The Post-Christmas Post

 Merry mid-week what day is it? My family has asked this countless times in the past week. Last week Chad & I were trying to figure out what day of the week Boxing day was going to be, and it took us about 10 minutes to pin that one down.  With all the church services, and no school, every day feels like Sunday, or Saturday.... or is it Thursday? My Google now tells me both the date, and the day of the week in my morning routine!

We had a pretty good Christmas.  We are used to not seeing family over the holidays, although the last few years we were close enough to my parents that they'd usually come up for Christmas.  This year it felt weird since we are close enough to see Chad's family, but we weren't allowed to see them. We are doing lots of Zooms instead, which is better than nothing, but we can't wait to get together with family & friends... whenever that will be allowed again.

With Chad being busy with Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, & Sunday church we were still pretty busy.  Because of the tighter restrictions we have to sign up to attend church in person, and I did not remember to do so before all the Christmas services got filled, so we waved Chad off, & watched them from home.  That was definitely a weird feeling!

Then on Christmas day we opened our gifts.  Did I take any pictures? Nope, not a single one.  Asher's first gift was a WaterPik. He said, "This is a terrible present!" (Sums up 2020 pretty well though!)  I told him, "It can only get better from here!"  We got lots of new books to read which  everyone was happy about.

I bought myself some really nice bunny slippers, wrapped them up, and boy, was I delighted to open them! Unfortunately they were too small, so Chancery is happy, and I have cold feet!  Chad said that's what I deserve for buying myself a present.

The kids don't go back to school until Jan 11, so now we will have lots of time to bake, play games, & read.  We're borrowing skates so the kids can take advantage of the ice rink that is just beside our neighbourhood, and we have lots of ski-doing that can be done on the lake. I'm appointing myself the hot chocolate maker so I can stay in the warm house!

Asher Turns 11!

Asher' birthday this year was also the last day of school, so his whole class celebrated with pizza, donuts, & going bowling!  You might think that was enough, but Asher was not satisfied that that was enough of a celebration!

After school we let Asher open his presents!

 A card from Grandma & Grandpa!

A new video game (which we have all been enjoying!)

A new book by David Walliams!  The kids love these books, & Asher actually is happy about the gift, he just insisted on not smiling...

Then we headed to Montana's for dinner since Asher wanted to go somewhere that would make a big deal out of his birthday.  Seeing as they put a giant hat with moose antlers on your head while they sing to you, Montana's fit the bill!

Looking forward to a year of 11!

A few days later we had a birthday party at the splash park with some friends from church & school, but we had such a good time we didn't take any photos.  We'll just have to remember the good times instead!

Chancery Turns 8!

Our family's birthday tradition is that the person whose birthday it is gets to pick a restaurant for dinner.  Chancery chose to eat at Boston  Pizza, & it was a nice warm day, so we sat outside.  Boston Pizza is at the corner of 2 fairly busy roads, & once when we were leaving we witnessed an accident in the intersection.  I think the kids pick this restaurant in hopes that it will happen again.  Well, Chancery got her wish.  While we were eating, 2 cars collided trying to beat a light.  Now, Asher & Chancery joked that we should call it the "Car Crash Restaurant"!

 Since the weather was so warm, the kids' ice cream was quite melted, & there is always more ice cream than the kids should have an hour before bedtime, so Chad usually takes one for the team & eats a few bites.  Asher was trying to drink as much of the ice cream as he could before Chad could eat it!

 Chancery was very excited to open her presents, despite the fact that she knew what a few of them were since she had gotten into my present stash a few months before!

She received a few lego sets...

A fairy costume for her stuffies...

 And a David Walliams book which stated that it came with a "Free Owl"!

(she found the owl)!

Double Digits!

Chad's parents came to watch the kids while we were in Paris, & they left on Father's Day, which was a few days before Asher's birthday.  Since we were planning on having a small celebration with them, we got an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen & had been eating it for the past few days.  So, by the time Asher's birthday rolled around, there wasn't much left of the cake which is why there is no cake in the photos!

It's tradition in our family that the person having a birthday gets to pick which restaurant they want to go to for dinner,  Asher got to double up on this since we had the early celebration with Grandpa & Grandma.  He picked the Dublin Crossing Pub since he knows he can walk right up to the bar to ask for refills of his lemonade, to eat with Grandpa & Grandma.  Then on his birthday we let him pick again, & he chose East Side Marios.  I checked to see where the nearest one was, & it's in Cranbrook (800 kms away), so we opted not to go there.  His next choice was Boston Pizza.  Before we left for dinner, he opened his gifts!

Let the games begin!

Every piece of tissue paper must be checked to see if there's something hiding amongst the folds!

"You have combined 3 things I love!  Harry Potter, Lego, & Nintendo!"

I was glad to see that he was so excited about this book.  It's the 4th in the series, & I ordered it before Christmas.  It finally came about 3 weeks before his birthday!

  

Book 4 "Tales of a Sixth Grade Muppet"

Another book by David Walliams.  The kids love these books!

You really can't go wrong with Lego can you?

Happy Birthday to my 10 year old!

Christmas With The Folks

Living in BC has a few perks.  One big one is that we are only 4 hours from my parents.  So, for the first time in 9 years, we got to spend the holidays together!  We headed down on Christmas day, & had a nice meal around the dining room table on china plates, & crystal, complete with wine for the adults, & sparkling cider (for me, the kids don't like sparkly drinks)!

On Boxing day we opened our gifts, & the kids were delighted about the cereal tradition that lives on!

 Who wouldn't be excited about Christmas Crunch?

 Chancery was excited about getting the entire boxed set of Roald Dahl books.  "I love these books!"

PChad got some London Tea.  It's always a bit of an experiment if the tea will be any good.  Last year I got him some really cute tins of tea & the tea in them was gross, but the tins were super cute!  Hopefully this box is good tea!

Asher opened Inside out, which we have seen a few times & is a very fitting film for our family in the midst of our transition. 

This was the highlight of the day.  Grandma opened a gift card to a restaurant & the card said, "Will you go on a date with me?"

Grandma replied, "Yes I will!"

To which Asher replied, "It's not from me!  It's from Grandpa!"

On Sunday we went to my parents church, & the new pastor there is a friend of ours from seminary.  Pastor Jacob's wife, Kami, is one of my best friends.  She & I were pregnant with our first kids at the same time, & got to spend the first year of being new moms together.  After church they came to my parents house for lunch & we spent the afternoon catching up & enjoying each others' company.  We do not get a chance to see each other very often, so it was nice to get to be together most of the day.

Monday we all headed up to an extended family Christmas celebration with cousins from near & far.  My cousin from Hawaii was visiting with her son, as well as a lot of local cousins, & we had a nice evening despite not playing a single round of Dutch Blitz.  We must be getting older!

Then Grandma & Grandpa left with Asher & Chancery to go back home, & PChad & I went back to BC.  Grandma & Grandpa had always said they wanted to spend more time with the grandkids, so we let them have them for a whole week!

Chancery's 7th Birthday!

When Auntie B & I asked Chancery what she'd like for dinner for her birthday she said she'd really like mac & cheese, & hot dogs!

So we decided to do a fire pit since my kids had been asking for one for the past 2 months, but we didn't have one in PEI

I got to sit by Noodle

Asher & Apple enjoyed watching the fire

Then it was present time!  Noodle, Jelly, & Apple gave Chancery a playmobile set

'How to Train Your Dragon 2'

"I've wanted this for so long!"

"A new Dork Diaries Book!"

Chancery had been asking for the past 2 years for a "fuzzy pony".  I knew she wanted a My Little Pony which was fuzzy, but they don't make them anymore, so I put in a call to Grandma V, & she gave me my old fuzzy pony to give to Chancery!

Grandma V also gave Chancery 2 jackets, which she loves!  In fact, she is so excited to wear them that despite 32 degree weather she wore black jeans & her new black jacket!

She had a great day & enjoyed celebrating her birthday with her cousins!

Asher Turns 9! (Part 2)

The second part of Asher's birthday celebration was going to a restaurant of his choice & he asked 2 of his friends from school to join us.  Asher as usual, chose the Pizza Delight Jail!

It was pyjama day at school, so Asher was still in his PJs when we went to supper! 

 He was excited to have his friends join us, & they had a great time together.  Since they all go the French school, but a few of us don't speak French, there was some discussion about which language they should communicate in.

It was decided that since they were Asher's French friends, French would be ok!

One of the boys gave Asher a 'Simon' toy, so we were entertained after dinner while we waited for everyone to finish eating.

Asher Turns 9! (part 1)

Due to a hectic weekend schedule, we celebrated Asher's birthday a little early.

 Asher had asked for an ice cream cake, so Chancery & I went to DQ to pick one out.  I was too late for a good photo of it, but Chancery picked one that looked like a watermelon with some large ants on it.

Asher made a birthday list of things he'd like...

He was quite pleased to have his first 3DS game!

And it's a Mario game!

Grandma got Asher a giant Mad Libs book!

(he's been asking us for ad-JEC-tives all morning long)

Asher likes watching PChad play Zelda, so a Zelda book seemed like a good gift

And the final gift...

"I think this is from Grandma Toots.  She always buys me big Lego!" 

"Happiest picture ever!"

The Gift

Since my brothers & I all live far from where our parents live, my mom sent us a few presents for Christmas.  My mom has a tradition of buying the same/similar things for us (to keep it even so we don’t fight!), & after she sent our packages, she wanted to make sure they had arrived.  She sent us a group email…

 

Mom:

Hi Everyone,

Did everyone get their book we sent?

Love to all.

Dad and Mom

 

Me:

It's a book? Well now you've ruined the surprise!

 

Brian:

We have received the present but have not opened it yet.  Isn't one of the best parts of Christmas the anticipation? :)

 

Me:

Oh for sure!  I felt the present & had a few guesses...  Something from Ikea, a ream of paper, a package of cookies, I can't WAIT to find out what's really in there!

 

Kurt:

I thought maybe it was a book but it was wrapped so I put it under the tree since there was nothing else there yet.

I guess I could have smelled it, maybe it is a box of chocolates. (life is like that)

Love Kurt and family.

 

Mom:

Well you might be surprised!  I was asking because I sent it media rate, which was a lot cheaper, but I didn't know how long it would take to get to you.  They also told me they could open the package to check if it really was media and I better not have anything else in there!

 

The anticipation was killing us, but we held off opening until Christmas.  It WAS a book after all!  My uncle had recently written his memoir, & my Mom got us all signed copies!  (She had also included him on the email thread, so he could see all the excitement building for the big reveal!)

Chad’s Birthday

Well, PChad’s birthday was a month ago, but better late than never! Chancery likes to give people presents to open.  They are usually things which are hers, she gives them to the person for awhile, & then expects them back…  She gave PChad my hat that I was letting Chancery borrow.

 

The kids picked out an England Football shirt (notice Digby quietly eating the tissue paper)

PChad nicely modelled the shirt for us.

 

I had a great idea to get PChad a painting of a VW Squareback, & through many months of trials & tribulations, I managed to find a painter who was willing & able to paint this for PChad’s birthday!