Christmas at Last!

Finally.....after all the prep and all the waiting....Christmas morning arrived!


Karate Kid broke the record this year arriving at our bedside with the lame excuse that his clock had stopped and was it time to get up yet!! Oh good grief...that takes the cake. I had to get up just to see if he had actually come up with this one on his own and to my amazement...the darn clock had actually stopped!!! Back to bed he was instructed to go and the next anticipation, excitement ridden child did not arrive until nearly 7 o'clock. Now that's more like it!!












Ok....the usual routine...Mom and Dad have to go down first put all the lights on and get the cameras ready and of course make sure we have everything in order for the smoothest morning possible (translated....we put a big pot of coffee on!)


The kids wait anxiously for the ok and smile accordingly for the "I can't take it any more Mom" picture on the stairs. Then they are sprung and surprisingly without looking into the living room come to the dining room table to see if Santa ate the cookies and left a note! He always does!









Then the fun begins.......every year gets a little easier. The children are really good at taking turns and not surprisingly the morning goes without a hitch!







Some years we seem to get it just right and this year happened to be one of them. Cries of "Mom and Dad this is just what I wanted!", "OH, this is so cool!", "Can I try it out now!", "Will you help me put this together!", and the most important one overheard this year by Princess......"Wow I am so blessed!" It's good to note here that she was talking to herself and didn't even lift her eyes as I watched her examine her favourite gift! I guess we've done something right along the way!

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!

It is especially fun to watch the cat crawl inside a box and look at me through the cello window as if to say "Help!! It's not right you put me in here!!! INJUSTICE!!! GET ME OUTTA HERE!!!"

TOO FUNNY!

Family Traditions!

As our family has grown "exponentially" in the last seven years one thing has stood out for me. The importance of family time and family traditions must take center stage. For Stable Chick these things have always been in place, but for some of the other children, a good portion of their lives were spent with a pretty large void in the place of traditions and family memory making in the positive sense. So.....we kicked it into overdrive and have done all we can to create the childhood we want them to remember while engraving on their hearts the proper heart attitude in everything we do.

Don't get me wrong...there are times we fall down in our efforts and there are times we can be disappointed in the results, but there is no lack of trying here!

Christmas definitely signals a time of much tradition! Sure there are all the ones leading up to Christmas Eve but the one the children start reminding me of very early in the season is the one that this year I left (as usual) a little late in starting. Like I don't know they expect that soft, wrapped gift right before going over to Grandma and Papa's house! Yup Christmas jammies!

Every year I carefully choose the fabric for each child based on their current favourite colours and whims. I trudge around my local fabric outlet looking for just the right selection and if I leave it until the last minute (as if that isn't the way it always goes!!!) I can manage a sale on flannel that makes the cost a little easier to swallow. No longer is it cheaper to have homemade PJ's...nope....this isn't about having seven children and not being able to afford Christmas pj's this is "all" and I mean ALL about the expectation of the homemade sort and the love that Mom puts into making them!!

I say this as if it is torture or too much work but surely you understand I wouldn't have it any other way! There is nothing better than the faces of my kids as they sit knowing what's in the carefully wrapped....(Yup wrapped even though they know what's in it!!!!) gift and waiting for me to give the ok to rip into it!!!

The trick here is that I must prepare them without anyone knowing which fabric or style I have chosen for each. They all give me their preference....you know ribbing or not, short sleeves or long, "Mom....I'd like pink with little monkeys wearing purple hats and orange mittens"....I try my best!!

Off to Grandma and Papa's for treats and a short visit. We take this time to give them a small gift and spend some quality time. This year we got them a digital frame and loaded some of their favourite pictures of the children on it. They really are cool.....I think I'd like to get one for us also!

Nativity

A local feed and supply store always prepares a Nativity scene that the children look forward to every year. The display itself helps to reinforce the real reason we celebrate Christmas and that certainly isn't lost on the children but I have to be honest and say that they look forward to seeing the animals.

This year is seems they had to find a new camel since the last one was not too impressed with all the children gaulking at her and she became a little "distressed" (translated nasty!), so meet MOE!

Despite being segregated for fear of repeat "naughty" camel behaviour the children still spent much time getting as close to the large one humped beast as possible, stuffing hay through the fence at him and talking to him.

There were several sheep and two very cute lambs, one of which we didn't get a great look at because defying all stereotypes of these woolly beasts it exhibited intelligence and remained under the risers they had constructed so as to stay protected from the falling snow and stay warm! Who said sheep were "dumb"?








My favourite.............the donkey..........he looks alot like Eeyore don't you think? Man was it snowing that night and for a moment I questioned, "Why doesn't that silly thing go under the shelter?".





It didn't take long for him to realize parts of his anatomy were a little chilly so......






Notice the orange warming lamp...This "A" double "S" strategically placed his "A" double "S" right under it and it still makes me chuckle....

So as we approached Christmas and the crazy schedule of "here there and everywhere" we stopped to spend some family time.....we did alot of that this year and I am very grateful.....the kids are still talking about Moe and we'll be sure to visit the nativity scene next year in an effort to continue to focus our eyes on the Christ child's birth amidst the commercialism we refuse to let impact all that is important.

"Plain...to...Perfect!"

It used to take Chief and I hours to decorate the tree. I was completely obsessed with light placement. Every light had to be just right and from the trunk of the tree out to the tips of every branch and back.....it took forever! Over time and seven children I have come to realize that the joy of the decorating comes in sitting back and watching the children put their own little touches on the final project. Karate Kid politely reminded me we couldn't pare back on the tree decorations because "Mom, if we don't put on all the tacky decorations we made then we are throwing out memories!" Might as well have slapped me....what was I thinking? We did however replace the half broken extremely old glass balls that inevitably get dropped and smashed further with every year. Now they are larger and moulded plastic green, white and red.

Stable Chick placed the lights and then after careful consideration we made use of our blue recycling box to lift the tree that seemed a tad "shrimpy" this year!

It's amazing how much quicker seven children can decorate a tree than two adults!!!

And before I could say "decorated Christmas tree"......it was!! I think they did a fine job and I am especially thankful for all the "tacky" decorations that hang carefully placed by little hands this year!

Chopping our Tree

Once again...I apologize for the delay in getting these posts up. I know Christmas has come and gone but I wanted to share the fun we had!

We found a new tree farm this year. For years we have been going to the same one 20 minutes away with a rather primitive and lengthy driveway that this year with all the rain we would surely get stuck in. Our twelve seater van is not very driver friendly in the mud or snow. It weighs so stinkin much that when other cars and vans are having no problem we are "STUCK!"

So..... in an effort to maintain the Christmas spirit and all appropriate attitudes we tried a farm a fellow homeschooler had suggested just five minutes away. (She too has been stuck in her 12 seater at the Christmas tree farm in her "BUS")

It was AWESOME!!!

The owners had made these cool "tree carts" on cross country skis. These of course doubled as excellent toboggans for the kids. They soon discovered this farm was entirely hills and had a blast riding up and down between the trees....screaming the whole way!!

You can see in this picture the narrow path they had to negotiate between the trees. As long as the "driver" knew how to steer.....no one got wrapped around a Christmas tree!!

Soon we found what the kids thought was the best one so Stable Chick went to work and in short order with Skishee overseeing the operation we had it chopped down and on the cart ready to be bound and stuffed in the van.

It was nearly dark as we trekked out of the bush and man was it cold, but everyone was in great spirits and after a little time in the children's play area and some hot apple cider we were on our way.

Hey.....Are you lookin' at me???

A Must See!

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=7610518cc149db998648

BAKE?........Did we ever!!!!

I'm braver than most and I've been told by most I'm a little crazy for some of the things I undertake with my tribe, but this year I wanted desperately to have a full day of baking and include my Mom and Dad!

Mom and I met to decide which recipes we would tackle and we pulled together about 15.....far more than we could complete but it left us tons of options. We set a date and the anticipation took over. The kids were so excited!

The morning of....like a "crazy woman", I loaded them up and off to the grocery store we went. We hit the bulk section and "stocked up"! The kids were helpful in their own way, translation......"Skishee.....close those bulk lids.....No....Squirtman....you may not sample all the decorations before we choose!......Karate Kid....this is not a gymnasium...could we save the acrobatics for later.....walking.....no don't run.....watch out for the elderly lady.....oh my gosh......"

This may have been one of those moments where I briefly became insane and used that excuse for losing all control of my overexcited lot! In retrospect ....yes taking all of the children to buy the baking supplies was....CRAZY!!!!

Lobsters to the rescue!.....before I knew it my adorable clan had batted their eyelashes at the woman behind the seafood counter and were all taking turns at holding the poor critter and on their hands and knees examining the lobster on the floor. This lovely employee had graciously layered some packing material on the floor so the children could get a little closer and check it out. They all took turns at allowing it to grab their little fingers with the tiny pincers....not the elasticized ones that would have elicited blood curdling screams.....

Soon the older children were teaching the younger ones all about the lobster in true homeschool fashion, where it came from, what it ate, what those funny looking things were attached to the shells, what you can eat and how to cook it......OK so we got off on a little tangent but once the science lesson was over we were allowed to return it to the tank, (after every child had one last hold!) and off to the check out.

Before I knew it fourteen hands unloaded the supplies onto the belt and soon a very full bag of white sugar had hastily been dragged over a sharp box corner and subsequently began spewing all over.... "Oh Mommy, I'm so sorry I should slow down"... The check out lady looked at me in horror and I quickly picked up the bag and turned it over to stop the "gushing" and quietly asked Songbird to just grab another bag so we might double bag it. The employee leaned over as I checked out and quietly stated how much she admired my patience and that my children were all so well behaved. Even in the midst of minor crises I was so proud!

Right on schedule we arrived at Mom and Dad's and what a day we had!!!

Everyone helped and what a day of sweet memories we made!!

Just checking to see if they taste OK Mom!!

This by the way is the last time these cookies looked like this.....the tin was dropped and now we have four times as many chocolate candy cane "pieces". Ah well......more to share!!!

Two things I learned this day.....

#1 Seven children mixing one recipe simultaneously is challenging....

#2 Making memories that last a lifetime......PRICELESS!!!!!