December: Present Time

Yay for present time! Every year I go a little crazy ... I try really hard not to, though. So that must count for something, right??

We always did gifts as children. One memory holds strong in my mind - when I was around 8 or 9 (?) my parents told us (me and my sisters) it was bed time. My dad took us to the bathroom to help us brush our teeth. I remember being upset for two reasons: first, it was much too early to go to bed; second, I left the bathroom while brushing my teeth and got told, rather sternly, that I had to stay in the bathroom. After our teeth had been brushed, my mom came upstairs and mentioned that the playroom was a mess, despite the fact that she had told us to clean it up. We were adament that this was not the case - we had cleaned up. Nevertheless, we went downstairs to check it out ... to find a huge pile (and in my mind it is a huge pile) of presents, newly appeared. It was an evening of fun after that :) 

I tried to recreate this memory with my children this year ... Greg went downstairs with them to play while I quickly moved all the gifts under the tree and filled the stockings. I then joined them downstairs for some other present-opening fun. That day we had taken them shopping to buy gifts for eachother. When we got home they wrapped the gift they had bought and hid it in their bedroom. When I went downstairs they took turns finding their present and opening it -- so much fun and excitement! And it turns out they did pretty good at buying eachother gifts :) 

After that fun, I told them to go upstairs and finish cleaning up ... they went upstairs to find some presents under the tree. And the present opening fun began :) 

We have true Frozen fever around here ... I spent a few nights crocheting this Elsa hat for Maddy. It is the first time I've ever really made a gift.  

Kiera loves dolls, so I complied :) Sophia the First. She calls her Baby Sophia. 

 Seth has been asking for playmobil dragons for a while. I balked a little because I'm not a big dragon / fighting person - but my dear husband said, "It's a boy thing". How could I argue?

Like I said, Frozen fever. Anna (a much cuter Anna than the one in the movie, if I do say so myself!!) This is Anna walking away saying, "Okay, fine" in a very downcast way. 

A cuddly blanket for Seth - his room is typically freezing. Kiera saw this blanket and was very jealous - she loves "bankies". Of course, when she opened her own new blanket next she was over her jealousy. Her new blanket actually replaced her real blankie for a bit! 

Once again, Frozen fever. These barbies have been played with every day since they were received. She also had a Frozen soundtrack in her stocking, which is played all day every day. These barbies act out the songs ... over and over and over :) 

I love watching my kiddos open and love their gifts. I also had a wonderful evening - my ever loving husband got me a Kitchenaid Mixer. The good one. I (and perhaps he??) have dreams of breadmaking ... it hasn't happened yet, unfortunately. Sadly, the first time it was used was to make a from-the-box cake (for Greg's birthday). Hardly Kitchenaid Mixer material, but it was still exciting for me!!

December: Um.... There's Something Stuck to Your Bum!

Life is never dull with this one around. She enjoyed walking around with the highchair attached to her for quite a while. 

Of course, her older brother and sister had to get involved in the fun too. It all ended when Maddy sat down on her ankle - ouch! Perhaps being silly is not always safe (or wise).

December: Decorating the Tree

Tree decorating this year was so much fun! We first had to haul our very prickly tree into the house and get is standing up straight. There was no way I was laying down and helping Greg with this one (baby belly is just a tad too big for that!), but there was lots of help available! All three kiddos braved the prickles and helped out. 

Once the tree was straight and secure we busted out the box of decorations. It's always so much fun going through the box and picking out old favourites. So many memories are attached to Christmas decorations - it's like a walk down memory lane :) 

Despite the lack of pictures, Kiera did hang some decorations as well. She was not as "in to it" as I thought she might be. She did enjoy walking around the tree looking at all the decorations once they were up, though. She also had a hard time keeping her hands off of them (surprise, surprise). Seth was a little pickier this year than previous years - he kept standing back to make sure that the decorations were well spaced. That's my boy :) 
We took the kids shopping one day the following week so they could each pick out a new ornament for the year. I discovered, once again, what .... sparkly?? garish??? tacky??? .... taste my son has. Two years ago he picked out a giant pink sparkly ornament - this year it was a big (and I mean big) blue jewel. They look lovely beside eachother :-p.   His lucky wife when he moves out! 
 

Jingle and Joy

In December we had two guests join us - Joy the Owl and Jingle the Hippo. Joy was a good sort - each day she presented the kids with a letter that talked about a fun activity they would do that day. Jingle was a bit of a stinker - he liked to investigate and get into trouble. One day Jingle was sitting on the window sill with some small brown chunks infront of him. In Joy's letter Seth and Maddy were told that Jingle was eating reindeer poop. This disgusted them - but not Kiera! She went up to Jingle, grabbed some, popped it in her mouth and said, "It's good!" Seth was then willing to give it a try, but Maddy refused until I told her it was just chocolate. Greg and I thought Kiera's willingness to try this reindeer poop was quite amusing ... until one day when I was putting her in the van and noticed she had some little bits of rock on her lips and tongue. I asked her what it was and she replied, "poop!!". Oops - I seem to have taught my daughter that consuming poop is a wise thing to do :)

Sinter Klaas

On December 5th we honoured our Dutch heritage and celebrated Sinter Klaas (kind of). I told the kids the story of Sinter Klaas, then asked if they thought Sinter Klaas would visit them. Seth was quite sure he would not, since he was not a "real" person anymore. He did, however, consent to going downstairs to check his boots just in case. What a surprise to find a chocolate letter, a new shirt and some papernoten! Of course, as soon as I told them that papernoten was a Dutch cookie Seth said, "So THAT'S why you had to go to the Dutch store this week". I guess he's too old to be fooled :) They were quite thrilled - especially with their new shirts. Seth got a Dusty shirt, Maddy a Frozen shirt and Kiera a Dora shirt - all favourite characters around here!! It was fun ... maybe more so for me than for them :)

Surgery

On December 5th Greg had knee surgery for a torn miniscus (sp???) (happy Sinter Klaas!). It was a quick surgery - in and out in a few hours. We all went to drop him off at the hospital, then went home for a bit to await a phone call. Naturally the phone call came as soon as I put Kiera (and Seth!) down for a nap. He did very well - he was very tired and sore for a few days, but overall was a trooper :) That's my man! Maddy was quite worried about the possibility of him fainting - she brought it up fairly often. And Kiera is convinced she had knee surgery as well, since she has a small cut on her knee :) We are thankful for our health care system and the relatively good health that God has given our family! Hopefully this surgery will fix any and all knee issues forever!!!!

December: Tree Hunt

This year held two firsts for us:

1. We had a REAL Christmas tree

2. We went and cut our REAL Christmas tree down at a farm 

I guess technically that is only one first since the second could not be accomplished without the first ;)

So, why a real Christmas tree when we have a perfectly fine, bug-free fake one downstairs? Well, this year my parents decided not to host our family Christmas party. I was very eager to take up their place (since it works so much better for our kids to just stay home and go to bed). However, in order for this to happen, two of my younger sisters insisted we needed a real tree - or we were not allowed to host. Oh, the joys of younger sisters :) 

So, on December 13th we headed to a farm right down our road to pick out our very first Christmas tree. The kids were excited, but not very picky. Any tree would do for them. We wandered around for a bit talking about the pros and cons of various trees ....  

And finally picked one we thought would be good. This is our picture of our tree - which makes it look very small. It was a good sized tree, though. 

Greg was all about cutting down the tree on his own - but only the "manly" way. Power tools. 

The two men of the family carrying the tree back to the truck. 

Yay for our first real Christmas tree cutting experience!

December: A Throne Fit for a Queen

A while ago I half-heartedly attempted to toilet train Kiera. I gave up pretty quickly. She was doing very well, but then her strong willed nature kicked in and she decided that potty sitting was not for her. She would hold her body rigid and scream, refusing to bend inorder to sit on the potty. I decided she wasn't ready - and neither was I. Since then she has randomly let me know that she needs to "pooped" - and she is usually right. She does not conform to typical societal norms, however. The potty is rarely in the bathroom - she has very specific ideas about where she needs to do her business. Right infront of the fire is one of her favourite spots - nice and warm :) 

k

November: An(other) Ode to Supper Time

There is an article floating around Facebook right now about the importance of family dinner times ... while I whole-heartedly agree in theory, I often struggle in practice. Supper time is generally not enjoyable around here. We have three kids that would prefer to not eat. Which means supper time becomes a lloooonnnnggg drawn out affair that involves Greg and I constantly reminding our three munchkins to eat. There are tears (not always by the kids), pouts, and some angry words. I often wonder why I bother cook ... it would save me and the kids a lot of trouble if we would just skip supper. (In fact, I once joked that we were going to skip supper and all three kids cheered. There were many tears when they realized I was joking). Greg doesn't understand any of it since food is one of his loves :) 

Well, here is one of our (unfortunately) typical supper times. Looks like fun! Unless you are the mom trying to make sure your kids have had enough nutritional food to support their rather small bodies :)  

Happy girl:

And boy:

And then the crazies come out. 

As if I don't have enough kids to control.....

Maddy tried very hard to join in on the "mad face" fun - but she couldn't pull it off. Life is just too funny.

Scared

See? I told you dinners often end in tears :) 

Notice the amount of pictures of kids eating? That's right ... none. Which is probably a very good reflection of how much eating was actually accomplished. Ah well, in 10 years I'll be begging them to join us for supper ... and to stop eating :)

November: Really??

Last Sunday when we arrived home after church Maddy asked, "Do you know what I was thinking about?" I (obviously) did not, so I said, "What?" She replied, in all seriousness, "People drinking blood". Huh??

November : Google

Numbers are a source of fascination for our children - especially for Seth. They are especially intrigued with the concept of a google ... or a googleplexilian. The other night Seth asked Greg what was one more than a googleplexillian ... Greg tried to explain that there is no number - that it is simply the highest number. Seth then replied, "Well, I love you a googleplexillian plus whatever number is right under a googleplexillian". That must be a lot :)

November : Dunkaroo!

A special snack brings big smiles!! 

  

 

Chocolatey smiles - the best kind :) 

November : Photo Course

Way back in 2011 my darling husband surprised me with a SLR camera for our anniversary. I was more than thrilled and did all sorts of research / practice. I was getting pretty good ... then life with two, then three, kids took over and my camera was put on the back burner :) I still used it (ALOT), but it was always in automatic mode. This fall I decided to try rectify that and re-learn what I had learned three years ago. My aunt is a pretty fantastic photographer and teacher ... so she has combined her two talents and started teaching photography classes. My sister Vicki and a good friend of mine all signed up and made the trek down to Burlington on four Thursday evenings (one in the midst of a scary snow storm). For the first three weeks we had homework - it's been a while since I've had to deal with that!! It was fun homework, though - lots of picture-taking practice playing with aperture, ISO, shutter speed and composition. I will spare you the majority of the pictures (over 500) and only show the ones that involve my incredibly sweet children. 

A few fun ones (I was going for colourful ... the kids' really enjoyed helping out for this one!) Can you see Seth, Maddy or Kiera??

Overall it was a great course. I learned a lot ... now to keep on practicing! I've hardly taken out my camera since the course ended :( I really want to get ready for the new baby photo shoot!!

October: Niagara Falls

Our Five in a Row book in October was Mirette on the High Wire. It is a great story about a little girl who learns how to walk on a tightrope. She joins up with the Great Bellini and they travel the world performing together. One of the places they go is Niagara Falls - which provided a great "field trip" opportunity for us! We made a very last minute decision to head to Niagara Falls one Friday evening. We stayed at the Americana - a hotel with a perfect water park for our kiddos! Even though we arrived at the hotel fairly late (7ish), we still hit the water park for some fun - and all three kids loved it! We had a very late night, then were up early the next morning for a yummy breakfast, more water splashing fun, and a Niagara Falls walk. It was a chilly weekend, so our walk didn't last too long. The kids did get a chance to see the falls though, and think about whether or not they'd like to cross it on a high wire (resounding NO). 

The water park at Americana is not huge. There are four water slides, only two of which our kids were allowed on. Both Seth and Maddy LOVED the slide - and wanted to go again and again and again.... Kiera loved the baby pool, which also had four small slides. She also went down again and again and again.... There was a wave pool, which was fun as long as they were glued to Greg or I :) 

As mentioned, our night was pretty late. Kiera was in no mood to fall asleep in a pack and play so we put her in our bed. Big mistake. She is not a great sleeper - she's a mover and a shaker. At about 2AM she woke up very angry saying, "Share, mom, share!" Apparently her idea of sharing a pillow is her laying crosswise on the pillow ... which meant I was bedless. I crawled in with Seth and Maddy for the rest of the night .... I knew when I wasn't wanted :)  

We had breakfast at the hotel restaurant -- the biggest hit of that meal was the fact that our little booth had it's own personal TV. Not very conducive for eating :)

Picture time! Kiera behaved in true Kiera fashion! 

After looking at the Falls we headed to Rainforest Cafe for some lunch. Seth and Maddy were thrilled (although somewhat quiet and in awe). Kiera was scared - very different for her! Once everyone got used to it, they all enjoyed their experience very much! After lunch we headed to our van - with a quick stop at Hershey's Chocolate Factory (where we got some yummy chocolate strawberries!) Maddy found a shirt there that she thought was hilarious - It said, "I'd trade my sister for chocolate". Silly girl.