Advent Activities and . . . shhhhh

I've posted a couple years ago about our Advent Calendar and the kids still LOVE it. You can see the post here. Well as of December 1 we needed to start opening the pockets and doing whatever they told us to.

Advent Calendar Day 1 - Watch a Christmas Movie

It was too bad that both Daddy and I were working during that time, but the babysitter and the kids were able to watch a Home Alone movie, which they LOVE!!! Grampa and Gramma Bailey gave them the movies when we first were moving out here and they watched them over and over in the van on the way out. They have great memories of them and still giggle and are shocked when they know exactly what's going to happen - so cute!

Advent Calendar Day 2 - Read a Christmas Book

This is a tradition that starts at the beginning of December, but is continued most every day of the month. I've been collecting various Christmas books and try to add new ones each year. When the tree is up we set them under the tree for the kids to read through by themselves and also to choose from when it's family reading time. We always start the books with "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" by Barbara Robinson. Braden and I received this book from Braden's Mom on our first Christmas together as she told us about her memories with reading the book to her family and said that every family needs at least one copy of this book. We remember Mom and our kids love it - Imogene and all!

Advent Calendar Day 3 - Find the Biggest Christmas Tree that's Lit Up

Okay, well, this one was a failure. We thought that Parliament Hill had a big Christmas tree, but, well, oops! They didn't.

The plan was to go to the Hill because the night before we knew they had just lit it up. The kids still had a blast seeing the snowflakes on the buildings, walking around, talking to the RCMP officer and just hanging out.

Emma at the Eternal Flame - you can see the Center Block behind all lit with snowflakes.

While we were at the Flame a RCMP officer drove up to us and started talking with the kids - giving them each something special (pins and flags). He was a VERY friendly guy, we almost weren't able to leave because he just kept on talking - but in the good way! As we were leaving he grabbed a little boy and said "Mom, take a picture of us", but the problem was that wasn't MY boy! We had a good laugh and he came out at took pictures with our kids and then the mom of the "other" boy did the same.

The National Arts Centre has this exhibit of Oscar Peterson at their building so the kids had fun pretending to play the piano and get their pictures taken.

Okay - this really is a picture of all of us, but my arms really aren't that long for fitting us all in - but that's Navia's cheek - hehehe!

Advent Calendar Day 4 - Go on a Wagon Ride

The church that we attend had a Christmas in the Country afternoon. We all went our to a ranch and the kids could look at the animals (buffalo, goats, sheep, horses, pigs, chickens, etc) and then they got to try their hand a lasso-ing, cook marshmallows over the bonfire, go for a wagon ride and just hang out. The kids LOVED it (said it was the second best farm they've been on - Gramma and Grampa McGifford's being the first, of course!) It was the coldest it's been and we weren't all ready for it. So it was really only -9 Celcius with the windchill, but hey, we've been having some great weather and this was cold!

Yep - the wagon ride took us on a highway - - - hmmmmm . . .

We had all brought homemade goodies so afterwards we had hot chocolate and yummy, yummy treats. It was a good afternoon. And to top it off we went to our friends' place in Kanata for dinner after and were able to warm up with amazing chili and fun conversation.

Advent Calendar Day 5 - Decorate your Christmas Tree

After much discussion and convincing that we didn't need to go cut down our own Christmas tree this year (like we do every year - see this post) we went into the basement and pulled out our used only once Christmas tree. The kids decided that it wasn't that bad and we started decorating.

We kinda have a tradition of the parents doing the lights and ribbon garland and then the kids get the ornaments from me and have Daddy help with placement. Yep - I'm kinda controlling about them all ending up in one place and this saves me time because otherwise I WILL redecorate it when they go to bed - I truly will !

See - I'm handing out the ornaments . . .

I don't know if Daddy will be able to do this next year for Emma!

And it's done!!! The first fake tree that the kids remember that took a lot of convincing is now up - yay!!! Let the Christmas season begin!!!

Navia has been asking for a Barbie house for her birthday and Christmas and although there are many to choose from at various stores Brade has opted out of them all. He wants to build her a special Barbie house with drawers at the bottom to store "extras" and when you're finished playing there will be doors to close so that she can continue the next play-time without Mommy asking her to clean it up. Hmmm - Daddy's pretty smart! It will also be the perfect size for her - not too big or too small - Navia size! He just started building it tonight and plans on having cedar shingles and everything . . . I'm glad he's doing it and not me!!! But, I'm thinking that it's going to look pretty terrific when it's all done - Navia's a lucky girl!

Shhh - don't tell Navia because he's building this in the garage and the little girl has no clue!!! Don't ruin the surprise!!!

Mom, I'm Bored!!!

I was doing some blog surfing and came across this great idea! It's already the middle of summer and the kids are starting to do the "Mom, I'm booooored!' thing so when I ran across this I thought that this would be something to do with our kids.

When your child says "Mom, I'm bored" they can take a piece of paper out of the jar and it will give them something to do - so great!!! So, I didn't have the time to make it all pretty or anything, but it does the job and the kids love it! The idea is from 'somewhat simple' and you should check it out!

The best part of it is what's inside . . . this one has everything from 'eat a fruit', 'play a board game', 'make a craft', 'go to the park', 'go for a bike ride', 'go on a wet trampoline', do 1 chore of mom's choice', 'invite a friend over', and more! This afternoon Kaleb picked 'geocaching' and so off we went - and to a cache that was right in our neighborhood, so we had to do Slurpee's afterwards! The first day we kinda rigged it and put "go to the Busker Festival" because, well, we were planning on doing it anyways and thot we'd make it a bit more interesting by choosing it!

Kids watching the Fire Show - they LOVED it!!!

This guy was so talented and quite hilarious!!! He actually took the cell phone away from a girl and apologies for doing a show while she was trying to have a conversation on her phone . . . how rude was he being!!! LOL!

His finale was skateboarding through a flaming star - great!

Bendy Em was . . . unbelievable!!! We couldn't believe that she actually fit inside that little 16"x16" box - looked sooo painful!!!

So, the Bored Jar is a great idea and the kids are having fun taking turns picking out things to do. I wonder what tomorrow will bring???

Our New Front Yard

When we moved into our house the front looked like this . . .

Why in the world they put a big rock in the middle of the lawn is something I will never understand. It made mowing harder and just sat there - ug! I knew I wanted to change it, but had no idea where to even start. My friend, Cynthia, has the most amazing yard and is has started a landscaping business called Lush Landscaping. She came over and designed a new front yard for us, and knowing that we were on a budget instead of just choosing any plants, she helped us "recycle" the ones that we liked, divided up a few of hers that she knew I enjoyed and the even the one that I hated, she changed the placement and now I love it. She's brilliant!!!

So, as soon as the ground thawed (which was extremely early this year seeing that the kids were in the sprinkler at the beginning of April) we started on it. I marked out the new flowerbeds in flour (because I could just rub it away if I made a mistake and redo it with great ease - and it wasn't the annoying spray paint that I see so many times - ug!). I was upstairs lesson planning when I realized that Braden had taken it upon himself to start cutting out the flowerbed and that was the most amazing surprise I could have had! He cut it all out, ripped up the extra sod, dug up the plants that we were transplanting, built up the flowerbed, replanting the larger plants - which I was extremely specific in "just a few more inches to the right, nope - back a little . . ." - yep - he loved me! He even moved the rock - digging a hole for it because it was just too big - with a shovel, a couple 2x4's and a neighbor!!!

After the beds were transplanted with the princess spirea and weigela we had to wait just a bit until my MYC recitals were finished before I could take time to plant the rest of the bed. Long weekend came and I planted and planted and ta-da . . . I loved the way that it turned out!!!

It wasn't complete yet though - we still didn't have seating to sit and watch the kids play in the driveway and street (yep - they play in the street!) Braden had come across chairs at a store a few weeks previously and decided that he wanted to take me to see them because they weren't the traditional ones that everyone else has - so we went to the east end store (not there), center store (not there) and then finally to the west end store - they had them!!! I loved them right away - and instead of traditional "cushions" that are on the chairs, I found gorgeous outdoor pillows!

The front yard was looking great, but there was just one little thing that I really wanted . . . I came across the most amazing porch trellis on a blog that I frequent, Restyled Home. I really wanted Braden to build it out of real 1x1's, not the fake, ready-made trellis - and he did it!!! I wanted it in cedar and he couldn't find the right side boards so he bought larger boards and ripped them into 1x1's. Isn't my husband amazing!!! So this past weekend Braden built a trellis and I was able to get one coat of a solid stain on it before it rained. Now we just need to put another coat of stain on it and then we want to plant fruit-bearing kiwi vines to go up it - the ones with the heart-shaped pink/white tipped leaves.

So now, in our third summer here, we have a front yard that I'm proud of - and I love that neighbors are coming over commenting on it, even ones that we haven't met yet - which is kinda neat. Now to just sit like the old married couple that we are and sip our tea on the front porch, watching the cars go by!

A Productive Weekend!!!

This weekend I completed 3 (or four!) projects!!! I completed my first knitting project that was for me, 2 stuffed 21" monkeys and Navia's other fingerless mitt (which she has been asking for as she has been wearing just one outside - so cute!) Oh, and I think that knitting is my new thing . . . it's very relaxing and you can do it with people all around you (unlike the sewing machine in which my hubby "kindly" has requested that I don't sew while we're watching a movie . . . I really don't know why...)

The first project that I made for myself was a cowl. I found the pattern online and wanted to give it a try as I LOVED the way the inside had the raised line. I went to my very first real knitting store (wow - is really soft yarn expensive!!!) and purchased the yarn that I needed in the budget that I was looking at :) It only took a few days to make and I did it on circular needles - for the first time. I now know what people are taking about - was it a pain to go back to straight needles to do Navia's mitt . . . always turning it from one side to another. Yep, circular is the way to go!!!

So, let me give you a "tour" of my cowl - it is soooo warm and can be worn in various ways . . .the first way I'd suggest you don't do in public though . . .

I can't believe I'm actually posting this!!!

It's meant to fold over to expose the raised knitting...

It works with my everyday jacket . . .

And my dress jacket . . .

And if I'm out at the bus stop waiting for the bus to come (that isn't on time) and I forgot my hat I can then turn it up a bit and ta-da . . . my head is now covered and I'm in a much better mood not freezing at the bus stop!!!

Just ignore the fact that my roots need done - yikes - bad angle!!!

Now onto my monkeys . . . I found a pattern for the cutest stuffed monkey, Mollie Monkey, and I couldn't wait to give it a try, but the problem was that now that I can, I needed boy monkeys . . . so I just altered the pattern a bit and ta-da . . . I present to you my monkeys!!!

Friends of ours have been going through process of adopting a little boy from Haiti for over 2 years now and this past Monday they were able to bring their little boy home!!! This is such a huge answer to prayer and I wanted to make something special for him. His name is Noah and I remember his older brother wearing camouflage so I thought that I'd make his monkey's outfit include them too. The other monkey is for a friend of ours that we've known for the past, oh, 10 years. She just had a little boy and I wanted to make something special for him to. His name is Traeten . . . can you guess which one is for him :)

I loved the shoes - the only thing removable on the monkeys.

The last thing that I just "whipped up" (ya right!!!) was Navia's matching fingerless mitt. The only problem was that I had altered the pattern and couldn't remember the amount of rows of each that I had done, so it took a little longer than I wanted (more that just one movie) because I had to keep on counting to figure it out. Lesson learned for next time . . . ALWAY WRITE IT DOWN!!!

The kids had fun this weekend too. Daddy took them back to the big hill to go tobogganing and then today Emma and I spent time figuring out her birthday party that will be on Friday. We got all the info to Daddy who made a great invitation, but you're just going to have to wait and see . . .

Gingerbread Fun and Christmas Eve . . .

Every year we make a gingerbread house, and this year was now different . . . still "boys" and "girls" sides . . . and this year you couldn't really tell which did which . . . quite impressed!!!

Daddy and the kids building it

Mommy's turn to get in the pictures - the girl's side is showing for the roof!!!

What can I say . . . I kinda got carried away with the icing bag and ... well ...

Now they all have runny icing noses!!! Don't sneeze!!!

We HAD to take a picture after and all crowded in together . . . can you find the one that isn't happy and squished???

Tonight is Christmas Eve so we went to our church's Christmas Eve service. The kids had fun being a part of the service as angels and a shepard - singing and everything.

Emma's on the far left and Navia, the short little one kissing the camera :)

Kaleb waiting for his part . . .

finally . . . candy canes on the tree!

After the service we came home to open up the one present (like we do each year) and it was hilarious seeing how excited the kids were at their presents . . . pajamas . . . like they get every year on Christmas Eve! You gotta love kids!!!

Sorry - they just had to do funny face poses . . .

Then is was time to put out the cookies and milk for Santa and the reindeer food for Santa's reindeer. The kids love doing this because just before they go to bed they take the reindeer food and sprinkle it all over the front in the snow so that the reindeer know which house is ours, just by smelling . . . and it gives them something to snack on while Santa is doing all the presents. It's just oatmeal and colored sugar so that any animals will enjoy it as well.

Sprinkling the "reindeer food" . . . pj's and boots . . . hehehe!

Good night now my little ones, sleep tight . . . tomorrow will be a fun day!!!