Christmas 2013

Josh arrived in Nova Scotia on Saturday, Dec 21 after a long icy drive. He and a friend he was travelling with spent Friday night in Bangor and then headed the rest of the way on Saturday. It was still a very long day. We're so thankful he was able to come home, and he brought some goodies for the rest of us. Gaëlle is THRILLED with this sparkly purple dress.

I was very late getting any Christmas baking done. On Monday night, I finally got my act together and made some of the traditional treats. Robin and Gaëlle were all about helping. And sampling. It passed the taste test.

Josh helped me with the peanut butter cups. They've been a Christmas staple for many years now. 

Christmas Eve after the early service, we had our snack/meal. I didn't get a picture, but Peter pretty much single handedly finished off an entire tray of shrimp. We had the lobster sandwiches. And other snacks and sweets.

Josh rocking the red plaid shirt.

Robin rocking the 30 year old red socks that only come out at Christmas time.

Christmas morning and the girls are ready to go.

Robin is reading the Bible to start off our day.

Stockings under the tree.

It's always interesting to see how the kids will do with Christmas. It takes a few reminders of how we are supposed to act. But the younger kids did well. I was proud of them for handling such an emotional anxiety inducing day so well.

The kids draw names for each other and Josh had Gaëlle. He got her an iPod shuffle so she  can listen to music. He had it inscribed on the back with, "ROCK ON GAELLE". She loved it.

Peter didn't have a lot of toys or things to play with this year but he seemed pleased with the way the day went.

Gaëlle surprised me this year when she asked for an American Girl Doll. She mentioned it several times so I was quite pleased to order one for her. She loved it. More on that in another post.

Peter was also pretty single minded this year. He wanted a scooter that does tricks. So, that's what we got him. Now he has to wait until the snow clears up a bit to use it. 

Kaylin is still strong in the veggie eating camp, so we got her a juicer and mini food processor. She seems ready to put it to good use. 

Emily is in her last year of university and she her computer has been dying. She is afraid it will crash at any moment, so we decided to get her graduation gift early. Then for graduation, we'll get her a Christmas present. She was THRILLED. Now at least she just has to worry about her studies and not her computer.

Josh is a die hard Ottawa Senators hockey fan and so we got him a jersey. He wore it most of the day.

Snickers wasn't left out. She had a bone to chew on. She's still working on it. It's huge for her.

The kids hanging out on the couch figuring out the laptops.

Peter trying out his scooter and wishing we had an unfinished basement.

Kaylin tried out her juicer and the kids stood back in amazement.

First try and the grapefruit was a little overpowering. But it looks pretty.

Our Christmas meal was also traditional. Nothing new. However Kaylin made a vegan dish with acorn squash and quinoa. It looked good.

Last year when Robin and I were on our 25th anniversary weekend away we went for a beach walk and found this driftwood - old crate piece on the beach. We brought it home and this Christmas Robin fixed it up a bit and place a mirror in it. I love it.

At night, Val and Vashti came over for some games. We introduced them to the card game SCUM. It's such a fun game to play when there's a large crowd. 

Peter and Gaëlle love to be included so they were able to play.

The 2 high scorers of the evening. All in all, we had a wonderful day. Kids were able to control themselves and keep themselves regulated. Nobody was rushed and we just had fun together. Merry Christmas.

Snow fun

We've had a few snow days this December. The kids had 2 days off school this week and we couldn't make church last Sunday because of the weather. There have been a few games played.

A few movies watched.

Some snow shovelling.

A dog who isn't too fond of the snow and cold. 

More eager snow shovelers. 

And some sledding.

A university student has come home. Yeah.

On Friday night the club had their puppet Christmas show. Emily works with them every other Friday night. She puts in a lot of work to make this accessible to all who want to participate. It's a great activity and I had a fun time watching. Robin read a poem Emily had written between puppet songs. So cute. Kaylin and Peter and Vashti also helped out on performance night so there was a bit of support for the club members and Emily. 

Josh made it home Saturday night. He brought goodies for the kids, and us. Gaëlle seemed most excited about the purple sequinned dress. Thanks mom.

Christmas 2013 is in full swing

I'm a little slow with posts this December. But I'll try to document our Christmas season. 

Saturday we picked out the tree.

Emily and Gaëlle are showing off their Christmas crafts from their Primary/Kindergarten years.

Peter was the first one to get the cardboard nativity set. This is a must have decoration.

Emily and Gable making sure the lights work.

Every year Robin hangs the stockings. 

Emily is teasing Kaylin from afar. This was one of Kaylin's creations from way back.

On Sunday we went to Gaëlle's school to decorate a gingerbread house. It was just the girls and we had a nice time. Gaëlle sat next to a girl from her bus. So we all got to meet the family.

It's a good thing Emily was there. She kept us on track.

We had lots of pieces to decorate but the entire scene was already put together.

The finished product.

The Christmas Season is Here

I guess I missed putting up photos from the Christmas Parade in Halifax. It seemed super early to me, but I managed to get us all out the door in time to go. It helped that it was a warm evening and so we didn't have to bundle the kids up in snow pants. A warm jacket was sufficient. 

The parade was fun and the lights were nice and the streets were packed with people. I don't know if there were larger crowds than normal because we go to the smaller Bedford parade most years. But not this one. Anyway, the photos aren't great, but here they are.

This week when Gaëlle and I were in the store, we saw Christmas Rice Krispies. So we bought a box and some marshmallows and came right home and whipped up a batch of squares. If you listen to Gaëlle, she did it all. But either way, there was a pan of Rice Krispie squares this week in the Churchill household.

I love it when I get organized enough to cut up some veggies and get them pre-packaged for snacks. I also made some hummus. Love it.

We had some big wind and rain this week. It totally threw Snickers for a loop. She hates the noise and managed to cower the entire time. Poor girl.

The YouVersion Bible App for kids came out this Thursday. I am a huge fan of YouVersion Bible for our electronic gadgets. We all use it and I was so pleased to see the kids version. It is extremely well done. They haven't released the full version yet but the graphics are great and this morning while I folded my clothes, Gaëlle explored the Bible stories. 

Friday night with kids

Friday night Gaëlle had a movie night at her school. We signed her up and I offered to take Peter and a couple of his friends out to do something. Robin ended up going to The Club with Emily to volunteer for the night. He was a volunteer last year but this year, we seem to be busier on the weekend so he didn't sign up again. Unfortunately they don't have as many volunteers this year, and so Robin decided to help out.

So, it was just me and the boys. We started with Bar-B-Q food. Then we were supposed to go bowling but the lanes were full. So, we headed to the arcade. I sat and read, while they played. They had a great time and I tried not to think of the waste of money.

We picked up Gaëlle when her movie was over. And on the way home, one of the boys told me about deep fried Mars Candy Bars at the local fish and chips place. I had no idea, but it sounded like a fun food to try.

I made 4 kids very happy with my spontaneous gesture. And what can top deep fried gooey chocolate and caramel?

Brides, blood pressure, and bags

Kaylin came home this weekend which is always nice. Emily, Kaylin, and myself drove to Bridgewater on Saturday for Sarah's bridal shower. It was held at the church so it was great to see so many familiar faces from our time there. I wish we had more time to visit but it was still good to at least talk,with a few.

It wouldn't be a shower without a few games. We had to guess who said what, Sarah or Drew and hold up the crown or moustache. 

Then there was a ring game where we were supposed to collect as many rings as possible.

My 2 princesses. 

I asked the girls,if I could get some pictures. Such beautiful smiles.

So photogenic.

Robin asked Kaylin to take his blood pressure. He has had issues in the past. He's pleased to report that it was 115/75. 

Of course Emily wanted a turn.

And she couldn't leave me out. She said I was faint and I'm always low. This time it was 90/60.

Sunday afternoon we had the chance to draw names for Christmas so we waited until Josh could skype and then we picked. For some reason Gaëlle really wanted Josh to get her name. She finally confessed that it's because you can buy better stuff in the US. I'm not sure how she has gotten that message, but there you go. And Josh did get her name. So the expectations are pretty high.

Robin asked Kaylin to check his blood pressure again this morning just to make sure it was legit. Today he came in at 118/75. Still very good.

I wanted to get a picture of Peter with Kaylin to show just how tall he has gotten. He is much taller than the girls now. Crazy.

This afternoon I had the sewing machine out working on bags. So Gaëlle asked to do one. I let her cut out 2 squares of material and a strip for the handle and she easily put a small bag together.

I have been reinforcing some seams from some bags made in Haiti. They are to be sold here to pay the ladies in Haiti that made them. Unfortunately there were some issues with the sewing machines and the tension was a bit off. So, I guess I have bags on my mind.