Today has been a little bit of an odd, disheartening day. Possibly the letdown from all the festivities. Possibly being short one family member for longer than was planned. Possibly too much idle time, or not enough. Possibly a shortage on sleep.
We wrapped the day up with a movie night so we could all be still and our brains could rest. Cool Runnings was on the docket, and the kids loved it so much more than I imagined. It was a happy time.
But I am happy the day is done. I am ready to let down a little bit in my bed. Pull out some unsuccessful crocheting while watching some relaxed tv. There is always something to do, but balance is tricky.
Tomorrow will worry about itself. There is nothing positive that worry can add.
So I couldn’t tell you why, but Facebook is consistently removing the blog links I’ve shared on my page, saying they’re promoting things or trying to sell things. They are not. Not even sort of. This blog, while a total labour of love, and I suppose what you’d call a passion project, is really truly just not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. It is a glorified online journal that is read by a fairly consistent audience (thanks, guys 😘) but not an especially large one.
Last night, I posted about the gifts I got the kids for Christmas. I didn’t even add links, and still my link was removed for “promoting.” Annoying.
Anyway. I made party mix today. Again. For the… I don’t know how many times I’ve made it this season.
But it doesn’t last long! Pairs beautifully with Kirkland sangria that is loaded with oranges.
Today I bring you the present report for Christmas 2024!
We all know its not about the gifts, totally, but aren’t they fun?? And don’t you sometimes find yourself stumped on what to get who? And isn’t it helpful to sometimes hear what other people get?? I digress. You know me. I’m not worried about excusing this post. I write it every year, lol! I hope you enjoy it!
Every year, we get the kids something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read. Then I usually get them a onesie, and either socks or underwear, which alternates from year to year. This yes, I included an extra – a cheap little throw blanket. I did my best with pictures but they’re not all great, haha! Give me some grace, and read on!
Dekker first!
Dekkers want was a leatherman! The real deal! His need was a smart watch. Like a young, starter, training smart watch, haha! A gateway smart watch 🤣 You get it. His item to wear was his Dave hat (which is funny because we regularly call him Dave) and his gift to read was Far Side comic books. He’s never read them, and I figured he was old enough pick through them, hahaha! He doesn’t understand them all, but he thinks the ones he does grasp are HILARIOUS.
Dekker got Puma socks, a brown plaid bear onesie, and a round blanket that looks like a burrito wrap.
Laela next!
Laela’s want was a bracelet making kit, since she recently learned how to do friendship bracelets. Her need was a new set of crochet hooks with rubber grips in a cute little carrying case. So her item to wear isn’t here yet :/ She wasn’t too upset about it, and knows its coming in January. But to keep the picture count uniform, Rowan bought her yarn for Christmas 🙂 And her something to read was a Gordon Korman book called Forts. We LOVE Gordon Korman over here, but no one has read that one!
Laela got super cute athletic socks from Walmart, almost identical to the ones she got last time that she loved, as well as a sparkly pastel deer onesie, and a round waffle blanket.
Rowan’s up next!
His want was lego, and probably one of the coolest lego sets ever. He LOVES foxes. His need was a good durable waterproof. His something to wear was a shirt from his parkour gym, and his item to read was a Calvin and Hobbes book.
Ro got a ton of basic black and grey socks, a cozy grey onesie with Christmas trees, and a tomato slice blanket.
Ok, Solly, you’re up!
Sollys want was also lego. His FIRST technics set! His need was some frames to display his artwork in that are easily interchangeable. So he can proudly show off the work he’s proud of, and it can change every day if he wants! His item to wear was a watch, too, but more his style. He is now a constant time keeper, lol! And his item to read was a set of three Big Nate books. My boys are their comic books!
Sol got socks that are his length, and his colors. He got probably my favorite onesie – navy with snowflakes and animals on it, and a round pizza blanket.
Wavy is next!
Wavy’s want was a Chelsea camping Barbie! Her need was the same frames that Solly got for her mountains of artwork. Her something to wear was a long colourful dress (that she has worn ever since) and her something to read was a “Pizza and Taco” Christmas book. Yet another comic, haha!
Wave got bright ankle socks off of Amazon, a purple unicorn onesie, and a round cookie blanket.
For the babies between the ages of 18-24 months!
The wants were bath toys. An egg beater, specifically, and some light up, swimming ones. The needs were magnadoodles. To wear, there was a funny t-shirt and a soft hoodie with animals on it. And to read, I went with Sandra Boynton, because she rocks.
The toddlers got toddler Puma socks, mostly because of the novelty. They got onesies as well – a Disney character and an animal – and they got round blankets that were a fried egg and a watermelon.
For the littler baby, under a year.
Baby also got a bath toy – a floating otter with babies. The need I passed off as a developmental need, lol, because I wanted to buy a Lamaze toy. My favorite baby gift ever. To wear, this baby got sunglasses. And to read, another Sandra Boyton book.
Little baby also got a very plushy pink onesie, Amazon socks, and an orange slice blanket.
I hate how vague I have to be about the babies :/ Anyway.
It was a VERY fun year for gifts over here. When I asked the kids each what their favorite gift was, they all listed off at least three gifts, haha! I’m calling that a win 💜
Lol! The title suddenly looks like an error message, which is not what I anticipated 😅 But I’m not mad at it. Todays post was going to be a structured blog around Bradys beer advent calendar, but alas, the man is a couple of days behind and rather than slugging the last couple in the afternoon here, it’ll just have to happen on another day. Hence, the blogs are out of the order I expected. The blog itself is not out of order. Follow? I hope so.
It has already been a rip roaring day of activity, though it has felt calmer than yesterday somehow. There was a Christmas treasure hunt early in the morning for my dear mom, courtesy of sweet Cherice 💜 Then I ran into the city with my mom to drop a baby off for a Christmas visit. Back we came, where kids opened more gifts from Auntie Cher while babies napped. An unexpected Christmas gift walked through the door, and there is promise of another to come! 💜 The day took a restful turn at that point, and big kids played quietly with their fun new games, Brady and I ate lunch, and my mom went home.
I have been on my phone, trying to build photo collages for upcoming blogs, and prewriting the posts I didn’t get to earlier as I had planned. The house is at rest and buzzing at the same time. I took a little break in my room to be able to actually focus on my phone, which feels like a dick move out in the living room, and to get pictures and posts organized. I won’t get it all in place, thats for sure, but I’ll hopefully take a bite out of it anyway!
Tonight, we indulge in appies with Rae and Tom and their family! A day full of beautiful things 💜 I am so grateful!
Today was our Christmas 💜 We had to do things a little earlier than usual to ensure we’d all be together at the right time, so rather than waiting until later in the holiday, we opted for early, which was more fun anyway!
We ate delicious food, opened a mountain of gifts, ate more good food, broke for naps, and then opened the rest of the gifts into the evening. Homemade pizza closed the evening off, and everyone went to bed nice and tired.
Many events and fun things still to come in the next few days, but today was beautiful and comfy and peaceful. I am overwhelmed with gratefulness. What fun was had by all 💜
We had the pleasure of spending the evening with some family that we haven’t spent time with in absolute ages. With some, it had been more than a decade, I believe.
There were eighteen of us altogether, and it felt very much like how I want my house to feel. Bustling with people who are eating, chatting, laughing, and building a closeness. From room to room, the conversation could be anything from politics to fostering to childhood memories to “pick a number between one and one hundred.”
The kids talked boisterously amongst themselves, and spent a good chunk of time playing downstairs. The babies were a total highlight, and were both welcoming, and well received. The Morsel was tucked up on someones hip, eating chocolate by the end of the evening. The Lemon Drop was jumping and flapping all over the place, rocking only a pair of jeans with a soft little belly hanging out after eating taco salad and a cookie.
We ended the evening with an impromptu gift exchange, and then some sweet goodbyes between everyone, many of us who really were connecting for the first time in a long time, or ever 💜 We waved goodbye at the window, as we always do. The Morsel actually waved as the car drove away, rather than just watching, and then waving. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that kid THAT proud of themselves.
At warp speed, Laela and I unloaded the dishwasher and loaded it back up to run. I am all for paper dishes for ease, but I was the one who insisted on using real dishes tonight, so there were many to wash! But the dishes were locked and loaded in probably fifteen minutes flat, and everyone tidied up, got ready, and packed it in.
It was a beautiful evening. Truly, I loved it. I am BEAT. But it was worth it 💜 So thank you, dear family, for making your way out and being with us for the evening to celebrate Christmas. Let us not wait another decade to do the same.
As I’m writing some of the longer blogs to post over Christmas, I’m scrolling through a lot of photos on my phone. Like, every photo from the last year, and let me tell you – there are a LOT. This one is a super unimportant picture, but I need to share it, lol! There are a few factors worth noting.
So. Its just a coffee. A double double, to be exact. Which usually says DD on the top. I can’t decipher how this marking refers to the contents, but it does look like it says “boo.”
*gasp* A GHOST!
👻
I would’ve posted this based only on that one dumb fact, but I had a little secondary giggle moments after I saw this picture again. Behind my cup, in the cupholder of the van, is a sheet of cough candies. Man was it ever another summer of sickness! Or at least a good handful of weeks! And then that little ziploc bag behind the cup? Ya that sucker held a chemo dose 😅 Because the name of the game this summer was cancer treatment!
Except it totally wasn’t. Cancer didn’t steal our summer. It was just a detail of that time of our lives. Its interesting to see those little moments in our memories, and I thought it was worth sharing. Not dwelling, just sharing.
The most important part of this blog is still the ghost…
I made a HUGE list the other day and its been laying out for everyone to read here at the house. The idea is that anyone can see how full my brain is and they can even look at it and see if there is an opportunity to help. And they have! When Rowan has felt idle, I see him go scan it, and he’ll sometimes follow up and confirm if something on there is actually done or if its something he can help with.
This morning, he came and sat down beside me in the living room. While I was typing an email, he took the brain dump sheet and asked about a few things. He giggled at me that I still have things to do. Lol! Twerp.
Much of what still needs doing is some pre-blogging I always try to do before Christmas so I have a few days with good posts that I don’t have to write in the moment. I always pre-write a blog for Christmas day and New Years Eve. We’ll see if I get there this year. I really do need to do one last errand run. Maybe today after school. I need to write a couple of Christmas cards that ideally would’ve been delivered this week but 🤷🏼♀️ And there are a few things that simply wont get done. I will admit that I feel a little defeated this morning, but likely I’m just short on sleep, and will rally soon enough.
Some deliveries will wait until the break. Thats ok. Some cookie icing will wait. Thats ok. Christmas cards will be handed out during the break rather than before. Thats ok. The mailed ones will be late anyway. Thats ok.
Everything that needs to come together will 💜 It always does.
Today was terribly cute. I was able to go to the elementary school in the afternoon for the Christmas play. Brady came along, as did my mom and Rae. Cher lovingly took the hit of being at the house with the babies so the rest of us could truly be present 💜 What a gift that was.
Here is your quick overview, unfortunately without pictures, because, other peoples kids.
The play this year was centred around the original Grinch story, and Laela secured the role she tried out for. She played the Mayor of Whoville. And she positively crushed it. She did a beautiful job, got her lines effortlessly, and got some laughs from the audience. It was a total success.
Waverly sang a couple of songs with her class, most notably Jingle Bell Rock. She had every move down. All the words. All the actions. She improv danced with a friend beside her, and they rocked their imaginary saxophones until the absolute last second, where the song ended in a back to back pose. It was SO cute. She performed like a boss.
Solly has previously stood up at the front during his songs, arms crossed, or just very very neutral, seemingly watching the audience. And this time around, he sang all the words, did all the actions, and then asked me follow up questions after the fact. He was super proud of his songs and he knew he had done well. He was much more “present” this time around.
And while Laela was our actor this time, Rowan was a star in his role. Like just about everyone else, his job was to sing with his classmates. Last year, he really really struggled to even get out on the stage. His teacher was amazing, and confirmed with me which performance I was coming to so she could encouraged him to at least be on stage in the ONE show. He doesn’t really care for the performance scene at all. Thats where he was at then. And this time – today – he sang every word of every song. He sang confidently. He did every action. He danced, and participated, and when everyone “sang” a song that no one was confident in, he giggled a little as he stumbled over the words. He was so much more comfortable being in that setting. As the songs wrapped up and the entire student body shouted “Merry Christmas!” Brady noted Rowan looked super overwhelmed. We know the face. He was trapped by kids. He couldn’t leave. He had to wait. It was loud and pushy and overwhelming for probably any of us. And we watched him go from clenched teeth to waiting patiently to being completely relaxed. Man. He has come SO FAR this year.
They all have. Watching these Christmas plays always leaves me so grateful for my family, as well as the school my children attend. You don’t find many a school who will still sing songs about Jesus’ birth, and I am so thankful our school still knows the truth.
It was a really well done, really cute play 💜 Amazing work, kids, both mine and everyone elses. And to the staff – you are all rockstars, and this could NOT have gone off so smoothly without you!
My kids play Would You Rather over breakfast sometimes. It seems fitting to share my latest favorite one with you today on a day where I felt quite finished already a couple of hours ago. Here you have it.
Would you rather… be a Walmart manager, or broccoli?
Most of the kids laughed, and immediately answered “A manager! Because…” before launching into all the responsible reasons.
And then Rowan asked to repeat the question.
Would you rather be a Walmart manager, or broccoli?
Wide eyed, he heaved a big sigh and promptly answered “Broccoli!!”
I’m with you, bud. Today, I just want to be broccoli. Let someone else be manager.
