lead-up and catch-up

Annual sorting of the lights

As we gallantly battled to get the kids off to the bus stop on time this morning (for example: dealing with the heart-felt outpouring of tears when we told Juniper she wasn't allowed to wear the PJ pants that go up to her knees and the nightgown that has a huge rip down the side for PJ day), it dawned on me that not only was it Monday again, it is the last Monday before Christmas.  What is more, I completely and utterly flaked out last week when it came time to do a blog post.  So, instead of making a list of all the things I need to get accomplished in the next few days (the usual, of course - taking stock of what remains to procure, madly sewing and knitting, etc etc etc), I instead sat down to put together at least the barest of posts.  It will include both the recent lead-up-to-Christmas activities, and it will go back in time a few weeks to play a little catch-up of some things that didn't get posted when they happened.

The Lead-up:

The last couple of weeks have been filled with all the important pre-Christmas/solstice activities: choosing and decorating a tree, making gingerbread cookies, making and decorating the gingerbread house, school concerts, keeping up with the solstice fairies... all the traditions that are both familiar and unique every year.  

The Tree: we didn't quite have the hutzpah this year to go cut down our own tree, but we found a lovely one at a local garden centre none-the-less. After it was beautifully and lovingly decorated, and all the presents we have so far placed underneath, the four of us went to bed quite satisfied with ourselves (and no doubt filled with holiday spirit).  That night, I was rudely awoken at 1:30 in the morning, by what sounded like a whole shelf of dishes crashing to the ground.  Nope!  It was, in fact, our beautiful tree, having unceremoniously toppled over, leaving crushed ornaments and rivers of water in its wake.  Clark and I blearily sopped up the water (hoping that no presents were ruined in the process), cleaned up the ornaments (only a couple of true casualties, thank goodness), righted the tree, and tied it securely to the wall.  Next year, we will get a much sturdier tree stand... this is one event I don't plan to turn into tradition.

hanging the decorations

Gingerbread Galore: I love gingerbread, but really only go to the trouble of baking it during this one small period of time.  There is always at least one batch of cookies for eating, and one village for decorating.  And, despite the amount of effort involved, we always do it from scratch - it seems wrong, otherwise.  This year, we were joined by our awesome neighbours, and had a true decorating extravaganza:

patiently watching the cookies bake

assembling the gingerbread village

Joint village design and beautification: Liam and Linden

The whole decorating crew! Ruby, Juniper, Zoë, Liam and Linden (Ruby was happy to join the picture, despite only acting in a supervisory/cuteness-addition role)

Holiday Concerts: The school put on a holiday concert this year, which was a pretty big deal for Juniper and Linden, as there had been none last year (due to the work-to-rule craziness that was going on at the time).  It was exactly as you would expect: a gym filled beyond capacity, and a seemingly endless stream of excited, sincere kids taking their place on the bleachers and singing their hearts out.  Clark and I were in the very (VERY) back row, and despite bringing the telephoto lens, the pictures and videos we ended up procuring were... well, let's just say they won't win any prizes.  I almost decided not to include any (especially since the videos were so shaky that I would have to put a nausea-warning in effect), but I decided at the very least I could include a snap of each of them on stage:

Linden and his grade 1 cohorts, singing about building a gingerbread house, or somesuch

Juniper's class (and another grade 3 class), singing about red birds and pine trees, I think

Unexpected other stuff: This past weekend we had a surprise visit from Clark's mom and stepdad, who made a very last-minute decision to come to Halifax to buy a new (used) van.  It was such an unplanned, whirlwind visit that I didn't even have a chance to snap any pictures.  I did take this one, though, which depicts the unexpected after-effects.  After school on Friday, Deb and Yvon took the kids out on the town for a bit, including a stop at the dollar store, where they were allowed to spend $5.00 each on whatever they wanted.  Juniper got a tabbed scribbler and two fancy pens, deciding that the tabs would each be for a different story that she was going to write. After giving Linden one of her new pens, he also got on board, and made his own book.  They spent HOURS, quietly writing their stories, which I have yet to even read, as they are secret until finished.  It was kind of magical.

Two devoted budding authors, hard at work

The Catch-up:

Matt and Anna visit: A few weeks ago, I posted about a short-but-sweet visit we had with our friends Matt and Anna. I only had one measly photo to share at the time, but Anna had diligently snapped lots of great shots throughout the day.  With her permission, I lifted some of my favourites from her instagram page (https://www.instagram.com/a_miles_away/), and thought I should post them here as well:

Juniper and Linden made sure there was a warm welcome waiting when Matt and Anna arrived

At the Halifax Farmer's Market: both Juniper and Linden got treated to their favourite pretzels from the Cake Lady - an especially big treat, as Clark and I are rarely that generous.  Does she look pleased, or what?

Market shenanigans with a craaaaazzzy Matt-monster

Adorable Anna/Linden selfie from the drive over (poor Anna had to squish in to the middle of the back seat!)

School Photos: I stumbled across this year's school photos a few days ago when I was tidying up, and realized I had never posted them here.  For shame!  Here they are, better late than never:

Grade 3, with missing teeth, and clad in velour

Grade 1: Fancy shirt, with no stains visible! 

I will mostly likely not post next Monday, as it is, after all, Christmas Day. But there will be loads of pictures and stories to share, so stay tuned: I will likely get around to posting on Tuesday or Wednesday.  Have a very happy solstice and Christmas!