Merry, Happy, Xmas, New Year, Valentine, Easter etc. etc.

BIG time lapse in blogging. A multitude of reasons, none of which I will blog about. Happy New Year 2012! We had a relatively good Christmas, not without its difficult moments. Trini and Lorne came over for Christmas dinner (this year we bought a delicious organic turkey pie from Aphrodites to save on cooking). It was a fun day. River loved Christmas this year; the lights, the tree, all the decorations and, of course, the presents! This was the first year that he took an active role in opening his presents...and everyone elses. "Ohhh, I love it!" he exclaimed when he opened the sandwich toaster that my sister and her husband had got for Mark and I. The main thing for him was the actual opening of the wrapping paper! It was great to see him so involved. Bronwyn had fun too. She still believes in Santa, even though I have, in preparation for the inevitable, expressed some doubts. She has proof apparently; a rusty bell that she found by the Christmas tree last year. No one knows how it got there (true!). Some pics:

Christmas morning

What was left of Rudolph's carrot

Diva!

Beautiful boy!

With auntie Trini

Mi babbies

Christmas merriment!

You may not remember that we had offered a major bribe Bronwyn in order for her to take sedative and get tons of work done on her teeth, only to discover that she loves Demerol and was fine getting the work done. She had to have additional work the day before Christmas Eve. We hummed and hahhed about what to get, all the while cursing our hasty bribe. I discouraged a Wii player as I could see it would be yet another thing that would require ME to do something. I foresaw that I would be roped into playing a bunch of tedious games....no thanks. I'm aiming for a less-is-more style of parenting. Then we were trying to decide between gerbils and fish. For some reason Mark and I thought fish would be easier and look better. Wrong, wrong, WRONG. In ignorance, we went out and bought a starter tropical fish tank and all the accessories. Ka-ching!...$140! Then we discovered that the stand for the aquarium (which would weigh about 100lbs when full) would cost an additional $100! That is before we purchased any fish. Then there were ph balances, bacteria levels, algae build up, gravel cleaning, ratios of fish...we panicked. We have problems with 'pet commitment'.  "Let's cut our losses, sell the fish gear, and get gerbils!" I said. What were we thinking??? So if you're interested in starting a aquarium look no further than here. We will give you a good deal. So we now have two new resident gerbils; Scorpion and Cactus. Bronwyn adores them. More on them later.

Ho ho ho

Christmas eve and Christmas day were full of expectancy and excitement. We tracked Santa's journey around the world on Norad (Bronwyn: why does it look like a cartoon?).We spent part of the evening at Nicole's for a lovely pre-Christmas gathering. Eventually we got Bronwyn to bed, but she got up at about 1:30am and said she was too excited and wanted to see if Santa had been. Oh no. Luckily, we managed to talk her into going back to sleep...phew! It was just a typical night for River!

The first thing Bronwyn did when she got up was to look and see if Santa had left anything for Ellee in a little Christmas space she'd made for her...Santa had left a stick. She was very excited about that.

It reads: "Put Ellee's presents here please" (where Ellee's bed used to be)

I had told her that Ellee didn't need presents and that Santa wouldn't bring her any. She kept disagreeing and assured me that he would. What can you do? She opened her presents and wondered aloud in amazement how Santa could have known she wanted this or that. Asked some tricky questions about wrapping paper and labels. Our cover was almost blown. I must admit there is a part of me that is uncomfortable with the Santa business. Bronwyn asked a lot of intelligent questions about Santa and logistics and after a while I started to feel like the gang member who begins to crack under pressure; sweating and desperate to confess and come clean in the face of intense interrogation. "Arrggghh! I can't take it any more! Alright, it was me. It was me and your dad. We did it. We did it all! Bought the presents and then pretended they were from Santa! Then we kept up the pretense and kept lying. We ate the cookie and drank the milk. Yes, and Rudolph's carrot...and the dirt on the roof from his hooves...all us! I admit it! Just stop the questions!" Anyway, she was very happy and very excited. And it was wonderful to watch her. River was completely uninterested in opening presents. So Bronwyn opened most of his for him.

Bronwyn loved her gifts; lots of small stuff. Before Christmas she said the best gifts were ones that were made and that she'd be happy with anything that Santa bought...awwww...very sweet. But I held off knitting her a set of Zoobles...he he.

Trini and Lorne came over and we had a delicious Christmas dinner. I cooked free-range chicken. No point in cooking turkey when only 3 of us eat it and we don't want to eat turkey for the next 2 weeks.

It was a good, busy day and great to spend time with my sister and Lorne. River seemed a little overstimulated by evening and unable to settle, but that seems to be par for the course these days when his routine is greatly interrupted.

Now I hope that I will just be able to relax and not do much for the rest of the week...except perhaps anticipate the new year.

I like this quote by Dickens (from Pickwick Papers, which I've been reading for months now):

"Christmas was close at hand, in all his bluff and hearty honesty; it was the season of hospitatility, merriment, and open-heartedness; the old year was preparing, like an ancient philosopher, to call his friends around him, and amidst the sound of feasting and revelry to pass gently and calmy away".

Of course the only thing missing is friends and family who live far away. Hope you're having a wonderful Christmas. Thinking of you. Especially our family in England and Germany x

Post-solstice...pre-Christmas

So we're beyond the winter solstice. The nights are drawing out. Unnoticeable at first (unless you check the sunset times obsessively like...ahem...some people do) just a minute or so a day. But going the other way...getting lighter. Yes!

Did some last minute Christmas shopping yesterday. All my shopping is last minute. But more than that I had a day to peruse Granville island and then hang out with my sister. Mark is officially off-work until the new year and so I had a bit of freedom. Granville Island was strangely quiet in the morning. I was able to stroll around and leisurely explore the covered market, stopping now and then to admire the work of local artists and craftspeople. No food shopping, we did that today. I even managed to buy a snack (no line-up) and find some time to sit and eat and do a bit of people-watching. Of course, the peace was shattered by the soaring notes of the ubiquitous Peruvian/Andean flute player (with the oh so "traditional" amplifier and backing track) putting my teeth on edge and introducing the element of total despair to my otherwise happy morning. There are two instruments that I would gladly see banished forever, the Peruvian flute and the bongo drum. In fact, if I were to build a huge fire I would start it going with a whole bunch of dry, woody flute/pipes, and then get the whole thing blazing by adding a ton of bongo drums...the instrument from hell. Only played, or so it would seem, by rhythmically challenged people. Actually, the bongo drum is worse because the only skill a person needs to make a noise is to hit it repeatedly. Which is what I often feel like doing to the person playing it. More skill is require to play the Peruvian instrument of torture. Oops, I'm not being very Christmassy...sorry.

So we looked around Granville island and then took a stroll down Main street (I very seldom get to Main street, being a west-side dweller who rarely travels east). I forget how interesting some of the small stores are on Main. Then we headed west and ate a late lunch at Burgoo...the best place in town for comfort food.

So we're basically all ready to celebrate. Bronwyn and her friend Nicky have made "Gingerbread" houses (using Graham crackers...to the uk they are just plain biscuits). They made their own designs, which was fun. Bronwyn included a kennel and dog toys.

Nicky made a cool garden with stepping stones and scattered the roof with "dead" jellybeans. Such a boy!

Feeling the warmth.

Bronwyn being a lit-up reindeer...

No race to school today. Yay! River still has intervention sessions so we still had to actually get up and get dressed...but it was all quite leisurely. Bronwyn and did a bit of Christmas shopping. We had a good weekend. Mike, Sarah, and Nicky came over for dinner on Saturday. Mark made a delicious Rouladen (just a tad over-cooked,  but we're a little out of practise and haven't made it for a while). We drank lots of red wine and dry martinis and had a good laugh while the kids occupied themselves creating a big mess and having fun. We should have people over more often...at the very least it make us clean-up and tidy the house. Mind you, we now realise that we need to provide more heat. Our house is difficult to keep warm and I suppose we've got used to the lower temperatures. I do actually put a jumper on when I feel cold. But when I noticed poor Sarah huddling in the chair with her jacket zipped to her chin, it occurred to me that she really was cold. And then it dawned on me that most people "act" cold when they are at our house; huddling, shivering, not taking their coats off. (Trini brings her own slippers and an extra jacket/jumper). Maybe...perhaps...possibly, that could be because they actually ARE feeling cold! Note to self: must provide heat (even if I don't think it is cold).

This morning for some reason I remembered that this time last year I was recovering from my second breast cancer surgery. What a crappy time that was and thank goodness I can say it was a year ago. I remember longing for the time when I could look back at it as a memory. So with that in mind I am not going to stress about Christmas this year. Mark and I intend to pretend that we've gone away for a week and avoid any commitments to anything except having Trini and Lorne over for Christmas day. To all intensive purposes, we are taking a weeks holiday in a small (secluded) house somewhere in Vancouver. Close to the beach and to local parks. All-inclusive; as much food and drink as we want (providing we go out and get it). No phone service. A bit on the cold side.

It's beginning to look a lot like Winter-muss...

Ho Ho Ho...it's that time of year again. "Winterfest", as Bronwyn's school seems to call it. For heaven's sake! (I mean, for "nice-place's" sake!). This system of watering everything down until it all becomes bland, meaningless, and stupid irritates me. Anyway, that's not what I mean. I mean it's that time of year when I crawl out of bed feeling, and looking, as though I attended a crazy party the night before, got totally bombed, and then slumped into bed at around 3AM. But no, the sad truth is that I got to bed relatively early (and sober), had a few boring dreams AND STILL manage to look and feel like a wreck. It's the time of year when I don't even bother to shower in the morning...I just grab the same clothes that I had on the day before and scrape my greasy hair back into a pony tail. If I'm feeling energetic I will splash water on my face. I drink very strong coffee and hassle the kids, repeating the phrase, "Come on, we're going to be late" about 100 times until it becomes meaningless even to my own ears.  Then I put on my baseball cap and jacket and we head off we go to school...arriving late. Yes, officially, no longer making an effort. Good job school's finished for the year. I need a Winterfest break...soon...it is coming, I can almost hear the jingly-tinkly sound of ice-cubes in a cocktail shaker.

We attended Mark's work "Holiday" dinner on Wednesday. It was at VanDusen gardens. The lights were fantastic; numerous and twinkly, but the music wasn't up to much. It seemed very slow compared to previous shows that we've been to. Maybe my expectations are getting too high. I am often underwhelmed and difficult to impress (I think that's where Bronwyn gets it). When I first saw Stonehenge I was disappointed. To my eternal shame, my first remark was, "It's not as big as I thought it would be." And it wasn't. River enjoyed the lights at VanDusen...I think watching millions of lights turning on and off to music is one of River's dreams comes true. It could only be made better if he could actually switch the lights himself.

Happy Jolly-day!

Thank goodness the winter break is coming and we can try to relax for the "Holiday Festival". Having said that, I am not ready. Oh no...again...another year of not being ready. No festive baking, no seasonal gift shopping done. I'll just try to relax and we can wing it like we usually do. Why make rubbishy mince-pies when there are bakeries that do a much better job?

We did decorate the "Winter tree" last weekend. Here it is...

River had his preschool holiday party today. It was fun, although he spent most of it running around. Santa and his wife came to give out gifts. River didn't really know who they were.

Who are these people?



Jingle bells, jingle bells...

The last picture is pretty amazing; River standing in a circle singing a song and playing an instrument with the other kids. He was totally focused and dancing and singing along. I was very proud of him!

So Friday was Bronwyn's last day of term. She is positively humming after a week of crazed hype and seasonal activities at school. I must admit I do enjoy seeing how excited and happy the kids get. Lately, I have overheard parents (and people on the radio) going on about how the holiday season isn't like it used to be, how kids today are the "right here, right now" generation, how they no longer understand anticipation, how they don't really appreciate the toys they get (and they get too many that break quickly and end up in landfills, polluting the planet) etc., etc. I suppose there is some truth to it. I may be an optimist, but it seems to me that children today are far more knowledgeable and caring than previous generations. I hate to the think of the weight of guilt and responsibility that they have to carry. The messages they hear seem to be something like, "We trashed the planet (with your grandparents and great-grand parents etc) and it's up to YOU to put it right. And if you don't, the planet and all the people and animals will DIE and it will be YOUR fault because you don't appreciate anything. Merry Winter!"

Happy 2010...and good riddance 2009

Happy New Year! It's finally here. We made it. We stumbled and tripped our way frantically through 2009 and finally landed in 2010. We had a quiet New Year's Eve...just Mark and I and our friends Martini and Olive. We did manage to stay up until midnight this time. Just before midnight we went up onto the rooftop deck and listened to all the New Year Celebrations. The ships sounded their horns and we could hear the sounds of revellers all around us. Fireworks were set off downtown and in what appeared to be people's backyards (drunk people with fireworks....hmmmm). It was really fun to watch and listen.

Me and Sis...enjoying a New Year's drink....

We spent New Year's Day with Trini and Lorne. They have just lost Lucy, their very special cat and she is much missed. I know how sad they are to lose her and it was really kind of them to have us over. We had fun and hopefully they were able to forget their loss...just for a little while. We played with the Wii again...I want one. I really think my life would be so much better if I had a Wii...really..it would! I know this.

On New Year's Eve we went on the Stanley Park Train. It was a lot of fun and the kids loved it. We'd definitely do it again next year.

Awwww....daddy and his little boy

The day before we went tobogganing on Mount Seymour - now that was FUN! We did some slides down the bunny hill, played in the snow, had a snowball fight (which I won). It was such a good time and we're planning to go a few times this winter.

The two kids on a toboggan thing doesn't quite work with these guys...

Lots of fun in the snow!

Move over kids....it's Mama's turn!

Bronwyn went down head first like a bullet! She is fearless.

Santa's come and gone...

We've had a really good Christmas so far and we are looking forward to a week of relaxation and fun. Santa came, as expected and Bronwyn was so excited when she woke up, peeked downstairs, and saw the presents under the tree. She gave a squeal of pure delight and ran back upstairs to let us know that Santa had been. Awww....I wish I could bottle up that moment and keep it forever. She didn't go all the way downstairs - she just peeked because, although it was early morning, it was still dark and she was worried that Santa might still be there. Santa also left a small gift under the tree in her bedroom. Her guitar was a hit and I am looking forward to playing guitar with her one of these days. We also got her a big box of Lego. In fact, we have spent a lot time over the past couple of days building Lego houses. It's really fun and it is something that we are able to do together - which Bronwyn (high maintenance that she is) loves too. Actually, at times I have wondered whether the Lego was more for Bronwyn or her dad...

Here's one of the finished houses.

River loves his glockenspiel and his music toy. He hasn't really understood Christmas, but he's had a lot of fun! He had a great time with a strange "Blingle Bells" moving toy thing that Trini and Lorne brought over. He was laughing like crazy and dancing around.

This was Bronwyn's creative use of Christmas cracker party hats...

Trini and Lorne came over and we had a good Christmas dinner. We were too busy eating and drinking to take pictures...although Trini might have some pics because she got a nice new camera from Santa. The "Melty Mushroom Wellington" was really tasty. I think next time that I would put more filling in and perhaps wrap them differently so there would be more filling and less pastry. But a good dinner...good food, good wine and good company, can't ask for more than that. A very merry Christmas!

Silver bells....

Ahhh...wouldn't be Christmas without my "Christmas Elvis" album. Yes...I'm a closet Elvis fan - I admit it! It all started when I was a kid. Anyway, it's starting to look like Christmas around here. Tonight we'll wrap the pressies. We haven't done much the past day or so because I have been tired. We'll probably go out for a walk later. I'm planning out Christmas dinner. We're making a vegetarian Christmas dinner this year..."Melty Mushroom Wellingtons".

They look good and the recipe is relatively simple. Of course, whether mine will look like the picture remains to be seen.... We'll have them with all the usual trimmings. It will hopefully be a quiet Christmas. We've deliberately made virtually no plans, except to host my sister and brother-in-law on Christmas day. We've also talked about going snowshoeing...or tubing, which will be fun. Christmas Eve tomorrow...Bronwyn is getting very excited. River doesn't really seem to know what's going on, although he's enjoying the lights. We're beginning the toilet training process...I think it's going to take a while. And I can't find undies to fit him, the ones I bought him for 3-year olds are massive. I had to put him in a pair of Bronwyn's old ones. Poor guy. We won't tell anyone.

Can you actually eat it?

The excitement is building. The gingerbread house is decorated. Yeah, Bronwyn doesn't look too excited...but I was pulling her away from "A Year without Santa" in order to take the pic. Bits of candy are being removed from the house....I don't know what will be left of it by Christmas. I'm not sure of the gingerbread house tradition. Reminds me of Hansel and Gretel...NOT a very Christmassy story. A good one though.

Bronwyn keeps asking, "How many days, how many days??" We did get an advent calendar, but I didn't police it properly and Bronwyn opened all the doors and ate most of the pieces of chocolate in about 3 days...kinda missing the point, but oh well.

Mark had the day off and we braved wind and rain (traditional Vancouver Christmas weather) to go to the mall and do some last minute shopping that I didn't get around to before now. I did my bit of shopping and Mark took the kids to the children's "play" pit. My arm and side are still a bit sore so I don't feel like driving the car yet. Anyway, we got in and out pretty fast and it wasn't too crazy. That's the only mall shopping we will do. We always shop at local small stores for Christmas presents. I took a quick trip to the music store and picked Bronwyn up a 1/4 size guitar and I got River a glockenspiel (presents from Nanny in England). The more instruments in the house the better, as far as I'm concerned. It will be fun to teach Bronwyn some guitar. I really hope she takes to it. River loves letters and music...I thought a glockenspiel would be fun. I also enquired about banjo lessons for me...though I don't have a banjo. I'd love to learn the banjo. Maybe one day. For now I will make more time to play my flute. I find it relaxing and the kids love to listen. I think we could all do with more listening and more relaxation.

Christmas is coming....

Our tree is up...and it looks brilliant...a lot better than this picture. I can't figure out Photoshop. In fact I hate Photoshop...every tiny little pixel. So anyway...Christmas is coming fast and furious. Am I ready? Of course not!

My surgery is on Friday. I have been sick for over a week and I am worried that they won't do my surgery if I am sick. I can't seem to get better. But then again, I haven't had any rest either. No call-in-sick-and-stay-in-bed-to-rest for me. There was River's team meeting on Friday. Blood work and rushing around doing Christmas stuff on Saturday and Sunday. There is ferrying Bronwyn and River back and forth to kindergarten and preschool. The constant stream of people coming to our house. Yesterday there were appointments with River's Occupational Therapist and Infant Development Consultant, as well as 2 intervention sessions (4 people over to the house in one day), today he had a speech-language therapy assessment. Tomorrow we double up on intervention sessions and there is a teaching session with the intervention supervisor. Let's not forget laundry, cleaning, groceries, cooking dinner, the endless snacks, changing diapers, dealing with Bronwyn's tantrums, dealing with River's "fear of the poo", which entails a hysterical screaming fit every day. Making sure Ellee gets out and gets fed. Scheduling more sessions and appointments for River, getting together materials for his intervention sessions...trying to find time to make stuff with Bronwyn. Trying to find time to take library books back while fines are mounting up...Oh, yes...then there is Christmas. And let's not forget that niggling worry about breast cancer. No wonder I'm not getting better. Still, when all that is done I will get chance to put my feet up and rest...that will be on Friday while I am in surgery. In fact, part of me is looking forward to it because I will be able to rest...at least for the afternoon anyway. Phew...end of moan.

I have given up on sending Christmas cards this year....the traditional woman's role, for some reason. I have virtually given up on Christmas for this year. Of course I have to keep up the front for the kids. Maybe I'll regain my Christmas spirit once I stop feeling like my head is in a vice. I sound like a right "Bah...humbug".

Here is Bronwyn's cute tree that she decorated for their bedroom...

And the mini-snowman she made when we had a dusting of snow...look carefully...there are carrot eyes and nose!