Lights at the Legislature

Our family has FINALLY overcome our battle with whatever the crazy virus was that tore through our household.  We had a week full of normalcy with no hospital trips or vomiting or sleepless nights.

For Family Home Evening on Monday night Allan thought that we should take advantage of the unusually warm weather and take a trip to the Legislature building downtown.  The grounds were lit up beautifully and there was so much room to run and play.  The Nutcracker Suite was playing loudly over the outdoor speakers and it felt so magical to watch my very own little sugar plum fairies leap and dance from place to place.

One of the kids' favorite past times right now is shovelling.  The other day they spent half an hour trying to get our driveway cleared so that Daddy wouldn't have to do it when he got home.

Emma had her kindergarten Christmas party on Friday and it was my first opportunity to help out in her classroom.  It was so much fun to see how she interacts with her friends and teacher and to get to know them a little bit better.  Emma is such a bright little thing and loves to learn.

Emma insisted on having her hair curled and wearing one of her fanciest dresses

We were responsible for baked goodies so I made these cute cupcakes

Some Festive Fun!! and some not so fun stuff

Our little family has been recovering from one sickness after another it seems in the last week.  From ear infections to sore throats to croup, we've had it all.  The kids seem to finally be on the mend so hopefully we'll be able to resume our regular daily schedule.  While we were shut in the house recovering we had time to decorate the house for Christmas.  Emma decorated the tree almost entirely by herself.   Most of the ornaments are clustered in the center of the tree but she was very proud of herself so I resisted the urge to redistribute the ornaments proportionately around the tree.

Walker spent much of the evening curled up on the couch and slathered in Vicks Vaporub trying to recover from a very nasty, wheezy cough.

 Luckily a little later on the in the evening the Advil kicked in and he had the energy to open up the decoration that he was looking forward to for weeks...our train that goes around the bottom of the tree.  The kids LOVE this little train and it is so fun to see their excitement as Allan pulls each piece out of the box and sets it up.  Then they squeal with delight as the train makes it's way around the track playing Christmas music.

Walker's main contribution, however, was managing the boxes.  He spent a long time building this mountain out of the empty boxes our Christmas decorations were stored in.

We finished our decorating and the kids headed off to bed but Walker's cough only got worse and his breathing more labored.  We started to panic about the time his little lips took on a sickly blue color, so Allan took him to the hospital.  A short time later we found out he had croup and the doctor treated him with an oral steroid.  Allan said he was such a brave little trooper and even though he was tired and sad because he had to leave his bed and his Mommy he didn't make a fuss.  Luckily he was able to come home and sleep well and is on his way to feeling 100% again.

Walker being treated with the oral steroid.  He is pretty sure that he looks like a fire fighter.

And a picture of little Lillian because she's just so stinkin' cute!!

Dress-up Day



The princesses fighting over their prince

Walker and Emma have reached the age where play dates mean less work for me as opposed to more.  With one or two extra imaginations it seems that the possibilities for play are endless.  When Kendall (our niece) comes over it takes a matter of minutes for the kids to find the dress up box and transform themselves into the character of their choosing.  Emma enjoys being "the director" and telling her younger playmates what to say and do.  This will sound familiar to my siblings who had to endure my "directing" while we practised plays and news reports to be recorded by our mom.  I have to remind her regularly to be less bossy.  On this particular day their storylines of choice were prince and princesses and the Nativity story.  It's so fun to hear their little voices as they play throughout the house.

Our patient puppy was playing the part of the donkey

And speaking of our patient puppy, I don't think I've mentioned much about her.  We've had our Bernese Mountain dog, Bridgett, for 2 years this Christmas.  She's not the brightest crayon in the box but she is the sweetest most long suffering and gentle puppy we could have asked for.  She is Walker's best friend and partner in crime.  We love her!!



Putting up with Walker

Keeping watch over Lillian

Three Little Bears

When Emma was a baby we bought her a cute little teddy bear jumper to keep her toasty warm on our cold Edmonton winter nights.  It's about the only outfit that all three of the kids have worn.  Can you tell who's who?!

Emma Bear

Walker Bear

Lillian Bear

A Little of This and That

Our little Lillian turned 4 months old yesterday.  She had her checkup with Dr. Davidson and he confirmed that she is still a shrimp, weighing in at 11 lbs 14 oz she is in the 15th percentile for weight and the 15th for height.  She weighs two pounds less than both Emma and Walker at this age.  The doctor isn't worried though and said that she looks great!  She is such a content little thing and smiles so easily at everyone.  She has been such a sweet addition in our home and we feel so blessed to have three beautiful children who, for the most part, adore one another.



In case you can't tell what's going on in this action shot, the kids are pushing her in the swing.  Don't worry I was supervising just in case things got a little out of hand.



Emma and Walker are always the first ones in her room when she wakes up in the morning

As a kid there were few days that there was not music playing in our home.  Some of my fondest memories are of "boogieing" with my mom and sisters to Whitney Houston's I Wanna Dance with Somebody, Madonna's Like a Prayer, or Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up.  It's no wonder then that our home is full of music.  Since getting a docking station for our iphone the kitchen has become my favorite place in the house because I can turn my music up loud and dance around the kitchen while I make dinner and do the dishes.  Even better is that the music almost always attracts the attention of the kids who come dancing into the kitchen to join me.  Walker, who learned his first dance moves from Oklahoma when he was barely old enough to stand, always begs Emma and I to "marry with me" aka dance with him.  I think he has watched one too many princess movies.

There is one more reason that the kitchen has become my favorite room in the house and that is Allan's new hobby...COOKING!!  Every Saturday night he has made something new and wonderfully delicious for dinner.  He has tried jumbalaya, singapore noodles, and turkey chili. 

My favorite so far is the jumbalaya that he made again tonight but added shrimp this time.  Why is it that food always tastes better when you don't have to make it?

Admittedly I also love his extra time in the kitchen because I can usually persuade him to join me for a dance or two.



Little People

It's likely that all of my posts from now until January 1st will have a Christmas theme. I am, after all , an addict and live and breathe everything Christmas from mid November until the highly anticipated December 25th.  One of the first things that I pull from the basement for Christmas decorating is the Little People Nativity that we got from my parents when Emma was just little, or littler.  Every year it's as if the kids have forgotten that we have it and they open the boxes with amazement as if they are getting an early Christmas gift.  Then they spend countless hours over the next several weeks replaying the story of baby Jesus or whatever story Walker has made up for the day.  Yesterday it was the shepherd stealing baby Jesus from Mary and driving away in a taxi.  It's harmless because he's only two, right?!? 

 We have it set up under a little nook in the living room so that the kids have easy access to it. Allan teases me because every night I put the nativity back the way it should be to make sure we have all of the pieces and if we don't I search the house until my Little People Nativity is once again complete.



First Snow and Christmas Books

We had our first snow fall!  It wasn't much but it was enough to have the kids excited.  Walker wants to be outside every second and then back inside every other second.  Every year I forget how much work it is to get snow gear on and off of the kids but I love to see them bundled up in their eskimo coats and mittens.

Thanks to my parents Allan and I were able to get an early start on our Christmas shopping on Friday night.  They took all three of the kids and allowed us to have a delicious dinner at The Keg as well.  Generally I would wait until November 15th to break out the Christmas music, books and movies but the new fallen snow made me giddy at the thought of pulling out all of our Christmas treasures from the basement.  Because of my love of children's books Allan and I began a tradition our first Christmas together.  Every year I get to pick a new children's Christmas book and with those and the ones I've received as gifts I've acquired quite the collection.  Maybe it's silly, but it brings me so much joy to pull out those stories with their beautiful illustrations and stories and read them to the kids.  It makes me so excited to think that one day I will have dozens and dozens of Christmas books to pass down to my children that have been read to them from the time that they were little.