Christmas Celebrations....

There is just too too much that has happened in the past couple of weeks!  It has been a perfect blend of work, fun, family and Christmas preparations!   

I'll try to be brief in my recap, but no promises.  

(God bless whoever sticks it out to the end of this entry;)

1.  Junior High Fundraiser: 

 Every year the Junior High does a fundraiser to help students/families in our community and also to contribute to future "WE" initiatives.    This year Abby had the idea to run a "camp-a-thon" of sorts.  She suggested to the school council that they ask both the principal and the vice principle to camp out on the front lawn of the school if they managed to earn $1000.   IF, by some far off chance they were able to earn $2000, then the P and VP would agree to camp outside for 2 nights!     There were a couple of added catches.   Once $500 was raised, their steak dinner would be downgraded to wieners and beans.  If they raised $1500, then their large tent was taken away and they'd have to sleep in a teeny two man tent.   It seems a little backwards that a fundraiser would be based on trying to impose discomfort on the school admin (I worried if Abby was barking up the wrong tree with this angle) but it worked like a charm!!

They ended up earning over $2000 in less then 24 hours!  

Oh, and our brave VP and P were champs to the max and camped as promised (in -25 degree temps!) broadcasting their success and struggles all along the way.  It was fun to see what a party it turned into as community members, students, families - so many stopped by from 3pm-11:30pm to visit, roast marshmallows, and of course- drop off money.   So funny!!!

2.  School Dress up days:   

The last week of school consisted of lots of dress up days for all of us.  Pajama days, crazy sock days and more!   Sadly, I only managed to capture some of my favorites.

The Junior High held a "favorite Book character day."    Abby dressed up as Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter and Sam dressed up as Samwise Gamgee from Lord of the Rings!    Please note the hairy feet and the gold ring that really does have the phrase "one ring to rule them all" engraved on the inside!    Sam played this part to a T - walking around barefoot all day!   At one point I asked him to carry his backpack to the closet and he responded by saying:

"I may not be able to carry my back pack - but I CAN CARRY YOU!!!"  

They went all out for Ugly sweater day too, though Sam went for a more effortless, "I barely cared about this" kind of a look.   

These two snots are perfect!  I mean - look at those dimples of Jessica's and that sly sideways smile of Nate's.  I'm obsessed!

3. Visits from Family:

Our Nephew Caleb and his friend Oliver stopped in for a few minutes on their way through town.  It was tonnes of fun to see him and to realize how OLD he has gotten.   Note: The first time I met Caleb, he was just a few years old.  What the heck?!

Rachel and Brent stopped by on Dec 23rd or a few hours.  It was great fun to see the kids!  Viv is 1 now and perfectly content to walk herself around a room, holding on to anything she can, eating paper as she goes;)

4.  Christmas Treats:
Rach, baked some KILLER Christmas cookies while here and luckily - she left them all behind!

SCORE!!!!

Speaking of Christmas treats - nothing, and I mean nothing is better than a delicious box of homemade chocolates, and John's Aunt makes the VERY BEST!!!

I photographed these and then hid them.

Then I only pulled them out when I was feeling extra generous.

Then I hid the remaining few.

Hmmmm....mmmmmmmm!!!!

5. Cello Success!

I've been so super proud of Sam this past month.  He's been doing his part, practicing both his piano AND his cello and improving on both!   On the Thursday before Christmas, we attended his first ever Cello recital.   He did a piano duet titled, "O Come little Children."   He got a couple of compliments after wards about the strength of his fingering and the beautiful tone that he has achieved.  He ALSO received 1st place in the practice competition among all of the students.  This first half of the year, he led the way with 107 practice minutes logged!   Woohoo cello man:)

6. Christmas "Adam"

Two days before Christmas (the day John refers to as Christmas Adam, because "Adam came before Eve") we hosted a dinner for a dear couple in town, the Gladdings.  We came to love them while we lived in the 5th ward and they have continued to be so special to us.   After dinner and some visiting, the kids performed their annual reenactment of the Christmas Story as we read in Luke 2.   

It's a different performance every year.  (That's the kindest thing I can say about it;)  haha

7.  Christmas Eve

And now for the most magical part of our week - Christmas Eve!!!

The fun didn't really begin until Grandpa arrived with more seafood then you can imagine!!!!

Naturally, the kids had to play with the seafood a bit first.  They like to name each animal, carry them around gingerly, try to convince us to let them have one for a pet....

and then we COOK THEM!!!!

\\

We dined on BBQ steak and mushroom sauce, potato wedges, french onion soup, baguettes, fruit, and of course (thanks to Grandpa) mussels, clams, Lobster and Crab.   We were stuffed like crazy and I am pretty sure that to my kids - food is the true meaning of Christmas!

I tried to make some Grinch juice for all to enjoy while playing a mean game of scrabble. 

(May have been one of those pinterest fails;)

After we could not eat anymore, we settled down for a brief musical concert.  

Nate played "Old MacDonald" on the piano, Sam played Silent night and Abby and Jess performed a song titled, "Send me someone to Lava" on the ukulele.   It was awesome!

Grandpa joined us for a drive around town to look at Christmas lights and then we returned home to watch Polar Express, set out some milk and cookies (and a letter to Santa) and go to bed!

One of the best parts of being a parent is getting to stuff stockings and set out gifts each year.  

8.  Christmas Day

Santa was good to us for sure!  I tried not to be too lavish with the kids' gifts and thankfully, they all seemed perfectly content.  Our favorite gifts this year was the two burner Camp Chef that I got John and a camp storage cook/table (also made by camp Chef) that Dave and Sarah gave us.  We are SO ready to go camping!!!!!    In fact, we are planning to spend a week in Banff AND a week on the BC coast this summer and we are suddenly feeling as though that isn't going to be enough;)

We attended church with Grandpa tonight because we wanted to get that out of the way liked the 10:00 meeting time much better;)   It allowed us to squeeze in our annual Christmas Day drive to Waterton in the afternoon.   It was blustery cold, but we did manage to see some wildlife.   We saw a wolf in the distance (which, upon closer inspection we realized was just a really fat deer) as well as a Moose resting in the afternoon sun just outside of the park (which Grandpa later informed us was just an Elk).

So really, we didn't see any cool wildlife at all,  but we had a great time nonetheless!

We are looking forward to touring and visiting a few new Canadian parks this coming summer, but Waterton will always be our Christmas Day destination!

We are settling in for a couple of weeks of vacation now and couldn't be more excited!

We hope our family and loved ones are feeling equally blessed.  

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

December at last!

Well, it happened.  

Our local grocery store brought in their one and only shipment of Christmas trees, which the kids were thrilled about!   On Friday, the moment he was finished work, John went and picked it out; and boy did he find a beauty!!!   Like, truly, the prettiest, most perfectly shaped tree I have ever seen.  

The kids set to work decorating it and for two days we enjoyed it's lovely soft glow.   I did however, begin to wonder if it was perhaps starting to lean a little.   Occasionally I'd ask John, to which he'd reply, "Oh humph...no of course it's not leaning. You are just looking at it from a weird angle...."  

Sure enough, early the next morning John woke up to find it laying on it's side.  Water, pine needles and decor were scattered everywhere!!!   

We've made a second attempt, going so far this time as to tie the tree to the wall with some fishing line.   Not cool!   haha

One of my favorite days so far, came last week when we seized the few available hours that we had and headed out to Waterton for a hike!  (Actually, we went out there because I was too "busy" to cook lunch and wanted to feed the fam at Wieners of Waterton, but it sure sounds better to say that we "went out for a hike";)   After we ate lunch, I WAS able to talk the family into walking up Bertha Trail.  The plan was just go as far as the kids wanted to go.  It was SUCH a blast!

I'm still surprised that the kids continued on without complaining.  They probably would have hiked all the way to the falls, if I'd had let them.  

Sam really was a fun one to have around on this particular hike.  He spent the entire walk up to our favorite checkout point, trying to spur on a snowball fight.  We'd run up and down the trail, conspiring attacks on whichever family member he could get a rise out of.  Abby played the part of the tormented sister very well,  but even she enjoyed the family time.   Nate and Jess loved "taking breaks" which involved laying flat on their backs in a drift of snow and staring up at the sky.  Jessica certainly did need the breaks, seeing as she was carrying a very large "snow baby."   (What eventually started as a small snowball, grew along the way until she needed both arms to lug the thing around.  She eventually did grow to tired to carry it though and smashed it on Sam's face.)

It was a PERFECT afternoon!

Nate has certainly been feeling the Christmas spirit lately and would not rest (or cease nagging me) until we let him have a "Christmas Party" with some friends.   I tried to delay things, but soon realized that I was only pushing his plans closer to Christmas.  I agreed to let him have his party,  so long as we did it sooner than later.  So, with a few days to notify his classmates, Nate threw together a Gingerbread House making celebration with 9 of his friends.   

Thank goodness Volleyball season is over, John was BEYOND helpful!

Just in case you were wondering, 9 grade one kids + a table full of sugary candy + two and half hours = sheer chaos!  

There is no other word to use and I certainly think some of their creations represent the mood perfectly.    Their houses looked how I felt;)  

Sam was recently officially introduced into the scouting program.  I look forward to him "being prepared" now.   That'll be a nice change;)

Last week Jessica (as part of the CES choir) sang at the 2nd annual lighting ceremony in town. 

There was music, tours of the museum, cotton candy, sleigh rides in the dark and of course...the lighting of the beautiful museum grounds!   It's always a nice way to kick off the Christmas season!!

  

Sunday night (tonight) we were excited to get home from church and watch the annual Christmas Devotional.   The church always does such a great job of it, but FIRST - we had to dine on a yummy BBQ steak, chicken and shrimp dinner!   I invited my cousin Ty over to join us.   

As you can see, we have begun eating our meals by Candle light, as per our December tradition. 

(oooh and this Cranberry bundt cake was not too bad.  Thanks to (my sis in law) Luci's friend Mel from Mels kitchen cafe;)

Nate continues to drive us all crazy with his desire to eat anything BUT what is served.   

While we all feasted - he settled for a meticulously peeled mandarin orange, strategically arranged on an otherwise empty plate.   The food pyramid is lost on this guy! 

Finally, after filling our tummies beyond capacity, we settled in downstairs to watch the devotional.   

Like I said, the church always does such a great job.  I'll admit, I fell asleep shortly after the opening number (I blame the food coma I was experiencing) but I'll watch it tomorrow and will no doubt be totally blown away!

Here comes Christmas!!

Supermoon Snapshots

Nighttime photography is a new thing for me, but the recent Supermoon provided the perfect opportunity to practice.   

Every Thirty days or so....

Well now, it looks as though this little ol' journal of mine is going to get an update every thirty days or so.   At best!   

I'm pretty certain that I've spent the past 7 years lamenting how busy things are (cue the violin) and I suppose, if I'm not careful, this could be another one of those posts.   However, I feel a little bit different about the busy-ness that I feel right now.  Yes I have far too little time for my online journal and it has been WEEKS since I've felt all caught up with anything - but I LOVE the things we are doing.   Like, really really love what I do each day.  

And that makes all the difference.  

I love where I work.  

It's hard though.  Very hard.   Working full time at the High School has been a huge adjustment for me and not for the reasons I'd expected.   My job is to help the very students who don't want my help.  The walls around some of them are so thick;  I have had to accept that (for now) my job might just be to get to know them.   Some days I come home feeling like I didn't make a single difference and other days I come home feeling elated that I'd connected with one of them in a valuable way.  Perhaps even helped them learn?   Of course, I can only help others learn what I actually know myself, which brings me to a whole other dilemma:  I don't know High School Curriculum.   I don't remember ANY of this stuff!!    My brain feels like it is going to explode some days as I've had to quickly re learn what compound sentences and verbs are,  what words like onomatopoeia mean and re-aquaint myself with theories I failed to learn 20 years ago, like the Pythagorean theorem.  
On a good day I manage to actually connect with a student AND and help them understand something.  Those days are so very rewarding and somehow, that's enough to make the juggle of a busy day feel oh so worth it.   

But I digress, all that to say - life is good and every thirty days or so - I may just find a moment to share why:

   

My boys are all about Stickbots these days.   Cheap little figures with suction cups for hands and feet.  The kids use them to make still motion movies and have acquired quite the collection.  It's not in any way unusual to find a few stuck to my kitchen window or fridge.  The movies these kids make have been pretty hilarious!

This past autumn was beautiful.  I drove the kids out to waterton a few times to watch the Elk.   We always enjoy watching the bulls fight it out and were lucky enough to see some pretty up close!

During one of our Waterton adventures, we hauled Sam's cello out with us for some Piano Guys style photos.  Sam has been working hard on learning this instrument and his music teacher was very complimentary one day, exclaiming that Sam has surprised her with his hard work and willingness to practise.   I'll admit, it was a little tedious, for the first few months, listening to him pluck away on the strings but he is now able to practise with his bow.   It's sounding good!

The kids and I have rekindled our love for Hot Chocolate, enjoying a cup of it (or apple cider) every night before bed.  Occasionally, I drive all the way out to Waterton for a cup.   Sigh....super cozy;)

Hot Chocolate or not - the drive is always worth it!   

The first snowfall is always an exciting time for my family and this year it came on Thanksgiving day!   I'll admit, I wasn't feel too thankful as I shoveled a FOOT (literally) of the white stuff before our big dinner.   I guess I should have looked at it as a welcome and needed workout before the feast?   I'm not even kidding, days after, I was still feeling the ache and so I broke down and bought myself  John a snow blower.
I'm back to loving the cozy-ness of it all!

John's brother Ben and sister Rachel (and their fams) drove through the snow to have Thanksgiving dinner with us.  It was fun to see them and it gave Jessica a chance to go all out with the table setting.  She's a little party hostess, this girl.   

Grandpa made the Turkey and the Stuffing, which is a good thing, because he cooks those dishes up better than anybody else;)    YUMMY!

Halloween was a lot of fun this year, perhaps because for the first time in years, John was actually able to be home with us, which sure made the juggle of where to be that much easier.   John took Abby door to door canvassing for food for the "We scare Hunger"' food drive she was a part of.   Sam disappeared for the evening to trick or treat and watch a movie with friends, and I took Nate and Jess around to some of our favorite places.   We all made it back home around the same time to discover that all of the candy we'd left out, in bowls, on our front steps had been taken.   

(Hopefully not by one trick or treater! haha;)  

Jess was, of course an old granny again, but Nate surprised us by wanting to be a Grandpa!

They were the cutest little couple, out walking the streets together that night, hunched over, inching their way along, Jessica still yelling to him to slow down!   They tried to be authentic, that's for sure.

Sam dressed up as "Buddy" the Turtle.   (FYI:  Buddy is a turtle that lives at the Junior High in Mr. Hardy's room.)   Sam was very concerned that his costume look chill, effortless and very minimal.  In other words, he wanted to be cool and didn't want to make it look as though he really cared.  

(He sure stressed about not caring about it;)

Abby knew for weeks prior to Halloween that she wanted to dress up as Bellatrix from Harry Potter.  I really didn't know how she would pull that costume off, but she really did.   She looked way too old for her own good though and she enjoyed her temporary tattoo (the dark mark) a little too much!

John's default costume whenever we fail to prepare something good for him is- Einstein.
(No one can rock a wig like this quite as well as he can;)

I actually had to dress up this year as well   At first I thought I'd go to work dressed as Waldo, but then changed my mind and decided to dress up as a burglar.  Then as Halloween neared I decided against that due to the fact that there have been so many break ins in town lately; I figured most wouldn't find my humor funny.     Like John, I resorted last minute to my default costume..... a Hippie.   A few students asked me if I smoked "weed" and for all I know I could be making a gang sign in this photo, but all in all, it was a fun day.  

The end of October is always a fun (and busy) time of year for us.  

Volleyball tournaments, ward parties, Halloween, John's birthday AND Nate's birthday - all in one week!!!

Some things to remember about their birthdays this year:  

* John was actually home for his big day.   (He spent it taking Abby door to door canvassing for food)

* I bought John a snow blower to celebrate his old age.   I'm pretty sure this is comparable to him buying me a vacuum for my birthday, but I have no regrets.   Best gift ever!

* I was thrilled that this was our "year off" for birthday parties.   At least that was the plan.   Apparently one day, Nate had his friend Gray over for a play date and the two of them planned a party together, wrote up invitations and handed them out to classmates the next day.  I could hardly argue;)

* I throw the WORST birthday parties.   I pretty much buy food and crafts and then leave it up to whatever older child is at home (and willing) to oversee and entertain.   This year, the duties fell upon Jessica.  (God bless her;)

* I'll be forever grateful that these two were born into this world.   They're pretty cool!

Every Sunday I have been making the kids write in a little scribbler journal.   Each week, I pose a question for them and they are to write (in full sentences) a response.   The size of their response depends on their age.  For example,  Jessica is 9 years old, so her response each week must be 90 words long.   It'd be a stretch to say the kids are enjoying this writing exercise, but I think it will help them in the long run, and I certainly am enjoying reading what they write.

For example, today I asked Nate to share with me 5 things he can do to be more kind each week.

His fifth sentence/suggestion had me laughing.  It read, "I can not fart in church."   

Clearly, I'm changing lives here with these kids, one journal entry at a time!