Happy New Year!!

Well, the new year is almost upon us and it hasn't been the day I expected. We had a very long night last night with Nathan being sick and waking up all the time crying like he was in pain. I figured it was probably an ear infection, so we headed off to the Dr. first thing this morning. Not much of a wait at the clinic thankfully and we found out that my suspicions were right! He's now got some medicine and has been better off and on though is still grumpier and clingier than normal.

We managed to get our grocery shopping done this morning too since George started while the boys and I were at the clinic. We came home and had puttered a bit and then had some lunch. Kyle and I went to the park after lunch and got a walk and some fresh air. He seems to be getting much better these days after all of us being sick here recently! Came back from the park and Nathan was already in bed and Kyle went down for a nap too. George and I both puttered on the computer since we now have 2 after one of the guys he works with gave us another. It was a wonderful thing for him to do, but I think it was also so that George would be able to play computer games online with him (that he can't on our *^&%*^$# old computer!).

We've got Kyle's Cars movie in now and we've got the makings of a cheese fondue in the works. Nathan is going to bed shortly and we'll eat after that. Kyle's already eaten though he'll no doubt want a bit too. We're going to have a quiet night in tonight. I might even get a little scrapbooking in tonight depending on how things go!

Well, not exactly party night at our house, but we've got some bubbly to celebrate the new year assuming we make it that late! Happy New Year!

Cheers,

Colleen

Christmas Eve pictures

OK, I'm a little behind with my postings here, but I'm trying to get some more pics loaded! These are a few that Tracy sent me from her place on Christmas Eve. We got together there with mum and dad as well to do our annual Chinese food dinner which was good!

Things have changed though and dinner wasn't quite as relaxing this year! Kyle wasn't all that interested in the Chinese food being the picky eater he is so he had a peanut butter and jam sandwhich as well as his dinner. I had Sophia beside me in the exersaucer with Tracy o the other side. Nathan was supposed to nap during dinner, but cried for the first part until we realized he wasn't going to sleep and we got him up so he could worm around for the other half of dinner! We got him in the swing to keep him happy for a bit.

After dinner, Tracy and Brian ended up dumping Sophia in the bathna dn since Nathan hadn't napped and was cranky, we ended up going home pretty much right after dinner. Let's hope next year is a little calmer with the kids being a little older. Hmmm...mayeb not huh?!

Cheers,

Colleen

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Just popping in to say Merry Christmas to everyone. We hope that no matter how close or far you are that you had a wonderful Christmas full of family, friends and fun!

We had a great day, but it was certainly a busy one! I have pictures to post sometime later too, of course, but it's pretty much time to be heading to bed since I have to work 10-4 tomorrow and then we're heading off for another Christmas dinner with George's family!

Cheers,
Colleen

Decorating the tree

Well, mum and dad had already been to the tree farm, but they invited us out to decorate this past week. Dad had done his job by the time we got there and the lights were on and then mum worked on her job of getting the garlands on. Then, we puttered with the ornaments and had fun playing. Kyle is still trying to get the hang (sorry, pun not intended) of putting the ornaments on and they end up on the floor about half the time, but we're working on it!

The kids were really good and Nathan and Sophia even managed to get nap in that day too I think. Nathan didn't go down very easily, but he did eventually. The three of the kids always have so much fun playing together as you can see in the pictures!

Kyle ended up staying at Nana and Grandpa's overnight for the first itme since they moved. Dad called after we made plans to come out and said he had to come back into town the next dat for a meeting, so he'd bring kyle back if it was OK if he stayed. I said no problem and I only wished I hadn't worked that night!

Sounds as if they had a great time! They went to see some Christmas lights in one of the parks that you drive through and apparently Kyle liked it so much he wanted to do it again and then asked in the morning again about going back! They went out for dinner at McDonald's of course so that Kyle could have his grilled cheese sandwich. They also checked out all the lights in their neighbourhood as well. Sounds like Kyle slept well and they made French toast in the morning and hung out. They said he was good (and he usually is!), so I hope so! Now they want him to come back and stay 2 days!

Our tree decorating pictures are on my 35mm camera, so I can't upload them yet! Oh the olden days of 35mm! The digital was full and I hadn't burnt the pics onto disc yet, so I got out my old camera. I sure do like it, but miss being able to see what the picture looks like right away!

Cheers,

Colleen

The ABCs of our Christmas

Advent Calendar - our first this year!
Baking Christmas Cookies and Boxing Day Christmas Dinner
Christmas Tree and Train as well as Chinese food on Christmas Eve!
Decorating
Enjoying the holiday season
Family, Friends, and Food
Gingerbread Men that we have been eating (and giving away!) as fast as we can bake them. Kyle is an expert!
He sees you when you're sleeping, He knows when you're awake
It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas
Jingle Bells
Kids
Laughter
Merry Christmas
Nathan's First Christmas
One Ornament a year for the boys
Presents and pyjamas
Questions a million times a day about seeing the Christmas lights
Rocking around the Christmas Tree - the song our singing reindeer sings!
Sitting on Santa's lap and stockings
Traditions and, well, who could forget the Turkey!
Under the tree
Visiting
Wrapping Presents and Waiting for Santa
eXtra special dayYearly letter
Zzzzzzzzzz's when it's all over!

Sorry for the unneccesary e-mail everyone!

Hi all,

Sorry to all of you that I sent the e-mail to and please just ignore it for the time being! I was thinking about making my blog private, but have for now left it the way it is, so no worries about signing in to Google and all that everyone. I decided it was too much work for everyone! For those of you that read, please do and enjoy! Thanks...

Cheers,
Colleen

2 More Sleeps!

It's pretty much time for me to get into bed for one of those sleeps, but I wanted to quickly show off our newest Santa picture - the one I didn't think I was going to get! As I mentioned before, the first time we went to the mall, I couldn't get a picture of both Kyle and Nathan because Kyle decided he didn't want anything to do with Santa after actually seeing him. Of course though, after we got Nathan's pictures back a couple of days later, he wanted to go. I kind of thought the same thing might happen, but no way! He was right in there.

I was a little worried because we met Tracy and Sophia at the mall and Sophia went first and cried and cried. I was wondering if that might put Kyle off, but it didn't. We got both the boys in there though I wouldn't say it was the best picture ever of them, I love it all the same!

It was another crazy day today. George and Kyle headed off to the Dr. at the clinic this morning because George was wondering if he was getting an ear infection with being all stuffed up for days on end and the pair of them have had a low grade fever for days. The Dr. gave George a nasal spray to try and help and said Kyle was fine for now, but if things got an worse, that he should get on an antibiotic. He wrote one out just in case that happened in the next couple of days.

After they got home, I went out and finished off a few little things like picking up the Santa picture, going to the liquor store, getting a few things at Save-0n and getting Nathan an ornament for his first Christmas. I was surprised that it didn't even take me an hour to do all that. I stopped and picked myself up some lunch and quickly got that in me, fed Nathan and headed off to work. I worked 1-6pm and then came home and picked up Kyle and went and did a couple more things. I needed Starbucks Christmas Blend coffee for Christmas morning (and the one near work was out of it!!) and I wanted something for dinner, so I popped into Save-On again for some quick Thai curry I could heat up. Delicious!

Spent the later part of the evening wrapping presents, but it's all done now! We didn't go crazy this year with gifts since mat leave doesn't leave tons of extra cash and the boys don't know any different anyway! We really cut down on family gifts this year too and it makes it much easier and less stressful! Not so hard on the pocketbook either, especially when none of us really need anything! I enjoyed the wrapping too really!

Well, better go get some sleep!
Night,
Colleen

Busy Christmassy Day!!

What a fun day! We started with a bit of a sleep in - which in our house means getting up at 7am! We did our regular morning stuff and Nathan had a good nap before going out to meet Gina, Sam and Alex at the park to go on the Christmas train. We saw Santa, decorated reindeer antlers and made reindeer food all before even getting on the train. We had our little trip on the train and saw the decorations. I wasn't the same as when they did it in the evening with the lights, but the kids had fun! Then they played in the park for quite a while and Gina and I had a good chat. Always seems too long between visits these days!

We came home for lunch and naps and George got home a little early after a Christmas lunch for staff. He was tired since he's still sick as are Kyle and Nathan too, but at least they seem to be getting over their bugs I think. George didn't sleep well last night because he was so congested.

I headed out to try and get something for Kyle from Scott and Toni. I had seen it at one store, but they were out, so I was heading off to another. I was surprised the traffic wasn't too bad and the store wasn't even that crazy. I think half of the battle is your attitude about it though too! I found it - SCORE! He's going to absolutely love it!! Of course, when I got home, George said that both boys essentially woke up as I was going out the door!






We had dinner and got ready to go out to look at Christmas lights. We do this a lot this time of year and Kyle was excited! This one house has Santa there two nights before Christmas, so Kyle has his second Santa visit of the day! Nathan had a little visit too, but wasn't all that impressed to be honest! The tears started when Santa got close. We also saw a house where the tons of lights they had were connected to a computer that puts the lights to music! Quite the display and I can only imagine the amount of work!! A fun night!

Cheers,
Colleen

10 Family Christmas Traditions I Love

1. Decorating the tree together
As a kid, part of this was really going to get the tree as well since we'd go to the tree farm and pick one out and then dad would cut it down. We now have a fake tree since we lived in the condo (and weren't allowed to have a real one), but we all have our "jobs" to do that we've had since we were kids. Dad does the lights and now George does too. Mum and I do garlands and the kids do the decorations. Well, at least the bottom part of the tree!

2. Christmas Baking
This was a huge deal when I was younger since we'd get together with Auntie Randi and do tons of baking!! I'm not sure how much help we actually were and we probably ate more than we helped, but this was such a wonderful part of Christmas! As I got older, we continued to do this and made cookie trays for family and friends. One year we ended up with about 50 cookie trays!!

This year, we have done tons of gingerbread! Kyle loves doing it and loves giving it away about as much! We just made some again tonight and I think its about our 6th batch! We found a great recipe and it's not only fairly easy, but delicious! And we've been busy decorating with sprinkles and little M&Ms.

3. Outings to look at Christmas lights and the Christmas train
George and I love going out and looking at the lights. I remember we went out one night the first Christmas we met and walked along the quay in New West. It was cold, but very memorable. Since then, we've made it an annual thing and Kyle loves the lights now too!

We also try and get to the Stanley Park Christmas train, but haven't made it out there this year yet and may not. With the park being closed for a few days there after the last storm and the weather not cooperating, as well as the usual holiday busyness, we just haven't made it yet, but would like to!

4. Chinese food dinner either out or take-out.
We've done this since I was a kid and love the stress-free aspect of this and just getting together and enjoying the evening. It's sure changed since we were kids too when our family would be about the only people in the restaurant. Now you've got to make reservations to go out and wait forever if you want delivery!

5. Opening one present on Christmas Eve
OK, now I know that the present was always the same, pjs, but I loved being able to open one thing. And when we got older it was a good laugh too! Now, the boys will be getting one present from Santa on Christmas Eve this year!

6. A new tradition for us of getting one ornament a year for the boys.
When I left home, I didn't have any ornaments to take with me and I had heard of other families doing this and thought it was a fun idea, so we started for Kyle's first Christmas. We're trying to get something symbolic of what he's been into that year. This year's was what he calls his "Rock and Roll Snowman" which is a snowman with a guitar since he's been very into music and particularly guitars this year.

7. Opening stockings first on Christmas morning.
We have always been able to do stockings first and it's so much fun to putter through them and fun to see what everyone else gets.

8. Homemade stockings made by mum!!
I'm not even sure she would think of this as a tradition necessarily, but it is to me! I love the stocking that I've had since I was a kid with my name on it in felt done by mum. She actually makes the stockings now!! I had one sent to me when I was in Japan with a care package for the Christmas I didn't come home and I was so excited to get it! Mum had to make two more stockings this year for Nathan and Sophia!

9. Our family dinner
We have done a potluck type dinner for as long as I can remember and it makes it nice to be able to share the workload! We usually end up with quite the gang and it's wonderful to have dinner all together. This will be Nathan's first and I can't wait!

10. A second Boxing Day family dinner
Since George and I met, I've been lucky enough to be able to go to two Christmas dinners. Since George has only brothers and they are all married and have kids (though one is in Australia!), his family does their dinner on Boxing Day so that we can all still get together without having to worry about who's going where what year!!

So feel free to add a comment about what some of your favourite Christmas traditions are!
Cheers,
Colleen

Another crazy day!

Well, things certainly don't seem to be slowing down around here these days. We're lucky if we can find time to relax for a few minutes it seems. I managed to sleep until 8am this morning and that was "sleeping in"! Gone are those teenage days of sleeping until after 11!

I find that once we get up, we're pretty much on the go. We made waffles and got a few little things done. I went out for a drive in the truck since I had to take it to work. Just wanted to make sure I could remember how to drive a standard since it's been so long! Then it was time to start getting the boys ready to go to the Christmas party that the union at George's work was doing. I was supposed to go with them, but I was working this afternoon and couldn't go.

About 15 minutes after they left, I remembered that George had given me the key to the truck, but not the thing for the alarm. Theoretically, that was fine because I just wasn't going to set it, but then I remembered that it was already set! In a panic, I called George and he had to come back and just did a "drive-by" and turned it off! Good thing he wasn't at the party and I wasn't supposed to be heading off for work when I remembered!

As it was, I ended up being late for work last night though only by 4 minutes. I felt so bad because it was only my third night, but it was just one of those things. George got home late and then there was traffic. I called about 10 minutes before I was supposed to start to let them know and the manager was totally fine with it. I worked a few minutes late and all was good.

Work was pretty good today and a little busier for me because I was on the till most of the day. I'm slow, but I'm getting it. Just a different system from what I'm used to, but let's face it, the last time I worked retail was 1994!! The funny thing was that someone I used to work with at the clothing store all those years ago came into work today!

Came right home after work and helped George with the kids because not only did he have the boys, but he had Sophia (niece) too! Tracy and Brian went to a Christmas thing tonight and mum was going to watch Sophia, but she hasn't been feeling well and was worried about the snow in the forecast. George only had all three of them for about 45 minutes, but all was good when I got home. Then, it was feedings and bed for the little ones and George and Kyle went for a walk to see some lights. We put the tree up and George got the lights on and that's as far as we got with that. We haven't put it up before partly because we've been busy and partly because of Nathan getting into it!

Tomorrow is another busy one with brunch with Graham and Sarah (friends that are now living in the Northwest Territories) that are in town for a few days. Then, I have to work in the afternoon and we need to do some grocery shopping and we want to get the tree finished!

I'm hoping the weather holds for tomorrow and that there isn't any more snow overnight. We finally got rid of the remnants of that huge dump. Then there have been three bad storms this week with crazy wind and rain. So many people are without power! I feel sorry for all the guys that work for the power company as I don't imagine some of them have hardly been home for a week! Stanley Park has been closed for a couple of days and I think they said it'd be a couple more before they could say all the tress were OK and it was safe again. We got a bit of snow last night, but it didn't amount to much and they were calling for a little more tonight or maybe tomorrow. Hope it's just rain since I have to get to work and back.

Well, better go to bed since Tracy and Brian just picked up Sophia!
Night,
Colleen

Who is this guy anyway?

OK, I finally managed to go and get the Santa pictures picked up and here it is. Not great, but he's got one! Kyle keeps talking about wanting to go again, but I think the same thing will happen and we'll get there and he'll change his mind. I did tell him we'd go and I'm willing to try!

Well, let's see what's been going on! We've been busy! I think I posted about applying for a job at a scrapbooking store and I got the job! I started the night before last and worked 4 hours and then 4 more again last night. It wasn't that busy, but I like helping customers and the people I work with seem great. I work again tomorrow night and then again both Saturday and Sunday. They like you to work some days together when you start and they're training you so that you don't forget everything you're learning between shifts. Not sure how many hours it'll be a week after that, but we'll wait and see. It's a nice change to be out working a bit again though I do miss putting the boys to bed.

Unfortunately, we had 2 Christmas parties for the kids to go to that I now can't go to either. George is still taking them to the kids one that his union does on Saturday. And because he's taking the car, I have to take the truck which is a standard and I haven't driven one of those since I sold my car about 4 years ago! I think since then, I've driven George's truck once or twice. I'm a little nervous - can you tell?! The party on Sunday was for my mum's group, so we're not going to that at all now. It's too bad, but can't do anything about it.

Speaking of George's truck, we has some "issues" with it this week. Something on it was acting up (George told me, but I'll be honest in saying it went in one ear and out the other) and George thought he could fix it. Well, he was having some trouble so he called Brian (my sister Tracy's husband) because he's done a lot of work on his truck. Brian came over and they worked on it, but decided they needed another tool. Brian came over the next night with the tool, but they still couldn't get it after all that, so George took it in and paid over $200 to get it fixed. The guys at the garage told George there was another small part that should be replaced too, but George said he would do it himself. Wrong answer! He started work on it and the bolts fell inside where they, of course, can't stay and he didn't have the tool to get them out. Call Brian again and he came over and was here for almost 3 hours again another night helping to fix that!! Poor Tracy, I think we've seen more of Brian this week than she and Sophia have! Anyway, it's done and everything is fine again.

Well, I know there are so many other things I could write about, but I need some sleep! Might be a long night since I think Nathan now has Sophia's cold!

Cheers,
Colleen

What Christmas Ornamant are You??

You Are a Tree

You love every part of the holidays, down to the candy canes and stockings. And you're goofy enough to put a Christmas tree ornament on your tree!

What Christmas Ornament Are You?

We saw Santa!

Well, I'm procrastinating about finishing my Christmas cards and both the boys are napping, so I have a few minutes! We had a good morning and after Nathan's nap, I thought we'd head out to the mall. I needed some fruit for Nathan and wanted to go to Save-On anyway, so I made sure the kids were dressed OK in case we saw Santa and wanted to do pictures.

Well, we got there and Kyle was all excited and asked me about seeing Santa. However, once we actually saw him, Kyle didn't want anything to do with him. I decided just to get Nathan's picture done anyway since we were there and I figured he'd be OK. Well, we got one picture where he's sort of dazed and then he took a good look at Santa and started to cry, and that was the end of it. We got a picture anyway! We pick up the picture Friday, so I'll post it when we get it.

I told Kyle I wasn't going to make him sit with Santa and that maybe we could try another day if he wanted to. Nana (my mum) came with us last year and when I said maybe should could come with us again this year, he seemed to like that idea, so you never know! If it happens, great and if it doesn't, no biggie! His scrapbook will have a page about what happened with out the picture! I was actually surprised that George's parents got him to sit with St. Nicklaus the other day when they took him to Christmas party. I can't say he looks happy in the pictures, but he did sit with him.

Well, I guess Nathan will be up soon, so I should go and try and get a few things done. Think I might get some of my scrapbooking together to take to my interview tomorrow at the scrapbooking store just in case she's interested.

Cheers,
Colleen

Crazy Mixed Up Day!

Wow...felt like I was on a bit of a rollercoaster today - the good and the bad all mixed up. Nathan started it of by waking up just before 3:30am and deciding he wanted to be awake for over an hour. Finally got back to sleep for what seemed like 5 minutes when Kyle came trundling into our room at 6:15. He laid in bed with me for a few minutes while I woke up and then it was out of there.

We did our usual morning thing and got breakfast, etc. I assumed Nathan would sleep a little later, but of course, he didn't. He was in a good mood when he woke up though and we had a good play and put on some music and danced in the kitchen. It was a fun morning. Got Nathan dressed and some laundry sorted. I also got the dishwasher loaded and the kitchen pretty much clean, so things were going well.

Nathan went back down for his nap, so Kyle and I played Chutes and Ladders. He loves "spinning the wheel" when we play and sometimes even gets me to move his player, so that's all he's doing! I managed to get a shower and get ready as well as get Kyle dressed.

Nathan woke up and we were headed off to see Auntie Tracy and Sophia. I had to change Nathan before we left and I had no sooner done that than he "did his business" and I had to start over. Well, apparently he had more business to do even after I had changed the second diaper!! This was the start of the downhill...

Stopped at Tim's for coffee for Trace and I and went on our merry way. As I was getting closer to Tracy's, there was more and more snow and I started thinking that maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Well, I decided that too late as I got stuck in her cul-de-sac. Got the kids and coffees out with Tracy's help and went to her place. She moved the car around, but couldn't get it out, so two of her neighbours thankfully came out and pushed until I got out!! YEAH!

By then, I was pretty much out of gas even though Trace and I were heading to Costco. Stopped for gas only to find out the pay at the pump wasn't working - not good with 2 kids! Thankfully Tracy was right there, so I just ran in. We finally made it to Costco and Nathan was ready for his nap, but cooperated. We had a nice little shop and I got a few things we wanted/needed. It was busy, but it was a fun thing to do with Trace too.

I got home, got Nathan in bed late and made Kyle lunch. He wasn't keen on going to bed, but after talking him into it, he was out pretty quickly. I managed a snack and then had a phone call to make to work. As a result of some changes at work (to keep a long story short), it doesn't appear that there's going to be work for me when I'm done my mat leave, but they're not sure, so I called today to see. She said she didn't know and wouldn't for maybe a few more weeks (like right before I would need to go back) and pretty much told me to take other work if I can get it. Of course, another downer!

Had a little break while the boys napped and then Nathan was back up, so the boys didn't nap at the same time really today. I was busy changing Nathan when I got a phone call about an interview for a job I applied for yesterday at the scrapbooking store - a fun, social thing for me! She wants me to come in Thursday for an interview - up again!

What a day! George ended up getting home late, so I fed Nathan before he got home and was just getting Kyle his dinner and cooking ours when he got home. We went for a little drive to look at Christmas lights after dinner - a favourite of Kyle's and something he'd do every night! Came home and got some Christmas cards done and though I have a few more, they'll be out this week! Kyle watched "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" before he crashed for the night. Got sheets out of the dryer and made the bed, so at least I'll have the feel of clean sheets I like tonight as I crawl in bed - right now!!

Crazy mixed up day...
Cheers,
Colleen