Our 5th Day of Christmas: Christmas at Shield Autobody

On our 5th day of Christmas we wound up at the shop.

I've had lyrics on past posts so can't stop.

We like to think of our team at the shop as a family.

We care for each other and annoy each other.

There's lots of laughter and fighting.

You know, just like a family.

So when it came time to do a Christmas card, naturally a family pic was in order.

Playing photographer for this shot taught me that it takes on average 62 photos to end up with one that works.

They look nice right? 

Well here's one of the other 61, deciding how to pose.

 "Let's do a jumping shot!" said the girls and Jeff...and no one else.

 We had a former cheerleader in the group who attempted to coordinate a pyramid.

Alonzo is so ashamed in the background.

 And did we really think anyone wanted to see this angle of the shop?

I'm happy with the one we chose but am also pumped to have the bloopers in my arsenal.

Our mini Christmas trees came out again this year.

{Jeff hard at work in the back.}

The guys have managed not to kill taken great care of this Christmas cactus which is blooming just in time.

Finally our landlord had these very seasonal trees planted this year.

Every year we talk about going all out with our decor at the shop for Christmas.

And every year we drop the ball.

Next year is the year.

 Yep, definitely next year.

Merry Christmas from Shield Autobody!

Our 4th Day of Christmas {Gift Spoiler Alert}

On our 4th day of Christmas we got our crafty on.

And made a trinket for our friends' trees to don.

{I have never claimed to be a lyricist.}

My Mom was/is amazing {I think I may have mentioned that before}.

Every Christmas we made the gifts we gave our relatives.

And I know they were treasured since many are still around.

It is my intention to carry on this tradition.

Last year we started with our potato stamp wrapping {and gave homemade jam}.

This year we decided to step it up and craft the gift itself.

I had a little help from these fabulous 1980's publications.

{Thanks Mom.}

We settled on something that I knew Fiona would like and be good at due to it resemblance to play-dough-playing and cookie-making.

It's as simple as mix the three ingredients, knead the dough and roll it out.

Cut the shapes with cookie cutters.

With a straw make string holes at the top of each ornament.

Fiona loved the hole poking process so we decided to add more for embellishment. 

Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 300F for 1 hour.

I loved this natural look but what fun would that be right?

Out come the watercolours and glitter. 

Topped off with a quick coat or two of spray varnish.

And of course one final touch to complete this memory for Christmases yet to come.

To those who now receive these little treasures, sorry for ruining the surprise.

I just had to share this project with all those looking for a quick and easy kid craft before Christmas.

The Days of Christmas {Let's Try for Twelve, No Promises}

On our first day of Christmas was Festival of Trees.

We went with our best friend Charlie.

On our second day of Christmas we bought our Christmas tree.

I have shared both events already.

Did you sing that?

If not please proceed back to the top of this post since I spent a couple minutes getting the correct number of syllables and don't want that time to have been wasted, ok?

Anyways, my point is, we're picking up on our third day of Christmas.

Decorating the tree acquired on day 2.

We have a huge Christmas trunk stuffed with everything Christmas.

In the past I have used every last item but this year I felt like simplifying. 

We only took out what we really love.

I barely touched the pristine silver balls, glass tear drops and yards of ribbon.

We opted instead for mainly the ornaments with meaning.

Luckily most of these ornaments are also sturdy since we have a tree toucher in the house this year.{Yep, I'm looking at you Cedric.}

 Fiona of course was dressed to impress for this occasion complete with princess heels.

{Daddy's absolute favourite.}

 We always enjoy decorating and it's so fun to get the kids involved now.

But as fun as it may be, the best part in my opinion is still turning off the lights, sitting back and enjoying the result.

It's a Christmas Miracle

We had Norwalk.

No, that's not the miracle, promise.

You know those weekends right before Christmas that are so scheduled that you feel the need to pencil in bathroom breaks.

No? 

I do realize I take multitasking very seriously.

Well, anyways, that was last weekend for us.

Buy and wrap gift exchange gifts, bake for Christmas party, attend Christmas party, ballet dress rehearsal, Santa Shuffle, Christmas party #2, studio time, divide and conquer Christmas parties #3 and #4 simultaneously and finally winterguard rehearsal.

Our lone picture from one of the few events we made it to on the weekend.

Now if you or your loved ones have had Norwalk you know that it incapacitates you.

We were thoroughly incapacitated. 

We did however manage to hit 4 out of 11 of the above events and most likely would not have shuffled anyways on account of the weather.

This is a small miracle but not the one I'm speaking of.

Cedric was the culprit who brought the bug into our house and I was determined to prevent it from spreading to Fiona.

As the mess cleaner I knew I, myself, was doomed.

But I thought that just maybe if I had the disinfectant cleaner, antiseptic soap and antiseptic hand cream working overtime along with constant baths for Cedric and continuous loads of laundry on a hot cycle I might just protect her.

I also told her over and over that "Mommy and Cedric would love to give you hugs and kisses but I love you so much and don't want to get you sick".

And, you know, I think it worked.  

We are definitely out of the contagious period and she is healthy as can be.

Now that folks is a real Christmas miracle.

Aside: I am knocking on wood constantly while writing this.

Flashback Friday

Just flashing back a week though to our trip to the Festival of Trees.

We usually like to go during the day to avoid crowds but last weekend was a busy one so Thursday night was the only opportunity.

Fortunately for us, it turned out to be free-kids-admission night.

Of course it didn't feel fortunate when we saw the crowds but this event is so well run that we moved easily through the stations.

First stop: Gingerbread houses which the kids absolutely love.

I, however, was most impressed by this non-gingerbread house.

Next up, being that this is sponsored by the University Hospital Foundation, was the hospital.

Cedric was quite concerned that Elmo was in a hospital bed all bandaged and he called for "Momo" to make sure he was alright.

Fiona had her finger casted then bedazzled with glitter, boy do they know their toddlers.

We didn't get much opportunity to look at the trees and decor.

They, of course, being much overshadowed by cookie making stations and such but we did make it through a room full of white lights, this Mama's favourite. 

The kids very much enjoyed the entertainment and danced the night away to it.

I love how it looks like they're both preparing for an amazing pirouette in sync.

Cedric tried his hand at flirting with this little cutie.

The room full of floor pianos is always a blast.

And of course we got our letters off to Santa.

This event is always a favourite of ours.

With it, Christmas has officially come.

December First is a Good Day

For two reasons.

#1. Movember is over.

As much as Jeff rocked his trucker mo I'm happy that this face is a little easier to smooch now.

#2.  Entering December means no holds barred in the Christmas decoration department.

Admittedly I have had what we'll call "winter" decorations up for weeks.

But on December 1st it's socially acceptable for Christmas to officially explode all over the place.

So, naturally, we headed down to our favourite tree lot and picked a beautiful Balsam.

If you haven't yet grabbed a tree yet in Edmonton check out the UofA Forestry students fundraiser behind Corbett Hall on campus.

Fiona had convinced Daddy that this was a pants optional party so froze her little tush off under the floral dress she chose. 

We managed to get the tree home safely despite being, yet again, ill prepared.

Thank goodness for strong daddys, resourceful students and their random bundles of twine.

Better Late Than Never?

People often remark how they're surprised I can find time to blog.

Well, obviously, sometimes I can't.

It's been over two weeks since I told you we were celebrating our 5th anniversary.

That feels like a really long time ago.

It was a really long time ago.

Regardless, I still want to share.

We started the day mid-afternoon with massages.

Not a couples massage, I did enquire but am I the only one who doesn't see the point?

We had a couples massage once and it was a little awkward. 

{Granted, that could have also been because of the TV crew in the room and knowing that we were live on Breakfast Television in the nude with a thin white sheet as the only barrier shielding us from indecency.  Just another hypothesis.}

I am the type that wants to be dead to the world while being massaged.

So, we had separate rooms next to each other and it was fabulous.

Jeff {of course} headed back to the shop for a couple more hours which gave me some time to get dressed up.

Getting dressed up is a big deal for me.

I used to buy many lovely clothes and take my time picking each outfit carefully.

Since those days are long over {am I right Moms?} I love any chance to spend a bit more time on my appearance.

{Hence the questionable bathroom selfie below.}

We continued our celebration by opening the bottle of wine that we received for our wedding that was marked for the 5th anniversary.

{Thanks Alex!}

You may know how I love finding significance in numbers so having a 5 on the top of cork made me happy.

 My parents babysat and also snapped this pic before we left.

{Thanks Mom and Dad!}

Thank goodness Movember wasn't really a thing when we were married.

I have resigned to the fact that Jeff will always have a 'stache on our anniversary. 

 We chose Three Boars as our dinner destination and it was great.

Described as your friendly neighbourhood Hutterite this place was truly original.

They used parts of animals that other places wouldn't.

Or, more accurately, other places wouldn't dare to admit.

We ordered dishes that used gizzards, jowl and pork fat powder.

And we loved every bite.