Cupcakes and Latkes

So Ken is out at his work Christmas dinner. I once again opted out of going to stay home with the kids, mainly because of the nursing situation. Perhaps next year, we shall see. Besides, I managed to get in a workout tonight in place of eating something I probably shouldn't be, haha. I got my new workout dvd, Jillian Michael's 30 day shred... and my butt has been kicked, although I did manage to get through level one for the most part. Xander watched me, and I am sure mocked me in some sort of baby babble. Ariel, she was right beside me doing everything until she got bored... 'I'm just gonna do my own exercises' she said. Frankly, hers looked a lot more fun.

I love pictures in front of the tree! Especially when they both smile!


I am still trying to lose the extra pound I put on thanks to Hanukkah dinner at my Aunt and Uncle's house. Can we say delicious latkes (potato pancakes) and soofganiot (homemade donuts)... drool. They had our whole family over on Tuesday night, and it was lots of fun to visit with all my cousins I don't usually get to see. Not to mention little Eliran, who Ariel loves to play with... er , boss around. Its really weird, she isn't like this with other kids, maybe because he is younger, but she is always telling him what he is doing wrong, and trying to correct him. I guess Xander doesn't stand a chance... haha.

My cousin Eyal and his son Eliran lighting the candles on the Hanukkah menorah.


Wednesday morning was Ariel's last day of school before the Christmas break. They had a party in the class and a carol sing.


It was really cute, and I got some little video snippets of it to share with you all.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The day before, Ariel and I had made 2 dozen cupcakes and decorated them. I am happy to say only 3 came home with me, since most were eaten and I managed to send several home with Stella. I love how they turned out. So cute!


This is what Ariel made her little friends, a chocolate pop... such an easy craft with using a chocolate mold. We made her picture into a little postcard to attach to the pop with some ribbon, I love getting to be crafty with her. Whee.


Xander slept through most of our crafting fun... he is really going to miss our tree when the holidays are over.


Xander is nearly 4 months old... on boxing day actually. He is really turning into a little boy... although he really is a baby, its the hair I think. My serious little guy is becoming more personable with people, smiling more and generally happy and content when being snuggled. His hands are constant entertainment and he is grasping toys and reaching at things... like tree ornaments, so he has been pulled back slightly out of reach now. He also showed he could roll over recently, both ways! However, after doing it a few times, he could care less and just wants to lay and relax, or kick like crazy. He has a little giggle that pops out when things are really funny, but generally he just smiles and shakes with glee.


He just rocks my world... my sweetie boy! I can't wait for his Grammy to see him in person, just a few more sleeps to go. We booked tickets for the Stanley Park Christmas train today, so that will be fun since Ariel has never been. We have a few other things planned too, so lots of fun events ahead.

This weekend is super busy. On Saturday afternoon, I am meeting one of my online friends from my Gymboree message board for lunch and a play-date with our girls. She lives just across the border, and wanted to come up to see us, so that was very cool. We have a lot in common, and Ariel is excited to meet her daughter that she has seen in pictures on Facebook. So we are going out to lunch and then off to 'go bananas' for a play. Whee.

Then afterwards is my family's Christmas dinner and present night. It got bumped up since my Dad won hockey tickets. So a very full day but should be lots of fun. Sunday, I am taking pictures for the baptism and membership happening at church. I might also do the major 'food shop' since Ken can keep the kids at home while I go, makes things easier and faster without kids in tow.

Before I close, sending a big congrats out to my cousin Ross and his wife Kailey who welcomed a daughter into their family, Hannah Faith-Marie. I hope I get to see her sometime soon. Yay for babies!

3rd Sunday of Advent...

... and 10 sleeps till Grammy, Uncle Jonathan and Uncle Dan arrive! Eek! So exciting and yet I am trying my hardest to get organized so we can relax and enjoy everything. The only real thing left is the food shopping, but to do that I need to finalize my list of meals. I am also finishing some last minute sewing, which I will get back to once I finish blogging. Hee.


Well, the snow finally arrived this morning. In fact, it started just as Xander and I started walking to church. He was all wide-eyed watching the falling flakes. It was really beautiful, and I must say I am glad I got to have that moment with my boy. His first snowfall... that is magic indeed.


Ariel was AMAZED with the snow, I guess she got over her 'dislike' of it from last year. I pulled out her snowsuit I bought on sale earlier in the fall and of course she was all 'wow mommy, its so pretty and cozy'. She has never had a real snow get up before, and it just looked so cute all together. Did I mention she is all about accessories? She made sure there was a hat and gloves to go with it, haha.


The snow bunnies...


We managed to practice using the self timer on the new camera, all in time for our upcoming Christmas eve shot in our matching pjs.


Ariel had a blast playing in the snow, and was trying her hardest to make snowballs. Unfortunately, the snow wasn't great for packing, it was a very dry snow, so she was frustrated but didn't give up. She eventually managed to make one small snowball, and of course threw it at Daddy. Haha.


Mr Xander looking super adorable!


We started walking home and when we at the corner, a truck started honking at us... we turned and low and behold, its SANTA! Who knew he drove a truck eh? He pulled over and had some hot chocolate and magic reindeer food for Ariel. She of course was totally amazed and in awe of him. One of those fun surprises.


Other than all the fun today, the rest of the weekend has been pretty mellow. I got to go out for a pedicure Saturday morning, very relaxing. Ken did some interviews for his new book and had some quality time with the kids. Ariel and I took the pop cans back to the depot and had some one on one time. Its fun talking with her, and hearing what is on her mind.

This week is filling up fast with visits with family and friends, school parties and organizing. I know its going to fly by so fast... so I better hold on tight, whee!

Ugh...

I'm exhausted at the moment... I just did a workout from my Biggest Loser dvds that I finally found... oof. I must say I did better than I thought I would do, since it has been awhile since I did them, but I am back to my pre-prego weight, and just really trying to lose a bit more. We got our 'save the date' card in the mail for Ken's cousin's wedding in New York next summer. Talk about serious motivation!

In fact, there are several weddings this summer, and I want to look good for once! My cousin Kyle is getting married and he is the last one on my Mom's side of the family. For both my brother and cousin Ross' weddings I was carrying pregnancy weight. Heck my brother's wedding was 2 weeks after I had Ariel, haha. One family wedding without baby weight would be awesome! Sooooo, we shall see how it goes. I have dropped 17lb of the 30lb I wanted to try and lose at first... baby steps. Plus my cardiologist appointment in May has me wanting to be in good shape then too. We shall see how it goes.

Today was an early morning, as I got the kids piled in the car to take our food we bought the day before to Nat and Drew's food bank fill up! So by 8am we were out the door in the very cold car... brrr. Apparently it was -2 this morning, gack! Snow is coming... part of me is excited (the photographer in me) the other part is dreading it (the getting around with 2 kids). It was fun to meet Nat and Drew in person. Some might remember Ken getting them to make me a 30th birthday message for my party, and guess what, they recognized me! Hee! Anyhoo, along with the several bags of food we brought, we also brought Nat and Drew some cookies to keep up the sugar rush they would need for being out on location all day. They were beyond pumped and had to pose with the cookies. Xander I think wanted Drew's.


Then we went off to the Michael's craft store to pick up the painting we got framed for Xander's room. Ariel was so cute when they showed it to us all finished, 'my mommy and daddy did that for Xander' she announced to anyone that was listening. Haha. Anyhoo, I am so happy with it and we hung it up in his room... now just to finish the cross stitch birth announcement... sigh.


I just realized we are almost half way to Christmas! This coming week is Ariel's last few classes before the holiday break. Ariel is having a class party to celebrate Jesus' birthday and to sing their Christmas songs for us parents. Eek! Its gonna be so cute and I am making CUPCAKES! Seriously, this has been my dream since becoming a parent, being the Mommy that makes cupcakes for her kid's class. Of course I am planning something super cute to mark this special occasion, so stay tuned.

Christmas cooties!


I have been having fun taking pictures with the Christmas tree, and last night took a few fun ones with the kids. Love this one... the magic of Christmas.


My darling boy...


My little Ariel... I just LOVE this one.


I sent out the cards this week and some people have received it, so I can now share this year's Christmas card design. We had fun as usual making this, and Xander in the stocking just cracks us up.


The weekend is fast approaching, and we don't have much on the calendar. Ken has lots of work to do on his book, so I think I will try and keep the kids busy so he can get some work done. Dad and Rita are bringing Katie over tomorrow night for a few hours while they go out to dinner, so that will be fun for Ariel. Might allow me to get some sewing done... we shall see.

2nd Sunday of Advent

The candle of peace. I am really enjoying our church's advent moments this year. As Ken said, they are turning it on its head and shaking it up a bit. I feel like I am really getting a lot out of these sermons, and if you want to hear them, you can listen online from our church's website.


Sunday was St Nicholas day and this year we started our 'service project' as a family. The past few years we have done donations to the food bank, since Ariel was too young to really do much, but this year we wanted to get her involved. So on Saturday afternoon we baked several batches of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.


Then after church, we went over to the local firehouse to deliver them. We wanted to thank them for the service they give to our town. The young fireman that answered the door stood speechless... very taken back and with a smile said hold on. He came back with several other firemen and Ken offered our appreciation for their hard work and thanked them. It was such an amazing experience, and how honestly touched they were over something so simple as some cookies. They then surprised us and wanted to show the kids the fire truck.


While the one fireman showed Ken and Ariel the truck, I explained to the others how it was St Nicholas day and how we are teaching our children about giving back to their community. The firemen thanked us again as we headed back to our car, telling Ariel she was an honorary VIP member of the station. She then told us how she wants to be a firefighter when she grows up. Hee.


I look forward to us doing things like this every year as our kids grow. Perhaps this has you thinking of doing it too with your family... go for it! Doesn't take much to spread joy.


Afterwards we dropped the kids with Dad and Rita. Ken and I had a movie date and I was soooo excited. We went to see New Moon, and although its by no means 'deep', haha, its a fun, light film. Dad and Rita had us stay for soup and salad for dinner, and we finally rolled home in time for bed.


Monday was school for Ariel, and I got to hear her practicing some Christmas songs in class. I can't wait for the last day of school before the break when they perform them for us. She told me her favorite is 'We wish you a merry Christmas'. Too cute.

That night I spent the evening finishing up the mountain of cards we are sending out... my hand was pretty sore afterwards, oof. We got them to the mail box this morning, and so that means in a few days I can post our annual Christmas card picture. Until then, enjoy a picture of the kids in their gymbo jammies.


The rest of the week is slowly filling up with projects and more baking. I am hoping to take the kids on Thursday to see our fav radio station personalities at the 'food bank fill up' they are doing this week. We are going to go buy some baby food to take and Ariel said she wants to take them some treats too, so we made some 'reindeer crunch' (or Christmas crack as it is also known as) this morning. Here is the recipe if you want to try it out too... but I warn you, its addictive. Haha.

1 sleeve saltine crackers
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
1 package chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and line a 10" x 15" cookie sheet with foil. Spray with Pam. Cover the cookie sheet with a single layer of crackers (Ariel was able to do this part)

In a pot, bring butter and brown sugar to a boil for 3 minutes, stirring with a whisk. Pour over the saltines, and try to spread it as evenly as possible with spatula.
place in the oven and bake for 5 minutes. When you remove it, allow to cool about 3 min, or until you can see the crackers distinctly, which will have shifted while baking. Push them back into order with a knife.

Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the toffee and let sit for about 5 minutes to melt. Once melted spread chocolate evenly. Sprinkle on pecans (I added almonds too) and press lightly into the chocolate. Put in fridge to cool and harden. Then break into pieces and put in a container. Enjoy...sooooooo good.

Add a caption

1 sleeve saltine crackers 3/4 cup brown sugar 1 cup butter 1 package chocolate chips 3/4 cup chopped pecans (optional) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and line a 10" x 15" cookie sheet with foil. Spray with Pam. Cover the cookie sheet with a single layer of crackers (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">ariel</span> was able to do this part) In a pot, bring butter and brown sugar to a boil for 3 minutes, stirring with a whisk. Pour over the saltines, and try to spread it as evenly as possible with spatula. place in the oven and bake for 5 minutes. When you remove it, allow to cool about 3 min, or until you can see the crackers distinctly, which will have shifted while baking. Push them back into order with a knife. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the toffee and let sit for about 5 minutes to melt. Once melted spread chocolate evenly. Sprinkle on pecans (I added almonds too) and press lightly into the chocolate. Put in fridge to cool and harden. Then break into pieces and put in a container. Enjoy...<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">sooooooo</span> good.

Ok, back to some gift wrapping, whee, I love it, so much fun! Have a good week.

In Full Swing!

What can I say, the holidays are in full swing, lots of events these days, thus leading to lacking of blogging. However, its time to catch up on the week of fun, fun, fun!


Monday was a school morning but we had a play-date / cookie exchange with the some friends from church in the afternoon. It worked out perfectly since I had Amanda and Chelsea coming to do some cleaning for us to get things really nice for all the winter company (my treat for the month!) I picked up Ariel from school and gave the girls my keys and headed to Dayna's house.

When we arrived, Olga, one of the other moms, suddenly had a really sore eye. It was burning and she washed it out thinking something must have gotten in it. Strange... but she recovered quickly and we continued on with lunch. The kids played nicely and we visited until I got the call the girls were done so I started packing up the troops. I took Xander to the car and when I came back to grab Ariel who was getting her shoes on. The front door had slightly closed and I pushed the handle to call Ariel only to realize it was sticky, but in a house of 4 kids I didn't think much of it, most likely apple juice fingers or something. I got a whisp of hair in my face and when I brushed it out of my eye suddenly I was in pain!!!

I yelped and found my face BURNING. My eye sealed shut and it felt like I was hit with bleach it just burned so badly. My lips were going numb and I was freaking out. Dayna got me to the sink where I started washing my eye out. I realized Xander was in the car still so Ruth went to watch him thank heavens. I just kept washing my eye but it wasn't improving, in fact it seemed to make it worse.

Dayna was stumped what was causing it until I said I think there is something on the door that caused it. Sure enough, looking closely at her door, she found something had been sprayed on her door. It was hard to see since the door is painted red, but on the inside of the door frame you could easily see. My eye was finally able to open but by then my face was puffy and gross. I felt ok to drive home since the girls were waiting, so I took my cookies and went home.


Dayna called the police since she had said they had a problem with teenage vandals in the area, and wanted to report this one since it affected 2 of us moms. Turns out after the police came they confirmed it was PEPPER SPRAY! Good grief! They said its a new 'prank' that is happening with the rich, bored teens in the area.... prank?! Seriously, this is no prank, its a crime. What had this happened to one of the kids? or a senior for that matter. I am sooooooo thankful no one was seriously hurt... except my face, haha. It was sore the rest of the night, very numb. Feeling better now, but it wasn't fun, I don't recommend it.

For comparison... before



After pepper spray!


Tuesday marked the beginning of December, yay! I pulled out Ariel's advent calendar I got her, it had little toys in for each day (littlest pet shop toys and accessories), thinking this was far more fun than a cheap, chocolate one. She was so excited and opened the first door revealing a little brown dog. She cheered and then was quiet... 'mommy, I can't bite this chocolate doggy.' I then realized that my chocolate loving girl wasn't grasping the 'toy' concept.... needless to say we ended up at the drug store later getting a cheap chocolate Tinkerbell calendar.

As of today, she is now loving the little toys, which I must say is really cool. The following days she got a little hat and scarf for the little dog... but the little chocolates are tradition and I should have known that. Haha, you can't take the chocolate out of the girl.

Tuesday also turned into baking day, and Ariel helped me make 2 batches scones, some potato and broccoli soup and some cinnamon buns for Daddy. Sooooooooo good, and thankfully I was very good and didn't have much.


Wednesday rolled around and it was Ariel's parent teacher interviews before class, so Ken could come too. Ariel is doing well, and is a joy to the classroom her teacher says. She shared with us a little interview she did with Ariel that was filled with cute little 'Ariel moments'


-I like to pretend to be dinosaurs eating the water! He's very hungry for water! Ee-ee-ee he's going to the park - la la la. He's singing at the park

-I thank God for my Mommy and Xander... I think that's it (upon asking if there was anyone else she was forgetting, haha, sorry Daddy)

-What I liked about preschool is water play, painting, play doh, colouring and even the pumpkin patch.

So that was wonderful to hear and I am glad our little girl is doing well.

Afterwards I dropped Ken off for him to catch his bus and went to Stella's to cut out our pjs from the fabric I brought. The rest of the day I sewed like crazy and by bedtime (late bedtime, haha) I had 4 sets done! woot!!! I'll post our annual pj picture on Christmas eve as I usually do, yay.

Thursday rolled around and Dad and Rita came over to watch the kids for me since I was hired by some friends to take some pictures for them for Christmas. I had a great time and we got some good shots. Here are a few of my favs...


Such a cute family!


The rest of the day was more baking for the coffee party, and we made 2 batches of muffins. It was a late teaching night for Ken, so I spent the evening setting up the table for the next morning.


Yummy! All the goodies we made sure paid off, they were great... and some leftovers too for Ken.


Morning came quickly and I was up getting things out and ready. Ariel was sooooooo excited and as the ladies arrived was showing them around the house and her Christmas tree in her room. It was a wonderful morning and lots of visiting and Christmas cheer.


Xander enjoyed all the attention...


...and then crashed when things wrapped up.


Tonight was the tree lighting ceremony in town, so when Ken got home we got in our warm clothes and headed out.


For some wacky reason the tree was having 'technical issues' and we did the countdown 4 times. Haha. Finally the tree was lit, we sang lots of carols and saw the little parade... including Santa on top of the fire engine. Whee.


Sooooooo, its been a full week and its only going to get more busy as we gear up for Ken's family to arrive. This weekend is the second Sunday of advent, so hang on because its flying by!

1st Sunday of Advent

We are officially in Christmas countdown with the arrival the advent season. I was really excited for church and the lighting of the candle. This candle is one of hope. We had a really good speaker today, and had some wise words on this very message of hope... a good way to start the season.


I managed to get the whole family in their nice festive clothes to celebrate the big day. Ken then took Ariel off to Sunday School and Xander and I walked since it was nice out. When I got to the church, Ariel was eager to show me 'Mary'. She made it in her class and was very proud of it. Mary also had to be buckled into the car seat when it was time to go, haha.


The afternoon was filled with the smells of Christmas. Ariel helped me make some shortbread cookies up for our baking exchange we are going to tomorrow after school. She was loving every moment of it... especially poking around to test the final product.


Then I made up some chocolate almond and raisin bark. Soooooooooooo good!


Ken and I went through the last box of junk from the old computer room, yeah there was still one left. Blah! With the coming of my favorite cleaning gals tomorrow (Chels and Amanda) I wanted to make sure all the junk had been dealt with. I am hosting coffee party this week and would love to have a nicely cleaned home for the ladies... and myself of course.

The last of the Christmas decorations went up today as well, although I am still torn on if I will put lights on the deck this year. I am not really into the LED ones, mainly because if bulbs burn out you can't replace it. That really annoys me, bah.

Yesterday was a big day in our home, Ariel's first ice show! We (and everyone else we knew it seems) had tickets to see Disney on Ice. I use to go to the ice shows all the time, so it was fun to share that with her. We had tickets to the noon show, so we left the house at 10am to try and avoid the crazy traffic since it was dumping rain. We arrived at 11ish and got in right when the doors opened. This allowed us to get first in line to see the 2 princesses they had visiting that day. Ariel was dressed as Cinderella and was happy to see her there.


The other princess was the newest one, Tiana - and since Ariel didn't know who she was yet, it didn't really go over as that important. I however thought she was gorgeous! Her dress was stunning and I am looking forward to the new movie, I think we are all going when Ken's family are here over Christmas.


We found our seats and since Ken had Xander strapped to him in the snuggly, I got to run out to get some food to bring back to the troops. We got a burger meal to share between the 3 of us since we knew we wanted some junk food later. Ariel had her first taste of cotton candy, and I should have know the 'sticky' factor would turn her off of it. She liked it until she saw what it did to her hands. She decided she would finish my snow cone! Nooooooooo, that is like my ultimate treat, I love them. Haha. The show started and Ariel's eyes were as big as saucers watching the characters. She kept yelling out in delight and amazement.


These shows have changed a lot since I use to come, the skating isn't that technical and seems to be more of a visual parade. I seem to recall more jumps and tricks back in the day. It wasn't a bad show by any means, just different. The visuals were just like being in Disneyland, so that was cool. Stunning costumes and the Tinkerbell part of the show was awesome!


The show ended and we made our way back out in the rain. Poor Ariel was starting to fizzle out, and by the time we finally were on the road back home she and Xander were both asleep. We all survived and will have good memories from it.

After the kids went to bed that evening, I did some sewing and got Xander's stocking done and hanging with Ariel's! Yay. Much easier this time around, I guess since I had done one before. I am happy with the end result, and I am glad to have another item done on my list.


Friday night was our belated turkey dinner. We ended up inviting Dad and Rita over to join us and they had bought a turkey in the states and cooked it to bring. So that left me doing several side dishes and a few extras since I no longer had to do a turkey. I tried some new things, an asparagus casserole and a sweet potato casserole, both yummy and will be done again.

Xander was awake to see the turkey this time so we got a quick picture of him with the bird... I think he was roughly the same size, haha.


So that pretty much covers our busy and fun weekend. Tomorrow is school as well as the last day of November. Lots happening this week, including the lighting of the town Christmas tree, always a fun event. Ok, I hear Xander crying, better go feed the little guy. Good night!