december daily: hey.... someone was playing with my camera?

december daily: wii, wii, wii... all the way home...

december daily: wii joy.......

december daily: merry christmas....

december daily: some things that went on around our house today..

I made English Trifle & eggnog today for our Christmas dinner tomorrow. Hunter helped by making miniature trifles with the "leftovers" in the new little trifle dishes I found and just had to have. One of the great things about making trifles is that you don't end up with a big floury mess....you end up with a big sticky JAM-my mess instead:)Tyler played outside for 2 hours.He is so excited...he's been chatting and chatting and chatting all day. We did a little fun, but unnecessary, shopping around town. Ron cooked dinner tonight for us & his parents. My contribution to the meal was pre-dinner "Crantinis". We tried to keep the desserts light tonight with just some fresh fruit, nuts & Mom's gumdrop cake & some chocolates.

Tyler is really hoping that Santa will bring a Nintendo Wii. He expressed that he was "worried" that Santa wouldn't bring one because he knows that there is a shortage of Wiis. (but Santa shops early....wink..wink)

Hunter didn't really ask for anything "big". She just wanted some gift cards for shopping and Season 7 of the Gilmore Girls.

december daily: hockey dudes.....

Tyler's team has a corporate sponsor which purchased hoodies & tuques for players & coaches.
Tyler thought it was cool that he & Daddy were matching.
We also had something to celebrate... Ron got some wonderful news on Friday. Something he has been waiting for a month finally came to fruition.

december daily:before the concert...

december daily: school christmas concert

These pics snapped at dress rehearsal. Hunter played the "Sugar Plum Fairy" which was a very nice role for her in her last Christmas concert of her elementary education. The concert was last night....we are all a little tired today... so we slept in and are going to the last day of school before Christmas vacation just a little late.

december daily....brown paper packages....

I was so surprised to open my mailbox today to find this small package from Mom & Dad. What could this be I wondered......we have all our presents already....this is a surprise! I just LOVE packages in the mail.... I just couldn't wait.....I don't think Mom will mind, do you? I ripped it open as soon as I got in the car....it was like an "Easy Button" from Staples except it played "I want a Hippopatumus for Christmas." I laughed out loud in the car all by myself..... and then I pressed the button. Ron hates it when I open mail before I even get home.... but this was truly a SWEET reward for my impatience!! I was meeting Nicole for lunch today at Saigon Cuisine for Vietnamese and I brought the button. We put it on the table and played it! heehee. Then I had more fun when I picked up the kids from school...getting them to put their fingers inside the box to press for a surprise! Thanks Mom & Dad!!

december daily: I want a dog for Christmas Charlie Brown...

"You HAVE to give me a CHRISTMAS PRESENT! It says so in the BIBLE!!"
~Lucy

This is our new favorite Christmas movie this year.....or I should say it was.... Hunter is quite sick of this movie now as we have watched every night for 4 nights in a row. Tyler loves this movie...he laughs out loud each time he watches it and he quotes "Rerun". Rerun is the super smart little brother of Lucy & Linus. Tyler has also decided that he should learn to play Christmas carols on the piano (Just like Shroeder) and he has been asking a lot of questions about Beethoven...."Mom, did you see Beethoven play when you were a little girl?".

december daily: you've got mail....

The kids each got a package in the mail from Mom & Dad with these Nova Scotian-authored books-"Buddy the Bluenose Reindeer" & "Buddy the Bluenose Reindeer and the Boston Christmas Tree Adventure". Tyler could read some of the book himself. Thanks Grammie & Grampie!!

december daily: pomegranate martinis

I hosted a potluck luncheon today for my book club.... this month was my pick & I chose " The 1oo Mile Diet" by two Canadian authors which made for a lively discussion about food. I greeted everyone at the door with a pomegranate martini and we had a great last meeting for 2007.

december daily: busy day.....

Lots to do today. I was up at 6am to take Hunter to synchro skating practice. We left the house at 7am anticipating bad roads, but they weren't as greasy as I thought. After her 3 hour practice,we got home around 12:30 after a stop at the grocery store. I was thankful that Ron had put a pot roast in the slow cooker for supper. I had to package the pretzel hugs for the kids to take to school this week. Then I made taco soup for tomorrow... I am hosting my book club for a potluck luncheon. Then I made lunches for tomorrow, did sight word practice & reading with Tyler, then made 6 bookmarks for book club tomorrow. I decided to put everyone's initial on each bookmark which took a bit of time. Plus I fit in a photo shoot for the kids for our Christmas cards... which is another thing that I am behind on. Now off to bed I go....

december daily: making gifts....

Between synchro skating practice & a birthday party, we found time to make teachers' gifts this afternoon. We ended up with 7 little bags of pretzel hugs for the teachers at school. My kids not only like to give to their classroom teacher, but also the gym teacher, music teacher and librarian.....which is nice since they don't like to leave anyone out. I guess all those talks about playground issues like "exclusion" and how it feels to be left out have really sunk in. We also listened to Rosie's Christmas CD today. Hunter started listening to this CD with my Mom when she was small and Mom managed to find a copy for us to have here out west. My kids' favorite is the song that Rosie sings with Elmo with loud kisses at the end. Sending out loud kisses......

december daily: distractions....

Instead of doing some of the things I should be doing for Christmas, for some reason I decided that my facebook profile needed a new photo and I spent the better part of an hour taking photos of myself and fooling around with that. I used to think that procrastinating was only a problem I had when I went to school, but now I see that it is very much there in my adult life as well....sheesh!

december daily: christmas toys....

I got this for Christmas!! It's my new toy..... a serger for making my apron projects....nothing super fancy but it does everything I need it to. I bought it at a local sewing store and I got the owner to open it up with me and thread it and try it out before I took it home. It would have taken me hours to thread it at home on my own. Tyler saw the box and asked what it was. I told him it was a "serger". "So you can do surgeries?" he asked. Both kids were just as excited about this toy as I am. Tyler wanted me to show him how to do "surgeries" last night. So I got out some hockey fabric that is going to be a pillowcase for him and we did a seam. He wanted to do the presser foot....I told him not to go too fast lest he sew up my fingers.... he did a fine job.THANKS MOM & DAD!!!

december daily: O Christmas tree.....

We decorated the tree last night and today I thought it needed a few fresh ornaments.....so I ran to a department store and it was my lucky day...ornaments were half price and I found these great pale blue icicles for 4 in a pkg. for .74 cents. Yes! I mean .74 cents.

december daily: decorating.....

While I drove the kids to school this morning....Ron got out our Christmas tree from the garage and also put the marinated beef I had in the fridge in the slow cooker for us for supper. He is such a good man... definitely a keeper.

Today was all about cleaning & decorating.....or decorating and then cleaning & vacuming the mess left in the wake...I found it hard to get in the mood at first....but nothing a little christmas music couldn't fix. When the kids got home from school, we decorated the tree together. But now it's bedtime.... more pics tomorrow.

december daily: some of our christmas favorites....

december daily: cosy christmas jammies

They spent an hour outside playing in the snow & dark after supper. Came in for some hot chocolate & cosy jammies...

december daily: elves at work...

december daily: the next "Sid the Kid"....

When we lived at "home" on a 2 acre property, Ron managed to create a fair size arena in our back yard for us to skate on, but in this province we have only a half-acre to enjoy. Persistance has paid off, and Daddy has managed to carve out a small piece of ice in our mainly sloped backyard so that "Sid the Kid" can practice his shots after supper. The only drawback here is that although the super cold weather is great for ice-making, it is not so great for little fingers & toes. We put him out for only 30 minutes at a time when it is colder than -15. He doesn't complain about the cold and I am sure that he would stay out much longer if we allowed. He is hockey crazy and has been since he was very little...

Hunter & I just got back from skating & the boys just got back from Tyler's hockey at 7:15 am & then Ron's hockey at 10 am. Hunter & I are off to the grocery store to pick up some groceries and Ron just told me to pick up some ice cream. I am NOT going to go look in the freezer to see what happened to the other 2 tubs.... I am not even going to bother. Did I mention shameless ice cream glutton??????

december daily: homemade eggnog

I can't remember exactly when my mom started making homemade eggnog, but it was at least 25 years ago. She originally made it with a raw egg custard, but then switched to a cooked custard mixture for reasons of safety. I have always really looked forward to my mom's eggnog....sweet, creamy with whipped cream on top and the best part~ fresh, fragrant nutmeg grated on top. Yum! (Storebought eggnot does not compare in any way!). When I lived at home, in addition to the Christmas eve sipping, I always had a glass of eggnog for breakfast on Christmas morning........nothing else.....just eggnog. Then when I moved out of home, Mom always gave us a jug full of eggnog to take home and the breakfast tradition continued. Last year, Mom was in our kitchen for the Christmas holidays and she made the eggnog for us......but this year will be my turn to make eggnog on my own. I don't relish the thought even though I have Mom' s recipe and I have watched her make it many times.....there is just something about my Mom's eggnog that tastes so good to me. But I will try, oh I will try.......

december daily: gifts made with our hands & hearts....

One of the things that I want to instill in my children is that gifts made with our hands & hearts can be one of the most beautiful gifts given. Making something with our hands and decorating it with our own creative energy makes for a gift that is unique and wonderful all on it's own. There is special thought & care put into a gift that is handmade and that is one quality that cannot be purchased. This year, we have decided to make pretzel hugs (shown above) as gifts for teachers, coaches, etc. This treat is simple enough for Tyler to make and we will be packaging it with little tins of tea. Last year we gave out homemade sugar cookies with packs of hot chocolate. I like the fun of watching the giving as well..... Tyler has such a proud look on his face when he gives out things that he has made all by himself.....so amazing to see.

december daily: tyler's turn to read....

Hunter has been reading to us from the House of Wooden Santas. So far we have read about Guardian Santa, Long Ago Santa, and Reading Santa. Now it is Tyler's turn to read to us.... he read this book, which is really one of my favorites.... it is so cute and the message is simple. I love the illustrations....so true to life. Tyler was trying to help me wrap some gifts the other day and he looked not far off this picture when we were done.

one of our absolute favorites....

to buy at Christmas time is this ice cream. My favorite ice cream as a child was peppermint and I still love peppermint ice cream. Peppermint ice cream was available as farm stand ice cream until about 10 years ago when Farmers Dairy stopped making it, much to my chagrin. President's Choice came out with this flavor about 6-7 years ago, and it is an awesome substitute. I personally blame this ice cream for the reason that Tyler was born weighing in at 9 lbs. 2 oz. and not 7 lbs. something like his sister...... the temptation of eating this ice cream over Christmas was too great. Last year, this ice cream was sold out before I had a chance to get any for our freezer, but when I saw it last week, I bought 3 tubs......not surprisingly 1 tub is gone already but I will let Ron take the blame for that...... he is a shameless ice cream glutton. (love you honey!)

December Traditions....

So many wonderful things on my mind this morning.

December brings many wonderful things that start happening around our house~our family traditions~ to help us celebrate the holidays.

I am starting to make a list of the traditions/little things/big things/outings/adventures I want to make sure we have the chance to experience as a family this year. Some are old (the beauty of traditions) and some are new.
I'll be adding to this as I think of additional old + new:

• the kids having matching Christmas pyjamas to wear for the season.
• decorating in my preferred palatte of blue, white & silver, which never gets "old" to me.
• placing a basket of all of our favorite Christmas books by the fireplace in the living room to read here and there when we have a chance. Our basket is positively bursting with each child's collection numbering well into the double digits.....
• making Christmas cards and gifts for teachers at school, skating coaches, etc. This year we are making pretzel hugs to go along with tins of tea.
• making a gingerbread house from a kit.
• getting out our collection of Christmas movies to watch with popcorn & hot chocolate. The favorites are Elf, Arthur's Christmas and A Charlie Brown Christmas.
• Lighting a candle each night in December as we read together the 24 chapters of "The House of Wooden Santas". This is a wonderful book about love and celebrating the true spirit of Christmas. Hunter has had this book for about 8 years. We bought a copy for Tyler when he was a baby. I showed this book to Hunter's grade 6 teacher and she loved it so much that she is reading it to Hunter's class throughout December as well.This book is an absolute treasure. No matter how busy life gets in this crazy time of year, the kids and I sit down every evening and read one chapter of this wonderful Advent-style book. The book's amazing artwork is real-life pictures of carved wooden Santas by an artist in Cape Breton. Each Santa represents a gift or value related to the true spirit of Christmas.
• Getting together with a special person to make Christmas goodies....either my Mom or Nicole.
• sending Christmas cards to friends and family that we don't have a chance to see/visit during the course of the year with our family letter and Christmas photo of the kids.
• going for a drive after supper in our pyjamas to look at Christmas lights with a stop for hot chocolate.
• thinking of a service project to do together as a family......probably shopping for a child in need for the "Stuff a bus program" that is happening here locally.
• making with our hands & hearts some special gifts for family members. Hunter has already made a gift for some special people in her life....and I have made 4 special projects as well, with many more in progress (dang my broken sewing machine!~).

The process of actually writing this out is a good one. I keep thinking of other things to add and it helps me focus. I love lists.
What's on your tradition list? Anything new you are adding this year?

have you received this one?

This email has been making the rounds lately. I know several people who have received it.


"There is a terrible, anti-Catholic movie called the "Golden Compass" coming out in early December, aimed at children and labeled as a family movie. This movie is based on a series of books by an atheist British author (Phillip Pullman) whose goal in writing the books is to be the "Anti-Narnia" series and to lead children into atheism.The main villains in the series of books are the Magisterium, Cardinals, and the Pope, and includes a heroine that is a young girl who sets out to kill God. The truly sick thing about the movie is that they have made it APPEAR as if it is an innocent film, with exciting effects and a fairytale story. They have removed from the movie the appalling anti-Catholic/Christian themes from the book. The goal of the movie is to hook unsuspecting families into viewing the film so that children will then want to read the books (and probably buy merchandise) . Nicole Kidman stars in it, and Scholastic Books is behind it.I heard about this from Bill Donahue of the Catholic League who was on "The World Over" on EWTN. The goal is to let as many people as possible know about this horrible film and to have it bomb at the box office. The makers of the movie are hoping it will be as big as Harry Potter or the DaVinci Code. Let's pray that it won't! Please tell as many people as possible to avoid this terrible film. Thanks!"
We actually discussed this email this morning at our book club since this email is really "out there". Here is some food for thought.... a few points we discussed:

This is "Hollywood's" interpretation of this book.

Viewing a two hour movie is not going to turn children with a spiritual upbringing into athiests.

Creating controversy about a movie is the very thing that will push a movie into a box office hit.

This is a form of censorship....in a country where we are supposed to value free speech & free press. Should we throw all books we don't like into a pile and light a match? Shall we burn Phillip Pullman( the author) at the stake?
I don't subscribe to that mindset and I teach my children to judge for themselves by way of critical thinking.

I am Catholic and my children attend a Catholic school. I strive to teach them values by real life examples. I don't feel threatened by a work of "Fiction" or a "Hollywood" movie.

A lot of young leaders in the Catholic church today currently subscribe to extremely conservative values, which I don't share. We need more tolerance & compassion in this world-not less
"The goal of the movie is to hook unsuspecting families into viewing the film so that children will then want to read the books (and probably buy merchandise)." This is nothing new...... sorry to say, but this is one of the goals of all "family" movies.....Disney has perfected this into a fine art form from Happy Meals to the merchandise in their own Disney stores.
Furthermore, who is Bill Donahue of the Catholic League... a little research on Wiki revealed this:
William A. Donohue, president of the conservative Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, has made 23 guest appearances on TV news programs in 2004. Donohue uses his appearances primarily to attack gays and progressives. He has referred to the "gay death style," remarked, "God forbid we'd run out of little gay kids," claimed that Senator John Kerry "never found an abortion he couldn't justify," and claimed that "Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular ... Hollywood likes anal sex."
Hear the sarcastic tone in my voice when I say that isn't he just an example of Christian tolerance & compassion?
These types of emails drive me crazy. Who writes these things? Being the cynic that I am, I bet an anti-Catholic wrote this to help the movie become a hit as a way of flipping the finger at them.
So ridiculous.

eat fresh...

Grammie & Grampie L. had the brilliant idea of giving the kids "Subway" gift cards for Halloween. They were thrilled with their cards... they both love Subway and I like Subway because it is fresh and does not contain those nasty trans fats in so many other fast foods. Last week I picked up & delivered Subway to school at lunch time as a special treat. Both kids enjoyed having a break from the usual packed lunch. I ate lunch with Tyler in his classroom(that's my diet coke in the pic). Hunter was 'monitoring' a grade 3 class for lunch period, so she was eating her lunch with the grade 3s. Thanks G & G!

in remembrance....

On Friday I attended a celebration at the children's school for Remembrance Day. Yes, in Catholic schools, we call gatherings of students, staff & parents a "celebration". Actually, it is my favorite celebration because I think the school does a nice job of helping its little learners understand what Remembrance Day is all about. They invite members of the Canadian Armed Forces as guest speakers, they sing songs, recite John McCray's poem......... and pray. And I love how the emphasis is on peace in our world.


One of the songs chosen for this year's celebration was Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind". Originally written in 1962, this song's message resonates as much in 2007 as it did in 1962. Dylan performed this song for Pope John Paul II and the Pope commented on its powerful message. It sure was beautiful to hear an auditorium full of elementary school children sing this song. I saw many parents dabbing their eyes with tissue.


How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.


How many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head,
Pretending he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

feeling in a holiday mood today...

so i refreshed the look of my blog just for the season. did a little christmas shopping today. thinking about how I am going to decorate. discovered that my favorite line of environmentally-friendly cleaning supplies has released a holiday line in scents just for the season.... can't wait to try this one...... cinnamon bark. i also changed the title of my blog back to what it was originally was when i started blogging in 2005. i forgot what i used for a password for that blog and i could not access it, so i had to start over with a new blog.... and i couldn't get the title back.... but that blog must have finally expired and the title released. happy to have my blog title back. never did care much for mindless chatter, but it was all i could think of at the time. picked up the new issue of canadian living magazine today...... the issue with the cookies on the front. starting to make up my list of christmas cookies for this year....new recipes I want to try. wishing I could be home for the christmas cookie exchange this year.....of course... I could start a cookie exchange here.

deceptively delicious....

I picked up this cookbook at Costco the other day. I heard about it from a friend who saw Jessica Seinfield on Oprah talking about it. The deception is that the recipes have added vegetable & fruit purees "hidden" in them as a way of getting more fruits and vegetables into your children and just making food healthier overall. Althought the concept in not new, I do love the retro look & feel of this cookbook and most of the recipes are very easy & straightforward....so easy that Hunter could easily tackle many of them on her own. We made the macaroni & cheese recipe together for dinner the other night. It was fun cooking together and the meal was ready in about 20 minutes as promised. What I enjoy most of all is that this cookbook is so fun to look thru and very inspiring to cook from....all natural ingredients. Love that!

so very proud of her...

She is so lucky to have found her passion at such a young age. She loves to skate and she has translated that love into synchro skating..... a really fun team sport. She is skating on two different teams this year-the third year in a row. She will have the opportunity to compete at the national level with the Novice team this year. On the Juvenile team, she is one of the oldest skaters and the program comes easily. On the Novice team, she is one of the youngest skaters and the program and speed of the team is very challenging for her. But she never complains. She goes out and gives her best at every practice. A few weeks ago, on the little team, she was towing a line of skaters up the ice when she fell backwards and got a little whiplash. But she kept right on skating to finish the practice and it was only when we got home that she complained that her neck was sore. Grammie & Grampie came to visit, but she didn't ask to skip practice. This sport demands a big commitment from it's skaters... it starts at the end of August and goes right until the end of March. Missing practice is very frowned upon because the whole team depends on you to be there to fill your spot in the lineup. This year our practice times are 9:00 am 2 hour practice on Saturday morning, where we leave the house at 8:15 am; Sundays sees us leaving the house at 7:15 am to get on the ice at 8 am for a 2.5 hour practice followed by 40 minutes of off-ice work. This means no sleeping in....... all week....... until the end of March. This 11-year-old gets up no matter how tired, and showers, gets her practice dress on, fills her water bottle and packs her bag.......all without being asked or reminded and with a smile on her face (wish I could say the same for me.....I am so not a morning person...) We snake thru the streets of this city early on Sunday morning.....there are barely any other cars on the road....we are at Second Cup for our hot chocolate just as it opens...... and we enjoy our ride to other side of the city in the quiet of early morning. Ron and I are constantly impressed by the level of dedication she has to her sport...... she makes it all seem so easy........we are so very proud of her.