Christmas Lights/Advent/Dentist/Birthday Celebrations!

Wow time gets away from me quickly these days!

Our whole household has been healthy for two weeks! However we kept Dom & Emilia home today with an inkling they could be coming down with something. Fingers crossed they're not! Here's the last week and a bit of our lives...

Advent #5: Christmas lights! We ended up inviting Mom & Dad and our little walk around the neighbourhood became driving around with hot chocolate. We just made one stop where we actually got out of the car and it was perfect for the littles. 

Afterwards, Mom & Dad came over and watched Spirited in the theatre. Such a fun movie and will definitely become a Christmas tradition! I have some of the songs stuck in my head still. 

School drop off for Dom & Emilia means we had some time between to play. The girls spent the whole time sliding down this little grass hill together <3

I finally got on the preschool app and got caught up on some pictures they'd taken of Emilia in the preschool environment :)

She L-O-V-E-S the art projects

Advent #6: Frosty the Snowman

I booked myself my first dentist appointment in 4 years (since I lost benefits). No cavities (might be a miracle?) but they do want to replace some fillings that are probably 20 years old. I got emotional thinking about the cost and they're so willing to work with me and we will go through the treatment plan at a pace that works for me and our budget. So grateful!

Also so grateful for the Canada Childrens Dental Benefit that came out. I was able to get $650 from the government for both Dom & Emilia and have them booked for dentist appointments this month! Emilia's first one, Dom's second one. 

Advent #7: Painting ceramic ornaments

Um hello. We are in the age of phonetic spelling and I am so stoked! Happy Semi Truck <3 <3

The thing with having a birthday so close to Christmas, is that you often get "future-proofed" gifts. This was a circuit set gifted from Uncle Adam and Aunty Aly last year and maybe was a bit beyond him. This week they brought it out again and both he and Emilia have been obsessed.

For some reason I love this

We got a gift box from Greg & Liz Holmes (our realtors & one of David's longest clients) and Eva quite enjoyed the paper!

I finally got around to updating my frames

Advent #8: Velvet colouring pages

Reuinited! We have seen Scott & Ashleigh once (well now twice) since Halloween which is unprecedented. Between Mexico, busy schedules and illness it just hasn't happened.

The dog loves laying under the tree. I watched the first three episodes of the Harry & Meghan documentary last Thursday. I love documentaries. There is clearly bias, but it's interesting and entertaining and informative anyway.

Advent #9: Glow Stick Dance party!

On the 9th we finally got together with Jeff & Marta, which we've also been trying to set up forever! 

We read about Jericho in the children's bible the other day, so this was an absolute must! I was laughing away at it ("How are we clapping?!") and Emilia just stone-faced me and with way too much judgement said, "Mom. It's not funny." 
I feel old haha

Catching up on some sleep since being sick? She crashes so hard during naps! Her and Emilia also got their flu shots that morning, so maybe that had an effect.

Last Saturday evening Uncle Adam and Myles came over for dinner. Eva was just TICKLED to have another toddler in the house. It was super cute. 
This visit also means we made a full pull for seeing my immediate family this week!)

Eva: Pay-dooh

Myles: Puuuh-ple

I brought the train track bucket down the other day because I ran out of space in Dom's room and it's been played with every single day since. 

Advent #10: Candy Cane Hunt. I forgot to take pictures though!

December 11 was my birthday! 

I got up and took a shower, during which the kids tried to surprise me in bed by coming in singing happy birthday. Sorry I missed it! Instead they surprised me by serenading me as I came down the stairs. 

Later on I tried to do some shopping for myself and failed miserably (I hate shopping). Instead I had a big americano to boost my energy and got ready for the afternoon plans!

Advent #11: Celebrate Mom's Birthday! Me N Eds & Lafarge Lake!

I can genuinely not recall the last time these kids were in a restaurant. I don't think Eva ever has been. We had a reso for 3:30 at Me N Eds and it was perfect. Family restaurant that was nearly empty. Nobody cared that they were a little restless and running up and down the entrance ramp at the front haha.

Her first restaurant experience. She was quiet, but did great!

When you're short a glass haha

The pizza was outstanding. That crust. Just wow. We got perogy, pepperoni, and a half BBQ chicken, half Thai Chicken. So much yum.

Then off to Lafarge Lake! My parents and all my brothers plus Myles came along. It was quite busy there, but all things considered I thought it went pretty well. Others described it as "too chaotic to be worth it", but I was quite prepared for how chaotic it would be with all the littles so maybe my baseline is just different haha. 

Oh my stars. I wish I could share the video of Eva running around the lake. She was in her own little world just absolutely living her best life. She walked most of the way. Dom strollered most of the way, and Emilia did a mix. 

Best we could do for a group shot haha

Birthday evening! On my shopping spree earlier in the day I did manage to pick some IPAs for us to enjoy in the evening. We watched Prehistoric Planet and Down to Earth and shared some beer. I am pretty lame. Dinosaur and environment sustainability documentaries are my TV of choice for the theatre on my birthday? Lol

Advent #12: Emilia Christmas Concert

Yesterday was Emilia's Preschool Christmas concert. The nerves got the better of her and she decided to sit with me and cheer for her friends instead of get up in front of everyone and sing. I understand, dear. Her last Christmas concert was just a video filmed in the classroom, and she's never been a part of a church one so this was her first introduction to this sort of thing. 

Some day I should do a collage of all our selfies we have together. So many.

This did give us the opportunity to put Eva in a dress, tights and these beautiful shoes! (Old hand me downs from Jaia way back in the day!)

This afternoon Emilia has her first dentist appointment. She doesn't seem nervous, but we'll see how it goes!