Holidays are a Good Thing

I'm just tickled that today is last day of school for the boys and for ME! Bring on the holidays!

Winter Activities

Last week-end Kori and I took the kids to Prospera's Annual free skate in Chilliwack. Nate was particularly keen on going as he had just received a hand-me-down set of ice skates. The kids had a good time skating while Kori and I chatted in the stands. A nice bonus was free hot chocolate and popcorn. To top it all off we received a very nice prize for making a donation to the food bank...the DVD 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth'. The kids can't wait to see it, so we'll save it for a movie night over the holidays.

In keeping with tradition, today we attended the IAFF union kids Christmas party. The format doesn't really change from year to year. Crafts, cookie decorating, hot dogs, and a visit from the Jolly man himself.

This year Liam was more than happy to actually get into the whole party scene rather than sit in his car carrier like last year. He was in fine form as he loves a party but quickly melted down after another child took a duplo block away from him. He was not the same after that....actually he was quite awful. He's not used to other kids taking things from him as Nate and Chad cater to his every need!

Chad was pleased with his gift. It's a hit or miss situation at times and it must be very overwhelming for the organizers to do all that shopping for so many age ranges!

Liam liked his tractor for about five minutes and then continued to whinge and whine.

As you can see, Liam was having no part of Santa this year. I'm sure if he had been in a better mood we might have gotten him to sit on his lap...or I could be delusional about that.

I wonder if this will be Nate's last year on Santa's knee?

There are good times to be had on the grimy foosball table. I hope he didn't pick up a virus for Christmas!

Both Nathan and Chad really enjoyed the air hockey and really didn't care for the snacks or crafts once they started playing. It would be a great Christmas gift actually but we need a bigger house first! Do you think Santa will bring us one?!

A Busy Week

Hey all! Christmas busy-ness is upon us here at our household. It isn't unmanageable or anything but definitely more go-go-go that usual.

My home is starting to slide downward. My dining room table has been a dumping ground and it's driving me crazy. My plan is to deal with it in the morning!

I've been out three nights in a row now and am missing my baby boy at bedtime. On Wednesday evening I took the boys to the MEI Middle school Christmas concert. They loved it and I must say it was nice to be at a school concert that wasn't all about Santa and his elves. Nate especially loved the marching band and I think he'd like to come to MEI just to join that!

Then for the past two nights I've been helping out in the kitchen at church for our big Christmas production. It's been great fun and completely enjoyable but after a full day of work it's exhausting as well. I'm glad it's the weekend now. Soccer has been cancelled tomorrow due to frozen fields so we can all sleep in. Yippee!

Oh and today I was presented with this award at school. It was a bit weird to get an award during chapel and have to walk up in front of everyone to get it (I tried to 'forget' to attend but the principal had someone come and fetch me from the office just in time to have my named called!) but a nice honour all the same. It wasn't a surprise at all since I am the one in charge of typing and printing up these certificates! But I did decide that my parents should not be phoned and invited to chapel along with all the others to see their child receive their award :)

Random Cuteness

My brother and his fancy camera paid a visit last night. I just had to post some of these great shots of our little trouble maker!

Family Project

This gingerbread house kit caught my eye at Costco last week. I knew the kids would really enjoy it and actually I also knew that Keith would love it too. My role would be supervising, photo taking and cleaning up! I knew that if I started participating, I'd take charge and then it's not fun for the kids. So this is what they created. It's electic for sure!

Rush Rush

I race in the door, throw the chicken in the oven, dice the onions, carrots and celery and start the rice pilaf all before I even take off my coat!

This is because it's soccer night and I stopped after work on a errand which made me behind schedule. We had dinner eaten and Chad ready to go to soccer when Keith calls from work....won't be home for a long time due to investigating an arson. Chad will have to miss practice. Sigh......

Nate and Chad had NO trouble helping me enjoy yet another gift I received at work today. Yippee for Purdy's!

Mmmm....num num!

Liam is a foodie just like his mum. He eagerly anticipates every meal and declares it all....mmmmmmm! We have yet to find a food he won't eat.

Cheese Please

There was no way I could pass up this cheese I found at Costco today! Irish cheese is delicious and well, it felt rather nostalgic to buy some imported cheese from the Emerald Isle (it didn't hurt it was $2 off either!)

I also received my first Christmas gift yesterday. This was given to me at school by a parent and the container is filled with scrumptious homemade caramel popcorn. One of my many weaknesses!

Missing It

While we're on the subject of grumpy children I couldn't resist posting this picture of my moody tween. Nate occasionally puts up a fuss when we tell him it's time for a walk. We walk after dinner most nights if it's not raining. The kids are generally good natured about it but there are days when they'd much rather stay home and play. This was one of those times!

Liam on the other hand likes walks in the stroller. What's not to like anyhow? He's as snug as a bug! It's been raining like crazy lately so our walks have been very sporadic. I think we're in for a dry spell now so it's time to get back at it!

Memories

You've gotta have a few crying picutres so you don't forget it wasn't all good times when you look back at the photos one day!!!!

A Weekend To Remember

Keith and I had our first weekend away from the kids in over a year and a half! It was much needed and every moment was much appreciated. I have to first of all say thank you to my parents who took our kids and loved them and cared for them just as well as we would have. They say the boys all had a fabulous time and Liam was a gem so it was great to know all went well.

The main purpose of our trip was to attend the Family Life Marriage Conference in Whistler. We attended this conference about six years ago and decided to come back for a refresher. It's a good tool for us as we felt like we needed a 're-set' on what our priorities and focus for us as a couple and a family are. I know there are many fabulous books out there to help with marriages but getting Keith to read a book doesn't work so well. He likes to learn by listening and as much as I love to read, learning by listening is something I enjoy as well. As being alumni to the conference we were able to leave the main group and go to another session. We did some really neat personality assessments and got to learn how to mesh with other personality types. What Keith and I were very surprised to learn is that out of the four categories we fell into the same one! But under that umbrella we had opposite traits. Really neat stuff.

The conference was held at the Chateau Whistler which is a beautiful hotel. We love it there. One of the first things I like to do when we go to posh hotels (which is NOT often) is look at the room service menu. It's all about food, y'know! What I love to do is oogle at the ridiculous prices that these places charge for common place items. Such as $37 for an order of Eggs Benedict or $16 for a six pack of Coke. And even better was this menu had a page for dogs. Sheesh!

We didn't have a ton of free time between sessions but we did make it a priority to hit the Rocky Mountain Fudge Factory on the first night. We dodged big fat rain drops all the way from the Upper Village to the Main Village to get our treats. We each chose an apple as our indulgence. Keith's was called an 'Avalanche' and mine was a Skor Bar apple. Excellent choices and we enjoyed every bite!

I couldn't even wait to take a bite until Keith had framed the picture. Patience is something I need to work on.

Yes, we even had a bit of homework. I got Keith to do mine :)

The Chateau has a fabulous little casual restaurant called Portabello's. It had some many wonderful things to chose from. For breakfast one morning Keith brought up a piece of breakfast pizza. The sauce was salsa and then it was loaded with bacon, scrambled egg and cheese.

The view from our window was lovely. After the first rainy night, it snowed pretty much the whole time. It was beautiful!

On our way to grab a quick lunch between the morning and afternoon sessions. We had quite a walk from the hotel to the village so it was nice to be able to really stretch our legs and get some fresh air after sitting on our butts for hours at a time.

Saturday is 'date night'. We had decided the night before we were definitely going to the Mongolie Grill for dinner. I had heard about this place forever and couldn't wait to try it out. It was even better than I imagined it would be! You get to load up a bowl with all sorts of raw veggies, noodles, and meats. Careful to not fill it too full because it adds up fast! Then you select a sauce (I chose one that was a bit too spicy but my Mongolini Martini cooled it down nicely!). After that you get it weighed so they know what you charge you at the end of the night. Then on a massive round grill they stir fry it up for you as you watch. It was a great experience! When you walk back to your table they will have a nice bowl of rice waiting (white or brown) and you just dig in and enjoy.

Blackcomb was set to open in a few days. They were servicing the lifts and grooming the runs. Made me a bit itchy to do a bit of skiing!

On Saturday night we walked around the village after dinner and found a fabulous candy shop called 'The Great Glass Elevator'. It had so much candy to chose from. There was candy there I saw from my childhood that brought back memories, imported sweets from the UK and plenty of unique treats. We found some yummies to bring back for the kids. We can't go away and not bring them back a little something!

Nate loves sour and Chad loves Pop Rocks!

And also a few sour and gummy treats for us all to share.

It was a good weekend. It's not just enough to attend these conferences though. One must put into practice the good things they have learned. So that's what we aim to do!

Crime Scene?

Last night we listened to raccoons rummaging in our yard. We don't know exactly what happened to this little guy but the time we got out there with our flash lights there was a HUGE raccoon dragging a dead raccoon around the garden. I guess he decided to leave him behind and go back home. Thanks....super.....just what I wanted to wake up to!

Crazy to think this is what city living is like around here. It's not like we live on a greenbelt or anything!

Beyond Spoiled

I've come to realize that working at my new office has many perks. One of them being the wonderful parents. They really treat us like gold. Many of them come into the office regularly for chat and a laugh.

Today the PAC was so kind to welcome me to the MEI family with a little gift. There was a beautiful handmade bag and card. Inside the bag were several treats from Milsean (a wonderful Irish tea shoppe in Aldergrove) and a bookmark.

Those ladies sure know how to make a gal feel welcome!

Wednesday

We had all planned to attend the Remembrance Day ceremonies this morning but things changed abruptly. Just as Keith was getting into formation to practice marching with his peeps he got a call from his chief that there were two major fires to investigate. So he came home, changed out of his dress uniform and off he went. Since I was up dressed and ready to go as well I decided to go grocery shopping with the kids. After lunch I thought it would be a good idea to put the kids to work raking leaves. No need to spend the entire day indoors playing video games! They were good sports about it and got a lot done. I spent the afternoon washing out my cupboards...I didn't realize just how filthy they were.

If you don't read the Pioneer Woman's blog you really should go and take a gander. She's an excellent blogger, photographer, story-teller, mom and wife. She just published this amazing cookbook that Kori's ordered for me. I have already made one recipe for dinner tonight that was very delicious.

When I cleaned out my pantry today I found some mini ice cream cones. They are the perfect size for little people since they only hold about a tablespoon of ice cream. Liam was thrilled to get his very own dessert and finished it in short order.

Deals!

I love love love a good deal. Paying full price is sometimes necessary but mostly I like to buy things on sale.

I received an email last week from Old Navy that all their outerwear was going to be 50% off this weekend. Bonus! Nathan and Chad both needed new winter coats so this morning, I set off to Langley to see what was on offer. I found that most of the boys winter coats this year have a fur trim on the hoods and Nate was adament that was only for girls. Thankfully we found a rack with some coats without this 'feminine' adornment. Only one style left with sizes for both of them so once again my kids have matching coats. They really don't care about that though!

All the scarves were priced at $1 so I picked up a few for myself.

After leaving Old Navy I decided to pop into the Adidas outlet. I had wanted some new casual sneakers for a long time now. I had checked them out a few months ago to find their prices were not that great. I had hoped to get to the Seattle Prime Outlets to pick up a pair but it seemed like that just wasn't going to be happening anytime soon. As I got closer to the outlet I noticed that there were some big signs that said '40% Off ENTIRE Store'. I liked the sounds of that. I headed straight to the ladies shoes to see a very cute pair for only $39.95! What? They were $69.95 last time I checked. They didn't have my size though. Isn't that always the case? I did see a size 9 though and decided to just give it a try and they fit perfectly! I'm a size 10 generally so these shoes were definitley meant to be mine. To sweeten the story further, once I got to the till, they marked them down another 40% and then ended up costing me $23.97. Now that my friends is the best deal I have found in ages!!!