looking for light

a tradition in our house - new with the kids! is to countdown the days to Christmas with an advent calendar. you can view it here.

this year i added "things to do" as well as yummy candies.

yesterday was to "walk and look at Christmas lights".

my first thought was, "is Kiara up to this?" and then, "brrrr...it's cold out there....is that good for Kiara?" {she is STILL not feeling well. we've declared that it is not fair for a sweet girl like her to be sick for so long. let the naughty kids deal instead!}

right away, Aidan got really excited. he started asking if we could run and look at lights. what?

every other year, since he was born, i've taken him in the jogging stroller for the "clear the trails" race. this is run at Hawrelak Park now, the night before Bright Nights Festival opens. {i have been doing this run for as long as i've been running. it used to be at Telus Field, and we ran a loop through the river valley. in the dark. with glow sticks. and the police training squad. it used to be my favourite run.} it is 2 loops around the park. Aidan and i enjoyed it the first year. there were no glow sticks...can you believe that was a disappointment? last year it was very anti-climatic. very boring. it also did not help that Kiara cried nearly the entire first loop. and that Aidan wanted to run with me, but kept pulling on the stroller. it was at the end of the loop that i realized my stroller tires were flat as well. {the only way you can tell is if you squeeze them...impossible to see by sight} i was worn out! mentally and physically. the way i figured it i had run the equivalent of two laps!

all that to say....

when i asked the kids to get ready to go, Aidan was still excited. Kiara was not feeling well, so Aidan tried to encourage her by telling her the good stuff that was going to happen.

he described that we were going to run and look at lights. then when we were done there would be snacks.

too funny. those were his memories of the race. lights and food. what a boy!



{see more photos of the lights here}

he was disappointed when i told him that we were just going to drive. no snacks. the race was weeks ago.

but apparently we will be doing it next year. i'm guessing that a jogging stroller will not be needed next year? either way it should be interesting.

pinch me

this has to be a dream....


after last Tuesday, our days went rather well.

i decided that it was just one of those days when Aidan showed that he was 4 years old AND Kiara showed that she was 2 years old. and they did this on the same day. yes, i believe fully that it was a conspiracy.

i was very proud of them on Wednesday. but then i also had a break from them and had a chance to be with other adults too.

Thursday was not as great. a trip to Ikea for breakfast. not sure why i bought each of them their own plate....a few meltdowns over where to sit for breakfast and then later over the ice cream (or better to say lack thereof) after lunch. that was fun.

Friday was another good day. at least to start. happy children. then one at playschool for the afternoon. then cousins over for supper and the evening. four happy and enjoyable children. bliss.

until 9:30pm. Kiara was the only one who had been sleeping. 3 happy and not too sleepy children were still awake (which you can expect....who can sleep when "fun" is trying to "sleep" in the next room?) at 9:30 i would bet that all 3 of them wished that they had already fallen asleep.

somehow Kiara managed to catch the nastiest stomach flu bug she could find. poor thing. we were having a hard time too. there was nothing we could do but hold her and wait. very tough to do.

after 6 hours, she was finally able to sleep. and so were we.

Saturday we had planned to return to Ikea and pick up our Christmas tree. one of our traditions. usually it includes breakfast and a "run" through the store. not this time. we got our tree and got out of there!

the next plan was to decorate it on Sunday.

we got really good at changing plans this weekend.

Aidan started to complain about his tummy hurting around noon. by 2:00pm the suspense had broken. he was just as sick as his sister.

i don't do well with this kind of bug. {understatement}

thankfully Kristian handles it better. we make a good team. i'm also glad that the kids want their daddy when they are sick.

it was an exhausting weekend. thankfully there were some good family times too. there was nothing else to do besides hang out and watch tv together. aside from jumping up every 15 minutes, it was relaxing to just be together.


Aidan has been looking forward to decorating the tree for weeks.

we were thrilled that he felt healthy the day we picked it up. he had plans to "find the perfect tree". it was very cute. i think we did well.

he was more upset about not decorating the tree yesterday than he was being sick. so much like me...yet so different too!!

i'm a little worried that Kristian may be the next one. i'm really praying that he (and i!) miss out on this bug. if only you could earn your way out of getting sick.


we got our first Christmas card in the mail today! i always love getting mail like that this time of the year.

and look what else was in our mailbox today:

i think i'd rather have another bottle of fine glitter dumped on my floor.

i was summoned six or seven years ago. for a high profile murder case. tried to get out of it. failed. was very thankful to NOT get chosen. and even more thankful to have the jury selected on the first day. by 3pm. all but 12 people breathed sighs of relief.

i have to say that the experience of jury selection was interesting. the first time. they did roll call. took forever! then there came time for people to beg and plead to get out of it. took a long time. i had planned to do the same. until i saw that each person had to state their reason in front of everyone. no privacy. while the rest of us looked on and wanted to get it over with. it was a lot of sitting. i think that process took the entire morning. after lunch they started the selection process. which was the interesting part.

one person ended up having her name on the roll THREE times. the judge said that when it came time to draw names for the selection they would make sure her name only appeared once. (too bad that doesn't happen for the lottery!) nobody was surprised when her name was the first one chosen for jury selection. yes she became a juror.

so how do i get out of this? picture it: "i'm a mother in desperate need of a day away from my children. but sitting for a day or more in a packed courtroom is not going to de-stress me. could you please see fit to send me to a spa for the day instead?"

sigh.

at least the children are feeling better. the tree is decorated {somewhat! more on that later} and i'm having an hour of peace and quiet. savour this moment.

for real?

by 8:30 this morning

i wiped yogurt that had been smeared on the table and floor

christmas rice krispies {should really be re-labeled a 'mother's nightmare breakfast'}

and

spilled milk.


by then i was thinking an excursion AWAY from home that involved walking and a venti coffee was an ideal solution to keep all of us happier.


but that involved getting dressed.


which meant i NEEDED to unload the dryer. which also meant that it would be a wise choice to load the dryer. in this case, it also made sense to load the washer.

on a normal day.

but not today.

i should never have left two curious and trouble-seeking children alone in my kitchen.

especially since one of them had already 'made breakfast' for everyone. {bread & jam} however when i thanked one of the over-achievers, but declined his breakfast he felt it wise to wrap my breakfast for another day. he apparently has never seen me use my 'clingwrap' or 'wax paper'. my kitchen scissors were an accomplice in this instance.

sigh.


in the middle of my 'must make progess on this laundry' Aidan came running and proclaimed:

"mommy, kiara is making a mess!!!"

my first thought is how messier could things get?

"there's blue snowflakes and stuff all over the place!!!"

what could that be?

knowing that the damage was done, i finished my task.

nothing could have prepared me for the 9 o'clock clean up.

can you see her fingerprints?

she was ROLLING AROUND in it!!

can you see the bottle of glitter? it came in a Martha Stewart Snowflake Glitter kit. thank goodness i bought it at 50% off. i had only glittered part of one snowflake. the bottle was full. and that is very fine glitter. it does not look like much in the photo...but trust me...it was a lot. i'm very thankful that i did not buy the big bottle. very thankful.

i think i made a mistake of vacuuming it up. it didn't work too well. and i think my bagless vacuum is now dusted in it.

a wet cloth made an improvement.

then a dry swiffer cloth.

meanwhile Kiara is showering off the glitter. i regret that i did not take a photo of her feet. she looked like the tin man from the Wizard of Oz. i felt like the tin man. i sent Aidan to his room. i could picture his body covered in the glitter as he "helped" me. it was a picture that drove me to the edge!

so Kiara is crying in the shower.

Aidan is crying in his room.

and i'm at my wit's end cleaning impossibly fine glitter in my kitchen.

a good start to the day.

in the end, we are all showered. there are little bits of glitter everywhere. now that i've had a couple of cups of coffee, a shower and some time to catch my breath...i'm just thinking that i can consider our house decorated!

but i'm still planning that walk to get a venti....now that i've had the chance to vent!


deep breaths....


and reminding myself that "tomorrow is a new day...with no mistakes in it...yet!"