Here and There for the Holidays

I have to say, we've been having a pretty fun holiday together!  Last week we headed out to Parksville and spent two days at our cabin in Tigh Na Mara.  It was relaxing and entertaining, though I think I ate too much cheese!  Prosciutto wrapped mozzarella with basil, yes please!!

We explored the Falls, and went for more than a few swims in the pool!  After Santa arrived and we all had a good long time to play, then the truck was packed up and we headed out to the farm.

A full turkey feast was had, games were played and a visit to all the animals.  We had adventures in the woods, and I did an awful lot of knitting ..... 5 hats to be exact!  My word, I think I need a break from yarn for a little while.  A week should suffice, no?

Now we are back at home.  Things are really coming together here and since we are hosting a little party on New Years Eve, the house should be in good order .... good enough to take some photos I would hope!  So in January you'll get to finally see our place!

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good ol' xmas wrestling!

our hike at Englishman River Falls, the dog is trying to climb down the cliff!

hot chocolate and a carriage ride

a surprise visit from Santa

happy kid!

fun on xmas morning

a tired dog

a tired mama and babe

there was a bear in our kitchen, catching cucumber fish!

the towers

Our Trip Part 1: The City

We're Back!  I was going to blog during our little trip, but i lost the cable to connect my camera to my computer and what's a blog post without photos?

We spent two days in Vancouver and it was rather nice.  The weather co-operated and we got out to see a few things.  We decided to bring the dog, as our hotel is pet friendly.  During one of the days she went off to doggy daycare so we could leave the hotel (can't leave a dog alone in a hotel you know!).  In the morning we headed to Dressew ..... possibly the most fantastic place EVER! They are primarily a fabric and notions store, but have a massive selection of costume and halloween decor.  The boys love it for adding hats and masks to their dressup collection.  It's kind of a hodge podge in there, but it's a fun place to just wander around.

there are THREE aisles like this, dress up madness!

the boys running amock with giant clown scissors .... yes we took them home.

some of our loot, fabric for dress up, some skulls and skeletons for my upcoming day of the dead swap, knitting books (99 cents!) and some purse handles!

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In the basement of the shop they have isles and isles of buttons (some vintage), sequinned appliques, ribbon and all things stretchy and glittery!  There are also racks and racks of discounted fabrics!  Also purse frames, handles, zippers, quilting rulers etc etc.  I wish I got more photos, but I had my hands full with the kiddies! I am just glad they enjoy going there, so i can browse!

Later on the boys and I found a great little French diner for lunch. Poutine love!!

We also had a visit to the aquarium via the bus, always an adventure.  Poor Dylan was a bit scared of some of the exhibits this time around, so we really couldn't spend as much time as I'd hoped, there.  We did get to go for a dip in the pool before dinner and then had a relaxing evening.

i couldn't get a good photo ... I didn't even try.

There were, of course, places that I wish we'd had time for: Sephora, H&M, Main Street Shopping etc.  But all in all it was a good trip.  No drama, easy days, and all the travel went well!

Part Two: The Country .... tomorrow!

Goings Ons

Two of our Christmas's are over now.  We are still looking forward to two more!  Yes we certainly are spoiled.  It was a really nice low key Christmas this year.  We spent Xmas eve with some good friends, then Stayed in our jammies til 3pm(well at least I did)!!!  

We joined my sister and mom and families for a wonderful xmas dinner!  So now we're packing up and heading to the farm.  I may do a bit of blogging up there, but mostly plan to curl up by the fire and knit to my heart's content!  Hope you all had a lovely holiday season and have a Happy New Year!

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our fabric gift wrappings!!  Loved the clean up afterwards!

The week before xmas, Jack and I built a volcano.  Jack even build some huts and trees for the villagers (that would of course be annihilated by the hot, flowing lava!).  We brought it to our friend's house and filled it with vinegar and baking soda!!  This could be the beginning of a great xmas eve tradition!!

 some xmas day baking with my wee one!

the epic all day assembly of the paper castle model!  Literally this all we got done after a FULL day of cutting and gluing!  Jack was surprisingly patient! 

Cory's Xmas present to himself ..... two sets of previously owned rock band drum kits, hooked up to his computer and amp to make an electric drum kit.  As you can see the boys are LOVING it!!

The Build Up

I think we are officially in the "build up" phase of xmas.  Where we know it's coming and presents are madly being worked on, in hopes of being ready on time!  Also there is the anticipation, excitement, curiosity and a whole lot of hyper-ness!

The kids are insane really; not just hyper.  There has been a lot of screaming, running, yelling and some rather heated arguments.  Poor little jack, he knows something is coming, he knows there are sweets, treats and toys ..... but why?  why does he have to wait so long?

We are making it through day by day, but it's hard to handle in increase of melt downs.  I went from a week or two with none (and on my own then too!) to now, where there are little tantrums about the smallest things.

I assume, at least, that the xmas hub-bub is to blame for Jack and DD's crazy fury of up-cited (oh yes, that's a word!  upset and excited all at the same time!).  Or perhaps there is something else going on developmentally that I am unaware of.  You really just never know do you?

As far as things go for me, I am almost ready for the big day(s).  Jack's sweater is not going to be finished, but I may have the body and sleeves done, with just the hood left!  So hopefully come xmas morning it will look like a wearable item!

I have some goodies to make and jar, then the organizing of the calendars!  We made them ourselves this year, so I am tasked with punching holes in them, then fastening the pages together.  I'll give you a little peek of what they look like .... I'm rather proud of how they turned out!

(okay the printing at top looks off, but i removed some of it for the blog ....)

So that's it .... oh and egg nog!  Someone needs to make egg nog!

Party from Hell

I really never thought there could be a party from hell, but then again I'd never gone to a preschool xmas party!

They had schedule the party for dinner/night time.  Oh what a great time to get a bunch of small kids together!  I never go anywhere after 5pm unless I have to, the kids are just getting rangy and close to bed time!

The room they rented was FAR TOO SMALL!  I can not stress this enough!  It was tiny!  And crammed with rows of chairs and a long line of tables.  the only place to walk was in a narrow aisle between the tables and chairs.

Of course everyone was crowding around the tables of food (in the aisle)  so getting from one end of the room to the other was IMPOSSIBLE!  I had to pick up Dylan so he didn't get trampled and keep a close eye on Jack so he didn't get shoved or lost!  There were drinks being spilled everywhere which made it slippery!  Glad I didn't wear heels!

oh and the food ... potluck.  This can be good or bad.  In this case it was a bit of both.  I guess one had to know how the set up was going to be.  I thought it would be a casual stand around and grab food here and there, but i was sadly wrong.  They decided to organize a line (oh the line from hell!) and do it buffet style. There were so many people and really not enough food, so you had to grab everything you wanted all in one go.  Try balancing and over piled plate, drink, toddler and also holding onto the hand of the elder!!

If everyone made little finger foods, the buffet thing would have been okay, but there were lots of casseroles, so lots of scooping and fiddling.  Also once you got everything on your plate, it was all mixed together so it all tasted the same!  I'm not a fan of foods touching you know!

To top it all off there were older kids (siblings)  running around budging in front of everyone to grab a bite of food or pour themselves a drink, so you really had to be careful your plate ( or baby!) didn't get knocked out of your hand.

So we made it through the traumatic buffet and found a spot with one chair, just one .... yeah now try eating your slop of food while balancing toddler and plate on your lap and a grabbing, bouncing preschooler with drinks at our feet.  Ah, wolfed it all down, don't think i even stopped to breathe!!

Next comes the kids performance.  The kids were set up at the narrow end of the room and all the eager beaver parents stood up and crowded around them, so most of us couldn't even see.  It was so disorganized and crazy!  So I sat there with my dear friend and our two toddlers.  Dylan and her wee one had a blast!  I wasn't able to see anything of Jack singing, even if I tried to stand up I would have had to trow a bunch of elbows, mosh pit style, to get near the front!!

Okay then came time for Santa. This actually went well.. No complaints. And then the night was over!  I did get some nice photos of the boys in their bow ties!!  I whipped the ties up quickly the day of the party on the request of Jackson!  So cute!

jack greeting a friend

the only photo of jack not covering his face!

DD in his bow tie a la pee wee herman!

DD and his little friend making faces!

Enough

We have decided not to do anymore xmas decorating this year.  We aren't even getting out a single decoration.  It seems weird to say it, but here at home it looks great!  We have a simple white tree that I bought for 75% off last season, with white lights (just ignore the fact that the wires are not white, i'll fix that one day!) and a paper circle garland using the same paper as the advent cones.  The white tree against our new blue walls is quite striking and I think cluttering the tree up with ornaments would detract from that look.


Aslo most of my ornaments are very fragile, vintage glass balls.  I can trust Jack to not harm them, but I'm not so sure about Dylan.  Jack is pretty happy with just the garland. He did make it after all!  He loved punching out all the circles and feeding them into the sewing machine while I controlled the foot pedal!

I do need to make or find a thrifted tree skirt, but that's it.  Ah, the relief!  Christmas is great, the decorating is often too much for me though and don't even get me started on xmas songs ..... ew.

Trick or Treat!

The early, early scooping and carving!

Admiring their work!

Yoda and Rosie Riveter

Dylan's first "real" trick or treating! He RAN everywhere!

The Boys!

I didn't take too many photos this halloween. We were all rather exhausted from our travels. The night before halloween Jackson and I were up from midnight until 6am! We carved pumpkins at 4am .... something I will always remember!

We had a really fun time. We attended the bonfire and met up with some friends! Dylan fell asleep and Jack had to be carried half way home as he was so tired! All in all a good night!

Other Places

Enjoying a warm afternoon, after a cold rainy morning

Out in the rain, while I stayed inside to drink tea and crochet!

This little guy is crazy about slides .... crazy!

Our little Mud Monster, so much mud, his pants were falling down!

Playing the new lunch kit drums

Sometimes they actually play with all that cardboard stuff we've made!

I've had my mind in other places, and now it is actually taking us somewhere! We are planning a trip to Scotland and we couldn't be more thrilled! I've been spending a ridiculous amount of time on my computer, researching and planning routes. We've decided to stay on farms for most of our trip. I think the country air and secluded areas will be just perfect for us!

We are avoiding all big cities and just sticking to the back roads. I can't wait!!

We've been busy doing little things around the house. Cory built and installed some book shelves for the kiddies and also put up a rack for dress up clothes! I think we are finally going to start painting the living room ... okay maybe after we get back!

Jack has started preschool two days a week and loves it. Though I think Dylan loves it more! He runs around, happy to have the house (and all the toys) to himself! I hardly even see him, he so enthralled with all the toys he gets to have, those ones that Jack always takes away!

Alright time to get off the ol' blog site and book us a little Scottish farm cottage!

Beachs and a Bevy of Projects

a ride in a jalopy

exploring!

a new project for the kitchen

red scarlet runner beans and soon to be tomatoes and potatoes

the glass bathroom door ...... a little more privacy please!

We had a great weekend at the beach in Parksville! It ended up being an extended vacatin as we left on Thursday night. I came home refreshed and ready to take on all the new projects here at home!

Mardi Gras Party!!!

The Monte Cristo with GG's cranberry jam!

Jumbalaya!

Yummy treats!

The family

We had a fantastic night last night! Jack and I decided to throw a Mardi Gras party! We made sparkly masks and sprinkley cupcakes. i found some recipes for yummy New Orleans food and whipped up a quick feast!

We had jumbalaya and a fantastic Monte Cristo sandwich .... you really can't go wrong with a deep fried sandwich! I even used a loaf of my homemade bread for the sandwich!

After dinner Jack wanted Cory to play guitar (something J usually protests) and we all ended up have a family jam session with drums and other instruments! It was one of the most fun Tuesday we've had around here!