Happenings around the house

Yesterday Kaylin got her 4 wisdom teeth removed. She did very well with the surgery and was not in any pain yesterday. She couldn't talk very well after the surgery and had a case of the giggles but she stayed quiet and watched movies and snuggled with Snickers. 

My running has been very slack lately but Emily and I were able to go for a quick run once so far. Maybe we can fit another one in. Now Emily is trying to talk me into running the half marathon in Halifax this May. We'll see.

Panini press in action. Lots of sandwiches. 

Even an attempt at s'mores.

Gaelle has decided the s'more was pretty good.

Peter is pretty excited about learning to play bass guitar. It  makes lots of noise. What could be better?

Christmas 2012

Emily and Kaylin managed to survive their sleep over in the basement with Gaelle and Peter but I think it was touch and go there for a while with one little girl. She does not do well with little sleep and she woke up very grumpy on Christmas morning. She pulled herself together and we started off with Bible reading and then bubble bread and hot cider. 

This has got to be one of the funniest looking trees we've ever had. It's hard to tell from the photo but it has 2 huge chunks on 2 sides of the tree. We have a home made ornament tree which we all love, but the tree itself was not too pretty. 

We have to be fairly careful or Snickers will snatch food from the coffee table. She so wants to be in the action.

Robin is showing off his new earphones. He claims he couldn't hear anything other than the music. 

Emily bought Gaelle a very flashy gymnastics suit. She ordered it online and when it came it seemed small so she was a bit concerned leading up to Christmas. But she knew Gaelle would love it and she did. 

Peter made Josh a card to go along with his gift. It's Buddy the Elf. He is so creative but I think I've said that before.

Emily was given a couple of pieces of running gear. So she was pumped to try them on and try them out.

Kaylin gave Peter a Ripley's Believe it or Not book. The items are quite gruesome and proved very entertaining for some. I choose not to believe. 

Gaelle received a child sized tablet which she just loves. Here are the 2 girls with their tablets. 

Peter received a computer game called Minecraft so he spent a bit of time playing with that.

Peter also received a couple of Lego sets. You can see he isn't the only one interested in the Lego.

We added to our Wii game collection with a resort style game. It didn't get much use on Christmas but it will be one we pull out and play as a family. 

Josh was showing off his basketball moves.

At the end of the day it was nice to just hang out and relax. 

It really was a wonderful family day together. I feel so blessed when I look back at 2012. It wasn't all roses but it was a time of growth for most of us. I wish we were closer to more of our extended family but I'm thankful my immediate family is all here in Halifax. At least for 2012. 

Christmas Eve 2012

I only worked Christmas Eve morning and by the time I got home, Kaylin and Gaelle had already done a bit of cleaning. I wanted to get some baking done so I hauled out a puppet kit my mom had given the kids.

These kids are super creative and the puppet materials entertained them most of the afternoon. Which was good because Josh was in the emergency room from 11 am until 8:30 pm with a pain. Robin took him there and I was a bit concerned all day. He left with a prescription and managed to make his way to our house when he was finished so that was good. 

We went to the 6 pm service at church and when we got home we had a few things to eat.

I did a lousy job with the photos but here are a few.

Trena and Aunt Floris joined us which was so nice. 

Josh doesn't look like he was in outpatients all day, does he?

Emily went to church with the lady she is an attendant for and then came to our house for a sleep over. After all, it's tradition. 

Some game time

Emily and Robin went for a quick run together on Saturday. 

She just can't help it. Emily is a peppy runner. FULL of energy. 

We finally broke out Empire Builders. We have a few variations of the game which we have played a lot in the past but it's been a while. We have a new fan. Peter is hooked. He was able to keep up for the most part and did well. 

Gaelle found the camera and this is what she took. She was extremely pleased with her candid shot. 

A little bit of knitting

So after Kaylin pulled out her knitting Gaelle was consumed with learning how to knit. So, I finally took a little time and showed her the basics.

When Gaelle is motivated and pays attention, she can easily catch on. And she did.

After Peter saw us at work, he also got in on the act.

Full of concentration.

3 kids knitting on the couch.

Almost a week later and only one project has been completed. Kaylin finished her infinity scarf. Peter and Gaelle have ripped out their stitches multiple times. But it was fun trying to learn.

Peter asked to make and take Christmas Toffee Squares for his class party on Wednesday. So on Tuesday night, we started the process. We also made a batch for Gaelle's class. They were a big hit. Peter even printed out the recipe and gave it to some of the kids in his class. 

Home for the holidays

She's home for Christmas. Kaylin had a great first semester at school and seems more convinced than ever that nursing is for her. We're happy she is home.

Many years ago Kaylin made a shawl out of this gorgeous hand made and hand dyed yarn. Last night she was inspired to take it apart and start on an infinity scarf. So she has her project for the Christmas break. 

Christmas cheer

We finally got the decorations out and went to work. One of our many nativity sets. 

Two beautiful girls who were totally in the spirit.

There may have been a few Quality Street candies consumed.

I didn't do very well capturing Peter and only have this blurry photo. But he was around and very much involved with the decorating. 

Santa Shuffle

I signed our family up for The Santa Shuffle Run put on by the Salvation Army. Today was the day.

Numbers on.

Smiles in place.

Ready to go. The kids were mocking Robin and myself a bit because we were obsessed by the cold. It was only about -6 C but the run was along the waterfront and you just never know when the wind will kick in.

Emily is a new runner. She started this fall consistently running and as you can tell, she was in the Christmas spirit.

I signed the whole family up as there was a 1 K Elf Walk/Run. Peter and Gaelle could easily run/walk 5K but I didn't know if I wanted to take the time to do that. There were several families with strollers and young kids doing just that but for this year, I went with Peter and Gaelle on the 1K. Peter came in first. He ran the whole way. I stayed with Gaelle and she just had to walk a couple of times. She came in 5th.

And here comes Emily. She had a bit of energy at the end.

Here comes Josh. He hasn't been running steadily and doesn't really enjoy it so I'm glad he came along.

They had chilli and hot chocolate at the end. Good times.