and the news this week...

where is time going?! i am still needing to finish my Christmas shopping...but finding it tough this year to do without the kids. it was so easy to do when they were small and had no idea what i was buying....or i could even hide it from them. these days its tough to buy a pack of gum without them discovering it! the time passes so quickly when they are both in school and i don't have much time in the evenings to do it. online shopping looks very appealing right now. if i knew it would be delivered in time...



Kristian and Kiara bought a pet Beta fish earlier this year. he became known as Princess Purple. whether or not he knew the meaning of the word 'princess', he never let on. neither did the fact that he was purple. anyways it ended up being my job to clean the tank. and it sure got dirty with just one fish in it! last week i thought of putting him in a smaller tank that might be easier to clean. after doing that i realized that his castle did not fit inside it, and he loved the castle. so i moved him back to the original tank. too many moves or too much temperature change....the shock killed him in 24 hours. great. Kiara is having a tough time getting over this death.



even with Prince Blue in the picture. she was definite about wanting a blue fish. part of me wishes i had just gone to the store on my own and came back with a replacement fish. but then, she would have noticed a detail absent that i would have missed. when Princess Purple died, he turned gold. the kids noticed his colour was changing before he even became fully dead. so odd!

Prince Blue was purchased along with a new smaller tank. he is pretty active and outgoing. i can't believe i just described the personality of a fish. really. but it is true!

by the way, Prince Blue has a middle name. oh, i am not kidding. it is Frosty the Snowman. we are in for some treats. Kiara has quite the imagination.





last night was her preschool Christmas concert. she has been excited for weeks about this! it was also the first concert our kids have participated in that Kristian was able to attend. it was a very big night.



she sang with all her might!

they had yummy snacks and fun Christmas crafts after the program.

we came home and Kiara commented that we should leave out some cookies for Santa. what?! she apparently knew that Santa would come after the concert....and took that to mean immediately! this next week and a half will be a long one for her. and Aidan. so, essentially, it will also be a long one for me. unless i don't get my list completed by Monday!

here we are

funny how far away December looks on November 20. suddenly we are here! never mind the list Santa has been making....i have my own these days.

amazing how life grinds to a sudden halt when someone gets sick. my life has been based at home for the past week and a bit. plans got changed. as friends and neighbours caught that horrid stomach bug, we watched them get beat by it. hoping that we could be lucky and avoid it. yet wondering if we can. if we will. you know the kind of vain hoping i'm talking about.

so lil' miss K got it first. she usually does. the last time she had the stomach flu she was sick for weeks, with Christmas right in the middle of it. i've never seen a person so ill before. thankfully this was much more normal. her recovery was just a matter of a few days. but it is still hard to see her sick and her little body praying that it will end. she missed only one morning of playschool and two mornings of playing with friends. a big deal to her, but nothing really. then Aidan. then me. when i'm sick, just let me watch tv and give me space. after 2 days of tv, i am so sick of it! i was grateful that we decided to install cable again. even though it was just basic.

in the middle of all this we had a healthy-ish day here and there.



the lights got put up. yay!



Aidan put together the car set he got from Santa a few weeks ago. he had been anxious to do this for a few weeks.



Kiara asked to paint as well. this was the most interesting project i've seen her do. she had 2 pictures going at the same time. apparently the one on the tablet was her practice one, and the other was the real deal. we thought it was a snowman. however she explained that it was a skeleton. okay... regardless i was amazed at her precision with the paint and brushes.



i am so curious what she will be doing in a few years' time.

i bribed both kids heavily over a month ago to come with me to HomeSense. i wanted to go, but did not want to deal with irritable children at the same time. they were great. the store had just put their first round of Christmas decorations out. Kiara saw a lot of things she loved, and a PINK nutcracker was one of them. she loves to watch Barbie and the Nutcracker, a movie i picked up at a garage sale for $1 last year. i didn't think it was as much of a favourite as Tinkerbell. anyways that is the only connection she has to a nutcracker that i'm aware of.

a few days later she saw Santa at the kids' Christmas party. she told him she wanted a pink nutcracker and was ecstatic when he said that he would make sure she got it. it is the same response every time i ask  her what she wants for Christmas. not even the colour changed.

eventually i know my kids will understand the truth about Santa. however, that day is not now.

sigh.

i went out in search of that perfect pink nutcracker last weekend. would you believe all the pink was sold out?! all that was left were 3 purple nutcrackers (one of which was broken). thus the conversation with my daughter: "what if Santa didn't count right and he doesn't have enough pink nutcrackers?" her response, "then he will bring me a purple one." end of story. so the PURPLE nutcracker came home.


here is the best part. i know, can you believe it gets "better"?!

life in the house was a bit chaotic that evening and i never got that purple soldier properly hidden. forgot about it. yes. big mistake. this is the same girl who can find hidden chocolate in the dark. 

today i was in a cleaning and organizing mode. while i was busy, so was Kiara. she comments off-handedly that Santa could not bring her a pink nutcracker, but would bring a purple one instead.

feigning stupidity, i ask her why. she did the same, pretended to be stupid and didn't answer my question. {can you not see the 2 of us 10 years from now?!}

i continue to clean hoping that perhaps she really was being stupid. but trying to admit to myself that i was probably completely had!


then the PURPLE NUTCRACKER appeared. with the receipt!

and an announcement: "Mom, look what Santa brought me!"

so the truth is: we are both stupid. truly.


how does a mother ever explain that a gift from Santa arrives early. for only one member in a family.

i asked my 6 year old if he had ever heard of a child getting a present such as Kiara did. let the child lead us all and bring some wisdom to this ridiculous situation that i can only blame myself for.

so, as the kids see it: Santa brought a gift early. and we don't know why. but we are not sending it back.


so there the PURPLE nutcracker sits by the fireplace with the rest of the holiday decorations.

how did i ever get to be so lucky?!! isn't it every mothers' dream to have a purple nutcracker sitting by their fireplace? i can't help be totally confused as to WHO would be buying pink nutcrackers. other mothers? what is this world coming to?!!


on the good side. i finally have a few decorations up. gingerbread, icing and candies have been purchased. Christmas music is playing. Christmas will come whether the list gets checked off or not!

thinking

it is that time of year for the annual family photo.

i should share the funny photos i took of our next door neighbours. for now i am taking it as a compliment that they asked me to take a "bad photo" of them for their Christmas card. they wanted to do it old style 80's. considering only one of them was alive to see the 80's....they didn't do too badly! i added a laser background to one of the photos. then i could not resist. i had to add the garden gnomes peaking over their shoulders.

remember this post about some traveling gnomes?

it is always good to have comedy relief now and then.

on to our photo....




what do you think? i decided to add a texture i found.

i would have loved to have either a more plain or more interesting background (Christmas tree). outside was not an option. not with a timer.

now just to get busy on the cards.


i have to take a snack to our bible study group tomorrow. i decided to make banana chocolate chip muffins. i make them all the time. they are not difficult. tonight i forget to add the eggs until i reached the dry ingredient stage. even with Kris running out to get some eggs, i still forgot. i tried one and it didn't taste too badly, but they look very golden. my guess is that the eggs help the sugar dissolve. i think it is the sugar that changed the appearance. the good thing is that there will not be a huge sign by the container saying i was the baker! a little anonymity will be appreciated tomorrow!

i wish i could say it was the first time. a few months ago i made the most amazing steak recipe. Beef Tenderloin with Mustard-Cognac sauce. i forgot to add the mustard. thankfully the Cognac saved it!


it is one thing to be scatterbrained. but a whole new level when i behave that way in front of others. well. better to be beautiful than smart. ha! yeah, humility is not a strong feature as well. aren't you glad you know me?!!

what silly mistakes have you done? do share!