The Spirit of Christmas

This year, we witnessed the spirit of Chrismas first hand.  Let me tell about how our Christmas unfolded.

We were flying home for Christmas with my family this year.  While we could drive, and do in the summer, every other year when we go back for Christmas we fly to avoid potential bad weather.  We arrived at the airport about 2 hours before the flight and went to the little kiosk to print our bag tags.  When it got to the page with the number of bags, I said 3.  James looked at our luggage and said, ummmm we only have 2.  Sh*t.

Two excited boys the morning we opened presents in Calgary. 

I looked backed and saw 2 suitcases on our cart. I quickly realize that the big red suitcase, the suitcase holding ALL our presents, was missing.

As usual we left the house in a rush and while I loaded the kids, James loaded the bags.  Two of the suitcases were laying flat on the floor and the red one was standing vertical and just to the side since it has been packed and ready to go for almost a week.  When we arrived at the airport, I unloaded the kids and James unloaded the suitcases.  A classic case of miscommunication.

Grady watching Madi using her new Rainbow Loom. 

We quickly assessed our options.  We could try and go home and get it.  I quick glance at our watch told us that wasn't going to happen, or we could get someone to bring it to us at the airport which would save 30 minutes.  James quickly called one of his friends he knew was home and he agreed with no hesitation to bring it to us by breaking into our house with a few tips from us :)  

Once we got through the line up and had a chance to talk to the agent, we realized the bag had to be there 45 minutes before the flight departed and he only had 30 minutes to meet that deadline.  When we called him and he hadn't arrived at our house yet, we aborted the plan and accepted that we would have no presents to give this Christmas.

Cooper had no hesitation hopping on Santa's lap.

As the reality of a Christmas without any presents to give started to feel more like a reality, I could feel my eyes welling up with tears as we walked through the airport.  I took a quick bathroom break had a good cry and realized that the presents weren't important.  We would be home for Christmas and that was all that mattered.

We had opened all our presents in Calgary before we left, but the suitcases were filled with prezzies for all my nieces and my family.  I put so much work into purchasing and wrapping all the gifts and it made me so sad not to have the chance to see them open them.  That and the stocking fillers were in the suitcase and I wasn't sure how to explain to my kids that Santa forgot them at Grandma's and they would have to wait until we were back in Calgary.

I mostly felt bad for my 8 year old niece.  My other nieces were younger and I knew wouldn't care, but Madi is old enough to want and expect a present and I didn't want to disappoint her. In the end, I showed her a picture of her gift on Christmas morning.

Taiya was tolerant of Santa, Tessa wanted nothing to do with him.

I texted my friend Jenn that often goes to Saskatoon for the holidays and thought if she could get them there I could get them home.  Alas, she wasn't going home for xmas this year but she told me she would get them from my house and drive them anywhere in the city for me if I could find someone headed to Saskatchewan.  She suggested facebook and I thought it couldn't hurt.

I posted it there and within 15 minutes I had 2 offers getting it within 1.5 hours of where it needed to be by the end of the week.  Wow.  People were willing to go out of there way to help me and make my Christmas a little merrier.

Grady was surprisingly very hesitant and unsure of Santa.

Within a few hours, Jenn had broken into my house and delivered the suitcase to Becky halfway across the city. The funny thing is, Becky and I went to high school together almost 15 years ago (yikes!) and I have only seen her once since, at the doctors office the day I was induced with Grady.  We read each others blogs regularly but I have not actually seen her in years.  She without a second thought agreed to bring the suitcase to Saskatoon and even to deliver it.  

The ironic thing is that our flight was delayed 3 hours and in the end, James friend would have made it to the airport after all.  It was the first time ever that I had boarded the plane, waited on it for almost an hour, and the de-boarded the plane because it was deemed inoperable.  Yes, that actually happened.  You could say our trip home didn't go as well as we hoped.

An excited Calgary flames fan ready to dig into the presents.

My next problem was getting it to PA.  The suitcase was arriving in Saskatoon at supper on the 24th and I couldn't find anyone that could get it to us for xmas morning.  Then I texted Sara.  I knew she was coming my way for Christmas but wasn't sure when she was arriving.  Wouldn't you know it, she was coming xmas morning.  Without hesitation, she agreed to make a special trip to pick up my suitcase and have it to me on Christmas day.

My mom opening a painting of Grady's that she asks for every time she comes to visit and he says no. I managed to convince him to give it to her for Christmas.  Ironically, it was one of 2 presents that made it with us since I packed it last minute.

The spirit of Christmas was so alive for me this year.  I am still in awe of the people that helped get our suitcase to us.  While some may have read my statuses on facebook and ignored them or thought to themselves that our situation sucked.  These 3 people, Jenn, Becky, and Sara volunteered their time and effort in the midst of the Christmas chaos to help them.   I can not thank them enough.

Christmas Eve Chaos

 Yes, in the end we got our gifts and I was thrilled to be able to give them myself and see their reactions rather than sending them on the bus when I got home, but more than that, I saw that Santa does in fact exist.  He existed in my personal 3 elves.  I will be forever grateful for their kindness.

Grady's own flames jersey so he no longer has to wear coopers that is way to small on him!

This will forever be remembered as the Christmas we forgot our presents.  And truthfully, I don't think we will ever do that again.  But if I ever see that someone else makes the same mistake, I will do my best to step up and help them.

My brother and his onesie.  He wore it for the rest of the day. 

Despite the rough start to our vacation (and I failed to mention the terrible roads we drove on after our 3 hour late arrival) we had some wonderful moments with family and friends.

Cuddled up with Grandma Sheila watching Home Alone

We spent tons of time gathered around the tree, opening presents, drinking baileys and hot chocolate (or coffee and Kahlua!), and chatting.

Presents Christmas morning

We took the time to love on our families. 

We were silly.

We watched Christmas movies.

Did anyone else know there was a Home Alone 5?

We hot tubbed everyday. And some of us even ran through the snow in our bathing suits for fun.  

Grady told me hot tubbing every day was his favorite part of the holiday.

One of my favorite things was teaching my kids how to play Crokinole, a game I grew up playing every Christmas.

This was closely followed by the movie that James, my mom,  and I went to at 10:15 our last night.  You are able to stay up much later when your kids sleep until 9 each day.  Yes... 9am!  Score!  We saw the new Hunger Games movie and I loved it.  I didn't even fall asleep at the theater and it didn't end until 12:45am!

Overall this Christmas a good one, celebrated with family, crammed in a house with 6 adults, 5.5 kids (I'm getting me a nephew in the spring!), and 2 dogs.  I wouldn't have it any other way.

Skating

As I mentioned, after we went to the Hitmen game, Grady started to take an interest in hockey.  So much so that we wanted to bring his stick and a tennis ball to the rink with us.  It was a perfect afternoon on my day off.  The weather was beautiful and the rink was empty.  There was not a single skater for the entire 2 hours we were there.  It was lovely.



Notice the hockey stink in hand

I wasn't surprised that Grady lasted for 2 hours but I was surprised by Cooper.  When we took Cooper skating for the first time this year we put him in the 1 blade skates and he hated it, so we pulled out the bob skates with 2 blades that strap to your boot like you see below.  

For the next 2 times we went we didn't even attempt the 'big boy' skates we just went with the bob skates and he could move around on his own.  He liked that. 

Grady keeps amazing me by how quickly he has picked up on skating this year.  He can go further and faster then he ever has before.  It is great to see.  I also got a chance to refresh my skills while the boys skated on their own.  I even fell once.  Like right down on my belly.  I was very happy we were the only ones on the ice.

By the end of the afternoon, neither boy was wearing thier jacket and Cooper was in his big boy skates after much convincing by Grady and I.



He was seriously hilarious.  I wasn't allowed to touch him and he refused to use the skating chair while wearing the single blades skates.  The first time we tried these skates he couldn't even stand and this time he stood all on his own and even walked around without falling.  He was pretty darn proud of himself.

I love it when I use my afternoons off to do something fun with the boys, just the three of us.  Those quality moments are the reasons I am only working 4 days.  Don't get me wrong, we had a massive tantrum just before leaving where I almost threw in the towel, but once we made it is was worth the effort.  No pain, no gain - right?

Merry Christmas

 

From our family to yours, wishing you a very merry Christmas and a year full of health and happiness!

Cooper's Concert

Last week I headed to school with Cooper for his Christmas party and concert.  I was really looking forward to it.  When Grady had a concert, he brought a whole entourage, me, James, Nana, Grady, and sometimes even Jasmin.  For this one, it was just Cooper and I.   While we missed having everyone else there, it was special for me to be there just with him.

For no particular reason, i asked Cooper if he wanted to wear a tie and he agreed.  I love getting the boys dressed up since there really aren't many occasions and on a typical day they wear sweats.  All the time.  Even though he had the cutest outfit on, do you think i could get a picture of him with his eyes open?  No word of a lie, I took 10 and this is the best I got.

He inherited his Dad talent of not being able to take a decent picture.

The kids were so cute and did a great job.  Cooper did all the actions but didn't sing much.  That is still better than Grady for the most part.  

It was nice to hear from other parents that their kids talk about Cooper.  He has really only been there for 6 weeks so I was surprised to hear that many of the kids think Cooper is their friend.  It really made me happy.  Grady struggled (and still does) with making friends in a big group and being overly shy.  I am so happy to hear that Cooper is not having these issues.  With that being said, I didn't see him talk to anyone at the party except me.  I just love the opportunity to get a glimpse into how they are at school and so far I like what I see!

Oh and as an aside, when I picked him up on his last day of school he handed me a gift. An ornament form the tree. It reminded me of the one I made years ago and just posted about. Look familiar?

And to top it off, Grady brought home a wreath he made for James and I as gift.  Ironically, James voluneered the day they cut the circles in the plates and I was in the classroom the day that they glued the macaroni on.

Maybe they will be hanging on my tree still in 25 years as well?

Hitmen Game

Last Sunday we embarked on an adventure to the Saddledome for the first time ever to watch our very first Hitmen game.  Well for the boys anyway.  It was perfect as it was a Sunday afternoon game and with our regular Sunday dinner plans cancelled we decided to invite some friends and head to the game.

Grady had skating lessons that afternoon so it didn't make sense to go home in between so instead we headed to the rink extra early to check it out.  The kids loved it.  They especially loved eyeing up the food they wanted to eat while we were there.  Just like their mom.

One of the first things we did was check out the ice.  The kids, and especially Grady, were in awe of how big the arena was.  That was fun to see.

Notice not one seat was filled yet.

Then we started the night of binge eating.  We started with popcorn, then hot dogs, then I got ice cream and the kids got cotton candy.  I think it is safe to say the cotton candy was a hit!

We also were constantly on the look out for Farley the Fox.  Grady could never see him and he would get so frustrated when we started trying to explain to him where to look.  Lucky for us, he showed up right beside us.  

All the kids went running down to see him.  Not our kids.  They just stared at him in awe and took in everything that was going on.  There was no way that they wanted to be anywhere near Farley.

The kids were relatively low key for the first 2 periods.  Grady even asked during the 1st period when the game was going to be over.  Then the sugar kicked in and the kids started to really have fun.  Not to mention that the score was 5-2 for the hitmen so there were many opportunities to cheer!

 

At one point during the game Grady had to pee so I took him to the bathroom. While we were in there the Hitmen scored and we could hear all the cheering.  When we came back, James showed us this video of Cooper dancing.  It is too cute not to share.

password: score

Victory dance from Christy R on Vimeo.

Ironically, the night we got home form the game, Grady went searching for the stick that Joel (my sister's boyfriend) gave him 4 years ago when he played for the Hitmen.  When I told Grady that Joel played for the Hitmen once I am not sure that he believed me!  Grady was only 1 so we never took him to a game.  James and I talked about how fun it would have been if Joel was playing here now.  The kids would have thought they were celebrities!

Notice the hitmen hat!

Anyhow... he has been talking about hockey non-stop since the game.  Will Grady end up playing hockey?  It is to soon to tell, but he has shown more interest in the past 3 days then he has in his entire life!

I think we are going to deem the outing a success!

Ornament

You know how I go on and on about the ornaments on my tree and how each one holds a memory... yadda yadda yadda.  Well, I just wanted to tell you that I come by it honestly.

I was nicely sitting at home Saturday night when my mom texted my brother and I this picture of her tree with these 2 pretty ornaments.  One boy, one girl.

Under the picture it said 'Maybe one year these will be yours'.  Let me tell you a little story about these little ornaments hanging on my Mom's tree....

Years ago, probably 20 years, my aunt gave my brother and I each one of these ornaments.  They are frosted ornaments that perfectly placed in front of a Christmas bulb on the tree look absolutely phenomenal.  When we were young, it would become a competition to see who could find thee most perfect spot on the tree.

When I moved out and had my own Christmas tree to decorate my Mom told us they were her ornaments and they stayed on her tree.  Believe me, she would tell this story differently I'm sure.  So on her tree they have stayed.  And if the truth be told.  I love coming home for Christmas and finding my ornament on the tree and maybe moving it to a place that I think is perfect.  It's our thing.

Like I said, my Mom has a 'memory' tree like me full of meaningful ornaments.  Like this one that she also sent me a picture of this weekend.

I made this in brownies when I was 8 years old, more than 25 years ago, and my mom still has it on her tree.  I guess after 25 years I should accept that it will be on my Mom's tree forever.  Every year we look at it and have a good laugh.  Another tradition that I hold dear to my heart.

I'm starting to count down the sleeps until I am able to examine my mom's tree and recount all the stories of the ornaments there like I did on my own tree.  Starting to get into the holiday spirit!

Christmas Party

This was supposed to have posted last week, but silly me posted it a week late.  oops. 

Last Friday was my Christmas party.  This year, the company hosted it in Canmore, which would have been great except it was by far the coldest weekend of the year thus far.  We are talking minus 30 before wind chill.  It was COLD.

We bundled the kids in the van Friday afternoon and headed out.  Cooper promptly fell asleep.  I can't remember if I've mentioned it, but he has 100% given up his naps.  So he'll often fall asleep if we go out late afternoon, which would be fine if he didn't wake up like a bear.  Thankfully, he wasn't too bad waking up on arrival.

My company hired babysitters for all the families with kids, which was about 6 families. All the kids played together in one room until it was bedtime.  We got a great babysitter for our boys.  Within 5 minutes Cooper looked up and said 'Mom, you can leave now'.  Ok.... and on that note we headed to the party.

All dressed up and ready to go.

We went to Crazy Weed restaurant for the party and the food was delish, as was the wine :)  James and I had a great time at the party, maybe even a little too much fun.

The kids did great with the sitter and it turned out they stayed in the 'party room' until 9:00 when Grady asked to go home to bed.  She said they didn't even want a story they wanted to go right to bed. I was so happy to hear that as it was our first 'stranger' babysitter outside of family and Jasmin.

I fell into bed shortly after 1am and slept hard until the kids stirred at 6:50.  The first hour they were up was rough.  I was exhausted, as were they, and moods were not good. I even decided that we wouldn't stay and swim at the rec center, that we would just go home because I couldn't fathom staying in the hotel room until the pool opened at noon.  Then I had the brilliant idea of putting the kids in the bath.  The funniest thing was that the water filled from the ceiling.  There was no water spout like a regular tub, it literally falls from above.  If you look closely in this picture you can see the stream between the boys.

After baths (and 2 cups of tea for me), moods improved and the day all of a sudden looked brighter.  The naked kids crawled into bed with James who was having a rough start to the day.  Grady informed me that Dad was lying - he wasn't sick he just wanted to sleep more.  Grady had him figured out already!

In the end, we did make it to the pool after going for breakfast at the Rocky Mountain Bagel Company.  It is so yummy.  The swimming went great but every moment after we got out of the pool was tough.  The kids were just so tired from a busy night and late bed time.  Again, Cooper was so tired he fell asleep before we even hit the highway.

It was a fun night away but next time I would leave the kids in the city and go on our own. We both had such a nice night at the party that we may have stayed longer if we didn't keep think about having to wake up at 7am.  I loved how having that party out of town allowed every one to relax and have a few extra drinks that they may not have had otherwise - I know I sure did!

School Photo

This, ladies and gentleman, is Grady's first ever school photo.  The day this happened was a gong show at our house.  I woke up extra early since I had an important deadline at work and Cooper threw just before I left.  I looked at James and said I really have to go to work today and rushed out the door leaving him with a puking Cooper and Grady.  Shortly after I left and before Grady went to school, James put his back out.  Like fell to the ground in a sweat and couldn't get up kind of put his back out. 

James place a call to his mom for reinforcement and they slapped some hair gel in Grady's hair and sent him off to school and this is the resulting picture.  Pretty darn good if i do say so myself.

My baby is no longer a baby, he is such a BIG boy.  Seeing these picture made me so excited for him and all the school pictures to follow.  Does anyone else remember trading school photos?  It was so the cool thing to do.

For fun, I added in James and I's kindergarten pictures.  I have the bangs that never ended.  I think that was in style?  Wasn't it.

And here is little blond haired James.  In a turtle neck.

For the record, these are pictures of picture.  Like I took a picture of the old pictures with my cell phone.  Talk about laziness, but I seriously don't think I know how to use my scanner anymore!

An Early Christmas Celebration

Last weekend we had an early Christmas celebration with James' side of the family as they are away over Christmas.  We booked this date in long ago and devoted the day to celebrating the season a few weeks early.

We started off with brunch at heritage park.  We started the brunch tradition about 5 years ago and while we have tried other locales, we love the festive feel of spending the morning at heritage park.  Even this year when the weather was bitterly cold.

After we filled up on bacon and waffles we headed upstairs to do a little cookie decorating.

We were quite surprised to learn from a volunteer up there that there was also a craft station with SANTA and a electronic train table set up in 2 of the other buildings.  We have done the brunch 4 years and no one has ever told us that.  Note to self for next year.

We couldn't rush away from the Wainwright Hotel without stopping for our annual photo. 

Look how big my boys are getting!  This year no one is being carried!  Look also at our attire.  It was darn cold!  But surprisingly when we left it was way warmer then when we arrived and we were able to walk a little more leisurely and I didn't have to carry Grady.  Yes, it was that cold.

We walked over the craft building first and imagine that, there was no line up to see Santa!  The kids were very hesitant so we all went for a family shot.  Grady warmed up a little but Cooper wasn't so sure about the big guy in red....

After seeing Santa, the kids each did a craft.  Grady chose a complicated one, of course, and we needed a volunteer to help us.  They said it was been so quiet with the weather being so cold.  Worked to our advantage!

Next up was the train.  Both boys loved it.  Cooper asked to buy it actually.

We had to hurry along to skating lessons, but on the way back to the van the kids took a run through the maze.  They have 2 mazes set up each year and the kids love them.

 

After skating lessons, we finally got back to Nana's to open presents.  The kids got a great loot and couldn't wait to bust into all the new toys. 

Here is Nana opening the painting form Grady.  He made it in art class this fall and when I suggested that we give to Nana he actually agreed.  He doesn't part with his artwork very easily.

 

 One of Grady's gifts was rainbow loom which is a bracelet making gadget.  It is all the rage for the Grade 3s at Grady's school apparently.  Some of Grady's friends of older brothers and even they are into it.  I asked the moms about the younger boys and she said they can do some of the easier ones. So before you know it, Nana had one in her hand for Grady.  

Grady and I spent the rest of the evening making bracelets for everyone.  He insisted that they could only wear them until they left and then he would take them home.  Except Nana got to keep her purple and pink one, just barely.

Grady can only do half of it on his own and I have to do the other half so it was a joint effort but it brought me a lot of joy to see how happy it made him as each finished bracelet was worn by someone.  Ironically, he didn't make one for me.

Another popular gift was the magic kit.  To be honest, it was most popular with James an d I had to keep reminding him that it was the kids toys and he had to show them the magic tricks.  Even Cooper enjoyed doing tricks for us.

I actually can't believe that we are getting that close to Christmas.  My tree is up, the snow is here, the presents are wrapped and under the tree, but I still haven't got that Christmas feeling yet.  The month of December is so busy for us with Christmas events and such that it is hard to really slow down and focus on the season which I know is exactly what i need to do.  I'll slow down and watch Christmas movies next week as this week is already packed solid with Christmas activities....