A fun day at Val's house

In the picture above Susannah has things stuffed down her top as part of a game we were playing :)

Yesterday we were invited to my friend Vals house for the day - and we had a wonderful time - as always!!

Val made us a lovely pasta lunch with her (secret recipe hahahaha) garlic breadsticks!  Yum!

We finally got to play our new board game Quelf!!  It's a CRAZY game - it comes with an invisible harpoon!!  You have to do strange things like ask your foot permission to speak, play peekaboo with every person who speaks to you, write and sing an opera song about the person to your right, put on lipstick, find the plunger and use it as a sword, scream and pretend to die every time someone passes you on the board, be someones cheerleader every time they take their turn!!   Make people stand up and sit down constantly.....

Then we all painted ornaments :)  I thought I was doing really well until I saw Vals!!!  Oh my!!!  Hers was fantastic - but then she does go to ceramics classes every week!  Sigh...lets just say that my ornament is NOT next to Vals in this picture ;)  Can you guess whose is whose????

Val - thank you for an amazing day :)  So much fun as always :)  You really do have such a lovely family - I can't wait to be able to share ALL my pictures with everyone here on my blog....I have such lovely pictures of you all!!!  NEXT Christmas when I take pictures I can post them on my blog :)  Won't that be wonderful?????  :)  

Thanks to Tamie.....

......last night, Sam and I were introduced to the delights of 'A Christmas Story'.....


This bizarre, odd and strangely sweet movie was on tv last night. Tamie had mentioned it the other week when I asked for everyones 'must see' 
Christmas movies, and so, because Sam had napped earlier in the day and wasn't sleeping, he and I sat up until 11pm last night and watched 
this movie last night!!


I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy it because it seemed really odd, but I ended up loving it - the leg lamp, the nasty Santa and Elves, the funny 
Chinese Carol Singers and the smiling duck and them cutting it's head off! Blaming his friend for learning the 'F' word.....his Mom teaching his brother
to eat like a pig!!!!


Thanks Tamie for introducing us to this funny Christmas movie - a new tradition for us :) Sam loved it - he sat through the whole thing :)

Tuesday before Christmas....

Hhhmmmm  it's just a few days to go now until Christmas day.  Are you all set?  All prepared?  What are you up to today?  Over the next few days?

Dana was telling me yesterday that the Polish tradition is to celebrate on Christmas Eve, and so they are having a big meal with 12 courses (no meat) on Christmas Eve, and then they will open gifts....of course Susannah and her friends were all complaining to Dana's Son that it wasn't fair that he gets to open all his gifts so soon and they have to wait hahahaha!  It's so nice to hear how others spend the next few days :)

Today we are heading over to my wonderful friend Vals house.....for some lunch, to decorate ornaments and maybe a game or two (I'm bringing a game!!)

Then home to relax for the evening - the movie that we were going to flop in front of last night - but I ended up spending the night chatting with Samantha :)

Lloyd is out for the evening with IBM, so I will watch a movie with the kids and eat junk (lol) while he has his Christmas night out!  I am soooo  tired that I hope Val won't mind if I take a nap on her sofa.....you won't mind will you Val????

Apologies to anyone who has Emailed me in the last few days - I have not had ANY Emails since Sunday.  I don't even know if I can send Emails.  They are trying to figure out the problem :(  So if you need to get in touch text me or leave me a comment here instead - I just won't publish it ;)

Snapshots of our gingerbread house party...

Yesterday the kids had some of their school friends over to make gingerbread houses....sadly because of the weather, several of their friends couldn't make it, but we still had a LOT of fun!!!!  :)  Firstly the kids played some board games in front of the fire...then we had lunch...then we decorated the houses.  Then the kids went outside and went sledding and played in the snow.  Then they came inside for hot chocolate....then more game playing until it was time to go home.

My neighbour/ friend came and joined us with her Son too.  She brought the most AMAZING cream puffs that she had made....Mmmmmmm soooo yummy!!!

Chris filmed the making of is gingerbread house - I will try and get the link when he adds it to youtube ;)    It will probably be one of those movies where he speeds the whole thing up ;)  He and Max took almost 3 hours to do their house but it WAS very well done :)

In the end it worked out well that Laurences friends couldn't make it - as he got a phone call from another neighbour at lunchtime asking if he could babysit straight away for a few hours, so he earned some money!!  Then he got another call and was asked to join some friends at the movies for the evening, so he ended up having a fun day anyway!

Giggly school girls.....

My friend Samantha dropped by last night and Susannah said we sat on the sofa chatting and giggling like school girls!!!  I don't see Samantha too often - we're good friends - but we're the kind of friends who see each other every few months because our lives are so busy - but when we get together it is as if we saw each other only yesterday - we have lots to tell each other and we spend the whole time laughing  and catching up!

Thats what last night was like!

My Daybook

Taken from THIS BLOG......

FOR TODAY
(Monday, December 21, 2009)...

Outside my window...

Snow is falling gently - I can watch it falling on the porch from the glow of the porch lights.  It's dark outside - on this shortest day of the year - the first day of Winter.

I am thinking...

about how tired I am - that we had a lovely day but that I am glad it's almost over and I'm looking forward to a lazy evening by the fire watching another Christmas movie!!

I am thankful for...

Lovely new neighbours this year, the sticky mess we had to clear up which meant we had had so much fun decorating our houses.....and watching the children's excited faces over the train beneath the Christmas Tree.

From the learning rooms...

December has been a month of crafts, fun, books and stories, playing....I'm sure some learning has taken place - mainly based on tradition, religions and celebration!

From the kitchen...

The kitchen has been central to all our crafts, traditions and fun this month - we've had a lot of family dinners, baking, gift making, talking and playing about in the kitchen.  

I am wearing...

My second outfit of the day after I managed to spill coffee all down myself this afternoon - laughing out loud at something - while trying to balance coffee and one of Dana's amazing cream puffs!!  I am wearing jeans and a red top!

I am creating...

Endless Christmas crafts with the children, traditions I hope they will pass on to their children, memories for them, yummy treats, my Christmas journal!!

I am going...

to relax for the evening by the fire and in front of a good movie!!

I am reading...

Several Christmas magazines ...

I am hoping...

To have a quiet evening tomorrow night to catch up with my journal - Lloyd is out for the evening with IBM for Christmas and I think I will craft the night away :)

I am hearing...

Lloyd play on his game while Sam and Abby chatter away to him.....Laurie and Susie are watching tv in the other room - Laurie is waiting for his friend to arrive and take him to the movies....

Around the house...

Christmas tree lights are twinkling....the fire is flickering.....the cats are snoring on the chair behind Lloyd.  Everywhere is clean and tidy ready for Christmas

One of my favorite things...

Seeing Abigail's excitement when her letter arrived from Santa this afternoon!!!

A few plans for the rest of the week:

Tomorrow we are going to Val's house to visit, on Wednesday the children want to do their shopping.  In the evening is Stacey's Open House party.  We haven't decided what to do on Christmas Eve yet - normally we would go to Lets Play to tire out the children - and they are still keen to do that - but if the temperature is warm enough, we may go for a walk somewhere instead - Strathcona Wilderness centre or somewhere....or sledding maybe....

Here is picture that I am sharing...

Chris and Max with their completed gingerbread house from todays

 gingerbread house-making extravaganza!!

Perfect recipe for Christmas!!

Ingredients:

* 2 cups flour

* 1 stick butter

* 1 cup of water

* 1 tsp baking soda

* 1 cup of sugar

* 1 tsp salt

* 1 cup of brown sugar

* Lemon juice

* 4 large eggs

* Nuts

* 2 bottle wine

* 2 cups of dried fruit

Sample the wine to check quality. Take a large bowl, check the wine again.

To be sure it is of the highest quality, pour one level cup and drink.

Repeat. Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter in a large

fluffy bowl. Add one teaspoon of sugar. Beat again. At this point it's

best to make sure the wine is still OK. Try another cup... Just in case.

Turn off the mixerer thingy. Break 2 eggs and add to the bowl and chuck in

the cup of dried fruit.

Pick the fruit up off floor. Mix on the turner.. If the fried

druit gets stuck in the beaterers just pry it loose with a drewscriver.

Sample the wine to check for tonsisticity. Next, sift two cups of salt. Or

something. Check the wine. Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.

Add one table. Add a spoon of sugar, or some fink. Whatever you can find.

Greash the oven. Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over.

Don't forget to beat off the turner. Finally, throw the bowl through the

window. Finish the wine and wipe counter with the cat.

Go to Safeway and buy cake.

Saw this recipe over at Debs World !!!  Thought it was wonderful :)

Mmmmmm

First mince pie of the year....warm from the oven with brandy butter melting all over it!!!  YUM!!!  :)

Sorry - no picture - it didn't stay around long enough :)

I whipped up a batch of mince pies ready for tomorrows gingerbread house making extravaganza :)

Coffee with Tanya..

Yesterday Lloyd and I had coffee with Tanya in town :)  It was really nice to see you Tanya and chat with you - actually we had yummy hot chocolates didn't we???  Mmmmmm Starbucks hot chocolates - and your dad made me feel exceptionally guilty because while we were lazily chatting over our delicious drinks, he was being ultra healthy and walking the mall!!!

Great to see you Tanya and I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas and New Year!!  See you soon!!

Craft fun and Mrs Claus...

......and Sam HIDING from Mrs Claus.....  ;)

Snapshots from the Muttart today.....

Can you see what I see?

Sam looking at himself in a HUGE  tree ornament :)

Christmas at the Muttart Conservatories...

Orange and cloves ornaments.....

This is one of our traditions - to make orange/ mandarin and cloves ornaments at Christmas.  I made them as a child and now my children make them.  They make a room smell LOVELY!!!

You can find plenty of directions online such as:  HERE 

But really you need a packet of cloves and then stick them randomly into a mandarin or orange or in a design....then place them in a bowl or tie with ribbon and hang them!!

Poor Kitty!!

Poor Kitty was out on the porch when the dogs came rushing up to say hello to him....unfortunately Kitty wasn't too keen on saying hello to my ever-so-friendly doggies lol - he doesn't get on with them at ALL.....so he rushed up one of the unfinished porch posts and just clung on for dear life!!!  Every time someone tried to rescue him, he just hissed like crazy!!!  So we left him up there for a couple of minutes to calm down a bit and then Susannah was brave enough to try again and she grabbed him and cuddled him and put him inside the front door where he gave one big hiss before running off!

Too funny!

My poor doggies just want to be friends!!