Christmas 2014

 On Christmas Eve, my mom and her boyfriend, and my sister's family came over to share some treats, sing some songs, and, as has become our tradition, the kids acted out the nativity.

Joseph and Mary:

The shepherd's with their adorable little lamb:

Connor's look of terror as the angel appears:

Mary and Joseph inspecting the gifts brought by the wise men:

And the lamb got tired of staying by the manger:

After the guests went home, the kids opened up their Christmas Even gifts: the usual matching jammies, as well as a story to read. I read it first but then Connor wanted to have a turn reading it too. It is a pretty fun book to read.

Christmas morning:

A couple of my favourite presents: a vintage, super-warm wool Hudson's Bay blanket:

And this portrait of Hudson that Shae drew with pastels from a photo of him when he was two, wearing a bike helmet:

 In the afternoon, we drove out to Spruce Grove for a delicious Christmas dinner at my mom's house.

Maira's Christmas Concert Video

Maira had a major role in her school play this year and she was so excited to perform.

She woke up on the morning of the play complaining of a headache and of feeling really cold. But I sent her to school anyway because she complains of being cold every morning and I didn't want her to miss the dress rehearsal that day.

Just before the play that evening, she kept complaining in a really whiny voice about how cold she was so I snapped at her and told her to put on a sweater and deal with it (basically I deserve mom of the year award).

Well, while we were waiting for our seats, the vice principal told me the kids had been dropping like flies at school that day because everyone was coming down with the flu. There were a bunch of kids too sick to make it to the concert.

So, when she got off the stage after the concert with a big frown on her face, I checked her forehead and sure enough, she was burning up. When I checked her temperature as soon as we got home, it was 103.4!!! So, as you watch the video, keep in mind that the poor girl has a high fever, a headache, a sore throat, a runny  nose, and you can see her holding back some coughs a few times. She did such a great job despite having the flu, what a trooper!

The video's too long for YouTube's 15 minute length restrictions so it's broken up into two sections:

Shae's Sweet Sixteen

Yes, I'm now the mother of a sixteen-year old. How did that happen?? Shae had a birthday weekend-long celebration. She started out by having three of her closest friends over for cake and a movie on Friday night, as well as a sleepover. The next afternoon, she met up with over a dozen other friends at the mall and they watched her current favourite movie together: Big Hero Six. After that they all went out for dinner together. Then on Sunday, my Mom & Sandy, my sister's family, and Spencer & Hannah came over for a big family birthday dinner. We had her requested meal: spaghetti and meatballs with caesar salad and apple caramel cake for dessert. She had a great time all weekend.

And no, she doesn't have her license yet but hopefully she'll feel ready to take the test within the next couple of months. I'm excited for her to be able to drive herself places soon. Sort of. And no she doesn't have any boyfriends yet either (yay!). Hannah and I keep telling her she should definitely wait until she's at least 25 before she starts dating...

She did get her braces off a couple days before her birthday so that may well have been her favourite birthday present of all. Her teeth are perfectly straight now but she has a gap where she's missing a tooth so for now she wears a retainer with a fake tooth to fill the gap until she's old enough for an implant.