Hmmmm

The kids are sleeping.....I could watch a movie, have a glass of wine, admire our pretty Christmas Tree, relish the peace and quiet or steal down to my craft room and create something. Way too many choices but they are great choices!

Keeping Busy

The CONSTANT rain really starts to get to you living in Vancouver after a while. We can't really do anything outdoors and there does not look to be a break in the rain anytime soon. So....off to find things to do while the kids and I are on Christmas break.

Yesterday Brayden went to a friends house for a sleepover, movie and then swimming today. So given it was just the girls, Kaylin and I went to see the new Alvin and Chipmunks movie. It was cute and she liked it.

Today we did our weekly Michael's trip. My girl has turned crafty on me - suits me fine but boy is she crazy with the scissors! She cuts up everything and turns them into little tiny pieces of nothing but scraps left all over my house!!! Oh well. Could be worse I guess. Did I mention that we had to take her glue privledges away unless she is totally supervised by an adult? Don't even ask why! :-) Ahh to be 6 and carefree!!!!!!

The Valentine's stuff is now in full display there. Heck, New Year's hasn't even arrived and we are working on Valentine projects! Lots of cute things to make. Below is today's project that she created with only a little help at the end from me. Kept her busy and of course there is glitter and gems on it. That's my girl!

Ode To A Stamper's Wife

I found this poem today and thought it was quite fitting. I wonder if my husband thinks like this at times?

Ode to My Wife.
By Author Unknown.

She learned to stamp on Monday
Her embossing was quite fine.
She forgot to set out dinner,
So we went out to dine.
She brayered backgrounds Tuesday
She says they are a must.
They really were quite lovely
But she forgot to dust.
On Wednesday it was birthday cards
She says that chalking's fun.
Shading, blending, and watercoloring --But the laundry wasn't done.
Her card swap was on Thursday
Using green and blue and red;
I guess she really was engrossed,
She never made the bed!
It was shaker cards on Friday
Using techniques she just adores,
But she never seemed to notice
The crumbs on all the floors.
I found a maid on Saturday!
My week is now complete
My wife can stamp the hours away;
The house will still be neat.
Well, it's already Sunday,
And my forehead's feeling damp.
I cursed, I raved, and I ranted -- The MAID has learned to stamp!

Christmas Eve

The big day is almost here. The kids have been running around like crazy and getting themselves all worked up into a frenzy. The night was clear and chilly tonight so we all bundled up and went out for a walk to enjoy the lights and tire out the kiddies a little wink wink :-)

Check out what my BFF made for me and what a treat they were after working part of the day. They are called Beehive (Ulky) Czech cookies and completely yummy. I had mentioned that I worked with someone who made these volcano cookies and just loved them. Well it turned out they were Beehive cookies and this co-worker would never give up the recipe. So my good buddy took it upon hereself to find out the recipe for me.

They are made with a little unique metal beehive mold which apparently you can only get in Czech. Lots of work went into these little yummies and they are delicious.

Here is a recipe for them and I must try to make these myself one day~

Recipe for Beehive (Ulky) Czech cookies:
Outside Layer
4 boxes of vanilla wafers (3 boxes crushed very finely)2 c. powdered sugar3 sticks unsalted butter, soft12 T. milk, room temperature6 T. cocoa12T Brandy or Cognac (I understand the Czech have a special baking liqour that is not as strong as our brandy)Mix all the ingredients with your hands and refrigerate overnight. Keep the dough COLD while you are working with it. Cream Filling1 c. granulated sugar2 sticks + a bit, unsalted butter, soft1 T. Vanilla sugar 15 T. Brandy or Cognac (same note as above re: liqour)3 egg yolksPOWDER SUGAR YOUR MOLD EACH TIME! Press dough firmly into mold leaving a hole in center for cream. HOLD MOLD TIGHTLY CLOSED while you are working. Add cream filling with teaspoon and level off with a knife. Unmold onto a vanilla wafer. Repair or redo as needed

The kids get to open one present on Christmas Eve as a tradition in our house. My brother and I did this as kids and was fun. Kaylin opened a gift from a good friend of ours and it was Fun Foam. We we all had fun tonight making little creatures from it. Neat stuff and it was fun to do as a group. Check out our little creations.

The Count Down is On!

Only days away from Santa's arrival and the kids are getting worked up! Kaylin really is sooooo excited that I am sure she won't sleep on Monday night!
Brayden on the other hand is excited but worried that Santa is not going to come thru and bring him that Playstation 3 that he really must, gotta just have or he'll die thing. The only thing on this list this year by the way and I won't even mention it's price tag :-) Thankgoodness I got one early as I don't think you could get one at this point. Yesterday we decorated gingerbread cookies and had a fun time doing this. Check out our creations. What do you think? Apparently the one with the big red lips is me according to Brayden. Aren't I pretty? I was yummy too as he ate me on the way to the mall in the car today!

The Christmas Concert

So December 18th was the kid's school christmas concert. This year the kids are eachother's buddy class so they ended up being in the same performances. They sang "One Little Candle" and "It Must Be Santa". It is always fun to see the kids in their "sunday best" and singing their little hearts out for all the Mums, Dads, and Grandparents in the audience.

My kids sounded great and had a fun time too. I don't have an acutal picture of the kids singing, I was too busy videotaping and besides, they were on opposites from eachother! But here is Kaylin in her classroom before going on stage. She sparkled like crazy in her outfit and looked wonderful. Brayden being the typical boy did not care about what he was wearing but looked good too!

This is our beloved Grade 1 teacher Mrs. Gordon. She is just short of being amazing..no actually she is amazing and we just love her. Brayden had her as well for Grade 1. We are quite blessed that she is teaching Kaylin this year. Fingers crossed we can only hope for Grade 2 with her as well !!! XXXXXXXXX

The Birthday Party!

So the party went well and we had 7 of Kaylin's friends attend. We had the party from 5:00-7:00pm which was a great hour becuase we were the last party of the day and had the gym really to ourselves. Even the adults got in on the action by jumping in the foam pit. The cake worked out well. Kaylin decided on a cupcake cake. Very cute, but we are still eating the leftover cupcakes! Turned out to be a great time for all.

A birthday on the horizon!

The Kitten is about to turn 6 soon which means=Birthday Party plans!

She has chosen 11 of her classmates to attend her party at a local gymnastics center.

Here are the invitations I have made for her and do you think she is starting to get excited? Put it this way..the 15th can't get here soon enough for her!! I do like the way the invites turned out. I am quite happy. I sure the boys that are invited will just love the swavorski crystals on them! Oh well!!!

So look what I woke up to Saturday?

Yep SNOW! The kids were thrilled to wake up to the snow falling on Saturday morning. It snowed all day Saturday and Sunday. We are back to the good old rain now and it has pretty much taken all of the snow with it but we had 2 days of fun!
It really did put everyone in the Christmas spirit and all you had to do was look around and see all the Christmas decorations that were being put up. Our street is pretty well lit up now. On our house, more lights than usual this year and of course they are all LED Noma lights. Nothing but the best lights for the electrician in this house. Looks great!

Gotta say thanks snow for coming on a weekend and not making a nightmare for us commuters on Monday morning!!