Christmas Eve

Today was an awesome day. We had nothing on the agenda except to stay home, get a bit of packing done and then enjoy Christmas Eve with just the four of us. We open presents on Christmas eve around here because that is what Josh remembers and cherishes from his childhood. I have to say that I'm really liking it too now. We save stockings and Santa presents for Christmas morning. The kids woke up early, but we didn't have breakfast until about 9am. That's how slow our morning was! The kids played well and I even got some time to sit and read for a while. Here are a few pictures from the day. I'm trying to keep up to date with the blog so that blogging about the holidays after we get back in the new year isn't as daunting.

 The kids were just buzzing with excitement all day long.
 

 Love was certainly in the air when they gave each their presents to open.

 I love the excitement on their faces.

 I love my boys.

 Enjoying some cookies AND opening presents. Doesn't get any better than that!

Ready for Santa!

Merry Christmas everyone, we look forward to more events with family and we hope you are enjoying time with yours!

"2 bowls and 2 cups"

On Sunday we had some spare time before heading to the Nutcracker. Josh came up with a fun activity where we would each take one child and give them a spending budget to buy a Christmas gift for the other parent. The rules that Josh and I figured out ahead of time were 1.)we had to go to at least 5 stores to 'browse and get ideas' first before deciding and 2.)the gift choice had to be left totally up to Maddy and Ethan. No planting ideas allowed!

The kids were super excited to play. I loved taking Maddy through the mall. She was very sure that she wanted to get Josh something to wear. As we passed HMV she said, "No, no not in there. No movies for Papa because he's staying up too late watching movies all the time." (Ha ha! Josh was telling me at the breakfast table how he was hooked on watching episodes of Breaking Bad, and that he stayed up way too late.) At first she was really great at picking out clothes that really were Josh's style, but they were out of her budget. We headed into Winners there were plenty of things for her to choose from. She had a great time. I told her how to look at the price tag and read the price to see if it was within budget. She was pretty good at reading most of the numbers. She finally settled on her gift and was sure of her choice.

Ethan went with Josh and Josh told me that they found lots of things that Ethan chose. Josh snapped pictures of all four choices and they sat down to make his pick. Ethan was super excited and proud of his gift. A couple of times that day he would be blabbing away and then the words "2 cups and 2 bowls" would come out. "2 cups and 2 bowls" came out a few more times in the last 36 hours and luckily we didn't play this game earlier in the season. (We also open Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve around here so it was even less time for Ethan to have to hold his 'secret'.

Anyway it was super fun to see the kids so excited about picking out a gift, secretly wrapping it and keeping (or at least trying to keep) it a secret. Here is what they picked out!

Frances and Pippa's Birthday

Happy birthday to Frances and Pippa who celebrated their 9th and 7th birthdays. Love the girls posing with their birthday cakes. Frances' is a silver medal from her soccer team and Pippa's is a centipede. Nice work Jo, amazing you got them done, one day after arriving home! Happy birthday girls!!

The Nutcracker

Toady we went to see the Nutcracker at the Cenntenial Theatre in North Vancouver. The Tulks joined us this year and so even Josh and Ethan came along. I was wondering how Ethan would do in the long performance. In the morning he said he didn't want to go. I think he thought that he would have to do something while there. It wasn't until we told him that he didn't have to 'do' anything but watch, then he was game. At the actual performance he was mesmerized. Maddy wanted to sit with the big girls, so Josh and I enjoyed experiencing Ethan's first performance together. He was so sweet as he held my hand the entire time.

During the intermission, the performers come out to the lobby to take pictures. Maddy was excited to see 'Clara' again. When the little mouse soldier first came out, Ethan promptly went to pose beside the mouse for a picture. Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough with the camera and he got all shy and didn't pose again when I was ready. Too bad, because it was such a cute sight to see him proudly stand beside the mouse, the both of them about the same height! After the intermission, Ethan fell asleep. It was hilarious because each time the audience started to clap, it would wake him from his sleep only long enough for him to roll over to the other side, but he would clap along with everyone else while still asleep. He woke up happy near the end. It was fun hearing him talk about the things he saw.

After the show, we all went to Park Royal to pick up our Santa photos and the kids had a great time running around and playing with each other. Maddy and Ethan just LOVE when their cousins are in town.

Merry Christmas, a look back

 

I took the kids to see Santa on Monday. This year the kids had no problems talking to Santa and telling him what they hoped for. Maddy asked for games and Ethan said a garbage truck. I love the Park Royal Santa. As you can see, we've been there every year. I think the only exception is the first ever Santa photo with Maddy back in 2007, but I can't seem to find that photo. As for 2010, my memory is so bad I can't even remember if we took a photo or not that year!?!? Merry Christmas everyone, only 1 more sleep!

 

Snow Day

Woke up this morning to lots of snow! The kids were super excited. Knowing what the snow is like in Vancouver, I couldn't bear sending Ethan to preschool and have him miss all the fun. We quickly ate breakfast and headed outside while it lasted. (Please excuse the awful 'blue' photos. I had the camera on the wrong setting!)

First we went sledding. It was great because this year, Ethan was able to climb back up the hill with very little help.

Next, snow angels.

Here's our "Bob the Builder" snowman.

We finally got to use the old squeeze bottles I'd been saving. 

After some hot chocolate, we played with snow inside the house.

Happy snow day everyone! Sadly, by the time we finished our last activity, the snow man outside had already toppled over. That's Vancouver for you!

Then and Now

This weekend we had some friends over for our annual Christmas playdate. The picture above was taken 2 years ago. Funny to see how many more kids have been added since back then.

Happiness is...

Last night I had my Christmas party for work and Maddy had her last Sparks meeting for the year, so that left Josh and Ethan killing time at the mall before having to pick her up. The boys went to Tim Horton's to enjoy a treat. I had to laugh when I saw the pictures because knowing Ethan and his appreciation for yummy food (well just food in general) I could almost feel the joy he felt. Josh said he patiently waited for the hot chocolate to cool down. That in itself is amazing. Anyway, this blog is just about cherishing the simple pleasures in life.

Gingerbread

It took most of the day, but in the end it was worth the effort. Maddy and I made the dough during school time and let it chill in the fridge until after lunch. Ethan ate his lunch in record time because he was so excited to make the cookies. Once we cut a few he ask, "Can me eat dem now?" During the dough rolling process was when I started to question my desire to make the cookies. Having the kids around dramatically slowed the entire process down. This is to be expected and it would be fine except the dough was beginning to get too warm again and it started to stick. It became a mad dash of rolling, flouring and letting them 'think' they were helping with cutting out the gingerbread men. By the time the cookies were in the oven I needed a break so we stopped to do some gingerbread men drawing. The decorating was by far the best part. Very civilized, very calm. The kids did really well and the cookies are not too shabby.

 

Getting our Christmas On

Not long left until Christmas. It seems like there are so many things out and about in the city that you could do for the festive season. Mix that with social gatherings and the preparations around the house and it's easy to go overboard. In an effort to not get "Holiday Season Burnout" this year, we've been really trying to pace ourselves. Would have loved to get our Santa photo and a trip to the ice rink in this weekend, but it wasn't in the cards. Here's what we did get accomplished. Even on the 'slowed down' version, I'm pooped.

 Ethan had his Christmas concert at preschool. He didn't want to go, but did great during the process.

The kids were given a HUGE bag of treats and after that he shouted, "I love it sooooo much!"

 

 This year we all went to pick out our tree. We had a breakfast at IKEA first and then went in search of the perfect tree.

 

 We did half of the tree decorating before lunch, then we had to head out for the day.

We were able to finish it off that evening.

 

 The kids really liked helping this year. 

 Sinterklaas paid us a visit this weekend. Shhh, don't tell the kids we were a couple of days late. 

They were amazed that Sinterklaas knew so much about them, and even more amazed that Oma got to have Sinterklaas over for tea.

 

 Sunday. Day to stay home, clean and run errands. Time to pull out the gingerbread house to ward off boredom.

I love that this set came with the house already assembled!

Our wish list of things to do:
Canyon Lights at Capilano Suspension Bridge
Taking the kids ice skating for the first time
Photo with Santa
Go to pick out the 'ornament of the year' for the kids
German Christmas Market
Check out the Gingerbread houses at the Hyatt
Make gingerbread men

We'll see how far we get....

Stanley Park Christmas Train

It's been a while since we've been to the Christmas Train in Stanley Park. We went last year and it was sold out. Ethan was just a couple months old the last time we actually rode the train. This year we went with the DIDO gang and we pre-bought tickets. It seems like going to the train without tickets ahead of time is becoming a bigger gamble these days. At the same time though, I'm usually reluctant to buy tickets ahead of time because of the wet Vancouver weather. On the drive there, it was pouring with rain. Very much like a repeat of the drive to the pumpkin patch. Last time, sang "Mr. Golden Sun" with gusto the whole way there and we lucked out with nice weather once we arrived. So as I watched the rain come pouring down today, I got the same idea. I called out to the kids to join me and was quickly shushed by Josh. I hadn't noticed that they fell asleep back there. Ooops. Luckily they didn't wake up. I sang in my head the whole way there. Would you believe that when we pulled into the parking lot, the rain was just spitting? Well, it was. I don't know, I may be on to something here!! :)

 

Ethan waving at the train that is leaving.

 

Before Disneyland, Ethan wasn't really the 'huggy' type when it came to mascots.

 

"Seriously mom, is this guy legit?"

 

  

So excited for more Christmas fun! Thanks to Yvette for organizing.