Weekend highlights

I had a very stay-at-home weekend. I didn't get in the car at all. Lots of sitting around, watching Little House on the Prairie episodes with the kids (we finally got season one from the library), and some decorating the house for Christmas.

The kids all seem to be just getting over something or just getting something. Nothing too serious, but enough to warrant a lot of lying around.

Tony got the Christmas lights on the house yesterday. He added some to the second peak this year which meant he had to get up on the roof. Hudson got very nervous watching him thinking that Dad might fall off. All was good and the lights look great. I just have to work him up to getting up to the third peak for next year.

Also worked on my crazy advent project. One down - three to go. I have until Saturday to get them done so it may be a week of late nights. Wiring all those boxes on to the wreath takes longer than you would think. I like the end result but think the boxes need a little extra decoration. That may have to wait until next year.

What have I done?

Here are the 84 little boxes that I painted last night after the kids (and Tony) went to bed. I still have 12 left to do and then they all need a clear coat. Tony thought that we had retired this idea but secretly I never let it go. And then when I went to Bellingham last week the little boxes were just sitting in the store waiting to be purchased - by me. I am excited for this project and for what I am going to fill them with. The plan is to not always fill them with 'things' but rather things that we can do together. A little note to say "today we will string popcorn for the tree together" or "tonight we will watch a Christmas movie and make hot chocolate". I think they will really go for this. I do have a small fear that when they don't get their usual $.99 calendar that they will be disappointed. I am breaking from tradition after all - but I am trying to start a new one.

Brave or insane...

I guess I was feeling brave tonight (or just ready for some holiday festivities) so the kids and I headed to downtown Abbotsford for the annual Christmas Tree Lighting. I have lived here all my life and never once have I been down there to see it. Tony is not home (hope you're enjoying Whistler) so I had to fly solo.

Anyways, I warned the kids that I had no idea what we should expect and if it wasn't any fun we would just come home.

There wasn't a whole lot there except a whole lot of people. I felt myself just constantly counting their little heads making sure I still had them all. They got some free hot chocolate, cookies and balloons and we watched Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive in an old antique fire truck. Taggart quite liked that but soon after that he crashed in the stroller while we waited for the big event - the tree lighting, of course. Cooper had his eye on some light-up Rudolph noses that some kids were walking around with but when we finally figured out where they came from they were sold out (thank goodness). The kids got bored and a little whiny and started to use their balloons as weapons on eachother so that's when I threatened leaving. We made it to the end and participated in the big countdown and watched the tree light up. Immediately after that Hudson and Reagan both lost their balloons into the sky which wasn't handled very well by either of them. Warning them repeatedly that if you don't keep them tied to your wrist they will float away apparently did no good. So now before we head to the car we need to fight our way back through the crowd to get two new balloons. But they don't have any more balloons so now I am sure it is really time to go home. Taggart, who slept through all of this is now starting to wake up and is not too happy that he isn't anywhere near his bed. A quick stop for one more cup of free hot chocolate and we head to the car.

As I am loading all of us into the van I am thinking "was that worth it?". Getting everyone ready to go, the worry of losing one of them, the tears over lost balloons and the countless times I heard "this is boring, when are they going to light this tree?" But as we drove home they all said, one by one, "thanks Mom - thanks for taking us - a little boring but still really fun". So the answer is "yes", it was worth it.

The holiday mood

I recently got a request for "more blog, please" so here it is. Love you, Leni.

Don't really feel like I have anything interesting to say about the daily goings-on of life right now. I am out of my funk from last week which is a good thing. Enjoyed a lovely dinner out with friends on the weekend. Had another lazy Sunday and tried to 'execute' a few a my 100+ Christmas projects floating around in my head. The box advent calendar idea has been vetoed by Tony but of course I can't leave that alone so I have come up with another one which is just as much work but not as much $. The problem with this one is that I can't find the items that I need - so of course I am now on the hunt.

Tomorrow my sweet neighbor is taking Reagan and Tag for the day so I can make a trip to my not so local scrapbook store in Bellingham. Looking forward to the time to myself to browse, be inspired and of course come up with yet another armload of projects. (Tony, I'll try to restrain myself, I promise.)

I am really feeling the Christmas spirit this year so much earlier than usual and I plan to pull my decorations out this weekend. Tony firmly believes that shouldn't make an appearance until December 1st but he won't be home - so there!

I'll share one of my projects from the weekend just because it was so much harder than it looks. I have seen kits for these stars online and thought to myself 'I can do that'. So Sunday this was my mission. I asked Tony for his help but he started talking about geometry, trigonometry and cosign so I asked him to go make dinner instead. (Which he did, I might add.)

Anyways it took me a good long time but I figured it out and I like the end result. I plan to make a few more and put them on the wall in a collage beside our Christmas tree.

No - we don't have our tree up yet but the date is marked on the calendar and Hudson informed me that it's only 16 days away. We really look forward to our annual trip to Murphy's Tree Farm.
Oh, and one more thing we did this weekend. I bought two large pomegranites which I painstakingly took all the seeds out of and then let the kids enjoy. I really love pomegranites and they feel very Christmasy to me. Opening one up to discover all the little hidden "jewels" inside always makes me happy. I have to say though, the process of uncovering all those little gems and getting them out of the peel takes about 5 times as long as it does for the kids to devour them.

Happy Saturday

We got through another Soccer Saturday and eventhough the weather man said it was going to rain it didn't. Both boys win their games and that was a very good thing since we haven't had a win in a very long time.
Tony is spending the afternoon cleaning up the garden and the kids are outside enjoying the sun.
I have been spending some time on the internet trying to find an idea for a home made advent calendar. I have seen a couple that I quite like, but since I have four to make I'm not sure if I can invest the time or the money. But the problem is that once I get an idea in my head about a project like this I rarely let it go. I tend to obsess about it a little until I have decided what I will do. So tomorrow might call for a trip down south to my favorite scrapbook store to retrieve the items I will need for my plan. I have been inspired, as always, by my favorite blog and this cool idea. Tony, of course, thinks I'm crazy to want to paint 100 little boxes, hang 100 little boxes, and then fill 100 little boxes. But I might have to do it anyway.
Tonight I get to do what I rarely get to do - go for dinner with friends. Very excited to go to an adult restaurant (one with no kid's menu) and have adult converstion. Thanks, Mum, for babysitting.

I've been in a real funk since Monday and can't seem to shake it. One of those weeks that you just can't wait to see the end of. I've been blaming it on the time change last weekend but I don't really know if that's the cause. Kids have been getting up way too early and as a result are pretty grouchy. Tomorrow is a Pro-D so I'm considering this my Friday and I've decided that today is the last day of this nonsense.

On the upside, I am really looking forward to the holiday season. Usually I am one of those who doesn't pull out any Christams stuff until December 1st but I'm itching to get it out already. So I have been creating and this got finished and put up this weekend.

Trying to figure out what to get the kids for Christmas. Really don't want to buy too many toys because they already have so many and don't need any more. So I am trying to think out of the box a bit and come up with something a little more original. Would love to take them to some kind of show or something but the timing needs to be right.

Hudson has already sent his letter to Santa. Yesterday afterschool he got busy drawing a picture and neatly printing his request on the top. (sorry, no photo). He still believes so firmly in Santa and it's really sweet. He's getting to the age when it can become a question. Cooper tried to blow it for him a few times last year but deep down I know he still really wants to believe too. I think he's torn, but so far this year he's kept quiet about it.

Will get ready now to head to the school for the Remebrance Day assembly. Hudson is in the choir this year and really wanted me to come watch. Really wish it wasn't raining - that could be contributing to the lousy mood this weekend. Needing a week on the beach somewhere. HA,ha - that's funny.