So I SHOULD have gone to bed MUCH earlier last night than I did… I blame it on Ken and Ted and their dangling or a new “carrot” in front of me – 3 episodes of Dr. Who with Dr. #9. And Rose, don’t forget Rose… I have to say – very engaging. I remember watching early early episodes of the series (no clue which doctor but I remember the scarf…) with my dad and being thoroughly confused but loving the show regardless. So I didn’t get to bed until well into Saturday morning… which in turn had me UP at way later than I expected. Thankfully the only real Saturday “have to be at” activity was Alex den Otter’s 3rd birthday party at 2.

Not without a picture at the “picture tree” first of course. (What in the world are we going to do when we move and don’t have the silly thing??)

Gavin left

The kids had a blast playing in the backyard at the den Otter’s. And of course playing with all the toys inside.

Birthday boy and Zander

There was a potluck snack/meal that the kids enjoyed, but we had to leave before cake and presents. Trinity and Emanuel had missed naps (even though Trinity had slept in until 11 when Ken woke her – I think she is going through a growth spurt)… and I was wearing out too…

Time for food (Zander red)

Anna and Mommy

It is hard to do afternoon events sometimes, the kids just burn out faster, especially on an overcast and rainy day. Funny how much we love the sun!

When we got home it was a nap for Ken, then supper and bed for the kids. So I took advantage of this time to get in a couple scrapbook pages for Echo – one of my favourite pictures from her first week AND the piece of art Emanuel made for her book.

Emanuel's art

Sleeping Echo

Now I need to focus on apples – we are WAY behind on applesauce and I don’t want to waste and of the free apples we have in our backyard. Not only that but I want to give some to friends and family. This time round I am putting the sauce in the sandwich sized ziploc bags – smaller amounts but perfect for cooking or snacks.

I have started on the outlining of the parts of Echo’s stocking that ARE completed. I am hoping to get as much done as possible this weekend before Ken gets me another pattern to complete. Thankfully Echo is happy to snuggle in my lap or beside me while I work.

To date

Tomorrow the goal is to make it to church. One of our ministers called today to check in about the baptism but she is on holidays for 2 weeks and we can’t plan until Karyn gets back (she is now in Ireland) after the 10th. It was nice to touch base though and she totally understands why it is hard to get FIVE kids out the door and to church. Sunday School registration is next weekend so we will DEFINITELY make that!

Other than that I have to get the house tidy, apples picked up from outside… organize some crafts for next week’s schooling and get ready for Mom, Mike and Harley’s visit on Monday (Labour Day) – since we can’t have toys out or Harley will eat them in the backyard. Definitely not a overwhelming weekend but certainly not totally laid back.

3 weeks old now!

What a weekend! And I seem to remember saying this weekend would be a QUIET one, NOT!

So Friday night was not bad, Saturday morning we took the whole family out to the free craft session at Michaels. They used a new Crayola product – a sort of clay type thing called Model Magic. They simply softened it up and then pressed their hands in to make a handprint. I loved the way they turned out and am planning on picking up a container of the stuff to use to make prints of Echo to give to a few people for Christmas. Lightweight and nice and durable I definitely think it will make a nice treasure.

Crafting (Gavin blue)

After our craft we ran out and about shopping… Dollarama, Bulk Barn. Which I must say is THE PLACE for spices! Add to that a 3.00 off if you spend 10.00 coupon and we were sitting pretty with treats to boot. I think we will head back soon enough to get more. They have cake and cookie and brownie mixes that I have Christmas present plans for… potentially!

After a nice nap (for Echo and myself and I think Emanuel and Trinity) the big excitement arrived – after over a year AUNTY ESTHER was on our doorstep, as fabulous as ever!

Fabulous Aunty Esther

She was in Grenada for a year to get her masters and we missed her dearly. The boys remembered her and Trinity warmed to her before too long, but it was Miss Echo who stole her heart this visit with her willingness to snuggle in for a nice cuddle and her tiny little frame. Ken and I were just so glad to see her in the flesh and have the chance to really catch up. She stayed the night and left late this afternoon so all in all it was a terrific visit.

All 5 Kids (Gavin left)

We sit and wait now – to see if she gets a job here in the city we live in or elsewhere. No matter what, having her back in Alberta means we are able to see her much more often. Something all 7 of us (I am sure) are VERY thankful for. Emanuel was quite sure Aunty Esther didn’t NEED to leave… after all how could she WANT to?

While Esther was still here we had Yoyo, Jon and Yoyo’s mom come by for a visit to meet baby Echo. Then Yoyo’s mom and Jon took the boys (all 3 of them!) out to the grocery store to get snacks! So kind of her. Which let me get in a little bit quieter visit with Yoyo. Apparently her mom is staying longer than originally planned – until October, so I am sure we will get in a couple more visits! The kids do love it when people come by.

Yoyo's Mom

Yoyo and Jon and Echo

As Esther was preparing to leave Nathan and Ada arrived with Baby Anna. So we got in a nice long visit with them too. Anna is almost 3 months old now! And certainly makes Echo look tiny! We are still keeping fingers crossed that the weather will warm up one last time so we can go out for a picnic with them. Last year the weather held into September, but this year… who knows!

GodMommy Ada and Echo

So TONS of visitors this weekend, and activity… this upcoming week looks much less hectic so far. We are still trying to get in that first paediatrician appointment for Echo, and Ken has a laundry list of beginning of the week calls to make (nothing new there). I am still rather surprised that the end of the month is here! Where did the time go? Ken and I are working on making up the basic bodies of some felt puppets for the kids to decorate tomorrow using a template, and I have the last of our gardening stuff to wrap up and the lapbooks to assemble… the forms are basically ready for faxing for our board registration tomorrow and life is certainly moving on at a fair clip! I am hoping I can sneak in some time to bring up my pre pregnancy clothes, sort through the baby girl box for anything newborn (still too big for Echo) AND get a bit of the downstairs cleaned… my brother and his family are supposed to be coming by beginning of September for a visit after all.

And don’t forget photos of baby… definitely want to take more of those! Oh for more hours in a day!

Two of my girls 🙂

Well, we finally have an “at home day” after almost 3 full days at my mom’s and before that our Friends Christmas party… so lots to catch up on!

Let’s see, Saturday was our party for our local friends and family (Cousin David) – Pot-luck style. What a spread – everything from meatballs (by Ken), to potatoes au grautin (Cousin David) to rice made Chinese style (Ada) and gingerbread and short bread cookies (Chris and Chris). Add to that a ton more from everyone else and no one went hungry!

Kiddy Table! (Zander white)

The guest list was quite extensive:

Chris and Chris, Alan and Xinny with Alexander and Isabella, Nathan and Ada, Fydo (without Kristen, she was at a family gathering), Sean, Ted, Cousin David and Karyn. Add to that our 6 and we had a lovely full and joyful house. We also received phonecalls from ALL our parents – Ken’s called to check about the Christmas money they sent (it is much more economic to send money for us to shop FOR them then post packages for the kids), my mom to check on our travel plans the next day to her house and my Dad to respond to our week of good news and discuss his money sending plans. I am hoping I waylaid any fears and concerns he has about our decisions, future and present. I know *I* am excited about what 2010 has in store for us!

Trinity, Cousin David and Fydo

A Christmas party of course leads to Christmas PRESENTS! Alan and Xinny gave Zander and Emanuel tops that have a little hand held device to make htem spin – LED lights and music and all! And Gavin got this dusk that goes on a stick and when you show it off it flies! Trinity got lovely handmade (in China) slippers to grow into! Nathan and Ada gave the boys a set of the Trio blocks which caused MUCH jubilation (thank goodness because in my economizing I had a 5.00 gift certificate for the same brand and got Gavin’s big gift for a steal in the same series). This in turn meant WE gave our gifts to our friends – ornaments for those who have trees, made mainly by the kids, we gushed over and the cross stitches – well it seemed that EVERYONE enjoyed theirs. Alan even got a snicker out of his Christmas ball themed joke stitch.

Alan!

Alan's Gift

The only error was on Sean’s Plumber’s Creed but I plan on correcting that in the new year as soon as Ken can alter the design. And Cousin David got an IOU on his Zombie Dragon. We got two rather personal and memorable gifts – from Chris and Chris  – cinema tickets that include popcorn and drinks AND 6 FREE babysitting coupons for 6 evenings! What a gift – of course they will come to OUR house.

PRESENTS! (Gavin left)

Speaking of (he)Chris – unlike the projected 3 month wait for his ankle surgery WCB gave him, he has his date – January 4! So Ken is in the wings waiting to bring him home in relative comfort since their car will not make moving in a cast even remotely easy AND there will be assistance needed getting him into his apartment and off his feet for that necessary complete month! We are so excited for him as this surgery is long in coming and should make his life MUCH better!! I hope he is prepared for the get well soon drawings and gifts the boys are going to want to make!

Chris and Chris

The other absolutely personalized gift was from Karyn – she had to leave after the present opening to go to a librarian Christmas party and forgot about her gifts so I opened hers when she came back to spend the night and put the kids’ under the tree. It is a calendar and beyond lovely. I wish you could see each and every page in detail. I may make an album on the family gallery just to show it off! But of course I can’t resist showing a few pages here!

Month of May

Month of August

The party kept on going until well past sundown with some of the guys sticking around to try out the new game Fydo and Kristen got us. I have yet to try it but the guys all really enjoyed it.

New Game

Sunday was supposed to start with us going to church for the boys’ in class Christmas party but the entire family slept in and set us back on our preparing to head for our extended stay at mom’s. So we opted instead to spend our morning visiting with Karyn before she headed home to prepare for her trip to Saskatchewan. Even with the sleeping in we managed to make it out the door before too late. With a couple quick stops in the city in our way out and some careful driving we made rather good time. Luckily the weather worked on OUR side with sunshine and not too much wind. Of course I made a quick run into Shoppers to see Christine and cement our Christmas Eve plans with her as she was off to her mom’s for the portion of the week we were in town.

Karyn and the two Chocolate Candy Cane Cakes - recipe in link below!

Oh and if you are interested in the cakes Karyn has with her… here is the recipe!

With half a day at mom’s to play the boys were already in heaven. Of course there was also the traditional kids trimming of the tree… Definitely a bottom heavy theme but they had a blast showing us each and every ornament they placed!

Trimming the Tree (Zander)

All Decorated! (Gavin red)

Monday morning mom and Mike headed off to collect my brother and his family a little over 3 hours away. They got a bit of a late start as Mike was called into work to deal with some snow removal at the college. After picking up James and his family they were to stop and pick up a trailer Mike had purchased and hour from there. Sounds simple right???

Well two hours or so later my Uncle Wayne shows up with a box of presents AND a box of educational things. The boys took full advantage of having a doting Great Uncle around and played 3D snakes and ladders, barrel of monkeys (Gavin is a pro!) and 3 and 4 letter flashcards…

Monopolizing the Great Uncle! (Zander yellow)

Not too long after Uncle Wayne got there we got a call from mom letting us know the roads were crappy and it was going to be slow going. So we settled in for a movie – the Barbie Nutcracker and then Uncle Wayne and I went on to tackle the dinner itself. Mom had prepared the turkey and left it in the oven for us to turn on at noon and check on periodically but that left mashed potatoes, peas and carrots and gravy to tackle. After trial and error we managed a rather credible dinner including mom’s home-made cranberry sauce (that the boys actually liked!) and home-made pickles (which we had to cut Emanuel off before he consumed the jar!). Don’t forget mom’s special dip with the seafood sauce. Mmm we were one full group!

MMMM Nom Nom Nom

So even before Mom and her crowd made it back my Aunty Lorraine, Uncle Ken, their daughter Veronika and her fiancée Adam made it over gifts in hand! This led to so much excitement with the boys that we had to head to the basement and open them RIGHT NOW! Gavin got a Buzz Lightyear, Zander a Woody (both from Toy Story) and Emanuel Handy Manny (off of a show they had coincidentally seen on tv with Daddy the day before). Trinity got the kitty off of the Barbie movie the Three Musketeers which interacts with the cd it came with and the movie (she also got the movie). Talk about happy kids!!

Lucky Kids!! (Gavin green)

Cousin Veronika and Trinity

After that excitement in came Uncle James, Aunty Holly and Cousin Jimmie which led to real pandemonium with gifts and play and visiting. There was literally a whirl wind of tearing open paper to the point where I am a little hazy as to who  gave who what!

PRESENTS!!! (Gavin in Green)

Trinity and her gift of choice from her Great Uncle Wayne

I got a couple of memorable gifts myself – the first – the angel from my childhood for the top of the tree – the ORIGINAL handmade Christmas angel my mom made when James and I were little. I have wanted her for YEARS! This of course led to waterworks.

THE Treetop Angel!

The other is much more humorous. I think I have mentioned my brother and his wife Holly’s webcomic well there is this one strip that is rather memorable. (Keep in mind their site contains adult humour!) Can you guess what I got? That’s right a Slap Chop WITH the Grady AND the special cutting board! Ken is in heaven!

You're Gonna Love My Nuts! LOL

Oh and besides my news, which I will share as soon as I can, the big gift of the year was once again from Mike to mom – a SCOOTER! One that is relatively motorcycle like. It was one BIG box and the boys had a blast helping open it!

BIG Box!

Grandma and Zander on the Scooter!

And of course the next day Mike, Ken and James had to drag it back up the stairs! What a work out!

Removing the Scooter!

A late evening went even later as we stayed up to visit with James and Holly. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to catch up and compare notes. We really do not get the chance often enough in my mind!

The following day was relatively quiet… there was a basement to clean and children to nap (desperately) and of course play time for the cousins. Including a trip outside in their new gloves and hats from Grandma. I am so glad the boys and Trinity got some time with Jimmie. It makes me wish we lived closer to their city so that we could have these sort of gatherings more often.

Fun in Grandma's Backyard (Jimmie, Emanuel and Zander)

All 5 of Mom's Grandkids! (Jimmie, Emanuel, Gavin, Trinity and Zander)

We headed back to the city pretty late in the day yesterday, timing it with the Ikea meatball special so that we could have a special dinner and then pick up the two or three presents for Trinity from her Nana and Baba. The “meatball store” is always a special treat and this time we let them eat in the kids’ area where there is a video (usually it is much more busy). Of course after that it was home to bed… not without complaints but we managed.

Watching Duck Tales! (Zander left)

Meatballs!!!

Today we had to rush out to a couple stores – one specifically to spend the Chapters gift certificate I got from my brother and his family (of course using my 20% discount due to our membership with HLSA). I got 3 books in a new series to try out over the rest of Christmas! Ken is running BACK out tonight to post the package we fought tooth and nail to recover AND to pick up the booster seats Nana and Baba are giving the twins for Christmas (we found lovely ones for under 50.00!!). My goal is to NOT be shopping on the 24th – thank goodness for the 24 hr Walmart and Superstore over Christmas.

First 3 books in the series!!

Santa was super kind  to us after a difficult 2009… we are set for Christmas dinner and the week following and have tried to imprint on the boys how grateful we are. Next year is going to be our opportunity to give back to be sure. But this year it is turkey dinner and as a super special treat – a gingerbread house kit! The kids are to put it together Christmas Day!

So all in all 4 days of fun and excitement. The boys are a little over whelmed by all of it but I am looking forward to a nice and quiet Christmas Day… just the family… and Ted. Now if I could just get the house completely sorted TONIGHT I would be one happy camper!

Oh and don’t forget the 5 days of Advent!

Day 19

Advent Day 20!

Day 22!

Day 22 (I put it on the tree for now)

Mmm Day 23 🙂 Thank you!!