squirty bottle of warm, bubbly water is involved My girls are good at helping with dusting, cleaning the kitchen surfaces, the floors and the sinks. They volunteer to do the windows – when the rain stops and the sun shines (usually getting drenched in the process!).

The housework is usually rewarded with a trip out and a hot chocolate, ice cream or smoothie By the second week of the holiday we are really getting in the groove and realize, with sadness, that we have only one more week together – and it isn’t enough.

When the weather is fine we hang out at the beach, visit the gardens and play on the waterfront. So many playgrounds and spaces to run. Places to walk and explore.

When the wind and rain won’t let up we brave the crowds for a couple of hours at Te Papa, The New Dowse, City Art Gallery and Museum of City and Sea. We swim at the pool (so many to choose from in Wellington), we take our wheels for a spin at the rec centre, we cosy up for stories in the library.

And at the end of the day, when the curtains are drawn early to keep us warm in the mid-winter gloom, we pop on a movie, light candles, switch on some fairy lights for a little cheer and cuddle up with cushions and blankets aplenty.

Ah, having written this post I am now feeling so positive about the holidays and have just enjoyed a trip down memory lane looking at the past year’s school holiday blog posts on Chez Lee. I don’t want them to end! Here’s to beating our own drum and dancing a merry tune!

Thank you Se7en coming along and being a guest blogger.

Se7en is a home schooling mother of se7en + 1 children. She has lovely view of life, that really shines through with her writing and family photographs. Check out her blogaversary’s celebrity week…you’ll probably see a few of your favourite bloggers featured! www.se7en.org.za

Writing this post made me realize that we have holiday traditions and as we are headed for our winter break in a couple of weeks I can feel little folks around here gearing up for their typical school vacation. I like to shake things up a bit in the holidays and give my kids a bunch of new things to do, without spending a penny, all I do is rearrange stuff a little bit. Also, I have to keep in mind that at the end of a school term my kids are usually quite tired and before I fall into the trap of preplanning every moment or filling their holidays with a million and one activities I need to remember that they need lots of “down time.” We usually have a meeting and we make a holiday list with one idea from everyone that they really want to do. It can can be as simple as making time for a walk on the beach every evening, rain or shine, that gives everyone the holiday feeling. I am a firm believer in letting them have a whole heap of free time to figure out things for themselves and fulfill whatever dreams they have been creating and cooking up in their heads during school time…

1. Craftiness: All their craft goodies that are neatly boxed up for school on the dresser, well in the holidays I just plonk everything into cups on a tray and leave them to it. For school their art is a lot of pencil and drawing in sketchbooks and watercolors, so during the holidays I make sure there are heaps of color and sticking and markers available. All the materials are always available but a different presentation makes it seems like a whole lot of new fun.



2. Book Nooks: Every holidays we set up a different and dedicated reading spot. Sometimes we theme the books and I will make it just for Dr. Suess books, or Richard Scarry… or pick a topic: beach stories or space stories… A pile of blankets and cushions and you are good to go.



3. Gaming: Somehow we never have time for games and yet my kids love them. During our planning meeting I let everyone choose a game and then we play one game a day during the holidays. I usually give the little guys easy puzzles to do while I play games with the older kids.



4. Baking: With a family of ten our days are a lot about “the food.” We always have a cooking day in the holidays and everyone gets to try a new recipe they have discovered. This is really special one on one time and we keep their particular recipe secret until “the unveiling.” We have ended up trying things we would never normally try – Thai soup, hot hot curry and elaborate baking that I would never have dreamt of trying on my own!!!



5. Outings: Inevitably I have errands to do during the holidays that I just can’t get to during school time and always add a fun and spontaneous run in the great outdoors onto our errands. Nothing huge – I am not up to overnight or even all day hikes into the wilderness. But I can totally drive to a nearby hiking spot and let everyone loose to run for an hour. An easy snack in my bag can stretch it to two hours and by then we are usually all ready to get home.



6. Scientific Discoveries: During the term time we do scientific projects but it is never enough!!! They always want more. During the holidays I take out their scientific gear, like the microscope and leave it on the kitchen counter so that they can explore to their hearts content. At the moment we are growing a window sill garden, mould and all, with a view to some microscope fun during our upcoming holidays.



7. Forts: My kids are all about forts and during the holidays they will make them indoors or outdoors, the weather is no issue!!! Just a place to eat lunch and read books and talk about life!!! They just love forts and I keep a ready supply of blankets and cushions at the front door just for them.

Happy Holidays with love from