Christmas...Finally Packed Away

I'm embarrassed to admit that Christmas has been hanging over my head. Hopefully my procrastination will make someone feel accomplished...on the ball...or at least seasonally aligned.

It's March 1 and I still have garland on the stairwell. I've been telling myself...and anyone who asks...that it's 'Winter-y', not necessarily 'Christmas-y'. Then I nonchalantly move my hand to cover up the Season's Greetings - From Our Family To Yours! on the hanging ornament.

And here on the hall shelf, I still have 'Winter' things going on. Snowmen...that's not Christmas-y, right?

<--- This is why things have been languishing upstairs. This is the overflowing Christmas bin...and basket...and bag. It's all clogging up my laundry area. Which is causing the ironing to get behind...

See how one too-small-bin can throw a wrench in the works?

So today I finally got to it. I emptied a larger bin whose contents could be streamlined to fit in the smaller bin....

...and made a bigger mess.

But in the end, all is well. Christmas is packed away in the larger bin. I feel better.

The Vacuum Is Dead. Again.

The vacuum is dead.

Again.

This is the third one in ten-years-minus-three-weeks. And I was trying to be oh-so careful with this latest model. Especially after B told me - in the gentlest terms possible - that I was a teensy bit hard on things, that I wasn't the most graceful housekeeper and that it would make his life complete if I could please, please be careful with the newest member of our appliance family. But that was a little more than two years ago.

I felt a little sick when the vacuum just sort of droned to a stop three quarters of the way across the rug. I felt a little sick when it wouldn't turn on even after I emptied out all the filters and spoke gently to it and gave it a time out and plugged it into a different outlet. I felt a little sick when B took it apart, right there in the living room and began stripping it of parts and wires. I felt downright nauseous when, two and a half hours later, B announced the vacuum was no more.

Not only can I be clumsy and graceless when cavorting around the house with a vacuum in tow, but I can curse myself. The day before this wretched event I was visiting with my sister. We were talking about house-y things when I told her that me next vacuum was going to be a Dyson. And that I was sure I'd get another two or three years out of my current model giving me ample time to save up my pocket change in anticipation of the big event.

Sure enough, 12 hours later, the Universe decided to have a big laugh at my expense.

So, after both B and I came to terms with the fact that the vacuum could not be economically resuscitated, we sat down to have another little chat. In all seriousness, it was a two sided discussion about investing in something that was going to do a good job for us for a number of years. Hopefully enough years so that when K flies the nest, she can load it up in the back of the car when departing for her post-childhood adventures.

Given our daily use of a vacuum due to our copiously shedding dog, we decided on the Dyson DC25. Works well on all floors, lots of power, large receptacle for dust and dog hair, not too heavy and a good long reach. I'm excited to try out the ball it rides on. I'm hoping it's manoeuvrability will mask some of my clunking around.

The vacuum delivery man, Mr. Purolator, is supposed to arrive with this precious package sometime this coming week. I'm very excited. B is excited that I am excited. I'm even more excited since I used the shop-vac on the living room area rug this evening. That was an exercise in patience if there ever was one. Why must the husky shed in the winter?? And why must each hair weave itself into the fibers of the rug? Is it necessary, really?? I digress.

I know you're all as excited as I am for the arrival of our investment, my birthday present, K's future housewarming gift, the dog-shed-containment-system. I'll keep you posted.

♥Bonni

K's 11th Birthday

On birthdays we have gifts as soon as the birthday person wakes up. 'Why not celebrate the whole day?' was our reasoning.

So, here is K, fresh out of bed on the 23rd of December. B took the day off work so we dragged him out of bed as well - to witness the beginnings of birthday celebrations: a couple of gifts.

K had been saving for a few months and was hoping to have enough saved for 1/2 an iPod touch. We had agreed to split the cost with her. As a bit of a surprise, we bought it early.

Amid the Christmas decorations, there are the traditional balloons and birthday banner.

K is modelling her birthday toque. It was a good find as she loves wearing hats and it matches her coat. She's a pre-teen now, she tells me, fashion is becoming fairly important, mom.

When asked what she wanted to do to celebrate her birthday, she wanted to have lunch out with B's mom and her husband. Here are her and I at East Side Mario's. K ordered the pasta off the 'big' menu. No more of the rinky-dink kid's menu for her...or so she says.

After lunch, we picked up the pre-ordered birthday cake. The kids like to go to the bakery to pick out a sugar rush on their birthdays. A couple of years ago, K only had Christmas cakes to pick from. That was ok with her at the time, but she later confessed to secretly preferring a more celebratory theme. Therefore, we now pre-order. Actually, with K's newly diagnosed peanut allergy, I ask for the cake to be baked first thing in the morning when all the equipment has been freshly cleaned and before it's had the chance to be graced with any peanut particles for the day.

Happy 11th, K. Here's to many more.

Christmas 2008 Pictures

I promised I would put up some pictures for Uncle M. and Almost-Aunt M. who decided to go gallivanting off to Korea for a year or so. They managed to miss Christmas by about 10 days. Of course, we had a full-fledged Christmas dinner for them before they left. I hear that Christmas in Korea is a lover's holiday rather than a commercial gift-grab/religious celebration ala North American standards.

Without further ado, here's some of our Christmas pictures: full flash, no photoshop, taken on the fly.
This is a pic of the kids' first 'Christmas Pageant' (Dec.19/08). Together with a couple of HSing friends they learned a French carol and played out the Nativity. K got to be Mary as she was the only person able to provide a doll to be used as baby Jesus. We have a very male dominated HSing community!

Here's a pic of K in snow past her knees on the 21st. We got quite the blanket of snow just in time for Christmas. Of course, in the last week it has rained and warmed so much that most of it is gone.

A lovely pic of the kids in front of the freshly decorated tree. They're so co-operative.

Here they are receiving a lesson from B. in how to properly hang candy canes on the tree. Apparently there is a particularly successful technique that should be utilized.

More to follow...maybe tomorrow...

♥Bonni

Project Korknisse!! 2009

I thought I would put the word out now, while we're all full of great ideas and intentions for next Christmas. If you have any extra corks kicking around, or if you feel like saving some and putting them to good use, I'd be happy to arrange to take them off your hands.

I'm hoping to knit up a load of these cutie little Korknisse guys as ornaments and gift toppers for Christmass 2009.

I didn't make ornaments this year. Now that Christmas 2008 is all wrapped up (ouch...punny, no?) I have discovered that I missed making ornaments for everyone. So I'm planning ahead.

Let me know if you can help me out. There might even be a 'Thank-You Korknisse' in it for you!

♥Bonni

Our First Real Tree

Oh, Fer Cryin' Out Loud.

Had a lovely visit last week with Jennifer. Had prepared a little crafty thing for her - just becasue she's always preparing little crafty treasures for someone else - yet the photos somehow disappeared between the camera dock and the PC.

Then we had a lovely whirlwind of a trip to see my extended family in Barrie, Ont. Took lots of pictures. Had a dress-up Christmas party. Spent 10ish hours in the car with my own little family. Took some more pictures. And the camera won't turn on. At least it waited until I had taken the party pics before becoming tempermental. I'm sure my tech support guru will work his magic, but geez.

Tonight we went out and bought our first real Christmas tree. Sorry, no photos. It's really beautiful. Really. Although the trunk seems to list to starboard. We're leaving it to settle tonight and tomorrow evening we'll decorate. Perhaps my camera will come out of it's tempermental little snit by then. We can only hope.

Holiday preparations are happening in enjoyable little chunks. You'd think I would be entrenched in some holiday gift knitting, but not so much. I'm knitting myself something and I'm considering knitting a penguin. R likes penguins.

K would like to remind us (mostly me) that her birthday is coming up. One week today. She'll be 11. When I was pregnant I remember thinking about how old I would be when she was ten. I thought that sounded old. I couldn't imagine being that old. Now, I can't believe how silly and young and immature and I was when I was preparing to parent. Thank goodness kids are resilient and forgiving.

I'm off to knit. Or maybe make some paper stars. Of which I would love to show you a photo. But I won't. Not yet.

♥Bonni

Christmas Cards

I like to send Christmas cards. This year, I'm very impressed that I got them in the mail 'on time'. I didn't make them - I like to make Christmas cards - but in the interest of getting them out on time, I made do with what I had in the Christmas supplies.

Although we are travelling to see family before Christmas, I mailed off the few cards to those we would be seeing on our travels. After all, if the weather is bad, the trip could be cancelled.

We also mailed off a special package to a new-found cousin in Germany. The kids especially love getting things in the mail, so they are so excited to send a little gift off to the other side of the globe to hopefully make someone else as happy as they are when they get mail.

I also have a stack of cards that we will hand deliver. I think we will pile into the car one night with a hot drink for everyone. We usually do a Christmas Light Drive, so in the interests of tradition and conservation, we will combine two trips into one. We will deliver cards while sipping drinks and searching out displays of holiday lights.

I am considering getting organized for Christmas in November next year. Usually I wait until December first to break out the Christmas bin of supplies and decorations. But i find I am saying 'maybe next year' to too many fun things. If I tended to the work and preparation in November, I could enjoy our December celebrations even more. Someone remember that and remind me, will you?

♥Bonni

Cookie Exchange 2008

Now that my brothers finally decided to join my ranks - those would be the Settled Down With A Significant Other ranks - there's quite a few people around during the holidays. This year, my Mom invited the ladies of the family to participate in a cookie exchange. We'd never done one as a family before. I'm still trying to remember if I've ever really done a real cookie exchange. I know K did a recipe exchange at Girl Guides one year. Those are fun too, but I digress...

K and I jumped on the Cookie Exchange bandwagon. K made gingersnaps. They are a favourite of hers. You have to under cook them a little so they stay soft and chewy. Apparently, crunchy gingersnaps are just not cool.

(R is composing the traditional Santa letter. More on that later...)

I made no-roll sugar cookies. I'm happy with how they turned out. One recipe made about 100 cookies. Perfect for when you're in a hurry and only have time to make one batch of something. Mixing the batter went quickly enough. I divided it in four and popped it in the fridge for two hours. Just long enough to clean up the kitchen and get a busy Sunday underway. Then I spent two hours getting the dough all baked up. Most of that was fiddling with the fussy wee decorations. Baking time for these little guys was only about 5 minutes.
We joined Mom, my sister, my sister-in-law and my sister-in-law-to-be for an afternoon tea party last Sunday. We lined trays of treats on the counter and filled our bags with a great selection of treats: creme de menthe squares, mini cinnamon buns, mini butter tarts, shortbread, chocolate covered peanut butter balls, chocolate chip cookies. Hopefully I'll remember to get a picture when I take them out of the freezer a little closer to Christmas.

So there you have it. Proof that we are enjoying the holiday preparations. I'm very aware this year that for me, the preparations are the celebration. If I can't enjoy the effort I put into our December celebrations, I find myself really disappointed and exhausted by the time the three days of Christmas roll around. I like that the kids remember the yearly traditions that have crept in over the years. It's nice to see that they are starting to feel the rhythm of our year.

I promise that there's lots going on around here. So much I could share but I'm - happily - a little out of time. Today for example, I could have blogged all afternoon, but I was busy building a snow fort with R. The last time I built a snow fort, I was maybe 6 years old; the snow banks were bigger than I was...and it was more of a slide than a fort. Thanks for checking in.

~Bonni

Happy December

Nothing is new. Move along if you are expecting revelations and exclamations.

Had a lovely visit last week with my wee nephew who ended up staying for the day.

We tried to keep him busy and entertained.

We were very successful. We even managed to get our school work completed. Wee Nephew decided he needed some book work as well.

We also sent him home with some new skills. I'm a firm believer in payback. This newly taught skill in response to a particular toy electric guitar given to K when she was 4 or 5. (Just kidding....kind of...)

This week we are staying on track with the school work while getting ready for the holidays. I'll blog about things as they come up because I like to remember them.

So far, I've got as far as having most of the household decorations up. I'm thinking they look a little sparse. I'm dwelling on some thoughts about this. I want it to look festive, yet not tacky. Since I don't have a very defined style, I'm having trouble deciding on further decorating action. I do like the natural side of the holidays: Apples and cloves and garlands and greens and fruit and light and snow and fire. Perhaps I can hone and curtail myself into a nature based holiday display. It's a work in progress, folks.

As well, I have a half-completed To Do For The Holidays list...it's in my head. I keep meaning to write it down, but....So there's baking and ornaments and celebrations and meals and gifts and visiting all mulling about in my head. Oh, and K's birthday. I'm planning that mentally as well.

B's work schedule this week is making for early mornings and therefore making for early bedtimes. Thanks for checking in.

~Bonni

Federal Election 2009

Here's what we're doing tonight....

On CTV we're keeping track of seats won and we're hoping for a majority government of some sort.

It's turned into great fun. I was explaining too much and R was falling asleep on the couch. So I drummed up some cardstock and my papercutter and started making a graph of sorts.

It's been taken over by smaller hands and I've been relegated to paper square cutter. It's 10:10pm here now...we'll see how long this keeps up!

*Update* We made it to midnight. At 11, after the local candidate's victory had been announced on tv, R insisted we drive by the winning campaign office to see if there was a celebration going on. There wasn't. Final polls haven't yet been counted, but everyone was falling asleep, so we'll update our chart in the morning. The paranoid-homeschooling-mom in me is happy to announce that we all have a firm understanding of 'minority government' now. As well as other various terms that I'm sure will be useful in the years to come. It was a pretty fun sort of learning kind of family evening. Mission accomplished.

Belated Birthday

For various reasons, R's birthday party was delayed. We were barely* able to make it to the once-postponed party on Saturday and it was a great time.

The pool was enjoyed for quite a long time.











There were snacks and good company. And it didn't even matter that we were an hour or so late!

Grandma has once again outdone herself by making a very special birthday cake. The soccer ball on R's cake is modelled after one of his own.




R took the plunge and cut the first piece. I don't think he's done that before.

And again, he was spoiled by very generous extended family members. Cousins S and N were there with their mom, Aunt R, and dad, Uncle K.






As a special surprise, Uncle G came for the day. Uncle G has been off at school the last few years and more recently, has continued working in his new found home-town. Uncle G is so much fun that it's hard to get a pic of him standing still.













Driving home was a treat. There were heavy rains that put visibility at about 50 meters. It made for a late evening, but all in all, a very worthwhile day. Days like this always make me so thankful that we are blessed with our extended family - however serendipitously they may have arrived in our lives.

* - car broke down at the gas station as we were leaving town. Trip delayed by only 60 minutes. Not bad for Saturday afternoon automotive lack-of-service in this small town.

A Las Vegas Wedding

It was June 10 or 11. I got a phone call from my brother M. He was opening for my other brother, Br. Could I please retreat to a private area of the house for some very secret conversation? Once the stage was set, the bomb was dropped.

Br. wanted to take his lovely lady (K.) to Vegas and get married. Next weekend. Did we have plans?? He wanted to take us (and the rest of our, and K.'s, extended family) along. The really fun part was that the whole affair was to be a surprise for K. Now tell me, what girl doesn't want to be surprised with her own wedding?!

Oh. And an engagement, because that was still to be done.

Before you think that all involved are crazy or insane, June 24th has special significance to Br. and K. So although Br. had been planning to propose and eventually marry this girl, suddenly, it made prefect sense to get 'er done in the next two weeks.

After much scrambling, Br. managed to book K. a week of holidays, arrange flights and rooms for 26 people, plan a wedding, a reception and a honeymoon. Not only that, but he managed to have custom ordered rings ready to go 4 days before the wedding. Everyone flew out on carefully planned flights to stay at carefully picked hotels with strict instructions to be indoors by midnight on the 23rd so as not to run into the Happy (Half Unsuspecting) Couple before the Big Day.

<--I caught my brother M.'s fiancee peeking at the rings while we were at the airport.

We've pulled a number of adventures in our family but even this was ambitious. In the end, there were minimal glitches, K. was surprised with a special wedding that family was able to attend and even Br. received a surprise - 3 of his bestest buddies made it to Sin City for the big event.

Today, everyone is back at home. The newlyweds have returned to their jobs. It should be fun to hear the news spread through our small town. My brothers have always been known for their joie de vie and their half-baked schemes. The women in my family are masters of the Last-Minute-Plan-Change. We can take a lump of chaos and mash it into some semblance of scheduled entertainment - even if the entertaining factor is watching everyone get where they're supposed to be on time. I think that the success of this latest adventure is the culmination of many years of practice.

I'm looking forward to the next Big Adventure. Knowing Brother Br., he'll need to top this one sometime.

Here's A Hint...

We're home! We had a great time on our impromptu holiday and I look forward to telling you all about it as the week goes on. For now, here's a couple of hints:

...some big firsts on this trip...

...a little sight-seeing...



...a little dressing up...









...a little brother in a boat...


...and some amazing entertainment...





It all added up to one lost bag of luggage and a real quiet weekend doing laundry and filling B in on all the details of our time away.

More tomorrow...

Be Careful What You Wish For

Things have been a little Last-Minute-Busy around here and it's not even my fault!!!!

I have a little knitting project on the go. I saw it in this issue of Knitty. It's called BYOB. I think this may be the first pattern I've knit to spec - no colour changes, no modifications, no 'well, I'm sure this yarn will work'. I'm using every spare minute to finish this project.

BYOB, myself and the kids are taking off on a whirlwind trip for a few days. I promised R a Summer Adventure before his surgery and, as such things will, a Summer Adventure has popped up somewhat unexpectedly. It's funny the way things pop up when you put a thought out into the universe.

Another case of Be Careful What You Wish For.

Happy Summer all! I'll fill in the details around the 28th.

Happy Birthday To ME!

Since pictures have been scarce around here lately, I thought I would share a pic of my birthday present. Notice the lovely new flat screen monitor? Notice the cords that are not cluttering up my desk? My new mouse and keyboard are free and unattached. I am very pleased with the new electronics. My ultimate goal is to get rid of the computer desk, mount the monitor on the wall and stash the box and printer downstairs. Of course, this will require the purchase of a couple of key pieces of pricey equipment, so it's not going to be an immediate set-up, but with my birthday present, we're well on the way. I am very much looking forward to making better use of the small amount of space that is available in our living area.

Otherwise, a lovely day. Perfect rink-building temperatures. (We're anxiously awaiting the opening of the outdoor rinks.) The kids and I did some housework and math. We went to Homeschooler Skating and then R's hockey practice. A nice ham dinner was waiting when we arrived home. That ham practically cooked itself! B cleaned up while the kids and I read. I fielded a number of calls from various family members wishing me a happy birthday, 8 telemarketing calls and a call from our building owners promising that a flooring company would be paying me a call to measure my floors for laminate flooring. It doesn't get better than this.

I'll leave you with this love tidbit overheard in the dressing room at the skating rink:

R: entering dressing room in an overexcited rush Hey - it's my Mom's birthday today!! Oh, hi everybody. (greetings exchanged) I'm not going to tell you how old mom is because it's not polite to share a lady's age unless she says it's ok. Hey - Mrs.P! You brought cupcakes! For my mom's birthday! Are there 33 of them? One for each year?!
How's that for discretion?

Ks Birthday

Ks 10th birthday was filled with a little more glitz and glamour than we traditionally have come to expect or plan for. That was fine and dandy for her - a newly 10 year old "pre-teen" <-- her words. Me, I'm actively fighting to keep them as young as possible for as long as possible.

Birthdays in our house involve a few gifts as soon as you wake up. Makes for great pictures. Really. Celebrating at Grandma M and Dr.G's house was no exception. (Birthdays in our house usually involve a few gifts and a family outing with a lunch or dinner of the celebrator's choice. This year, since we were in the Baltimore area, K chose to visit the National Aquarium - which we did on the 22nd. The rest of the festivities happened on Dec. 23rd, K's 'real' birthday.)

Grandma M, who was excited about our first holiday with her had gone all out. K, in fairly good spirits (and totally shocking us who know her truly introverted, never-preforming nature) donned the crown provided for the festivities.

There was some shrieking involved during the unveiling of the gifts. This one in particular is an engraved iPod Shuffle. It's a good thing B thought to load it and charge it before we left home.

A little later in the day, we ventured out for the traditional Cake Search. K seemed a little daunted by Grandma M's wielding of the fire extinguisher when it came time to eat said cake. Apparently Grandma's house is equipped with a fairly sensitive sprinkler system.

The day was ended with a surprise trip to Medieval Times for a dinner show. Go White Knight!

Pics - Our Christmas 2007 Trip

Opening the travelling gifts from G. Christmas this year has officially begun - Dec.20/07

The sleeping quarters at Grandma Maddie's house.















The Lindt Chocolate store. Who knew?! And you can buy individual chocolates! In flavours we Canadians have never even heard of! Raspberry and orange. Raspberry and Orange!!!


A decadent way to end lunch on the 22nd.
Christmas Eve.















Christmas Day. More electronics. I fear I may never again see an unplugged kid. That's not true...they're pretty good at self-regulating. Sort of.


Boomer. Old crochety bachelor at the grand old age of 25. Unless you have food. Then he's charming.





Kellie. Lovely young chatterbox. Known to antagonize others.