December Daily - The 5th

Today was quite festive in our home!  After naps we dressed the kiddos and headed off to the mall to visit the Big Guy himself.  Santa photos are always a favourite for me, and the kids were so excited to see him while we made our way through the line!  We talked about how they would sit on his lap and the photographer would take a picture.  Everyone was thrilled.  Sophia even entertained the people behind us by lifting up her shirt and wiggling her belly at them (honestly, she has NEVER done this before...hillarious).  Soon there was only one person ahead of us, and the kids were watching Santa with so much anticipation!

And then, it was our turn.  Aiden climbed right up on to Santa's lap - no problem.  Sophia however, went stage 5 clinger on us and refused to even PRETEND to consider that she would ever sit on his lap in our wildest dreams and could we PLEASE get out of there immediately?!?!?  We made the best of the situation and took a family photo instead of one with just the kids.  Everyone left happy.  haha

After our pictures we stopped to watch the workers assembling the new Christmas tree for the mall.  They are just finishing renovations in the mall and this tree is making its first appearance....so fun!

After a quick bite to eat we visited a few stores and discovered that a school choir had set up in the middle of the upper level and were singing Christmas carols.  Such an enjoyable experience!  We stayed for a few songs (Aiden didn't want to leave at all) and then made our way home.

When we got back to our neighbourhood we drove around and looked at the Christmas lights.  The kids were loving this.  So many blow up Frosty's in our neighbourhood! hahaha  Such a fun day!

Tonight's Christmas Movie - Sophia The First: Holiday in Enchancia

December Daily® is a December mini-album project devised by Ali Edwards with the simple goal of capturing the spirit of December via one story per day. Read more on her website here.

December Daily - The 4th

Kris arrived home tonight after a week long trip after travelling to Chicago for the RSNA conference with some of his work peeps. He brought back some super cute gifts for the kids.  Snow globes.  They love snow globes.  These are their first each and they are both ecstatic.  At least we can say we have SOME snow now, as things are looking pretty green outside.

Tonight's Christmas Movie - Mickey's Christmas Carol, Pluto's Christmas Tree & Frosty the Snowman (AGAIN)

December Daily® is a December mini-album project devised by Ali Edwards with the simple goal of capturing the spirit of December via one story per day. Read more on her website here.

December Daily - The 3rd

Today's story is about the arrival of our first Christmas card!  The kids and I go to the mailbox every day after daycare, and today we found a surprise waiting for us!  Our first card arrived from Auntie Tracey & Erica.  Aiden was super excited.  Sophia was impartial - hahaha .

Both enjoyed when I hung the card on our art wall.  We take down the regular art during the holidays and put up any Christmas art that the kids bring home, as well as all of our Christmas cards.  Such a festive and easy display!

Tonight's Christmas Movie - Mickey's Twice Upon A Christmas (Huey Dewey & Louie Short, Goofy Short, Mickey Short)

December Daily® is a December mini-album project devised by Ali Edwards with the simple goal of capturing the spirit of December via one story per day. Read more on her website here.

December Daily - The 2nd

Today was Baking Day 1.  And the story of that is that I got a new phone, took adorable pictures of Baking Day 1, and then when I went to update my new phone to add my old content, the adorable pictures of Baking Day 1 disappeared into the abyss and can be found by no one.  :(

Aiden and I 'baked' chocolate covered pretzels.  He had a delightful time unwrapping the Hershey's Kisses for me, and handing me the M&M s to place on top of the melted Kisses.  He had an even more delightful time sneaking tastes when he thought I wasn't looking.  Lets just say that batch #1 of these will NOT be gifted to others, as I can't guarantee that there isn't a slightly licked M&M in the mix anywhere...hahaha.  Such a cute kid.

Tonight's Christmas Movie - Mickey's Twice Upon A Christmas (The Minnie & Daisy Skating Short)

December Daily® is a December mini-album project devised by Ali Edwards with the simple goal of capturing the spirit of December via one story per day. Read more on her website here.

December Daily - The 1st

This December started out differently for us this year.  Traditionally we get the outside lights up in November, and they don't get turned on until December 1st.  This was about the only 'normal' thing that happened today/  Lights went up in November.  Lights got turned on today for the first time.  I set up our inflatable Mickey and Yoda (I mean Santa Mickey and Santa Yoda) right before I went to pick the kids up from daycare.  When we walked home they could see the lights blazing from down the street, and Sophia was SO excited to see Mickey!

We also traditionally set up our tree and indoor decorations on the 1st.  This year we did that early as Kris is out of town and we didn't want to wait for him to get home, but also didn't want to do it without him.  So the decorations went up a few days ago.  The kids are thrilled with them so far.  Sophia is handling the tree MUCH better than Aiden did at that age.  He thought that every ornament needed to be tested as a baseball.  Pretty sure he was doing some quality testing ;).

This morning the kids came downstairs to find their Advent Calendars set out on the kitchen table.  They were SO excited.  Each has their own calendar this year, which is fun for both of them.  I also picked up a super cute magnetic Christmas Tree countdown game which they are loving.  All in all a great start to our December!  Now lets hope for some snow!  Aiden keeps asking when the snow is going to arrive.  I think he is too young to understand the finer details of El Nino just yet.  :)

Tonight's Christmas Movie - Frozen

December Daily® is a December mini-album project devised by Ali Edwards with the simple goal of capturing the spirit of December via one story per day. Read more on her website here.

December Daily - Decorating the Tree

This year we broke tradition and decorated the tree a few days early!  Kris is going to be out of town on the 1st, which is when we usually set up our tree and other indoor decor.  The kids had a great time, and we had some special visitors helping us out that day.  Nanna, Nonno, Uncle Marc and Auntie Amy were all visiting for the weekend, so they all helped out with various decorating activities.

Aiden helped assemble the tree (he IS super strong after all).

Auntie Amy and Uncle Marc hung the lights.

Everyone helped hang the decorations.

The kids also had fun playing with their nativity.

A fun day had by all!

Tonight's Christmas Movie - Frosty the Snowman

December Daily® is a December mini-album project devised by Ali Edwards with the simple goal of capturing the spirit of December via one story per day. Read more on her website here.

December Daily 2015 - The Santa Claus Parade

This past weekend we went to the Santa Claus Parade with good friends of ours.  This is the first year Aiden has really understood what a parade is, and was very excited about it, and asked daily 'Is today the day we will go to the parade?!'.  Even Sophia had a fun time sitting on Daddy's shoulders and watching to colourful floats go by.  The only downfall to the evening was that it started to rain - enough so that we ended up having to leave early.  Although disappointed to leave, the kids were happy to get their hot cocoa on the way home, and thankfully didn't realize we had missed out on seeing the Big Guy himself at the end of the parade.  I don't think we will get away with that in the future...haha.

December Daily® is a December mini-album project devised by Ali Edwards with the simple goal of capturing the spirit of December via one story per day. Read more on her website here.

December Daily 2015 - The Hanging of the Lights

And so it begins again!  Another December will soon be upon us, and it is my absolute favourite time of the year.  The magic that Christmas brings to the world is always so wonderful.  People are nicer.  The food is tastier.  The parties last longer.  And the scrapbooking goes next level.  (haha)

I am participating in Ali Edwards December Daily project again this year, and am quite excited about it.  I am almost finished last year's album, and will share those finished pages soon.

Although it isn't December yet, today we completed our first task of the holiday season; hanging the outdoor lights.  Lets face it.  This is Ontario.  It is COLD here in December.  So today's balmy 15° was ideal for taking care of this task without freezing our tushies off.  Aiden 'helped' by handing me cord clips and winding the garland around the railing.  He was pretty disappointed that we wouldn't let him hang from one hand off of the roof to attach the light strands, but you know....safety first.... ;)

We will do a test lighting tonight to see how they look, but otherwise they remain off until December 1st.  This is also when we will add our little Christmas trees at the base of the stairs, as well as the inflatable Christmas Mickey and Santa Yoda.  The kids love those.  Looking forward to lighting day!!

December Daily® is a December mini-album project devised by Ali Edwards with the simple goal of capturing the spirit of December via one story per day. Read more on her website here.

WITL Day 4 - Thursday August 20, 2015

Today is all about forgetting to take pictures...

We had a rushed morning as we all woke up late, scrambled for breakfast, and then headed off with the kiddos in tow to the local historical plane museum.  Both love planes and neither had been to this museum before, so we had a lot of fun.  There are a few planes you can climb into, which they LOVED, and in one Soph was at the wheel and Aiden started flipping switches and gears and shouted, 'OK Sophia, I'll get you ready for takeoff!'  Where does he learn these things?

After a quick lunch it was nap time for everyone again while Kris tried to do some work.  This was hindered by the fact that Aiden did not WANT to take a nap, and I was unhelpful because I was already napping.  In the end Kris settled for Aiden relaxing on the couch watching a movie while he finished up what he had to do.

In the evening we went to Nanna and Nonno's house for pizza and wings with our cousins.  We are heading back home in a few days and wanted to share one last meal with them before we left.

After dinner we relaxed around the house, colouring and playing with play doh.  These activities have become a standard this week as it has been so rainy and dreary outside.  Normally we are outside playing.

WITL Day 2 - Tuesday August 18, 2015

Another slow day around here.  Neither Soph nor I are feeling 100% yet so we took it easy.  After a quiet breakfast (thank you Bo on the Go) I headed out to the play place with the kiddos so Kris could do some work.  It was a rainy day so it was JAMMED, but the kids always have a great time and today was no exception.  We even bumped in to a few friends that made the trip that much more fun.

After lunch and naps we did the ever popular 'watching more Paw Patrol' and play time in the living room.  By 3:00 I was wishing I had followed in yesterday's footsteps and joined the kids for nap time, (instead I just went to bed a 7:30).

After yummy taco's for dinner, baths for the kids, and a little pre-bed play time, Soph was off to bed and Aiden hung out with me for a bit playing his 'iPad' (LeapPad) while I hovered between sleep and YouTube attentiveness.  This pregnancy is definitely kicking my butt - must rest now while I can.  Maybe tomorrow will be a better day for pictures.  (haha)