1st Date of Christmas: The Toronto Santa Clause Parade

A couple of weeks ago Christmas events really started happening in this city--earmarked by the Downtown Toronto Parade.  Which, if you haven't been, is kind of a big deal.  We basically left for the parade two hours before it even started and waited around with a massive crowd of people who had already picked their spots and then waited for another hour and half for it to reach us. 

Of course they had already closed down the streets so we were able to let the children run around for a quite awhile and get all their sillies out before it started.  The first show was probably the most exhilarating part--with police on motorcycles whizzing past us really fast and loud with zipping around in circles mere inches from our feet.  I clung on the children for dear life and couldn't hold back a laugh of exhilaration.  It was something else!

 

 

Of course the other major highlight for the kids was the Paw Patrol float.  Any person with little kids in their lives, get on board....  Paw Patrol is where it is at.  It's this year's tickle me elmo or cabbage patch doll.

 

It was a long parade but we loved it!  And so glad that we went this year!  We'll be doing it again!

2nd Date of Christmas: The Gingerbread House

 So...  since about mid-October, it's been looking a little bit like Christmas around here thanks to the Photography business and all the studio preparations.  I am pretty sure I've started before there were even Christmas items in the stores.... 

Anyway, so with all that going on, I'm in the really really early stages of Christmas spirit.  I am looking at my full weekends coming up to the Holidays and I am a whole lot of sad to be missing time with my family on these weekends.  Although I have slotted a few weekend days to ourselves to do Christmasy things.  But during the week in little moments like this afternoon that we will be together (the kids and I) carrying on or starting new holiday traditions.

Today, it was sort of dark and gloomy come 4pm, so we pulled out the gingerbread kit and Christmas decorations and finished decorating the house and then built it and decorated the little gingerbread house.  Can I just say is there ever enough candy or icing in those kits?  I think they need to start factoring in the toddler factor.  ;)

And just as we were finishing, Gabriel gave us a little impromptu serenade of "twinkle, twinkle little star."  And even though it isn't very Christmasy really, it was cute and the simple fact that he was banging around on the piano singing it out of tune was my little blessing of the day.

When it gets too quiet around here

Our house is always busy and slightly chaotic and messy.  I used to be a complete neat freak, but let go of my OCD-ness with two kids.  And so...  if it ever gets quiet around here or the kids aren't jumping up and down on you with their elbows and knees poking you every which-way, then something is definitely up.  Usually it has something to do with potty-training (almost inevitably) but I think most "quiet" moments revolve around some kind of big mess--dirt, water...poop.

What is it with kids and their total immersion in dirt and destruction that makes them so focused and intense and quiet?  Sometimes I think that's why God made kids so noisy.  Because then we would know something is wrong when they are quiet.

And something is most definitely up when the kids sleep past 6am.  And 100% something is up when it is 8am and you haven't heard a peep.  Which is precisely what happened the other morning.

It had been a very late night with the kids, which is not our normal.  And the kids have been sick, so for Maggie to sleep in until 8am was a bit weird, but maybe it was just some sleep she needed to get better.

When we finally roused ourselves from bed and a delightfully late time of 8am, I heard a happy little chirp from Maggie's room.  I walked in to find that she had stripped herself completely naked--unzipped/torn off her sleep sack, unbuttoned her sleeper, ripped off her diaper.  100% naked and delightfully happy.  "Mommy!!!  I WAKE!!!"  My stomach sunk.  Oh no.  Please... Not poop.   No poop from what I could see from the door into her dimly lit room.  No smell.

It was only when I went to pick her up that I knew something was not quite right.  She literally almost slipped out of hands.  Her entire body was slick with oil.  She clutched, very happily a completely empty container of Vaseline.  It was   e v e r y w h e r e. 

All over her body.  Her crib.  Her sheets.  Each of her stuffies (all 20 of them) were carefully, motherly smeared with vaseline.  And she had run her fingers through her hair.  Her soft blonde ringlets were slick, straight back, Greaser style.

It was right into the tub for her while Jordan googled to see the toxic effects that a bottle of Vaseline might have on the almost-two-year old body and digestive tract (just in case).  Meanwhile, I lathered her with soap, rinsed her hair twice and patted her still sticky skin dry.  What was I to do?

Her hair.  It just was simply not presentable.  She looked like she had been drenched with a bottle of olive oil.  Even after it dried, it didn't look dry in the least bit.  Six hair washes, several cups of cornstarch and two days later, Maggie's hair is finally sporting a hairstyle more in keeping with the carefree spritely almost-two-year-old monkey she is.  

Two lessons:  1)  If you ever need to pretend you have grey hair, I have found the perfect natural products for Halloween costumes in our future.

2) When it's too quiet, trouble is brewing.  

Goodness, I love this face.  Our children are such characters....  One of the things we both simultaneously love the most about them and what also drives us crazy.  Would we have it any other way?

Spooky!

Happy Belated Halloween!!!  This has just been an insane time of year but we did get into some fun with the littles gearing up for Halloween.  We popped out and got ourselves a PUMPKIN family.  We named them all Daddy Pumpkin, Mommy Pumpkin, Gabriel Pumpkin, Magdalene Pumpkin.  You can see here that Gabriel is standing on my head.  What else is new?? 

They loved the whole idea of a pumpkin family and set about chucking them in the front yard.  Oops!  Sorry Maggie pumpkin!  They got a great laugh out of talking to their pumpkins.  Oh the imaginations!  

Under Daddy's supervision and direction, we carved the pumpkins the other night.  Admittedly, Halloween is not really my thing, but as a Dad, Jordan is finding his artistic side and taking on all sorts of these things, from creating dinosaurs out of watermelon, Lightening McQueen out of playdoh, a Paw Patrol lookout out of a few boxes of Raisin Bran and an empty roll of paper towel.  And he says he can't even draw his own name.  What do they say about children?  That they stretch you?

The littles have been pretty excited this year.  They have been talking about ghosts and pretending to be ghosts.  Magdalene's phrase of the past three weeks has been "Ohhhhhh!!!  Ghost!!!!  Scarrrry! Spooky"  And she does a mock shiver.  If I get a chance I hope to catch a little video of it to share with you.

They had so much fun digging around in the goopy pumpkins.  I do have a couple of cute videos of them that I will put up SOMEDAY.

And because celebrations are better spent with friends, we had our good friends Victoria, Jason and their littles over for chili and shinanigans.   Always drama and chaos and excitement here.  Although I won't go into great detail here....  Let's just say, when it's too quiet, something bad is going down.  A mother always knows.

We dressed up the table and had wine and at least pretended it was a sophisticated event.  Even if it really wasn't.

Finally it was a nice warm Halloween night and no rain.  The kids went totally nuts running from door to door with the realization that, yes, they actually got to ask for candy and get it from neighbors.  Today Gabriel said, "I know!!!!  Let's go trick or treat!!!  And get some candy."  Sadly, it doesn't work that way buddy.  Once a year.  But they were very polite.

It took me three weeks of looking around and taking Gabriel to various costume stores before I convinced him (after a number of complete and utter meltdowns) it just wasn't possible to be Lightening McQueen (the racecar) for Halloween.  I'm pretty sure that there is likely some way to make a costume, but admittedly I don't have it in me this year.  I'm apparently not the crafty one in the house.  Everyone knows if you want to build something, ask Dad.

And while we are on the topic of being "stretched" I would just like to mention that Daylight Savings.... is the worst invention ever.  After all that sugar and craziness, we got to wake up at 4:30 (Yes, thank you!)  to overtired and hungry (because they were too excited to actually eat a proper supper last night) toddlers.... 

But, you know, watching them run around so excited and spending time with friends celebrating is really making me start to like Halloween again.  I've really got to get my game on in the costume department for next year!