Post-Holiday Ramblings

* Breathe in, breathe out *

Christmas is over.

A brand, spankin' new year has begun.

So much to reflect on.

Where to begin?

Some randoms, in no particular order:

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1. Kidlets said it was the best Christmas EVER. Okay, they say that every year, but I love to hear it just the same.

2. How quickly a year goes by!

3. Bittersweet Christmas for me, being home and able to visit with so many family members in familiar towns and settings...but without Dad. :(

4. Putting up Christmas decorations is a lot more fun than taking it all down and packing it away. Sad cloud over the house as back in the boxes everything went again. (Note: We had a real tree & it was time to let him go.)

5. Thoroughly enjoyed the Christmas process at work - kettles, hampers, company dinners, meeting more people in our awesome community. I actually missed it when it was all over!

6. No one holds a candle to Bing Crosby, Gene Autry & Burl Ives Christmas music - although Michael Buble's new Christms cd this year was very good. (Of course, our kidlets would vote for JB's Mistletoe.)

7. Hubby had 6 turkey dinners this year. SIX! Some community/job-related, some family. Needless to say, turkey will NOT on the menu here at home anytime soon.

8. I have winter-blue-sparkley-painted toes thanks to a post-Christmas pedicure with my Mom & daughter.

9. Toffeefay is my absolute favourite Christmas candy. Hubby bought me some on Christmas Day & it didn't last long.

10. I cried when we sang "Silent Night" on Christmas Eve. I always do. I also cried over the generosity of our church family. Blessed with many new friendships here.

11. Remote-control helicopters freak cats out. Just an FYI.

12. Happy New Year, everyone! xoxo

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Image/purchasing possibility found at Made At CASA on www.etsy.ca.

Keeping the Kidlets Busy

You Light Up My Life

Festive Ramblings

Time to dust away the cobwebs of this blog and post a little,
even if only a few festive ramblings.

We are in the full swing of providing Christmas assistance through our church and it's been a lot of fun to participate in the various areas. We live in a very generous community!

Christmas has been a little different with a new house in a new town.

Sorting out our Christmas decorations to fit & suit this house, whereas we had a place for most things for the past 4 years. Things like that happen when you move. Happy that Jason got the lights up early! It's comfy coming home in the evening to the warm white glow.

A major highlight this year has been being able to cut down our own Christmas tree again, after 6 years of not being able to do so. This was a family tradition of Jason's and something that we all missed.

We're attending new Christmas parties with new people, but all events have included our children, which has been a true blessing. We've had certain traditions while living out west that we miss, but God has provided new ways of celebrating this special time together.

Both kidlets have been practicing their parts in the upcoming school Christmas pageant. Blaise is singing a song with his classmates and Bria is the solo saxophonist in the school band. They'll also be performing carols and recitations at church this Sunday.

Both request Christmas carols to be played on our kitchen CD player as they fall asleep each night. I guess the sounds of Bing Crosby piping up into their rooms is soothing to them. And to me, too, as I sit here typing this with my Christmas mug o' tea.

I hope to have more pictures of this time to post, soon.

Thanks for sticking around and checking back on us. :)

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Photo and purchasing possibility found at EpiphanysCorner on www.etsy.ca .

Christmas Eve

When Bria was about 2 years of age, she used to call this day "Chris'meve." We still call it that and laugh. Both kids are complete squirrels right now. (Having eaten a good portion of their gingerbread houses for breakfast certainly hasn't helped.) Most of the gifts are now under the tree, much to our cats' delight. The kids keep checking on Santa's whereabouts. Click HERE to track Santa and see how close he is to you. Our kids will be following this all day and evening. Jason is at the church will some volunteers, cooking turkeys for tomorrow's dinner and the kids and I will join him soon, when more volunteers will come in to help with the set-up and decorating. Tonight we're having a candlelight service at 6:30 pm and I have a bit of prep left for that service. Looking forward to singing "Silent Night" and shedding a tear or two, which seems to be the custom for me no matter how hard I try not to! LOL Loving this night and all that it means to humanity. :)

Christmas Shopping

BIG tree!

They had a craft area set up for the kidlets.

Bria made this for our tree.

Blaise got distracted from his crafting when he noticed the toy guns.


Santa was there.

Makes a nice, thoughful gift.

I'll have the pecans, please.

Christmas Books

Sometimes at Christmas, ya just gotta stop all the hoopla 'n' frenzy and sit down together by the glow of the tree and read a good book.

Here are some that our children have collected and enjoy, year after year.

One Wintry Night by Ruth Bell Graham.

My Christmas Gift by Crystal Bowman.

Martin MacGregor's Snowman by Lisa Broadie Cook.

Three Wise Women by Dandi Daley Mackall.

The Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Walburg.

The Gift of the Christmas Cookie by Dandi Daley Mackall.

If Only I Had a Green Nose by Max Lucado.

We usually purchase 1 or 2 hardcover Christmas books each year.

Any other suggestions?

My Favourite To-Do List...

Egg Nog French Toast

Wanna add something "festive" to your breaky?

Eggnog French Toast

2 eggs, beaten slightly
1 1/2 c. eggnog
1 1/2 tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
12 slices French bread or Texas toast

Lightly grease and pre-heat skillet.

Whisk the eggs, eggnog, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice together in a mixing bowl until well blended. Pour the mixture into a shallow dish, such as a pie pan.

Dip each slice of bread into the eggnog mixture, making sure to coat each side of the bread thoroughly.

Place the bread slices into the pre-heated skillet, and cook, until golden brown on each side. Keep french toast on a plate covered with foil until ready to serve.

Enjoy!

Recipe originally found here.
Pic courtesy of Pinch My Salt.

"Noah's Ark" Cross-Stitched Ornies

I had stitched these snowfolk for our daughter as a keepsake last year. But what about a few Christmas handmade heirlooms for the boy in the family?

I used the "Noah's Ark" pattern found in the same book and stitched up these cuties for our son. They're made using 14-ct aida cloth with fusable felt backing to give them more weight. All they need is a silver or gold loop and they're ready to be hung on the tree. They could easily be made into magnets, too.

They were fun and colourful to stitch.

Merry "early" Christmas!

Linked to:
We Are That Family, Show & Tell Wednesday, Linky Your Thursday, Show Off Your Stuff, Bloggeritaville, Crafty Soiree, Allie's Crafty LinkGet Your Craft On Thursday, Things I Love Thursday, Beyond the Picket Fence, Strut Your Stuff Party

In the spirit of our NOT getting around to putting up Christmas lights this year...

Special Video Msg from Santa

Another Red Deer Mommy referred me to a neat-o site where I was able to create a free personalized video for the kids from Ol' Saint Nick, himself.
Click HERE to make one for your little "elf."

A Few Thank-You Gifts

We're trying to stick to a budget this Christmas, but have a lot of people we want to say thank-you to.

So we're doing a lot of homemade gifts this year.

Like this guy.


These candy cane reindeer will go to the kids on the soccer team Jason coaches, as well as the boys and girls in Blaise's morning day care class.


I thought our kids would be into helping me make them, but they were more interested in this:


Having Nanny teach them how to knit.

Speaking of knitting, I enlisted my talented Mom in knitting a few dish cloths for the kids' teachers, which would be a useful gift.


The rest of our giftees will likely receive baking.

We're enjoying Mom's visit with us and have been out shopping twice, despite the bitter cold. Tomorrow the kids have their Christmas Concert at school, which we will all attend. Hoping to get some good pics to post!

Our Family's Christmas Fun List

I've made up another list.

This time it's filled with fun things to do as a family
- as in all 4 of us, together, as a group, with no whining -
by Dec. 25th.

Click on it to make it bigger.

(I still don't know how to do that.)

If you've made one, please post your link in the comments section.

Feliz Navidad!

(Sing With Me...) "I Love a Parade"

The tree is up and we're slowly getting into the Christmas spirit.

Something we do traditionally is sprawl out on the couches in front of the TV with munchies not far from our reach (munchies seem to accompany most of what we do) and watch the Toronto Santa Claus Parade.

"Toronto's Santa Claus Parade is the longest running children's parade in the world and is broadcast across North America and as far away as New Zealand, Norway and Ireland."

- Official Parade Website.

Good to see The Salvation Army band marching along with our beloved Mrs. Commissioner in her lovely red cape.

Christmas is coming.

It will be a very different Christmas this year, not having Dad with us.

I'm trying to stay positive, for the kids.

And I know Dad wouldn't want any of us to be sad during such a blessed season.

I only had to leave the room once yesterday while decorating the tree.

I had no idea when I packed up the decorations last January, that Dad wouldn't be here to share in 2009's festivities.

I know. He's having the best Christmas ever.

But it just won't be the same without him.

Lately, I've Been a Stitching Fool

2008 Christmas Kettle Total for Red Deer...

$200,347.98!!!!!!!

WAHM

For the next few days I am a WAHM (work at home mom). The kids are out of school until Jan. 5th, so I am home with them while Jason has kindly gone to the office. I'm thankful for this time that I can spend with them. I'm also thankful for computers! I can answer my emails, plan & prep services and make contacts for future events all while sitting in my jammies and listening to my rugrats watch "The Rugrats Movie" in the next room. Oh, and I can BLOG. ;) So on today's agenda (amid my own work-related tasks): play dough, playing outside in the snow, a couple games of Go Fish, a fun lunch and a movie or two.

We had another great Christmas, this year. As hectic as things were, we were able to spend quite a bit of family time together as well as help out in the community. I'm always amazed at how God helps us balance everthing out. It's been interesting to see our children grasp more and more of what the season is all about as they grow and age. Lots of questions about the Nativity and, of course, Santa. It will be interesting to see what Bria "believes" in next year, considering this year she told us "Santa having a sleigh that FLIES in the air just doesn't make any sense!" LOL We're thinking that Blaise, on the other hand, is secretly getting paid by Santa as he is always so quick to defend him. "It's MAGIC, Bria - just like the REINDEERS!!!" Uh boy. ;)

Christmas Day was very special to us and we've made some great memories to cherish. Blaise was quite emotional on Christmas Day night, sad that Christmas Day was over. God bless him. When your 6 & 4, it's SO long in between Christmasses. Not so much so for the adults, as - just like Santa's elves - we'll likely start planning for next year, in January.

The Christmas decor has all been put away for another year and our home is back to normal. Ready for summer, I say! Every time we enter/leave our garage, we park next to our trailer. "6 more months," Jason says. It's our family reprieve.

Jason's parents arrive on Dec. 31st and we're looking forward to seeing them. Bria's excited to stay up until midnight that night, although we know that she'll be lucky if she makes it past 9pm. Jason & I are off to a SA retreat next week, looking forward to that as well. Kananaskis is breathtaking! Also looking forward to all that 2009 will bring. Here's a list of things I'm praying for for 2009:

* good health & stamina for all of us
* strengthened relationships, both in ministry and family
* discernment & wisdom in the many decisions that will be made
* continued contentment for our kids in their daily lives (they are our most AWESOME blessing!)
* more leaders will step forward in our church
* opportunities to get together with far away family and friends
* spiritual renewal and revival, for our family as well as our church & its employees
* more opportunities to build relationships with those in our community

And of course, peace on earth and goodwill toward men. ;)

Community Christmas Day Dinner at Our Church