February School Break ~ Who's more excited me or the kids?!

I am so excited to have 11 days off with my kids!  We can get up leisurely, do stuff together, finish all this room moving around stuff, etc.
I just hope the weather is better this school break than the last one in December.  That break we had very cold temps and very little snow.

We are in hopes to go snowshoeing one day out in our woods.  My oldest likes the challenge of starting a fire with his flint.  We all gather up tinder and wait for those sparks to start taking our turn blowing and retrieving more fuel for the fire.  Once it's roaring we get our reward for all that work.  Hotdogs, warm cocoa and all the fixin's for s'mores.  It's funny, normally I DON'T LIKE hotdogs, but there's something about a hotdog cooked over a fire that is so delicious!  Finding the perfect spot is always fun too.  Usually we scope it out during the summer, seeing evergreens fallen over just waiting to become our new campfire retreat! 

I remember when I was very young, my cousin and I wanted to have a weinie roast but all the adults in our lives were too busy.  We asked if we could go to the woodlot and do it ourselves then.  They said we could but in reality they didn't think we'd dare or be successful at a fire.  She & I took the two snowmobiles and drove up to the mountain lot which was about 2 miles of back road and trails.  We not only managed to turn around the snowmobiles without getting stuck but we also made a fire and enjoyed our campfire goodies.  We were so proud of ourselves and very enthusiastic at telling everyone when we got home.  No one believed us until my aunt noticed we had a bit of char on the corners of our mouths.  My dad had me take him to our spot, claimed he wanted to be sure we'd left the fire safe.  Really, in all that snow that little fire wasn't going to get away.  He just wanted to see for himself we'd done it.  My dad was a hard man to get him to be proud of you.  If he was he seldom told you, you just had to read it in his eyes.  And I think he was pretty proud that we'd accomplished that.  I used to love campfires while rabbit hunting when I was younger.  I still remember that when I hear the fire crackling.  I used to love to put pine bows on the fire to hear them fizz.

Anyway, it's amazing how thoughts can wander away from the original topic.....school break!
We also would like to do some Nordic Quests either by snowshoes or Xcountry Skis.  I thought it would be fun to build a gingerbread house and decorate it for St. Pat's day for the "Leprachaun".  Complete with rainbow & pot of gold.  We'll see.

One other thing I'd like to do is since my youngest has to read 20 minutes a day, I thought it would only be fair if we all take that reading break.  I'm in the middle of a book by my favorite author and once I get started I hate putting it down.  Although, I feel extremely guilty reading at home when I should be doing laundry, cleaning, cooking or some other domestic thing.

If anyone has any exciting ideas of how to spend our time and make memories, let me know!  I'd love to hear them!  I love traditions and fond recollections of touching times of my childhood and hope to create the same for my children.

Books I've read by my favorite author;
































And there is so many more in her series!