December 2013

December involved more time finding doctors than I would have liked, but thankfully, we have enjoyed some nice, healthy days as well. November rounded off with Jason's foot still looking pretty purple and lovely. And he was still using crutches to help get around.

He's pretty proud of this picture. Not sure I understand that, but oh well. 

We learned the hard way that the early morning start time for Jason's work Christmas part (8am) is something to adhere to. We showed up late in the morning and the place was so packed you could hardly move around. The set up was a lot more extreme than we were expecting. There were rides, popcorn and cotton candy vendors, giant chipmunks, kids animation shows and gifts for every kid.

The line ups to get on the rides were crazy. The kids opted for the train and after waiting an hour in line the kids decided they were ready to head home.

They picked up their gifts/treat bags and scarcely made a dent in their candy before they gave me the go ahead to find another home for it (the other home for candy around here is aka: Jason). They got these Alvin the Chipmunk stuffed dolls that have been pretty big hits around here though.

Our first snow fall came and the kids were so excited we had to be out every. single. day. It wasn't a ton of snow but it was more snow than we saw all winter last year so Atticus was a little concerned that we needed to make use of the snow while it was here. We told him that there would be no shortage of snow and we would get more but he just wasn't buying it. I think he believes us now that we have several feet of snow out front and mountains of snow everywhere you look.

These kids love snow.

There were some days in December that were just too cold to venture out in. I'm a winter wimp :). Not to mention the onset of various sick bugs. I cut my finger at the end of November and had to wait with the kids at the walk in clinic to get an updated tetanus shot and I'm pretty sure we all caught something there. And those viruses circulated around the kids and I for most of December. So not fun. I did get to cash in on plenty of cuddle time though.

Funny story about trying to find a walk in clinic though. It took two days to find one to even wait at. On day one: I was at the walk in clinic that Jason had gone to when we hurt his foot and had success with. I was the first one there before they opened. And the first one through the doors when they opened. All this to only be told by the receptionist that the doctor would not be coming in until later in the afternoon but that wasn't certain. Since I obviously didn't want to wait around all morning and most of the afternoon, she gave me a list of nearby walk in clinics and off I went in search of them. The first had been turned into a spa. The second was closed on account of the doctor passing away. And after calling the last place we were going to try and being assured that there were not many people waiting we showed up to a packed waiting room that would take most of the day. By this point the kids and I were all pretty tired and hungry so we headed home with the commitment that we would try that last walk in clinic in the morning and be there extra early, before they opened.

It was a great idea except that everyone else had that idea and the waiting room was full nearly an hour before the doctor was even there. I bit the bullet, grabbed a number, and waited. We waited over half the day. What a grand adventure. And as I finish typing that all out, I feel as though I have already put that in a blog post somewhere. Maybe not. If so, I hope you enjoyed reading it through a second time :).

The point of the story at least, is that with quite a few sick days under our belt we had lots of fun building duplo houses. The kids decided that this one should be our new home. The logistics of size seem not to be a problem to them. I like the flower garden out front. Though I think I would like a few pieces of furniture inside. We'll work on it.

We pulled out our travel road and added some of our more recent travels. I'm not sure if I have put this on here before. Basically, it's a road map of some of the places we have visited. The kids come up with things that they think of when they think of that trip and we draw little pictures. Then the kids drive around and pick a city/country to drive to. Once they arrive to the destination they ask questions about it (ie., when did we go? What was there? What was the weather like? What's gelato? When do we get to go back?) That last question is particularly popular with The Netherlands and Italy. If I'm feeling like a really big keener I pull out some of the photos from when we were in that particular place, otherwise, they drive on to the next destination.

I love the things they come up with to draw. Golden lion. Tulips. Windmill. And our church building for The Netherlands.

Apple trees and the Joseph Smith birthplace memorial for Vermont.

The Acropolis, water, and a blossoming almond tree for Greece. This has been a popular discussion lately, especially when the kids look through the pictures in the scriptures that we have and see pictures of the same places. 

We added Montreal and the kids opted for Mount Royal with St. Josephs, trees, and the Montreal LDS Temple. If I recall correctly, the red bit was from the sun setting. 

Of course, gelato and the Coliseum in Italy.

And sunshine, waves, and a happy, sun drenched picture of us in Turkey.

The other indoor fun that the kids came up with was to act out the nativity with their little nativity set. It is very sweet to watch them. And always fun to see how they leave it set up. 

Couldn't resist snapping a photo of this cheerful girl. Her eyes are still a little tired looking from being sick but she still kept on smiling!

And on those few days that we weren't sick, we were busy putting together the Ward Christmas Party. When the time for the final days of getting all the planning together came up we had several late nights and the kids were there for it all. They were such troopers and so determined to help. On the day of, they set most of the tables themselves. I love their eager little hearts.

Thankfully, we had a slew of people help out with various things. Like Jessica, who cut upwards of 75 snowflakes for us to hang from the ceiling. Or Mary Lynn who cut through so many branches of pine that her hands turned green. And there were folks who helped with set up, take down, the performance, and the food.

It came together well...

But, there would definitely be some things that I would change for next year. Starting (most likely) with stepping down from being the one in charge and helping in a smaller role. But I think I would also simplify things a bit, like the little performance. Oh well. Live and learn.

Running errands, or getting to church, or getting anywhere for that matter always seems to be an adventure when things turn even colder. The kids are getting pretty good at bundling up but Atticus mentioned the other day that he is ready for winter to be over. He said, "Mommy, the snow is fun and all, but why is it still here? I really like the snow, but I'm ready to play at the waterpark and playground again.". Amen, kiddo!

Although, I do love how cute the kids look bundled up.

This is a picture of our first big snow fall. I feel like the picture doesn't do it justice, especially since the sidewalks had already been cleared. The snow around the tree was up to my thigh. It made for an interesting trek to church that morning.

We have had plenty of play in the snow, though!

Some more little kiddos, tired and a bit sick.

The kids wanted to make our Christmas cards this year so I figured 'why not!". It was a lovely idea but I think I should have planned a bit more time for them. Need to get the kids started on them in November next year if we make them again. The kids painted paper yellow, green and brown. And then Atticus cut out the shapes we needed and Milayla glued. I think I would nix that glitter glue next year and just use pen, but the kids enjoyed the mess it made all over their hands. They worked really hard on these and were excited to send them off in the mail to our friends and family.

And we loved getting lots of lovely Christmas cards in the mail and the kids were really delighted when we received a letter from Familie Spoering, our elderly neighbours from our last home in Germany. The kids had sent them a postcard and some photos shortly after we arrived and were pretty excited to receive something in return. Sounds like there is another young family moving into our old apartment. They found a good place!

Atticus has had fun drawing pictures of everyone. This was of his friend here named Mila. He asked if I could send the picture I took of him with the picture to Mila's mom. I did :). Mila is one of the sweet little girls that the kids went trick or treating with this year. We're pretty lucky to know their family.

The kids have done a great job adding to the fingerprints and noseprints on the glass doors at the church. This particular day we were quite early so while I got the kids out of their winter gear and into their church shoes Jason shovelled the walks. The kids were pretty antsy to get out there and help him but that was not happening after they were out of the winter gear.

One day the kids went and played in their imagination train and Atticus told Milayla that they were going to go somewhere cold so she ran away and came back with this. They travelled to different parts of Canada that morning. I love their imaginations at work.

Waaaaaayyyy back the kids did some family trees at their primary activity and Atticus wanted to make sure that I got a picture of them before they went into their workbooks.

Atticus finished and wrapped his finger puppet for Milayla. He did such a great job! I taught him the first couple stitches and then he finished it pretty much on his own, just asking for help on the french knot eyes and knotting off the string to stop and start colors. He is pretty anxious to make another.

I'm really proud of how hard he worked and how excited he was to give all that hard work to Milayla. He was pretty determined for it to be the first gift she opened and she loved it. 

And Atticus was pretty excited when he opened up his gift from Milayla to discover a fingerpuppet lion for himself! Milayla isn't quite at the 'learn to sew' age yet, but she did pick out which finger puppet Atticus should get, the colors and the wrapping paper. 

And by some miracle I finished the Ruby Lou dolls. I made two. One to send for the Ruby Lous for Ruby Jane program and one for Milayla for Christmas. I think this doll pattern reminded me why I am not a big sewer and definitely taught me the limits of my beginner sewing skills. But at least Milayla loves the doll which makes it all worth it. And hopefully the other Ruby Lou has found it's way to a little child that loves it too!

Atticus got one final bout of sick at the end of the month and gave me a bit of a scare when he woke up with spots on his face. Turns out it is quite common and can happen when the child is sick with a bad cough. The doctor seemed surprised that I didn't know that, but seeing that it had never happened before I figured that heading into the doctor was the safest route to take.

And then there was the Stake Christmas Concert that Jason and I sang at with some other people from our congregation. It's the first time I have sung in front of people in a while and it had me a tad bit nervous. We were the very last number. It was a long time for the kids to sit and yet, when we got up and sang they sat more reverently than they had the rest of the night. Little blessings.

I'm still missing pictures somewhere of the going ons of December so I will have to post those as I find them. Just glad that January has been mostly healthy so far. Nearly onto February!!