December

I absolutely love December. I love all the Christmas decorations, candles, and lights. I love the excitement the kids have. I love the baking and meal planning. I love the food.

Hugh loves December too, but mostly for the eggnog.  This year he went through 2 double batches before Christmas. This may not seem excessive until I tell that you each double batch is 4 L and that Hugh drank around 3/4s of each of these. Oh, and did I mention each 4 L jug contains 24 eggs. OMG.

Calder had a home hockey game around the middle of the month. The little ones and I trailed in right for the drop of the puck. Boone immediately saw some kids playing in the lobby. He didn't know any of them, but it didn't matter. He wanted to stay and play with them. Not wanting to miss a second of the game, I left him in the dust and took Lawson to sit with the other parents. About 10 minutes later, Boone finds us and is carrying an unopened Power-aid. I asked him where he got it and he responded, "A guy out there (pointing to the lobby) gave it to me."  Hmmm . . . A guy out there. . . . He immediately followed his response with "Can you open it?", to which I replied, "Absolutely NOT." Boone continued to ask me to open the bottle for the duration of the game, but was fairly content to carry it around (I think he reasonably thought the alternative was me taking it away!). I continued to inquire with Boone about this mysterious "guy", but was no further ahead when the game ended. It wasn't until the way home that Boone provided me with a details. He mentioned "my money". Quickly after that I sorted it all out. I had a toonie on the front seat of the van. Boone took it. He then gave it to the "guy" at the concession in exchange for the Power-aid. What a weasel.  As if that wasn't enough, the next week at Calder's home tournament, Boone flashed me a twenty dollar bill. I was blown away. He didn't hold back this time and immediately told me he got it from my pocket. Yep. He pick-pocketed me and I had no idea. I blame the constant pull of kids on my legs, but that doesn't negate the fact that my 3.5 year old has some pretty mad skills. Although, not sure why I am bragging about him stealing at this point. 

Lawson is starting to string words together. "No way", "Thank-you" and "More please" are her go-tos. Actually, they are pretty much the only ones she does.  The way she says "No way" is hilarious. She blends the words together and drags the "way" out. I can't get enough of it. 

I tried to do a Christmas craft with the boys. Calder's was a complete flop. Damn you Pinterest. I had bought a whole bunch of nice ribbon and after some searching could not come up with an alternative craft for Calder where I wouldn't be doing all the work. The Christmas craft tradition (or sweat shop as Hugh class it) took a year off. I hope I can get it back going next year. I really love looking at what the kids have made on our tree.

One thing I never flop is sugar cookies. This is Calder's absolute favorite thing to make at Christmas. He actually even helps in the kitchen (although still quite minimally). Boone on the other hand, may have put Calder to shame with all his mixing, icing and decorating. Boone is a fabulous helper in the kitchen regardless of what I am whipping up!

Our elf, Rosie, was back this year getting into trouble. One night she wrote on the boys' faces. I thought for sure Calder would want to wash his face before school. Calder doesn't even like dressing up for spirit days at school that much, but as you can see in the picture, he has his coat on. He was pretty pumped to share what Rosie had done with everyone at school.

I had an ugly sweater day at school the last week before Christmas. I had an older sweater at home all prepped to go. It was an Northern Reflections sweater vest. Not necessarily Christmasy, but pretty ugly, nonetheless. The night before our spirit day, I saw my friend Deena and our splurge group. We began talking about ugly sweaters as Deena was wearing her Christmas Sweater because it had been her school's ugly sweater day. One of the splurge girls, Sara,  suggested I should wear Deena's (it even lit up). I giggled and Sara let me know that Deena had actually taken a shirt off her back to lend to Sara once. Sure enough after the play we were at Deena trailed me to the van and in serious superman fashion took the ugly sweater off her back. It was AWESOME. Also awesome were the compliments I got the next day on my ugly sweater.   I also copied Deena and wore red pants. Why mess with what the professional had put together?

Calder's team hosted their home tournament December 17. His team, Martensville Novice 1 Snipers, ended up playing their hearts out and winning the 'A' side. It was a great time and considering the Snipers had came into the tournament 5 - 11, every one was overjoyed at their results!

Megan, our billet, celebrated her 16th birthday in December. She requested chicken, potatoes, and stuffing. I had never bought any kind of bird before, but grabbed a $15 one from Walmart (I think it was 6.5 kg). In the end, this one bird will have fed us over 15 meals. Unbelievable. I will definitely be looking for a good price on a turkey or chicken again and doing this. I love pre-made freezer meals!

I will leave you with my sleepy bear, Boone. He made this bed on a Sunday afternoon and put himself down for a nap. #lovehim

Have a wonderful day!