'Twas the week before Christmas...

Sea smoke beneath the MacKay Bridge

Clark took this picture on the frigidly cold Friday we had last week.  It is a beautiful phenomenon that happens when the air very suddenly and drastically drops in temperature, and is coupled with strong gusts of wind.  When you add a big body of water into this equation, the cold air literally pulls the warmth from the ocean surface, giving the impression of smoke hovering and dancing right above the water.  It continued like this all day long. Here's a little video, too:

This past week felt... epic.  And a bit bizarre. There were snow storms, rain storms, school cancellations, sickness, gift making, gift receiving and a whole boatload of activities.  It must be the week before Christmas (and solstice), I suppose!

A proper snow fall

The week began with a kick in the pants -- for us anyway.  On Monday, the school board decided to send kids to school in the morning, but then called it quits at 11:30am (giving some parents a whole 3 minutes warning before they shut down).  Seeing as we didn't yet have winter tires on the car (and also that a friend of the kids would be coming here to spend the afternoon), I instructed the school to send all three of them home on the bus.  And, despite the fact that it was a cold, raging blizzard (and I was still hacking away with lungs full of bronchitis), I dutifully went to stand at the bus stop at around the time I assumed they'd be pulling up.  (To be truthful, this wasn't just me being altruistic - there is a policy that they will not let a primary-aged student off the bus unless there is someone there waiting, so I HAD to be there).

Linden got a REAL shovelling opportunity, and devised a trademark "two shovel" method

45 minutes later, I was quite cold, VERY snowy, and more than a little worried.  I also discovered that my phone does not respond well to being in the elements for that length of time, and that it would only stay on for 30 seconds, then completely shut down. 1.5 hours later, I was feeling desperate (and frozen, and hungry), but completely stuck.  I could get ahold of no one, no one could ahold of me, and I didn't dare leave the bus stop in case they pulled up. TWO HOURS later, the bus finally, FINALLY arrived, and the three kids piled off, chattering excitedly about the accident they'd been in: how two ambulances and two police cars arrived, and they had to be checked out by paramedics, and how Juniper's glasses had smushed painfully against her face, and how Linden had cried, because he was upset that I'd be waiting for them, and worried, and not knowing what had happened. No one was hurt, thank goodness.  But it was one completely disorienting and strange start to the week.

Linden's gift from the solstice fairies: a Superman shirt! (clearly, that is his Superman pose)

Juniper's new outfit. She has worn that velour cape (though she calls it a shawl) every single day since getting it.

 The rest of the week was much less eventful, though still all over the place.  When the weekend hit, however, we just... pummelled it.  We went into holiday over-drive.  Saturday, for instance, was the day we got our Christmas tree.  In years past, we were compelled to wait until the very last minute to get a tree, which has both pros and cons.  Pros: you are able to snag a straggly little Charlie Brown tree for 5$.  Cons: you are forced to roam the recesses of various Home Depots and Superstores until you can find said straggly tree, all the while living in mortal fear that this will be the year you waited too long.

So THIS year, with no reasons to wait to get the tree, I expressed my extreme desire to go to an actual Christmas tree farm, and cut down our own.  Clark was super Scrooge-like about the whole idea, whining about the cold and the long drive, and this and that.  So I agreed to just head to our local Superstore (or what-have-you), but threw in the kids' snow pants, JUST in case. And then I ended up driving.  And then, somehow, we found ourselves at this tucked away little place past Enfield, and it was great fun, if I do say so myself!  And who was the first person we saw?  Our friend Tawnya, who just also happened to be there with her husband and step-son!  It was clearly meant to be:

Tawnya and Austin, just back from getting their tree, and me and kids about to head out to get ours

Not only did we roam and get to choose/saw our own tree, we also got to warm up in a little cabin with hot apple cider and candy canes, and then go for a snowy horse-drawn wagon ride.  I mean - really.  Why WOULDN'T you choose such an awesome adventure?

Same shot, as a family (that's a tree-measuring pole)

Action shot, cutting down the tree

Success!

The lovely, hard-working horses

Linden was ridiculously excited for this ride, and then did his best to ruin the picture.

After getting home from that adventure, we fancied ourselves up, then turned around and headed out to two (pretty huge) back-to-back parties.  First we celebrated adorable 2-year-old Aggie's birthday with a house full of good people (and yummy food), then we hopped on over to an open house at one of Clark's workmate's.  Highlights included a visit from Santa, the discovery of old-school Nintendo (for Linden, who ended up being completely transfixed by the Mario Brothers), and a secret room full of Barbies (for Juniper).  And for the adults?  Kids-free conversations.  It was pretty amazing, actually.  The kids crawled into bed close to 9:00pm, which is a good hour later than usual.  Everyone was completely and utterly exhausted

"It wasn't the REAL Santa",  Linden announced, "But I still loved getting a present".

THEN, on Sunday, we invited Alana and Ian over for some lunch, some carolling, some tree decorating, and some gingerbread village-making.  We don't fool around when we invite you over the weekend before Christmas:

A table full of food!

The decorated tree.  Small but lovely!

Some finishing touches on the gingerbread

The final product

And there you have it, folks.  Who knows what this week will bring?  Christmas, to be sure.  So I will definitely have some pictures to share, and maybe some stories as well.  I hope some magic finds everyone wherever you are!  And for Linden's sake, hopefully it will snow again.  He was pretty devastated by yesterday's balmy (12 degree) temperatures, and pouring rain:

Sad Linden, watching the snow disappear