And its over.....



And so it is over...all the preparation, all the shopping, all the anticipation...over in a couple hours.  Here is my accounting of Christmas activities in our house.

On Christmas eve, we went to the Christmas eve service at our church.  It was a lovely service filled with carols, special music and a great message. Then ended with all the candles being lit and singing Silent Night...that is my favorite part.  Then after service we went out looking for some Christmas lights.  We have done that every year but it was more difficult this year because we couldn't find a list of the best lights.  We did find some amazing displays and we found a ritzy area with some huge houses.

Christmas day activities started with the night before and explaining to the girls that no one could open stockings until everyone was up (unlike last year where one girl woke up at 3 am and opened her stocking and went back to bed).  Then we added that they couldn't wake us up before 6.  Well that wasn't an issue.  Tabitha came out of her room around 8 and then I woke up Tiana around 8:20 and the girls did stockings.  Typical things like slipper socks, pez dispensers, candy and DVD's and some cool Canada mittens for the girls.  Stockings are always fun.

After stockings we had breakfast, Wil made a variety of types of eggs, hashbrowns and peameal bacon.  Then it was time for the Christmas story.  I have to admit, it was the first time that I had to read it out loud.  I have been blessed to have had someone in my family read it at a family gathering every year of my life.  We read Luke at the Christmas eve service so I read Matthew.  Then it was on to gifts.

Then it was on to gifts....my whole focus this year was wrapping gift so that they were hard to guess.  This was mainly for Wil because he tends to guess every time but I carried it over to the girls.  So we had cash hidden in toilet paper and kleenex, and DVD's hidden in blankets and gift cards in large boxes of paper but there were two that I was most proud of.  I had 50 loonies(one dollar coins) to give Tiana and so I bought a bunch of bird seed and put it in a plastic bin and then she had to dig for the loonies.  It was hilarious although by about 45 she was not having quite as much fun.  The multiple textures of the birdseed made it difficult and the less there were the harder it was...she ended up having Wil help her pour it into another container while she sifted and the last one was at the end of the birdseed.  I had a smile on my face the whole time.  The other one was a sword that I bought Wil.  Well it is hard to wrap a sword without it being obvious.  So Tiana helped me and we wrapped styrofoam on each end and he couldn't figure it out...YAY!  We win..now the bar is set for next year.  

A few of the gifts:

Wil-he got a ninja sword, a Klingon "sword" and book on Canadian naval warships and some other fun things like a desktop curling game

Brenda-I got a bunch of Christmas DVDs, including White Christmas and It's a Wonderful life.  I got a computer record player that will transfer my albums to computer files and I got some purple thermal socks.

Tiana-a magnetic spiderman that she can hang from her ceiling, a spidey blanket, cash, some Jeff Dunham ornaments and a DVD

Tabitha-a pig that snores and wiggles his ears...she could not stop laughing...very funny.  She of course also got a ton of Twilight stuff, shirts, pillowcases and DVDs.

Family-we got a Wii game, Monopoly (classic version) somehow it was a game we didn't have and we bought rockband 3 a couple days ago so that by adding the keyboard all 4 of us can play an instrument.

It was a good morning.  Then on to dinner.

We decided to do a turducken this year...a chicken in a duck in a turkey.  It was something I had heard of and wanted to try so we did.  We ordered it from the local butcher and he did a great job.  It cooked a little quicker than we expected so we quickly started putting everything together.  We had the turducken, mashed potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce, corn and snap peas.  Everything was yummy.  The turducken was good.  It was hard to pick out the chicken from the turkey but the duck was very good.  The girls weren't too impressed...they didn't like the fattiness of the duck.  Oh well, more for us.  The gravy that it made was very tasty.  We didn't make a dessert because we had made spritz, chocolate chip and ginger snaps the day before.  Tiana had made fudge meltaways earlier in the week and our neighbors brought us a plate of goodies so we had plenty of sweets.

After dinner we had a friend of Tiana's unexpectedly join us so we all played Monopoly for awhile, then we tried to play rock band and then Tabitha went to watch her movie and Tiana and Andrew went for a dip in the hot tub.

That was pretty much it.  Today is Boxing Day so it is a huge shopping day in Canada so I think Wil and I are going to church and then go do some shopping.  Then we move on to taking Christmas decor down and working on cleaning out Tabitha's room to paint her room.

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and we wish you a Happy New Year!  Love you all!

More thoughts...

As I drove to the store, I realized I really didn't update you on anything of substance.   I guess that is because I don't want the blog to be an insight into Canada and our lives.  I struggle with putting down my feelings because I don't want the blog to turn into a negative thing.  But as I was driving I realized if I don't update you on the struggles we are having then I lose the opportunity to have  you pray for us.  So I think I will add a section on the blog or in each post called prayer needs.  This way I can be brief and if you want more details you can email me.  Here goes:

Prayer needs:
Tiana: she is trying very hard to "fit in".  She is making friends but they are all superficial since we are new.  She tried out for the volleyball team but with 30 girls trying for 12 spaces, she didn't make it.  She is in 2 youth groups.  She is looking for that one close friend.  She also needs to find a sport or team to be involved in.  Unfortunately there aren't as many options here but I am looking outside the box at this point and we are considering hockey or karate or something new.  Pray that she keeps trying.  I am very proud and she keeps bouncing back and not giving up but I worry that she will give up.  This is hard move for her and I still think it is a great opportunity/experience but that doesn't make it any easier.

Me:  I struggle on a daily basis.  The pain I have as I watch Tiana struggle.  The battles with the two teen girls.  The loss of direction and meaning in my life.  The distance I feel from everyone that I love.  It all takes its toll.  Each day I get up and try again and some days that is easy and some days that is hard.  There I days where I feel my world is crumbling around me faster than I can build it up.  I am thankful for God in my life and He has heard some weird prayers from me because I am still trying to thank him in all circumstances.

Tabitha:  I don't know...she really doesn't communicate her feelings so I don't know what she needs.   I know she really struggles making the "right" choices and it gets her in trouble quite a bit.  So we can pray for wisdom for her.

Wil:  Again I don't know...not a big feeling person...lol...typical male.  Pray for peace and strength amid the chaos that exists right now.

A wise person, my sister, told me to give it at least a year before making any judgements and that has been extremely helpful but it doesn't make it easier.

Sorry to be such a downer but I didn't feel like the blog was as accurate as it should be.  I have a way of glossing over the difficult stuff because it means I have to dwell on it again and why drag others down with you.  I guess I am looking at it as me climbing up with the love and prayer of friends instead of pulling you down.  Love you all!

The lesson from the movie!

"Christmas doesn't have to be perfect what matters is that we are together"...that is soooooo true!  I think next year I will print that and post it around the house for me to remember!

On Strike for Christmas! (no not really)

So I am sitting here on Saturday morning watching a movie called "On Strike for Christmas!".  Wow, it is like they wrote a movie about my life right now.  It is about a mom, with 2 teen boys and a husband, who is trying to make Christmas happen for her family.  You know, the joy of Christmas, decorate, bake, clean, organize, shop, etc.  She assigns her family things to do but they never have time or are too busy with "more important" things.  So one by one she starts doing things on her own because she wants Christmas to be the "best Christmas ever".  Well as she sees how little her family appreciates anything she decides to go on strike...I am not through with the movie but believe me the thought has crossed my mind.  Although as I sit here enjoying the beautiful lights on the tree (which I put up and decorated by myself), the thoughts hit me that Christmas is in a week and I don't think my family really knows except that they will get to open presents in a week.  Oh well...the tree sure is pretty.

So this week we went to Tabitha's choir and band concerts.  Sometimes I forget that we have moved to such a small town well, not at the performances.  It was very fun.  The band had probably 25 kids and was very heavy on sax and clarinet.  Tabitha even played a duet.  Then the vocals...the music teacher had the girls sing "Santa Baby".   Oh what fun to watch high school girls acting cute and flirty in front of parents....the red cheeks were so Christmasy.  There is no french horn in the band so I am working on getting Tiana to join to help balance the brass section.  The one thing about a small town band and chorus, the talent is more transparent and less hidden.  Some of the kids were really good.

We do have snow...not a lot but everything is very white and pretty.  The plows in Smiths Falls are awesome so the main roads are cleared  very quickly although not early enough for Wil, he has had quite the sketchy drive a couple days last week.  The countryside is beautiful and the lights are pretty against the white snow.  We will go looking at lights sometime this week.  Wil did a great job on our outside lights..the house looks great.  I have amassed quite a bit of stuff for Halloween, I need to turn my bargain shopping skills to outside stuff for Christmas.  The more the better...but I don't want to light up the neighborhood.  This picture doesn't do it justice because we have added more on the garage but you'll get an idea.

The girls have school until Thursday and then are out until the 10th.  Wil is off work starting on Thursday and I have next week off although without pay so that sucks.  I am working on making neighbor gifts.  Our plan was to make people puppy chow to hand out and maybe some chex mix...problem...I haven't been able to find Chex or Crispix cereal.  I will be looking at a couple more stores today.  I also got stuff to make spritz cookies so I think we will do that on Christmas eve.

Christmas dinner...hmmm what to make.  I asked my family for ideas and got....nothing.  So I saw a thing on TV about Turduckens and wanted to try that.  It is a chicken stuffed into a duck stuffed into a turkey.  Sounded yummy plus I love saying turducken...so I ordered one from the local butcher.  I will pick it up on Thursday.  I bought fresh cranberries and potatoes and Wil will make stuffing.  Not sure about dessert, Tiana is making fudge meltaways so that may be enough.

Then on to New Years..that's our anniversary.  We won't be doing anything though.  Wil and I decided that it would probably be smart to try to try to have a family party on New Years and maybe keep the girls at home on a night when there is bound to be alcohol galore around at kids parties.  I don't know if it will work but we are going to shoot off fireworks at midnight in honor of the Pikes Peak fireworks that I have watched for so many years.  We can do it in our driveway and there won't be the flood of mosquitoes that we had for 4th of July.  I will try to get pics or a video.

Well that is all for now...people are up and moving and I need to get around and get stuff done.  Love you all!

Christmas is coming.....

Well the birthdays are finished.   Tiana turned 15 yesterday.  I can't believe it.  It seems like it was yesterday, man time flies.  She had some friends over on Saturday night...they enjoyed the hot tub and just goofing off and then some of the girls stayed the night.  I had to go down around 1:30 and remind them that some people were trying to sleep but she had fun.  Sunday we went to the piercing shop and she got her bellybutton pierced.  That was her gift to herself.  We have it on video but hopefully no one will be seeing that.  Then we did gifts and watched some of her favorite movies.  We watched Nightmare before Christmas...she thinks Jack is handsome and then Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  We had Pad Thai with chicken and shrimp and homemade Oreo cake.  It was a good day.

It snowed most of the day, big fluffy flakes swirling slowly.  We probably got about 3 inches and it sure is pretty today.  We haven't really had much snow...little flurries here and there but I am sure it is coming.


I decorated for Christmas by myself this year.  It was sad but I couldn't get anyone else in the spirit I guess.  But I wanted the decorations up so I just did it.  I think it looks nice.  I am not quite done shopping which is unusual for me but things are still a bit disorganized so I am pleased with where I am at right now.  Today I am writing the Christmas letter and trying to make lists of what still needs to be done. 

I have been fighting a cold...I think it is allergies but it sure is wiping me out.  All I want to do is sleep. 

We did go into Watertown for Black Friday.  It was crowded but it wasn't bad.  The check out line for Kohls was the worst.  It was 1/2 way around the store.  It moved quickly though.  We got some deals on clothes and had fun walking the mall.  We cut it a little short because it was snowing pretty badly and I didn't want to be stuck there but a couple miles out of Watertown and it was dry and the roads were clear.  It was a nice day.

Wil came home that day and brought 12 live lobster with him from Halifax.  So on Saturday we went down to Kingston and had a lobster boil and celebrated a friends 18th birthday.  The lobster was yummy and it was a nice time.  Not much else is happening..I am researching some options for some family things to do while the girls are out on Christmas break.   We'll see what I come up with. 

Love to all!

Here's a better pic of our new kitty, Simba.