Our Christmas Holiday 2012

Christmas was pretty mellow at our house - no candlelight service before, nor church service in the morning.  I grew up with the latter and then grew into the former.  But we had A under the weather and were happy to get the kids to bed early.  Good thing, as they're always up by 7:00 and even earlier when they're excited, which they were!  They were thrilled to discover that Santa had left them each a hot water bottle as they'd all been coveting mine for a while.  Santa hadn't realized, however, how much extra work they add to the bedtime routine.  He kindly left gummy vitamins, new toothbrushes and toothpastes instead of sweets.  I appreciated that. :)

Last year the kids had opened only two gifts on Christmas Day and spread the others over the remaining days of the holiday.  I'd enjoyed the calmness that brought and how we could then remember who gave them what.  So we did it again this year, knowing that at some point the three of them will veto my power, realizing most people get to open all gifts on Christmas!  Before we left to Morden where our friends live, the kids opened their Lego gifts from Grandma & Grandpa.  

I'd told them they wouldn't be able to open the bags in the box until we returned on Boxing Day, but while they each had a turn Skyping with my parents, the others had scissors out and were cutting the bags of Lego.  They dumped them all into one huge pile on the couch - you can see Iz at it in the background above.  Any one who has assembled a Lego kit knows why the first picture in the instructions shows not to mix the different plastic bags together.  It took S and I two hours on the 27th to find all the missing parts and help make them according to directions.  Never again . . . 

We arrived at Will and Jennifer's by about 4:15 on Christmas and immediately had the kids outside to try the toboggan run that Will had built.  Pretty creative idea - picking up old magic carpets from the MCC thrift store and nailing them down to a board supported on hay bales!  It was -24 C while the kids were doing this, so I took few photos as it was just too cold to expose the hands for long.

Afterward, we had a yummy turkey Christmas dinner and the kids had lots of fun playing inside. Will built a bonfire in the yard around 8:00 and then the kids roasted hot dogs (at -27C !).  Was a reminder of how sheltered life is for us, literally, with great heated, insulated homes.  I would not have fared well as an early settler living in such temperatures!  Its amazing how Indigenous peoples have lived so well in such extreme conditions.

After a little more play and a flannel graph bedtime story in front of the fire, it was a late bedtime at 10:00 p.m.  And I didn't get up until 10:00 the next morning, despite the kids playing wildly outside my door.  It was a rough night of A hacking away with a cold and keeping the other two awake in the rooms (as we had to keep all the doors open to get the warmth from the fire).  I'd done my time through the night so appreciated being in a house where I could appear so lazy come morning!  And what a beautiful day to wake up to.  Gotta love being in a place where the owner has made beautiful paper snowflakes to decorate the windows.  :)

We drove to nearby Stanley Park for some sledding before lunch.   The kids had a blast for the most part, though Iz wimped out from the cold fairly soon and I took her to the van to warm up a bit.  As a fellow wimp, I was glad for the excuse.  It really was nippy!

I was so happy we were able to get out of the city and our home for Christmas, and to enjoy time with new friends in their beautiful home.  S has been super busy editing a book and has been under much pressure to get the final manuscript submitted to the publisher.  It meant that he really didn't get a break over the holiday, so at least getting out of the city guaranteed time together and a break from the normal confines of home.   It was a real treat for our kids.

Will and Jennifer's two boys are pretty cute and get along with our rambunctious three.  No one was left out at any point and Z even makes ours look tame, at times!  It really was a gift to be able to go and I look forward to next time.  Hooray for friends on farms (although they only have two cats as of yet)!

As for the rest of the break, well, it wasn't quite so exciting.  A's cold went to Iz by Saturday.  She's prone to lung infections and within a day, it was pretty serious.  She was struggling Sunday night and by 4 a.m, Monday I was thinking she needed help as her heart rate seemed very high . . . when I could track it.  Her fever was making it erratic so I called the nurse's hotline - a service I LOVE!.  When I was asked to count how many respirations Iz made per minute I thought 50 (between all the coughs) was no big deal.  There was a pause before the nurse said, "I'm sorry to tell you this as I know you don't want to go out when its -27.  But we tell parents to take their children to ER once there are over 40 per minute."  Oh.  Good thing to know.  And all those times I've made myself plug in the block heater just in case I needed the van in the middle of the night?  Well that was a good thing, too.  It's also good that we live ten minutes away from the only children's hospital in the province.  We didn't get home until after 9 a.m., but how thankful I am for wonderful medical service and access.  I'd been amazed by Advil around 3 a.m., that it reduced her fever by over 3 degrees in just over 30 minutes.  And to have such quick access to medical professionals and the needed Ventolin masks, steroids and antibiotics?  I know we are so very fortunate.

I had to remind myself of that the next day - New Year's Day -  when I came down with the 24 hour flu.  I had gotten out to a fondu party the night before, but aside from that, my only other outside time in days had been the ER.  I'm guessing I picked up the bug from the little girl waiting just seats away from me with a bowl on her lap?  S got it the day after me, while Ai picked up Iz's infection (and then passed that on to S).  So not the best way to start off the new year nor the most exciting way to spend the holiday.  But at least A didn't have to miss any school!  I did manage to take Ai and A out ice skating on a nearby outdoor rink one day, and Ai out tobogganing at the Forks with his buddy, Salem, on another.  

Fortunately our unfinished basement makes for a great play place, so we at least had some variety while we were stuck hanging out inside.

A with our little friend I babysit periodically

All the in-time makes me more amazed at home-school parents and more thankful for the school system.  It was pretty sweet to send A off on the bus Monday morning.  I think she was happy to get out, too!  Even Ai cried to go to school, which wasn't normal and sadly he couldn't, as he was still sick.  Next week we should be back to our normal routines . . . phew!

I hope you had a nice holiday season, however you spent it.  :)