Christmas Day...and a bit more

After the Christmas Eve festivities were complete we drove back home. Ever since we've had kids we have decided that Christmas in our own home is so worth it!! They sleep better...I sleep better. But of course I like to have company...I mean LOVE to have company. It's my favourite thing in the whole world!! So Sarah and Nick came and spent the night...and my parents were supposed to come too...but they decided a night in their bed might be best too. We're all about sleep in this family. So they came out first thing in the morning...and sent us a text around 8:00 to see if we were awake because they were outside our home waiting to come in. Of course none of us were...haha! Like I said, we're all about sleep in this house! I woke up though and made lots and lots of noise hoping my kids would eventually wake up...sometime around 8:30 they moseyed on downstairs. And the stocking unwrapping began.

Paige was methodical and deliberate with each move

Hailey was hurried and excited

Cait was mostly just "what the heck? Why is there stuff in the sock?"

Overall the Santa stockings were a hit...he sure knows these thee girls!

Grandpa had a nap sometime during the excitement

And then we had our traditional Aebelskivers breakfast with a little eggs Benedict casserole on the side. Deliciousness to the max!

Present opening after Brunch was a hit...and just a really enjoyable time. We took our time and really enjoyed each gift. The girls especially enjoyed watching their sisters open the gifts they bought for them! This kind of stuff is what makes Christmas so fun for me!

I exist! In a very tired form...but I was there!

Ben...just so excited about his new shoes. Like more excited than he's ever been about anything...or maybe he was faking!

Grandma and Grandpa opening the gift from us...a family tree I made and framed for them

Sarah and Nick bought our girls this awesome toy with these little bugs that move on their own and throughout this big track. PERFECT gift for this house of girls. Seriously, I think we were getting tired of all the princess and pink. Some nano bugs were the perfect addition...especially when the girls let them loose in the kitchen while I was cooking just to watch me jump and scream when they'd touch my feet. Fun times for all!

Jeff and Yuka brought Turkey dinner later that night and Liam and Cait tested out the new 'snowmobile'

A few days later we got together with the McCance's for our annual food fest and gift exchange. We all had so much fun!

If I were to sumarize this Christmas I'd say it was perfect. Just like every Christmas. Magical...just like every Christmas. The best Christmas ever...just like every other Christmas. Christmas is just the best best best thing ever!

Christmas Eve

I love my family and their Christmas eve get together. It's always full of laughs, kids everywhere, great food and the best nativity ever. Some years we take it more seriously than others. This year didn't happen to be a serious year. But it was a good one! Almost all of us also happened to get matching PJ's. It wasn't totally planned, but slightly coordinated. Meaning Becc put a big order in an a bunch of us added to it. Over all, another great Christmas Eve to remember!

This little zebra (sheep) might have stole the show! It was a tight race though!

Three beautiful girls...the only ones taking their roles seriously

sums up the nativity

just a little more crazy to add to the rest of the crazy

  

This is how excited Ben was about our matching pj's

he eventually got into it though...this pic is honestly the most accurate depiction of our family. A little bit of normal, some grumpy and lots of crazy!

Christmas Concert

So I love our schools Christmas Concert. They break the concert into two days, half the elementary one day, the other half the next. They also limit each class to two songs, there's some narrating in between songs and then a band number between classes. When you add it up, you're looking at under an hour! PERFECTION!

I loved watching my little girls sing their hearts out. One of them (Hailey) kept her songs secret all week so I'd be surprised, and the other one (Paige) wanted me to help her practice. Two little blonde girls with very different personalities. The night of, I have to say, I was surprised that neither of my kids was front and center! WHAT??? Who's idea was that? The thing is, they usually are more visible. But not this time, the both were tucked away in the most awkward spot for me to take pictures. I still filmed the performance and we'll hopefully watch it again one day. And I took some pictures as the other kids were leaving just so you could actually see my beautiful angel daughters! They did great....their classes did great...and it was just another fun pre Christmas activity we got to check off our advent calendar! Gosh, I love Christmas!

making gingerbread memories

Typical McCance Christmas Tradition instructions:

1. Open Box...remove icing bag and cut open

2. Lick as much icing as you can before mom confiscates the bag

3. Watch mom assemble pre cooked and store bought gingerbread house.

4. Eat almost all the candy while mom is doing this

5. Pour mouthfuls of icing into mouth, don't share with sisters

6. Finally put the remaining candies on the house

7. Eat more candy

8. Make icing moustaches - make sure the two years olds is extra drippy

9. Pose for moms camera

DONE.

Another year. Another successful gingerbread house night. More memories added to the bank. 

Trimming the tree

There was a about a 2 day time period where Ben and I were set on going and cutting down our own Christmas tree. It sounded like the perfect Holiday tradition. I was picturing Hot Chocolate, and sleds, and happy kids with rosy cheeks along for a beautiful ride. Then when we got home I was picturing just unwrapping a perfect Christmas tree and 'poof' Christmas was ready! And did you know that in my imagination, that tree also came pre flocked? You know, with snow on it's branches that never melted or made a mess or anything.  Well, it did. Maybe it was pre lit...or didn't need lights because it just glowed from within because it knew how happy we were with our real tree.

And then the -30 weather hit...and dug in for the long haul. You know, all during that perfect time period to cut down your own tree. And the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of bringing up our trusty old fake tree from the basement. The one that doesn't shed needles, or doesn't need to be trimmed, or anything really. We just take it out of the box, and fold down the branches...maybe fluff them a bit, and we're good to go. So I consulted with myself and pulled that ol' tree up the stairs and go started on the Christmas tradition I've always known. The girls got in on the action, and because it was -30, Ben was busy bringing warmth to the homes of the heatless and didn't get home until the girls were bathed and pj'd. He did arrive just in time to let the youngest put the start on the tree, which we all decided was a great tradition...this year at least. 

Dinner parties turned impromptu photoshoot

There was this one day...yesterday...when we had some good friends over for dinner we hadn't seen in years. We had planned to take some pictures of their kids for their Christmas card, and since I had things set up I thought "why not take some of our girls?" Things were working out just right. I mean, we had actually bathed them, brushed their hair and even put some clean clothes on them. Perfect right? Well, we didn't actually DO their hair, we just brushed it. And they also weren't really all that interested in having their picture taken because they had new/old friends to play with. So I tried...nothing really turned out. But they're still gorgeous in my eyes. It's pretty hard to get Cait to look at the camera and make a normal smiling face, actually it's pretty hard to get Paige to do that too. Hailey's pretty easy though...unless she's trying too hard. But really, when it comes down to it, I just love pictures of them no matter what they're doing. I like remembering these stages. Hailey with her big gorgeous smiles and new adult teeth; Paige just so sweet and shy around the camera and not quite sure where to look; and Cait just not caring one bit what anyone asks of her. Not one bit. Not at all. Ever. Ben and I sure adore each one of these girls and their very different personalities!

p.s. I added one picture of Hailey and her oldest friend Jocelyn. They were each others first friends. Chantelle and I used to get these girls together when they were just little tiny babies! They've grown a LOT since then!

Banff

So after the miscarriage Ben and I decided we needed to get away for a few days alone. We love Travelling with the girls because they really are the best, but we just needed to recharge. We spent a lot of time thinking about where we should go. We had quite a few fun destinations on the list...and the top of our list was San Francisco. We had it all planned out and we almost booked it, and then I had a last minute change of heart. I didn't want to go somewhere where we would be busy seeing the sites and playing tourist. I needed to relax and recharge. So we figured, why not go somewhere we've been a million times. That way if we decided to stay in and watch movies all day we wouldn't feel like were were missing out. So we booked into cute condo/hotel in Banff. Our place was perfect, a little one bedroom with a wood burning fireplace. Our first day they was gorgeous, fall weather. We woke up to animals exploring our patio and just relaxing in the sun. We slept in, watched movies, went to brunch, shopped, watched more movies and swam in the hot pools at our hotel. Then the next day we woke up to winter. It was gorgeous and cold. We decided to play tourist, so we had brunch at the Banff Springs, checked out Bow Falls, took the Gondola up to the top of Sulphur Mountain to take in the amazing views. But of course it was still a winter wonderland and there was nothing to be seen. The next day we drove to Lake Louise for a little tourist walk around, it was freezing again. So we just drove around and checked out the condition of the snow at the ski hills....not so good yet. And then we ate! Oh boy did we eat a LOT this trip. There are tons of really great little restaurants in Banff and we had fun making a list of the top ones worth eating at and making sure we fully enjoyed each experience. I gained some serious weight!! But it was worth it. We came home from this little 4 day trip recharged and ready to take on the rest of the year. It was exactly what we needed and I'm so grateful we got to get away!

Halloween

I normally love nothing more than a family themed costume. This year we were going to be a big ol' zombie wedding. Cute hey? However, only one of my children - and definitely not my husband - actually agreed with the theme. The other two were very insistent on being a Monster High (Abby Bominable) and a princess (either Elsa or Cinderella). So I went with it. It's all about them anyway! Friday the girls had no school so we relaxed at home, then decided to run down to the river and take a few pictures in costume...unfortunately I didn't realize we had no white facepaint and it's pretty hard to look like a zombie without some white. So we ran around town to every single store I could thing of that might have white left, and none did. Well, I guess the old dollar store downtown had some, which of course wasn't on my list and was just a last minute call just in case. So two hours later I got the girls home and quickly put them in their costumes, slapped some makeup on their faces and took some pictures. We got back just in time to eat dinner and head out for trick or treating. I don't know how I manage to take an entire day with nothing to do and turn it into a last minute gong show of rushing around and stressing. That's my mom talent I guess.

She's going to eat your brains!!

Don't let her fool you...she may be sweet but she's still a monster

She's a mix of her two favourite princess - Cinderella and Elsa (not the Elsa braid)

Poor Princess, she doesn't realize these two have got her under their spell. Never trust a Zombie and a Monster High!