Merry Christmas!

What a great time of year. Full of anticipation, celebration, wonder and traditions. Usually it is full of family and hustle and bustle of people around the house. Alas, we must be content this year to enjoy just our little family and cook for 4. It doesn't take away from the many traditions that we partake in with our family. On Christmas eve we go to church and then come home and open our Christmas jammies. Then Mark reads the boys the Christmas story and puts them to bed. Aidan had a hard time going to sleep this year. He was too excited!

On Christmas morning, we open our stockings and then tear into the presents. Our breakfast is tradion for us. We have grapefruit halves that are cut and sprikled with sugar the night before and a baked omelette with toast. I feel blessed to have my husband and my boys. They are such joy to me. It makes it easier during the time of year that I miss my mom more than any other time of year. She so loved Christmas! Most of our traditions are passed down from my mom and today we honour you, Mom, as we remember all the Christmases of the past. I love you and miss you, Mom.

Oh Christmas Tree

It seems as though almost everyone has a fake tree these days. We could never do it. Mark and I would miss the smell and the look. We would all miss going to get it. We go to a U-cut farm in Langley. This was our second year, so now it is our tradition. We went this last saturday, which turned out to be the perfect winter day. Last year our pictures don't look right as we are cutting down the tree with green grass all around us. We would show the boys ones that we liked and they would say yes or no. We finally found the perfect tree, cut it down, and took it back to be measured. Then we sat down by the fire with hot chocolate and candy canes while Mark secured the tree to the top of the van.

The boys were so excited to decorate the tree. All the ornaments were on the lower half of course, and I had to laugh at how they would group some of the decorations. Ethan had a whole section that he called his snowy section with every one of the glittery, silver snow flakes. The work begins after they are in bed and I undecorate and re-decorate the tree. I'm sure that when they are older, they will figure out that I do this, but for now I can make it look just perfect and they are none the wiser.

Winter Wonderland

I'm a little overdue for a new post and so much has been going on around our place this week. The snow fell and it fell and it fell. It meant for some pretty crazy driving conditions here in the Lower Mainland. No one here is prepared or equipped to drive on snowy roads. We were thrilled to see the beautiful snow. Every morning, as soon as the boys were awake, they begged to go out and play in the snow.

Sunday was a fun filled winter day. We played in the snow and Mark helped the boys build a 6 foot snow man. Ok, it was more like Mark built it and the boys would come over and check on his progress now and then. They even begged to destroy him. That's boys for you.

Later that afternoon, we went to Disney on Ice The Incredibles. The boys were thrilled. As we were leaving Aidan looked up at me and said, "wasn't that the most fun ever, Mommy?!". It really was a lot of fun. All in all, the perfect winter day.

I have a new Aidan story. This just happened yesterday. I was trying to get Aidan out of the house so that I could drop him off at Mark's office on my way to my hair appointment. Aidan really wanted to finish watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and was refusing to go. So, I had to physically take him down stairs to put on his coat and boots. He was so upset with me that he stated, "You are the worst mommy ever! I am going to find a new mommy who will let me stay home and watch my show!". When we arrived at Mark's office, I was taking Aidan out of his car seat and said, "Aidan, I love you. Even when you are angry at me.". He looked at me suprized and said, "Always?". To which I answered, "Always and forever!". He flashed me a huge smile and we walked hand in hand to the office. He may be dramatic, but he is a sweet, beautiful boy.