A friendly Christmas get together

Sonia invited us to her place for raclette on the 28th. Grand maman was here with her neighbor Doum. We had a nice time! The food was delicious of course and everyone was happy!

Naomie and Maelie were really happy to spend time together. They hadn't seen each other much during the holidays!

Silly girls! Looking cute with Santa!

Even Peluche was happy to hang out with us. He looked so cute with his little Christmas sweater! Very festive!

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas To all!! We woke up bright and early of course!! By 5:30 everyone was up and ready to unwrap gifts :) Maelie prefers when we open ours first and afterwards, it's all about her! LOL 

 

Poor Peluche was quite overwhelmed by the noise and paper, so he hid in a safe spot under Bill's legs!

Maelie wanted gift cards for Christmas so they were all wrapped up, not looking like gift cards at all. She also got a few items that were not gift cards! The only item that really sucked due to Mommy error was the docking station for her Ipad! It was made for the newer ones... so we will have to return it :( I was disappointed because I used my Shoppers points to get it so it technically only cost me the tax!

Somebody was really exhausted after all this excitement!!

We got Peluche a new sweater for Christmas. It was called the "Ugly Christmas Sweater". He loved it! Any shirt for him means he is going for a walk... so he is quite proud of his shirt!!

Maelie got this picture of him and used an app to censor the part we really didn't need to see!!

We now have to drive Bill to the airport as he is going to visit his Mom and siblings and girls and grandkid!! :) We really wish we could go with him, but the cost of airline tickets is ridiculous!! It ends up being close to 1000$ per person when all the taxes are added on. We are really happy that he at least gets to go. We miss our family!

My biggest wish for everyone is to feel loved on Christmas day and all year round. Strive to be a good, honest person and to think of others. Give of your time and your talents. Life is not a lonely place unless you choose for it to be.

I wish you the Merriest of Christmases!

Countdown to Christmas - Day 24

Christmas Eve is finally here!!! Maelie was happy to get up this morning that's for sure! I got her up early because she came to my workplace :) This is the age where you have to enjoy it because they may not want to come in future years!

It was a quiet day workwise... a lot of staff was already on holidays. I did manage to get some work done though!

One group had organized activities for the kids. The majority of the children were 10 and under so Maelie felt quite old! There was a Santa coming by and parents had to bring a small gift for him to give the kids. Maelie wanted to get something too so she wrapped up a 5$ bill and made sure I gave it to the Santa! LOL Every opportunity to get money is good!

This evening was the present evening. We bring the presents upstairs and put them under the tree. Peluche decided that he NEEDED Maelie's stocking. I am not sure why... he took it to the carpet where he goes with his treats.

Maelie had to steal it back from the carpet and he still wanted to rip it out of her hands! There must be a smell to the stocking...

Maelie was allowed to open up her Christmas even jammies!

 

She then  spent time organizing the gifts! She loves organizing them... first they are separated by recipient, then divided by the pattern of the wrapping paper...

After supper, we opened up the family game gift! I got Ticket to Ride. I really enjoy that game! Maelie was quite tired, so she cut the game off halfway. I am looking forward to playing that game again!!

Maelie always loves a family game night!! :) Hopefully she will start enjoying this game more because it gives us a break from Monopoly!

Early bedtime for us tonight!! I think we will be up early tomorrow!!

Countdown to Christmas - Day 23

Today, since I had to go to work, Maelie had to do the advent calendar picture on her own! Knowing Peluche wouldn't be much help, she ended up doing her own selfie.

 

This evening, Maelie worked on her nails... she gave them them a nice Christmassy feel! Red, and some striped ones! Peluche was a trooper and just hung out beside her.

I worked on a few treats for my boss. I managed to make meringue cookies for the first time ever! They turned out sweet and pretty cute! I added a bit of green to them to make them more festive!

Countdown to Christmas - Day 22

What a Sunday! During the night, it snowed and snowed and snowed some more. This morning it was snowing but then it turned to drizzling. It was certainly not a good day to do much other than shovel!! Poor Bill was quite discouraged. I did a little bit, at least so I could move my car, and then he did the rest.

At suppertime, Bill decided that it would be a good night to go out for supper at the buffet! Maelie was so happy! She loves being able to take a tiny bit of everything. I only have a few favorite items.

This picture doesn't seem to do our snow justice! But it is taller than Maelie! We have nowhere else to put it. So much for global warming!

Countdown to Christmas - Day 21

Maelie is constantly organizing under the tree... she loves making it look nice :) Can't wait to see what she will do on Christmas day! I love having our tree out... but I am always happy to put it away on Boxing Day!!

We have the pleasure of babysitting Peluche over Christmas again! He always gets so excited around gifts.

Today, Maelie and I did something crazy... we went shopping! We didn't go many places, but just a few for missing Christmas items. It was busy, but since we didn't go to the most popular mall, it was not so bad! Maelie still thinks I didn't start Christmas shopping for her... she is actually getting worried!!

Countdown to Christmas - Day 20

Hurray!! Today was Maelie's last day of school! It was also pyjama day! She basically got up and went! (added socks of course!!) She was almost disappointed because if she didn't have school, she had nothing to do to kill time!! :)

The weather was not nice on Friday so we were let out a bit early. I had the opportunity to run around a little before coming home. Things are mostly done for Christmas so I am pretty excited and relaxed at the same time!

Countdown to Christmas - Day 19

The weather finally warmed up today! I was relieved. I was getting pretty grumpy inside! This whole winter jacket thing? Not my thing so much! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE snow... I just don't like that cold.

 

This morning, I drove Maelie to school with all her goodies. There was an issue at school that she had to deal with, so she put the gifts aside and ended up forgetting all about them! She will hand them our tomorrow.

I went out for a breakfast with my manager and coworker. It was our Christmas team breakfast. It was quite nice and relaxing! 3 chatty ladies!

This evening was a quiet one. Sonia and Naomie dropped by just for a little bit, Sonia had to go exchange some Canadian money to American. Strangely enough, her bank ran out of American money!! So we went to mine.. they had lots, thankfully! Maelie played with Naomie for a little while, and worked on an assignment. Yes, she is still working on a project the day before her Christmas vacation!! She had quite the to-do list this week! Procrastination....!!

I can't wait for my vacation!!

Countdown to Christmas - Day 18

Day 18 greeted Maelie with a Weird but True book. She really loves those! 

 

Tonight, I REALLY had to finish up the teacher gifts. We stopped to get a missing gift card, green chocolate, and Subway. Then came back home to work on the chocolates! I didn't realize that I made so much more than I needed for the teachers and staff!

I wrapped up little paint tins from the dollar store with scrap paper and added ribbons to the handle. It turned out pretty darn cute even if I have to say so myself!! The pics do not do them justice at all.

Maelie can't wait to go to school tomorrow to hand out the teacher gifts!! She just loves giving and giving and giving!! :)

Countdown to Christmas - Day 17

One week until Christmas Eve!! It's getting closer! It's flying by, yet sometimes it feels like it is dragging! What a weird feeling!

 



 Tonight, Maelie and Naomie went shopping a little bit after school to buy the gifts they wanted for us parents. Poor Maelie's foot was sore after a while and when we picked them up, they were both half dead and yawning like crazy! This is the best I could get for a picture!

 

Once we got home, Maelie got a bit more energy to wrap up what she got and put it under the tree. She reminded me not to look! It's funny that she thinks I want to peak! I am not 11 yrs old!! I CAN wait til Christmas :)

 

Countdown to Christmas - Day 16

Monday, Monday, Monday. Mondays are hard... Nothing was planned this evening ....

 

 However after school Maelie decided she wanted to go see the play at school this evening. Since Sonia was going with Naomie, she asked if she could join them. I stayed home and babysat Peluche! It was SOOOOO cold! I don't like when it is colder than -15. There is this aggressiveness inside of me. I am glad it won't be cold like this for long!

Countdown to Christmas - Day 15

More earrings? Maelie loves the earrings at Claire's so there have been a lot of them in the calendar this year! She changes daily sometimes!

 

First thing I accomplished this morning was shovel!! We got at least 10-15 cm last night so I shovelled for an hour and a half! I just didn't want Bill to have to do it all himself.

 

 

Today was another cookie baking day! I can't wait to give some away! :) 

Next on the list will be chocolate... and making the teacher gifts! How I love how Christmas season is shaping up this year. First, we got the work Christmas party over with. Then, the cards, followed by the baking and next is chocolate for teachers. Once all that is done, I can finish up our home stuff for Christmas. It's just spread out perfectly !

Countdown to Christmas - Day 14

Maelie's injury from yesterday woke her up this morning. She was unable to move her swollen finger without pain. That didn't stop her from opening up her advent calendar of course!!



 

 

Just to be on the safe side, I took her to CHEO for x-rays. The doc seemed to think that there was possibly a hairline fracture of some sort. It really was not that bad though.

 

She ended up with her finger buddied up with the neighboring finger, and a referral to another doc. Poor Maelie! 2013 was the year of the hospital apparently!!

 

This afternoon, Sonia and I made cookies. I live making tins with baked goods to give to friends and family. It's always fun to select the kinds I want to make every year! We baked and baked and baked!! But we are not done!! We are going to continue tomorrow!

 

Countdown to Christmas - Day 13

Poor Maelie with her deer in the headlight look! First thing in the morning.... mornings are sooooo hard!!

 

She went from really tired to all fixed up and ready for school :) Isn't she adorable??

Maelie came home with an injured middle finger! Poor little thing was only trying to stop the ball from hitting her and she ended up swollen and in pain. We'll monitor her boo boo and ice it :)

Countdown to Christmas - Day 12

Today was just a normal school and work day. After school, Maelie had an acupuncture appointment so we headed there just before rush hour... and returned in a pile of traffic! I couldn't believe it was already dark at 4:30!! It felt like it was nighttime!! I treated Maelie to McDonald's on our way home. There was a 2/9.99 on the big mac combo... so Maelie always gets a big mac with just ketchup and cheese, and I get a big mac with no meat. How often do we get our order right? I think 1 out of 10 times. That means that 90% of the time, they get our order wrong. I find that quite hard to understand. My customer service standards are higher than that! Oh well, we just have to stop going !!

After our supper, we stopped at l'aubainerie to get Maelie a hat. She wanted a "pretty" hat, as opposed to her snowsuit hats. We also picked up an extra pair of mittens since we seem to *misplace* a few during the year!

Once home, Maelie listened to music while I cleaned up the kitchen a bit. Very quiet evening with an early bedtime ahead!!

Countdown to Christmas - Day 11

Happy 11th of December! Today is 11-12-13! I bought a lottery ticket at exactly 9:10 on 11-12-13! Shouldn't that be lucky?

 

Last night, Maelie asked me to braid her hair after her shower. This morning when she undid them, she looked so adorable! Lots of volume in her hair! She loved it :)

As I was finishing up the Christmas cards to mail out, Maelie worked on her gingerbread house! She wasn't all that motivated this year.

Of course licking the icing was fun... and perhaps eating one of the cookies that came with it..

It turned out pretty cute! :)  Yum yum yum!

Countdown to Christmas - Day 10

2 weeks away til Christmas Eve!! I was sad today when I realized how quickly it is going!! I wait all year for Christmas season, and BAM! done in a flash. I will cherish every moment though :) Especially when I see this cute little face in the morning!

 

We don't see much of Bill during December, so every year it is a tradition to have a mailbox in the living room where Bill and Maelie write back and forth... they just leave little tiny notes each day. It keeps them connected!