Christmas Eve

I am a bit of a hermit.  Not gonna lie.  

There is a part of me that loves a good family get together, to be sure.   However, there is also a part of me that LOVES hunkering down with my family and spending quiet quality time with only them.   When those moments happen, I tend to sit back and bask in the sheer perfection that it is.  

Christmas Eve was just such a day.

We woke up early and started right in on a much anticipated game of Monopoly.     Abby insisted on wearing her shades for the entire game because she said it helped her conceal her intentions.    (You would have thought she was playing Poker the way she carried on;)   

At first she was winning.  Like, seriously kicking my butt, but then I cheated two times in a row, and that was enough to take the lead.    6 hours later I finally won.    I'm not proud of my methods.  Well...I kinda am;)

Our monopoly game was interrupted for a little while because we had to stop and enjoy an AMAZING Christmas Eve feast!   Abby and Jess both chipped in and helped from start to finish, with an enthusiasm I've never seen before.

(Jessica set this table all by herself.  And she made sure everybody knew that too!;)

Grandpa showed up just before we were ready to eat - with 2 Lobsters and some Crab Legs in tow!)

As per tradition, Christmas Eve always has to involve some tasty crustaceans.  haha

The kids were so fascinated with those little critters, and every year, they ask if we could just keep one for a pet!   This year, they took it one step further by giving both Lobsters NAMES!   They named one "Bob" and the other "Delicious."

And believe me, both Bob and Delicious were...well...DELICIOUS!!!    

Not to be out done by Bob and Delicious- I'd also prepared French Onion Soup, French Bread, Potatoes, Maple Almond Chicken,  Roasted Asparagus,  and Spaghetti Squash!   Food is just so good.  

And it makes me happy.   

That's all there is to say about that;)

We had the funnest surprise towards the end of our dinner, when Jewel, Kendall and their family came by to sing to us.    They had bells, and sheet music and ALL!    It was so fun to see them- and they sang and played BEAUtifully!!!    I love Carollers.    And I love Hardys.   So, this was perfect!!

(I don't know what impressed me more while watching them:   Their amazing musical talent, or the fact that I glanced over to my right and saw my 70 year old father in law filming the performance on his brand new iPhone!   haha.  It made me laugh;)

After dinner, we rolled ourselves down to the living room, so that we could re-enact the Nativity for Grandpa.   Abby was the wise man, Jess was our Angle, Nate played the roll of all three Shephards with perfection, and ol' MC Hammer over here portrayed Joseph.    ...kinda.   

Note to self:  In the future, prepare the costumes in advance!!

Of course, no Christmas Eve would be successful without allowing the kids to open just.one.present. 

Christmas Jammies!!!!!

And then after watching Polar Express with Grandpa...it was time.   Finally...the concluding, culminating event of the night....BEDTIME!!!

Here's to the one night a year that my kids actually go to bed without any complaining at all! 

Fast asleep and dreaming by 9:00.   Merry Christmas to ME!!!!;)   

Skating with the Hardys!!!

Dec 23rd is always a fun day in our home.   

Thanks to a neighbour that we once had who introduced this idea to our kids- they now call Dec 23rd "Christmas ADAM."    You know, because Adam came before Eve!    (badaboom!;)

Anyways, for ahem..."Christmas Adam" we decided to take the kids skating at the local ice rink.   

The last time the kids went skating was probably exactly 1 year ago, and the kids have not improved much in the time since.   Understandably;)   

Abby was confident on the ice, so long as she didn't have to make any turns, stops or direction changes.  haha

Nate made my heart melt.  He was determined to skate all.by.himself!  

When he would fall, he had to pick himself up.    When he wanted me to watch him, I'd have to go sit on the bleachers to do so.  He didn't want me any where around him.    

He's a determined little guy, that's for sure!

The funnest part about this trip of ours to the ice rink, is that we were joined by none other then Auntie Jewel and all of her Hardy Family!   Everybody in this picture are either cousins, in laws, or siblings.    Some of them are both!!!!  haha.  

John of course had to get out the GT racer and pull unsuspecting wee ones around, causing them to dangerously careen across the ice at break neck speeds!   

Luckily though, nobody got hurt, so all is well that ends well;)

It really was such a fun time, and a couple of times as I looked across the crowd, I felt so lucky that these were people that we get to be related to.    

I don't know, I kinda just feel bad for all the people in the world who don't get to be related to a Hardy!   

On a much sadder note, this is also the day that my sister in law Heather experienced a great sadness in her family.   I've been praying for her and her loved ones ever since and I was, once again, reminded to never take these special moments with our family for granted.   

Celebrating a truly amazing woman!!!

Almost a couple of weeks ago, we got the news that John's Grandma Hardy had passed away.    

Though we were initially sad to hear this, our thoughts quickly went to memories our kids were able to have with this remarkable woman, and we are so grateful for that.    

The last time we visited with her was in the summer, but sure enough, the famous jelly bean dispenser came out.  Always a highlight for the kids!

I believe that John's Grandma was 97 years old when she passed away, which is remarkable in itself, but in that span of time her family grew to include 183 great grand children and 6 great great grandchildren.    AMAZING!!!    

(I know that giant card says "75 years" on it- but in actuality John's Grandma and Grandpa just celebrated their 76th anniversary!!)   

Last Saturday (Dec 21st) many of her family members and friends gathered in Stirling to celebrate her life.   It was a lovely service, with touching Christmas music.   I was amazed at all of the family of John's that were there whom I had never even met before, and John joked often with them that there was enough family in attendance to organize a ward of our very own!  haha.   

I thought it was a brave endeavour to try and get a group photo, but wonders never cease- it can be done!!!  

Oh...ahem..excuse that unruly 4 year old in the front row.  His flaky parents obviously never taught him how to behave in public!   (yes, that is my boy;)

Cold Winter Air and the antics of an Elf

Well, it's official. Christmas is upon us, and we couldn't be more excited!  ...or busy;)

The past few days have been filled with the usual hustle and bustle that is always the 1st week of December.    (I swear, in an effort to clear up "December" everybody EVERYWHERE decides to hold EVERY function within the first week;)    It has pretty much felt like a 7 day long party around here. 

The party started on Monday morning when we woke up to a foot of snow and frigid temperatures, ...and an announcement from the school division that school would be cancelled!    (Woohooo!!)

Then that turned into a snow day on Tuesday as well, which seemed nice at first, but the novelty wore off by mid day.    Wednesday however, it was back to school, despite the fact that temperatures were hovering around -40, and have continued to stay that way.  It has been c-c-c- cold!!!!  At times I have questioned my sanity in sending my kids to school when it is so freezing outside -  but alas-  2 snow days in a row was frankly quite enough!     By Wednesday I was ready to send them to the North Pole if that's what it would take to get some peace and quiet!!! 

Thursday was our Ward Adult Christmas Party, and the responsibility for the evening had fallen on the Relief Society Presidency.   I think it is safe to say that well before that date even arrived we had all grown tired of  planning and discussing, and preparing for it.   In the end though... it was what it was;)!   haha.

Actually, it was kind of cool to help prepare the meal.    I learned a tonne of cool tips that I hope to remember, and hey - nobody got food poisoning, so... SUCCESS!!!  That may have been largely due to the fact that I pretty much asked my father in law to take over the preparation of 9 hams at the very last minute!!  (Some people might call that "backing out of my duties" - I call it "making a wise executive decision.";)   

Oh yeah, and part of the evening included an "Ugly Sweater" competition.    

Little did I know this would involve a humiliating walk of shame in front of everybody, and prizes to whoever received the loudest clap.   Had I known that was going to happen I would have stuck to something a little less dorky;)   The whole thing reminded me of the time my sister in law Rachel decided to throw an Ugly Sweater Party, and I was the only one who showed up wearing one! 
(These two parties had a lot in common in that regard.  haha;)   

On Friday afternoon, my tough and rugged husband (who, as you can observe from the picture above, rocks a turtleneck like nobodies business!) braved the arctic cold and drove out to the community pasture with Kendall and Ava to get us our Christmas tree.    Usually, John and I make this a big family event- but the weather just wasn't going to cooperate.    The three of them came back pretty stiff and frozen, but on the bright side...the tree does look good,  so thanks to them;)!

The kids have been entertained this week by the daily antics of our silly visiting Elf!

So far she has managed to toilet paper our tree, get captured by Sam's lego warriors, and accidentally photo copy herself, catch the flu and more!    

Abby likes to stay up late with me and plot all the places we could place this little elf.  

  Somehow though, come morning- she manages to still seem completely and genuinely surprised! 

On top of ALL that- the flu has run it's course around here, leaving only two of us untouched.

I've personally been trying my best to catch it and just get it out of the way.  There is nothing worse then feeling like a sitting duck, not to mention the fact that after Monday, I just really don't have time for it!

Apparently,  the only time busier then the first week of December.....is the SECOND week of December!!!!

Meanwhile in Canada...

Remember that time it snowed so much that we got a snow day?

Well...that snow day turned into TWO snow days!

We spent the time:  

* making chocolates (as mentioned previously)

* finishing up Santa's Christmas shopping

* watching movies.   ...LOTS of movies

* painting the rest of the basement.  Yippeee!!! (Good bye blue laundry room;)

* shoveling

* baking

* eating

* shoveling

* digging out giant caves in our front yard

* and more shovelling!!!

It's been a busy couple of days.   

I'm thinking I'm ready to send the kids back to school and have myself a little break!!!

Snow Day Fun!

This past week, we've had a lot of snow.   Like...a LOT!

We knew it was a lot come Monday morning, when our local superintendent cancelled school for the entire school division!   The last time that happened was 4 years ago, and is only ever really considered when we either receive an accumulated 100 ft of snow in one night or when temperatures dip down below the normally accepted arctic temperatures.   Anything short of that and school is pretty much a go, so I was pleasantly surprised when Monday morning came and we discovered that we had the entire day off!   

 Not just us- but JOHN TOO!!!  Woot Woot!!! 

  (I seriously haven't been that happy since that time a couple of years ago when Church got cancelled because of a water main break.)  Seriously, moments like that are a rare treasure, for sure!

Anyways there we were, Monday morning, wondering what we'd do with our day, when my sister called.   She had decided that she was going to tackle chocolates, and if I wanted to pop by and make some too then I could. 

If I wanted to....???!!!!   

Abby and I were town there within the hour!

We didn't dare strive to do as many as we did last year when ALL of my siblings got together for chocolate making, and we did make the mistake of letting some of the kids help us with one pan - but still, I think we deserve an "A" for effort!

I was so grateful that Jewel invited me to join her for two reasons:

1) It had been a while since we really had visited or gotten together, we are always rushing off in different directions, so that was nice.  

 2)  I'd run out of my stash of home made chocolates...oh...about 11 months ago, so it was well past time to make some more!!

Not a bad way to spend a Snow Day!!!

This post is brought to you by the Letter C!

For the past couple of months, Nate has been part of a little weekly home based play school.

(I call it "play school" because it helped Nate feel like a big boy.   Really it was much much simpler then that;)   Every Thursday these three cuties would get together at one of our homes for just a couple of hours.   

It gave me a break every once in a while.  

It gave Nate the chance to make some friends.

And it gave us both a little sanity during these long school days!!!

On our last play day of the year, the kids met at our house.   We talked about Christmas, the letter C, AND made gingerbread houses using Crackers;) 

Nate was more into it then I expected he'd be.  In fact- all the kids were!

I suppose though, it isn't hard to hold a child's attention when you hand them a bowl full of candy and a bag of sugary icing!  ;)

This is how Nate looks when all is right in his world!

When they were finished making gingerbread houses, we read a couple of books, sang some Christmas Carols, jumped on the Couches (not necessarily part of the agenda, but still fun nonetheless;) and called it a day!   haha.

They're a cute little trio - that's for sure!

A mundane week worth Journaling;)

 I've been doing a weekly journal for as long as I've been married, and I LOVE it!   But darn it all, I feel so guilty whenever I get on my computer and see this poor neglected blog.    Our life has been much busier, and actually is much more interesting then I've really described over the past couple of weeks, there just simply isn't time these days to "blog" like I used to.   You know?  And besides, who "blogs" any more anyways?    ;)

My appreciation for it was rekindled yesterday when I came home from getting our weeks groceries (ahem...a weeks worth of groceries that I got for FREE by the way, thanks to my high accumulation of PC points;)  and walked through the door.   There on the couch in our front room sat John and all the kids.   Snuggled up, reading through our blog book, laughing at all the memories.    It was the sweetest thing, and as I stood there in the doorway, arms laden (with a weeks worth of free groceries;) I almost didn't want to interrupt them and demand a little help!   But, I did...because I was about to drop the milk;)   

Anyways...the bottom line is I LOVED seeing my family look back and reminisce about the sweet days of our past, and I resolved to be a little bit better at recording the every day moments again.  No matter how mundane they might seem in the moment;)   

So...here is our week:

We were thrilled when John received this super cool Can cooker in the mail for his Birthday.    We'd enjoyed this cooking concept with Johns brother Aaron when we visited them in Utah this summer.  Apparently Aaron knew our life would not be complete until we had one of our very own.  

It is So cool!!!!!     

What you do is open the top and throw in any and every vegetable imaginable.

Literally.    Anything!

 You could throw in corn on the cob, potatoes, onions, carrots, broccoli, cabbage....ALL OF IT!    Then you add some meat on top.   Throw in some spice of choice, a bit of broth or liquid, and turn on the heat to medium.   

It all steams for an hour.

Then you have your goofy husband dump it out into a large baking dish or two and oila!   

Easiest, tastiest, and HEALTHIEST dinner ever!!!

Steamed vegetables and a bit of italian sausage.

The kids LOVED it, and exclaimed that we should eat with the can cooker every night!

And I bet you are pretty glad that I shared this with you eh?   

See how valuable this little blog actually is!

Another exciting event of our week came when we decided to paint our basement.    

Now when I say "exciting"... what I mean is that I "would have had more fun rubbing shards of glass in my eyes then paint our basement" - but alas it had to be done!

We got one room done and then decided to save the rest for another (equally exciting) time! 

The board games have been making an appearance around here more frequently and I love the silliness that accompanies family game night!    I'm not gonna lie- I have grown a little sick of the game CLUE, but that is only because John wins every time. And THAT's only because he's a cheater!!!

(I should know.   I cheat too, and "it takes one to know one" ;)

The other day Jessica came up the stairs, plunked down beside me and with a heavy sigh she looked up at me and said, "Ahh....Life can be so difficult!"    haha.   She's SIX!!!  What does she know about that?!!!!!

Truly, these kids make me laugh, and I'm grateful every day for them!

Christmas Art

The kids have been busy lately doing all sorts of crafts, and I had to save these pictures as they depict the excitement that my little ones have been feeling for Christmas.   

This one is my favorite:)

I love that you can see Santa on his sleigh just outside the window.    I love how she drew herself all snug in her bed.   And I love the 4 stockings and 4 bells hanging form the mantle.   

Here's a self portrait of Abby. 

(I noticed this version of Abby is wearing some snazzy blue eye shadow! haha:)

Awe....And here's my cute little Jessica - Santa hat and all!

They're getting excited!!!!

Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day is always such a great day! 

I love attending the local ceremony each year.    LOVE having John home.  

And LOVE that my kids are starting to understand and appreciate the purpose and meaning behind this day.   

Sam's cub troop was asked to participate in the ceremonies this year and to walk in with the veterans and local officials.     Sam took it so seriously and kept telling everyone that he "got to walk in with the soldiers."    Sam also has declared that he wants to be a soldier one day, AND has prayed for them and their safety each and every day this week!   Whatever his teachers taught him at school sure penetrated this boys heart. (Part of me is still hoping he'll just settle on being a stand up comedian;)

Abby participated in a special Remembrance Day choir and sang beautifully as always.  

(Nate and Jess were too young to participate in any way, and were there fore stuck to sit with John and I.  They managed to pass the time by climbing all over us, trying to sleep on the floor, and asking 50 million times if they could have a snack.  Luckily they managed to whisper and stay somewhat respectful the whole time;)    

The kids found this display afterwards that featured an ancestor of ours (Mark Beazer) who fought in the war.    

As always we set up our basement Christmas tree when we returned from the ceremony.   Abby has been looking forward to it ALL month!   She was very intent on setting the mood so that all was just right!    (She's all for setting up a scene;)  

When all was done the kids snuggled up on the couch wearing Santa and elf hats (as per Abby's request;) and finished watching their Christmas movie.   It was cute!

And now the count down begins!!!

(PS:  Don't our walls look great with all the white touch up marks on em?   We're selling our house you know.   Time to do that painting we've put off for approximately 4 years!)

Bball family Fun

This past weekend my Brother and his family came in to town.   They stayed at Jewels house, which always makes for a partay! ;)    

Kendall took everyone down to the school gym where the kids played dodge ball, basketball and just generally ran amuck.   (haha)

I sort of supervised my children, but mostly got caught up playing basketball with my niece Ava!   

Seriously, it was So.Much.FUN!!!    We started attempting 3 point shots, and in the matter of just a few minutes I got TEN 3 point shots.   TEN of them!

I was on FIRE- that's all there was to it.

Yeah, I know I should sound more humble and modest, but...it was just amazing, really!

My sister Jewel was our home town all star ball player when I was growing up, but I can't help but think I had it in me too.  (Sigh...too bad I was so scared of being beat up or pushed into lockers back then.  Who knows what I coulda become?   haha)

Okay, actually what is truly amazing is these nieces and nephews of mine who are all growing up so fast!    Ava, Ella, Mya, my own Abby...they are just really turning into remarkable young woman, and I loved having the chance to hang out and "shoot a few hoops" with em;) 

Birthday Boys

It finally arrived!

The big day.

The moment we've ALL been waiting for....

(or at least the moment our youngest has been waiting for;)

Nate's BIRTHDAY!!!!!

After bawling and throwing tantrums during everyone else's birthday celebrations throughout the year- finally it was his turn. 

His special day included:  

* the obligatory Birthday Wall of fame

* ice cream treats from his little friend Gray

* a new T-shirt from Auntie Jewel that he will likely wear every day for the next 365 days

* presents galore

* and a lousy attempt at a Super Mario cake! 

(the cake looked awful, but slap on a sparkling candle, and it didn't matter one bit;)    

  

We all absolutely LOVE this kid, and the way he makes us laugh/cry/scream/pull our hair out and smile.   (Often all at the same time;)

It was kinda funny, after he blew out the candles on his cake, and as we were cutting up portions for everyone, Nate turned to John and asked,  "Dad?   When is my next birthday?  Is it almost my Birthday again?"    haha.   

Just 364 more days little guy;)

Of course, I can't write about Nate's birthday without also mentioning the special day of a certain THIRTY EIGHT year old that I now know!!   ;)     It might seem to John as though his birthday is overlooked by all the trick or treating, dressing up, and busy- ness that is Halloween - but he seems to take it all in stride;)    

So long as he gets his "Ghost shaped Carrot Cake" - he's a happy man!!!!

Halloween

Wow, that last week in October is always such a doozy!!!

Between Halloween Carnivals, school parties, TWO birthdays AND Halloween itself- there wasn't a day of the week that wasn't consumed with festivities.

For Family Home Evening on Monday, the kids all got to decorate their own pumpkin.    

Sam dressed up for the occasion;)

Jess was mortified with the pumpkin guts.

Nate's attention span lasted two minutes.

And Abby was proud as punch with her pumpkin.

John was the happiest of participants, because he'd brought along his electric drill!

On Tuesday, we attended our ward Halloween Party.   

Hot dogs, carnival type games, and dozens of unattended children running through the church.   That's basically what it takes to have a party! ;)

We were actually on our own that night, as John had to be at Volleyball, and I was proud of Mario, the Gypsy, my green ninja, and the cute Butterfly for behaving as well as they did!

Thursday couldn't come quickly enough for my family, and they all left for school happily displaying their costumes.    John chose to go as Si from Duck Dynasty and when he wanted to, he could really play the part!   

The weather this year was PERFECT on Halloween and the kids were raring to go trick or treating!

We love our thoughtful neighbors who always go out of their way to TREAT our kids so great!

I opted to stay home and hand out candy, while SI took the kids and some of their friends out around town.

Nathan lasted for about 20 minutes only, before wanting to come home.   Naturally, I put him to work.  

He was such a clown for everyone who came to the door though, I think that was his favorite part of the night!

It's always fun when we run into the cousins!  (and I'm not sure this family is big enough for TWO ninjas!!!;)

By 8:30 things had started to taper off.  I finally told John to just give the "next person who comes to the door" the rest of the candy in the bowl, and call it a day.    

Halloween has never been so exhausting!!!   

(I must be getting old;)

               

Cub Time!

Well, Sam is officially a Cub!!!   

He has only waited anxiously for the past year or so to get to join this fun group of young boys, and this past week he was finally invested.   

I knew Sam was excited when (back in August) his cub leaders attended his baptism.   When Sam went up to them to thank them for coming he also made sure to tell them that he:  a) isn't afraid of snakes, b) likes camping c) and has his very own pocket knife.   It made me laugh at the time as it seemed as though Sam thought those were actually pre-requisites to even enter the program.   It really did sound as though he was applying for a job or something;)  

It is my personal hope that by the time Sam finishes his three years in the cub program, that I will understand better what "dib dib dib" and "dob dob dob" mean.  ;)

I loved getting to watch their opening exercises.    

There's a lot of routine and discipline to it, which are two things Sam thrives on!

It made me laugh though as they were going through the 10 minute opening exercises, the other boys were kinda acting up and being little turkeys.   (ie:  Laughing, running away, picking on each other etc)   Sam though remained completely undisturbed by it all, and stared straight ahead at his leaders with absolute attention.   Sigh...if only I had confidence that would last!!! ;)    haha

I'm proud of this little guy and the boy he is shaping up to be!

(Even if he does like snakes:)