Staggering to the End of Term...

The sun is shining now, but earlier this morning you'd think Mrs Washalot was up heaven's Faraway Tree emptying her washbucket (the rain was pouring down).

Last day of term couldn't come soon enough for me.
This has been an epic week round these parts. It's been our School's performance week, which the classes have all worked towards for months. Concerts have been held Tuesday (Seniors), Wednesday (Middle school) and Thursday (Juniors) with four (count-em FOUR) performances each day: A dress rehearsal, a matinee and two evening performances.
Suffice it to say the kids are knackered. And ropey.

[I took Miss fab to see the musical "Annie" last week; it was fab. But very wet.]

Along with the high emotion and pumping adrenaline of stage debuts we also have the usual daily after school juggling act, plus yesterday Daddy flew out to America.

My yesterday went like this...

7.40am drop Dash at the bus; 8:15am get to school/work;
9am locate class (workmen in our classroom; everything's topsy turvy; no desks, no chairs, no books); do the best you can
11am finish work (and dash about madly looking for lost umbrella);
11.30am host bookclub lunch; 2pm wave goodbye to guests,
2.15pm help hubby repack suitcase; 2.30pm race to mall to buy leggings for Fab's next performance;
3pm pick up kids from school; 3.10pm pick up hubby and take him to the airport
4.27pm drive through McD's and pick up dinner; eat burger while negotiating rush-hour traffic
5pm get Scrag to his classroom for first evening performance; watch said performance
6.30pm stand in queue for coffee
*fire alarm goes off* *see barefoot, coatless kids in costumes lining up on a freezing cold winter's night* *race to classroom to find Scrag's gumboots and jacket* *snuggle kids on the netball courts to help them stay warm til the all-clear sounds* 
7pm line up again for coffee; 7.30pm Scrag's second performance is done so grab him and his buddy who needs dropped off; locate umbrellas (which are lost again)drop off buddy
8pm pick up Dash from his friend's house where he waited after training; finally head home and chase the kids into bed
8.20pm sit rubbing the back of a totally wired and exhausted six-year-old who just had the biggest day of his life
9pm collapse on the couch and thank God tomorrow is the last day of school

[Mother-daughter "date" night out at Annie, bonding in the rain, cos we forgot our umbrella]

I have a plan to survive the school holidays with Daddy out of the country.
(You have to have a plan if you want to stay sane, especially in winter)
The biggest thing that gets to me about school holidays (and family life) is when the kids start fighting, when they never stop niggling, harassing each other and squabbling.

I heard somewhere about the effectiveness of having a group goal to help unite the kids as a team and get them working together.

Here's the plan:
You let them know you are looking for "cooperation" "kindness" "helpfulness" etc and when you see it a marble goes in the jar. They can also nominate each other for a marble (if they see someone being awesome, but you miss it).
When the jar is full they all get to enjoy a group treat of some kind (e.g. an outing to the movies etc).
The more kindness/helpfulness we see, the more marbles go in the jar, the faster we get to go to the movies.
You get the idea?

[The clever marble rocket; turn the dial to release a marble into either side]

I've resurrected this cool marble rocket (made by my friend Meg's clever hubby, which I *ahem* borrowed a while ago. (Meg, were you wondering where that rocket got to? Um, it's still here.)

We'll fill up our rocket with marbles earned from being helpful (to me) and kind (to each other).
The kinder and more helpful we are the sooner we get to go to the movies.

It's gotta work, right?

[I made this invite on my phone using a free app called "Phonto" while sitting at cheerleading]

I'm also planning to host a "Book Party" in the first week of the holidays. We are inviting our friends to come dressed as their favourite book character, and bring book-themed food. It'll be fun and probably pretty crazy. But you know I love a party.

[Book Party Food ideas; some from Pinterest and a few of my own]

For the rest of the time, I anticipate plenty of PJ days, book snuggle sleepovers and party prep crafting sessions. Maybe a spot of op-shopping and/or a Masterchef cooking day. Perhaps some ice skating if the marble jar is really going well... and loads of movie nights.

One thing's for sure, we'll be chillin out and enjoying not having to rush off anywhere.

How do you plan to spend the school holidays?