December 2022 recap

December came and went in the blink of an eye. As per usual, it's an incredibly busy month, consumed with shopping, gatherings and all things Christmas. 

This year we had a few extra inches of snow, making for some beautiful morning walks. And despite the cold and snow and ice, I continued my mantra of "no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing" as I layered up for my daily morning walk in the amazing winter wonderland. 

Ellie our Elf and her side kick Olaf returned, up to no good as usual. Lincoln was eager to wake every morning and search for her. Whether it was hiding in the tree, or somewhere in the fridge, he always got a good laugh out of her antics. 

Lincoln's hockey team had a few events he sadly had to miss out on. The first was a real tournament. We made it out for the final game and he/Ryan got to join the team on ice for the obligatory final picture. 

To help cheer him up about missing out on so many fun things, Lincoln and I had a date night with Subway and a local light event. He loved this place so much, we had to walk through a second time and take it all in. They even have a train with teddy bears, a ferris wheel and more! 

Eventually as the month wore on, he started to use his arm more. I caught him helping wrap a present one day and couldn't help snap this picture. We had the kids exchange names for Christmas and he was so proud as he wrapped up a gift for his sister. He even made a crown for himself! 

Christmas morning was a quick pivot due to a recent snowfall. Grandma Jan was too nervous to head on the roads alone, so we brought Christmas to her instead! 

Grandma Jan made Ryan's dreams come true with an entire TOWER of grilling spices! 

Lincoln's hockey association does a 3rd graders vs Varsity game/pizza. And it was the one thing he had been really looking forward to, even shed a couple of tears knowing he couldn't get on the ice to play. But we sat in the stands and watched the game, and then he was able to find his Varsity buddy TJ for pizza afterwards who was also nursing an injury. Lincoln actually is classmates with TJ's little sister. And TJ actually goes to school with Regan. 
Small world. 

Eventually we got back on the ice, and I couldn't help but chuckle when Lincoln took his first few steps on the ice and said "oh yea, I can do this". Turns out, he had thought he would forget how to skate completely! Good thing that's not really how it works. 

New Years eve we got to spend with some dear friends who have recently moved back from to MN from Germany. Regan's boyfriend-Jack made this wonderful arrangement I had dreamed up. And it looked great! I'm bummed I forgot to take a picture until we started digging in. 

We are so thrilled to have Paul and Renata closer so we can get together more often. We rang in all sorts of New Years, knowing not one of us would make it to midnight! 

HALIFAX! 

And this little guy might be the #1 reason we didn't make it to midnight. 

But our girls want so badly for him to love them so they enjoy any moment they get to play with Max. 

Regan was all smiles at the end of December, having Jack visit made her month completely! 

 

A Christmas visit

Uncles Ben and Jon came for their annual Christmas visit in early December. It was a whirlwind weekend with a lot of softball, a little shopping, and missed hockey (thanks to a broken collarbone). 

But we had a great time spending extended time together, shopping, eating, games and more shopping. 

Lincoln decided against most shopping and opted instead for experiences, even with his bum arm. They had a lot of fun at Build-A-Bear and he dragged Ben into the VR experience at the MOA. Building some fun memories for sure. 

Their visit happened to coincide with Lincoln's annual "art" event at school so they got to see Lincoln's self-portrait and hear a few music songs too. It was fun for them to be part of Lincoln's special day at school. And even more exciting as it was Lincoln's first art/music program because all of them previously have been cancelled due to the pandemic. 

He did great and loved having a few extra audience members!

Thanks for a fun visit Uncles Ben and Jon! 

 

Life Lately and Christmas prep

 It's a little challenging to prep for Christmas with all the chasing kids around that we do each week. But we're squeaking in a little cookie baking, tree decorating, present wrapping and just days before Christmas, we finally added lights to the house (perhaps with a lot of begging on my part). You see, these kiddos of ours are in love with their activities and sports, tugging us in every direction 6 (sometimes 7) days/week. We put on at least 150 miles each week driving them to practices, games, lessons and training.  Sometimes I manage to run in/out of stores during their longer 3 hour trainings, or shop online from the comfort of my car during their shorter 1 hour trainings. I search Pinterest for the latest Elf happenings and set reminders on my phone to be sure the sneaky thing has moved when I finally crawl into the house at night, often after 10:30pm. I turned my car into a "carfice", in other words my car office. 

And in between all of those sports and activities, we are sledding and crafting (more like science-kit building) and trying to find a good Hallmark show. 

It doesn't quite feel like Christmas to me yet, maybe it's because I haven't had a chance to slow down. We have one more day of school/work this week, and then we'll take a breather and try to enjoy the season, because at this point, I kind of feel like Ellie our Elf! 

2020 Christmas Holidays

 Christmas 2020 came and went. It felt a little bit like any other day, only with presents. We did all we could to make it memorable and special. Throughout the month of December, we did all sorts of Christmas-y things like decorate the house, look at Christmas lights, build gingerbread houses, bake cookies, family games, and watch all of the Hallmark movies! 

I even had TWO Christmas trees this year :) That fun new tradition actually started pre-pandemic, when I purchased our first artificial tree to place in the living room. The real/original tree will always live in our family room. We all loved the extra twinkling lights felt throughout the house, each and everyday. And since we worked from home, those two trees stayed lit all day/evening, everyday. We all poked fun of our new artificial tree, because it turned out to be a pencil tree, and a little skinny for an oversized space this year. But I still love that extra tree!

We ended up starting holiday break with an extra 4 legged guest for a few days, this due to my friend's urgent surgery. Her new service dog was just what the kids needed to fill their holiday spirits. She is sweet and loving (and oh so full of fur!). 

She sure puts up with a lot of Lincoln's requests too! 

Christmas eve, we did a little Google Meeting with Ryan's parents while we opened gifts. The strangest Christmas eve to date! And for whatever reason, they couldn't hear Ryan's voice on their end, which made all of us giggle. Our very own Christmas ghost. 

The kids made up some reindeer food, plated some cookies for Santa and bid farewell to the mischievous elf and her reindeer. It was certainly the easiest bedtime of the year. And then....magic :) 

We greeted Christmas morning bright and early (Regan even set an alarm at 7:45am, knowing Lincoln and Sidney would be awake much before then and unable to contain their excitement). The kids were in present heaven, spoiled with love from us and Santa. I loved watching their faces as they opened up presents, we sure had some good surprises! 

After lunch, we did a Zoom meeting with my brother/Jon and my mom to open gifts again. There were more gracious gifts and spoiled kiddos, unwrapping creative and unique gifts. Lucky for us, Lincoln scored a high-pitched whistle that lights up (in case he loses it). And Regan received the most annoying squeeky toys, gifted by Ben just to annoy me :) I sure felt the love! #eyeroll

We hope to spend the remainder of the kiddos winter break from school taking advantage of the recent snowfall. We've already ice skated and gone sledding multiple times; despite the snow, I still take daily long walks and occasionally can convince Regan to join me. The kids are getting great use of our newly heated garage for hitting practice and stickhandling work.  The fresh air feels good, and helps the days feel less like the longest Groundhog Day ever. Running into/meeting up with friends at the sledding hills and ice rinks sure help their moods. We'll keep hanging in there and staying safe.  

Skating on Bush Lake might go down as the most memorable moment of winter 2020. Without any snow, the lake froze, allowing crystal clear ice (I could see through the ice!) and the largest skating rink we've ever seen. It was so cool! 

Wishing everyone a happy and safe holiday season!

Twas the week of Christmas....

,...and everyone was stirring!

We had a whole lot of busy-ness happening the week of Christmas. With three busy children and two full time working parents, there is never a dull moment around here.

Somehow we squeezed in all sorts of Christmas prep.

 

Sidney got to baking and whipped up all sorts of treats and goodies for us to enjoy. She (not so excitedly) let Lincoln help make cut out cookies one day.

 

 

Some fair weather days allowed us to get outside and enjoy the sunshine. We went sledding, played at parks and even went on scooter rides around the neighborhood.

 

Our elf-Ellie and her reindeer "tiger" had all sorts of tricks up their sleeves, which Lincoln thoroughly enjoyed.

 

Regan and Lincoln had class parties. They let me volunteer and I was happy to snap a few pictures with their friends. These fifth graders who freely roam hallways, have a much different party compared to the kinders.

 

All grade Kindergarten "snowball" fight....see Lincoln in orange in the middle of the gym having the time of his life tossing "snowballs" at his classmates!?

 

 

I got to see some of Lincoln's work hanging in the hallway :)

We hosted a variety of friend get togethers, and I'm so thankful that both groups enjoy Lincoln and let him tag along with any outdoor activity.

First it was Regan with her friends

 

Then Sidney and her friends

 

Ryan and I took Lincoln tubing at Buck Hill. He loves tubing and was begging to go; so one day while the girls were lazy and, we went without them. We had a great time!

 



 

My team pulled together and enjoyed an ugly sweater-white elephant gift exchange. I appreciate these people so much!

 

But in the thick of it all, we still enjoyed time at home together, under the lights of the Christmas tree (even if it was balancing the checkbook!).

 

 

It is a busy Christmas season, and we did all we could to soak it in.