I LOVE THE KNITS

A recurring resolution of mine is to learn how to knit.  I love hand knit things! particularly when they are worn by a child.  I love knit sweaters, hats, blankets, booties, dolls...And I love the sound of those needles clicking together.  I have fond memories sitting beside my Grandma Smith on the couch while she knit.  She even had the patience to try to teach me when I was 10, and I was very excited when I produced a cosy for my mom's lighter complete with drawstring. My mom in law (Mom C. I call her) more recently sat down with me for a knitting demonstration.  I did manage to complete a knit dishcloth and was rather proud.  Still am, even though it is shaped likes a pentagon and half the size I intended it to be.

Anyway, I have accepted that I am not destined to be a knitter.  I am thinking maybe embroidery this year?  Or perhaps sewing?  I think I lack the creative patience.  It simply takes too long!  I need to see results sooner.  But fortunately I have discovered places to buy beautiful hand knit clothes and items.  Here are some of my favourites:

• Kiwi Industries
• BlaBla Kids
• Egg by Susan Lazar

And here is my William wearing some recently acquired knit things.  Thank you Auntie C for his birthday sweater!

*Wow, 2 posts in one day.  It must be all the lattes I'm making with our new fancy coffee machine.  A Christmas gift from my mom.

MORE ON MOOSEMILK

Here is the recipe for Moosemilk.  I forgot I made this Christmas card awhile back.  Maybe it is too small to see?  We serve it in a punch bowl and top with fresh grated nutmeg.  Yum, yum.

SOME IMAGES OF CHRISTMAS

Today I finally became aware that I'm still wearing my pajamas from 5 days ago, I haven't left the house except to walk Kirby, and our house looks like it has been burglarized.  Tis' the season.

I love the time that follows Christmas morning...book reading by the fire, present re-discovery, eating chocolate peanut butter bars for breakfast, playing games with the kids (this year it is Spiderman memory game), ignoring the mess and the laundry, laying in bed until 8:30am, eating many turkey sandwiches.  I even drank a glass of champagne in the bath early evening while reading my new book instead of doing the dishes from breakfast.

Here are a few pictures of our Christmas merriment.  It has been eventful, but it is also almost midnight and so I must write more at another time.  Hope everyone had a merry merry Christmas!

Here is big sis taking a dip in the big bowl of Moosemilk.  This is my Papa French's recipe which we make every Christmas Eve.  It is essentially a boozy form of egg nog and it is delicious (and potent).  I try not to think about the fact that I'm drinking raw eggs and creamo.

Not the best picture, but I love Will's face.  Sam and Rocco got matching D Rex's from YaYa on  Christmas Eve.  Sam likes that he can ask it a question and it shakes it's head or nods (never mind that it farts and burps).  His favourite question currently is whether he wants poop for breakfast or not?  (As you can see, there is a theme going on here)

YaYa is giving the kids some Santa dust to blow into the sky Christmas Eve night.  Another tradition of ours.  Clara asked me why we do this and I wasn't sure?  

This just in from my Auntie Di: "the Santa dust is to be sprinkled in front of the house in case Santa may pass them.  The dust sparkles in the snow (or ground) to help Santa find their house.  I introduced that to them many many years ago when we went out west and Ryan and Haley were just babies."

I had to include this picture.  It is Sam running down the stairs Christmas morning and he spots the shiny green jeep of his dreams for the first time.  However, the poor guy has only been able to go forward and reverse a few feet in our entranceway over and over again since there is still too much snow outside.  He has also run over Will once.

And here is Clara giving her brothers a tour of the Rose Petal cottage.

Christmas breakfast...champagne is chilling.

Jake is having a taste of the brown sugar bacon.  Usually a pet peeve, but it is Christmas so I am cheerful and take a picture instead.

There's  Grandma helping with the breakfast prep and table aesthetics.

Kirby (our first born)

A typical scene from the last few days...kids playing with their gifts in their pajamas (and tiarra for Clara).  Grandma is in her jammies too, drinking champagne at that.  The orange flower paining in the background is from Clara.  Isn't it awesome?!

BREAKFAST WITH SANTA

December is easily one of my favourite months, but crap, is it ever busy!  I say this every year, but 2009 I really am going to hand make gifts starting in August and start prepping for my Christmas cards in September.  Really...I am.  

Anyway, me and big sis and kids went to "Breakfast with Santa" on the top of Grouse Mountain last Friday.  It was awesome!  You must go.  Check it out here. Thanks mom for taking Will.  He would have frozen his tootsies off. Here are some pictures.  Must go to bed now.  Just had a rehearsal with the 6 cousins for the Christmas Eve Nativity play and I'm exhausted!

Sam is not so sure about this Santa.  He liked his slinky though, which Santa gave him.  At least until Will got his little monkey hands on it (now it is in toy heaven)

Some outdoor dibs eating...what more could you ask for?

Prancer and Comet made an appearance.  Sam is making an offering of snow.

Santa heading to his workshop

And the kids had their first skating experience!  On an outdoor rink on the top of a mountain at that.  No injuries, except for sis's back from bending over (see picture below)

IT'S OFFICIAL

CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS HAVE OFFICIALLY BEGUN

Yesterday we woke up to more snow falling.  I decided to leave my stinky minivan in the comforts of the garage and skip out on the last day of school.  Hooray!  I didn't want Sam and Clara too far from their mommy on such a wintery day.  According to Uncle Josh, our local weather expert, more snow Sunday and on Christmas Eve.  And very cold tonight.

The kids did some serious snow playing (I'm thankfully getting quicker at putting on and taking off snow gear), and the highlight was for surely, sledding down the little hill by YaYa and Papa's garage into the snowbank left by the "snow pushing truck."  We finished off snow play with hot chocolate, a movie at YaYa's and the start of present wrapping.  

the cousins on the snow bank-YaYa's photo

This morning was their Christmas concert.  I forgot my zoom lens so got this lame picture instead.  Very sweet though.  I especially liked "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" sung in French.  I made Sam sing me the lyrics over and over again in the car and had a quiet chuckle to myself.

A trip to our favourite coffee joint for my caramel macchiato and panini, with YaYa:

And then a spontaneous trip to the mall to visit Santa:

In the picture above, Santa had asked Sam what his Christmas wish was...Sam was mumbling in a quiet voice that it was green jeep (Santa couldn't hear very well).  When asked if he had something else he wanted, Sam replied "chocolate chips."  Clara is still firm on Rose Petal Cottage (phew).

WHO AM I?

• One of my favourite foods is "Taste of the Wild" roasted bison dog kibble. 
  
• When I hear the rustle of the dog food bag at dinner time, I come charging in the kitchen at great speed.
• My breathe often smells "doggy" (and so does my poop).
• I like to savour the kibble, and keep it my mouth for up to an hour or until it has dissolved into mush.
• And to wash all the goodness down, I like to drink the water from the big silver dog bowl.

WHO AM I?

DECK THE HALLS WITH...

My kids love to decorate the house for occasions.  I admit, it has been somewhat challenging for me to let go of decorating control, but I'm getting better.  I'm willing to compromise.

For example, here we see Clara's lovely work on the light fixture in the dining room using various sparkly ornaments and pipe cleaners, etc.  She just loves to hang things with clothes pegs (it adds a particularly nice touch).

And then there is Will.  He is at that stage in his life, where he loves to empty drawers and cupboards and cracker boxes and dog food bags and craft cubbies and toss all the contents over his shoulder onto the floor.  Here he is decorating our kitchen floor with snowflake foamies he found in the craft cupboard. Very nice Will.

And we can't forget Sam.  This is his contribution to Christmas decorating 2008...

Yes, that would be a toilet plunger, and this is currently his favourite toy.  He can use it like a pogo stick on the tile floor, it actually sticks to and hangs from his tummy he discovered on the weekend and it makes a lovely decoration on the window.  Who needs boughs of holly?

**a note on the toilet plunger for those who are grossed out.  It has only been used once?  I do draw the line when it comes to playing with the toilet brush, however.

LET IT SNOW!

7:24am: the kids have discovered it snowed while they were sleeping!

7:38am: the kids have geared up and are outside.  

Why don't they get dressed that fast for school?, I wonder.

The mommy and daddy are in denial that they have to get out of bed.

7:43am: the kids have already thrown snowballs, made snow angels and snow pie, explored the neighbourhood and tried making a snowman (not wet enough).

8:02am: Will is watching his brother and sister from the window.  

Mommy is feeing better now that she sips on a matcha latte and has had her bowl of flax plus (no joke...I love this cereal).

8:07am: the daddy shovels the driveway 

and joins in on snowball throwing.

  Kirby is pulling out a small tree from the ground.

MY STASHING PROBLEM

This is my plan tonight after the kids are in bed: 

1. Do the dishes, including the ones from yesterday's lunch
2. Fold the pile of laundry in the middle of the hallway which has been there since Tuesday
3. 30 minute run on the treadmill while watching the season finale of "So You Think You Can Dance Canada" (which is 2 hours but I will fast forward the boring bits)
4. Work on secret Christmas present for my Dad and Jake
5. Sort through my stash in the Rubbermaids (see picture below)

"Stash in the Rubbermaids?" you ask.  That's right...this is where I admit in my blog one of my shortcomings.  I stash things.  And it is usually in great haste and in boxes or Rubbermaids which then get put into closets.  What happens is this: we are hosting a dinner or someone is coming over unexpectedly, I panic and into the Rubbermaid everything goes.  Voila!, we have an apparently organized and clean home.  Within these boxes are things like magazines, glue sticks, unknown keys, elastic bands, unopened mail (this, in particular, makes my husband a little stressed), kid's art, wrappers, nail clippers...

Sadly, I actually taped up and moved one of the aforementioned boxes in our last move.  I think I labeled it "office supplies" so Jake wouldn't be suspicious.

Wow, this is a horrible time to be writing this.  It is complete kid chaos over here!  I better get them to bed so I can tackle my list.  I'll let you know how it goes.

A photo of some Rubbermaids is hardly exciting, so here is one of Will discovering his belly button.

MORE OF MERRY CHRISTMAS

No time to write anything deep or lengthy today.  I spent more than 3 hours looking for my car keys which we just found in Clara's jacket pocket (which I might add, has been hanging in her school locker until 3:00pm today), and now I'm attempting to get ready for a Christmas party. Clara is looking for a snack (turkey sandwich), Sam is plunging Will with the the toilet plunger while Will is emptying the tupperware drawer contents onto the floor.  I should have gotten dressed and put my mascara on at noon (wait a second...I don't wear mascara).  But here are some photos of my boys from today.

Thank you sis for agreeing to watch my wee ones tonight...I love you and am very thankful. 

CHRISTMAS TREE, VOMITING AND FISH AND CHIPS

Last night was the annual go get our Christmas tree with the Smith side of the family. We had a plan:  Jake was coming home early from work, meet the family at our regular Christmas tree lot, find a lovely tree (both my mom and me were hoping for a tall skinny version this year so people could still fit through the entrance to our respective living rooms), take some photos, sing some carols, go out for fish and chips and then home to warm baths and jammies.  All in all, a jolly festive time.

Now, my motto since being a parent and my advice I give to new moms at baby showers is "don't have any expectations."  This advice may sound like a downer, but for me, I struggle with being spontaneous like my husband.  I'm more of a planner, a writer of many lists, but also a romantic and a dreamer.  So, what often happens is that I either get quickly disappointed (if not devastated) if something is not going according to expectation, or I don't follow through with something because it is not going to be "perfect" or what I dreamed it was going to look like.  This is not good, particularly now that I'm a mom.  I don't want to miss out, for example, on spontaneous fairy picnics on the lawn even if it means sitting on the dog blanket and eating soda crackers because that is all that is in the cupboard.  I mean, there is a part of me that wants to say "we can't possibly! cause we need a filmy canopy, and a polka dot tea set and lemon loaf and mini scones and fairy dust for making wishes on."  

So, having no expectations for how the day will unfold, means you are not disappointed with the outcome but rather, pleasantly surprised and sometimes, even delighted.  

So, this is how last night really unfolded: at 4:30pm on our way out the door, Sam vomited all over Clara's bed, her doll and my laptop, Sam had a 103.3 degree fever, Jake stayed home with Sam, and I took Clara and Will to the annual go get our Christmas tree festivities, I forgot to put a card in my camera so no pictures, it started to rain, mom and dad did not find the tree of their dreams and my sister mission aborted from the restaurant with her screaming son clutched under her arm before she got to eat her fish and chips. BUT, you know what, it was still fun and festive and certainly memorable! (and besides, mom and dad did find their tree at a different lot on their way home, sis and Rocco came back to their fish and chips happy after a talk in the car and we put lights on our lovely trees back at our cozy home while Clara sang carols).  

Our tree to the left and Will eating the stones and pine cones from the candle display

This year, Clara picked out a little tree for her and Sam to decorate with "ordaments".  She chose red and blue lights (I personally like white)...official tree trimming will be tonight.

My "Merry Christmas" banner was made using a pad of Christmas scrap booking paper bought at Michaels. 

And now, to this morning's events...Sam is getting his thrill sucking Will up with the vacuum. Will was actually loving it too.  As you can see, Sam is feeling better today.