The Real Deal

If you were from Utah, you might say the title of this post like " The Rill Dill."  (Jenny and Sherrie, I'm just teasing!)

Anyway, this post is all about the nitty gritty of the Christmas rush from December 24-December 30.

We cheated a bit by opening some presents on the morning of the 24th so we wouldn't have as much to pack on our journey to Grandma and Grandpa's house.  The girls got spoiled!

On Christmas Eve afternoon we had our traditional Layton bowling fest.  

I had to post this picture because it's proof that I actually won a game.  

I don't believe this has ever occurred.  

The kids had fun helping grandma with the bread dough.  

They each got a little bit to sculpt as they saw fit.

Lots of Christmas cuddles were had.  

We got to have our New Zealand version of Christmas a day early.  We opened their presents and they opened ours, all on Skype.  It was lots of fun.

We got tons of fun New Zealand treats and souvenirs.

Madeline discovered an old Peanuts art set that I used to play with and she enjoyed it quite a bit.

Here are the brave few who ventured out to the hot tub in the freezing cold!

Our traditional PJ picture.

Luckily the girls slept well on Christmas Eve.  Grandma and Grandpa have always had a rule that you can't go upstairs until 7am, which seemed really late when I was a kid, and really early now that I'm all grown up.  Here's a picture of us moments after getting up.  

Claire was happy and awake at the beginning of it all...

...but quickly started to fade...

...until she fell asleep on the cushy rug.

It's always fun to have lots of kids around at Christmas.  Look at how big Drew is getting!

When we unwrapped this with Claire, mom looked at me and said, "Don't kill me."  Claire loves it and it seems to find its way all over our house, especially often to Madeline's room.

We then headed over to the Laytons for yet another Christmas celebration.  We really are spoiled.

Madeline and Broc and Claire had fun opening their presents.

We got to spend some time with Great Grandma Hull.

Madeline got a spa treatment from Auntie Angela.

We had lots of fun playing with all our gifts once we got home.

We had our traditional Boxing Day feast at Auntie Sheila's farm.  Madeline and Luke were intent on providing entertainment for us all.  We mostly stayed inside and chatted and ate rather than our usual outdoor activities because it was so chilly.

For Ryan's 32nd birthday, I planned a surprise party for him.  He thought we were just going to go out, but while he was at work, the family gathered and was awaiting him when he returned.

I think he might have been a bit disappointed, only because he had been dreaming of his favourite meal at The Keg all day and had to settle for taco salad.  Don't worry, we eventually got there and I made it up to him!  But it was a fun night for everybody.

Surprise!

Part of the super duper fun surprise (okay, so not really that fun...) was that I had ordered the drywall for the basement and it was delivered earlier that day.  Everybody helped us take it downstairs and the work has been progressing well so far!

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Pre-Christmas Christmas Post

Because we take so many photos during the month of December I'll have to split it up a bit.

Here marks the pre-Christmas festivity post!

To kick off the season we attended the Edmonton Cerebral Palsy Association Christmas party.  

They always have great crafts and activities for the kids.

We dug out the Christmas decoration boxes from the basement and had a fun evening of decking the halls.

Claire supervised us in a very proper manner, pinky up.

Merry Christmas!

Our little home-made tree, heavily decorated where Madeline could reach.

Under the tree is a very good place to play, indeed.  

As a child, I used to love laying underneath our tree, looking up at the lights and daydreaming about presents.

Our living room has been home to countless dance parties, usually instigated by Madeline.  She's become a real fan of They Might Be Giants and Michael Jackson lately.  :)

One of the best parts of December was the new additions to our family!  Drew was born to Steph and Greg, and Kooper was born to Steph and Brandon, way over in New Zealand.  We got to meet Drew at the hospital and are excited to meet Kooper when they can make their way over here or vice versa!

Madeline was only a little excited to meet one of her new cousins.

Claire was excited too, but I had to help her be gentle while she greeted him and so I couldn't take a picture at the same time. 

A fun tradition we started last year was going to see the Christmas lights turned on at the Legislature.  Natalie came with me and the girls this year and we had lots of fun, even though it was a bit too cold to stay outside for long.

Madeline, the queen, in her fanciest snow pants.  

I think she enjoyed being up there!

Claire loved the lights and the choir music.

The decorations were beautiful.

The company was...hilarious.

I love catching Claire's happy moments...

...and Madeline's crazy ones, which seem to be the norm these days...ha ha.

We were wondering about the big hubbub on the stairs once we got outside, but then Premier Redford appeared and made a little speech.  We just listened from afar, but noticed that she chose not to wear a coat.  I guess it doesn't look good to be too bundled up for the photo ops....ha ha.

The best part was the countdown.  

The anticipation is delicious and then, bam, lights galore!

I love this picture - you can barely see Claire under all her layers.

We wandered around a bit before we got too cold, but it was a great evening.

Madeline got some easy-to-use paint tattoos for a gift a while ago and decided to use them all up at once.   She looked like she was ready for war...and then was ready for a bath.

We enjoyed Madeline's kindergarten Christmas concert.  The English and French classes sang together and then did special numbers themselves.  She was so excited to have us all there.

When Madeline caught Ryan taking pictures, she adopted this strange victory-like pose and wouldn't stop until he sat back down.  What an interesting child we have.  :)  It was so fun to watch all the kids as they sang.

After the concert we had two rounds of family photo attempts and this was the best result.  

I'll take it. 

Madeline has had lots of fun with gymnastics these past few months.  

She's fearless!

She was very proud of her accomplishments.

And she's cute as a button. :)

Please excuse the nudity in this post, but I just had to show you Claire's new bath chair.  It lifts her up and down, in and out of the water and saves our backs when we transfer her.  Now we just need to get an extra large jacuzzi tub for her to really stretch out in.  She soaks the entire bathroom with her long-legged splashes.  :)

We had a fun time at Claire's school winter celebration. It's always a very well-attended event so we rushed to the sleigh ride before it got too busy and managed to snap a nice picture of all of us during the ride.

Other family festivities included a Chinese food birthday dinner for Dad and attending our ward Christmas party.

Ryan is always helping friends with computer issues and continued doing that this month.  He also went on a leadership retreat with the school, did some awesome framing work in our basement with Trevor and continued his great work on his masters.

I helped out with a popcorn fundraiser and hot lunch at Claire's school, had to get a couple of fillings at the dentist (I swear I floss!), sold Oil Kings tickets at a local craft sale for the LeeRidge park project, had a fun girl's night with Kathy and attended to all the usual day-to-day stuff of life.

Claire got a sled frame this month, which we're trying to fit a seat on for her to use on the hills.  She also had an appointment with her Glenrose neurologist.  We're going to be making the rounds to several specialists in the future to establish a baseline for certain aspects of her condition in order to further the research about atypical Rett Syndrome.  Hopefully we can contribute to a greater knowledge of it - she's such a good sport when I volunteer her for things.  :)

Madeline had a neat in-class presentation at school about bread from "The Bread Lady" and attended uncle Robbie's Christmas concert in Wetaskiwin with me.

November LAST YEAR

Yeah, I'm behind, but I'm not the only one.

Insert one of the following adages:

Better late than never.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

All's well that ends well.

Apparently there was a blight of photographs in November. 

 I must remember to break out the camera more regularly for our everydays and not just on special occasions.  

Here are some of those moments:

One of Claire's rosy-faced, giggle fits.

Madeline really reminds me of Fancy Nancy.  

She likes to add a little culture to our lives.

We had some fun visits with Noah this month while Stephanie had her prenatal appointments.

I took this picture with no flash at midnight!  Those bright snowy nights seem so surreal.

Claire likes to fall asleep in various positions.  For example, after a nap on the couch, when we removed the blanket from her, we found her all tucked up like a little Egyptian mummy.

White Chicks and Gang Signs

Madeline and Ryan have gone on a few Daddy Daughter Dates to the movies.  

(Adventures of Tin Tin, Wreck it Ralph, Hotel Transylvania, Brave)

They always have lots of fun.

Other happenings:

Ryan's been busy with Apple shifts, PD committee and helping with interviews, EIPS open house, MET courses, movie nights with friends and being the parent helper at Madeline's class.

This is what I've had on my plate this month:  school council meetings, park redevelopment meetings, starting a hot lunch program at Claire's school, placing a wreath for Grace Martin's Remembrance Day ceremony, making playdough for the very first time (I know, I'm a horrible mom), taking a GAIN course about casino fundraisers, volunteering each week at Madeline's school library and attending the BlueSky Conference with AACL.

I spent a fun Saturday with Claire out at my parents house making Christmas chocolates.

Our park redevelopment project held a Silent Auction Fundraiser and it was a great success.  I got to be at the ticket table and someone snapped a blurry photo of me there.

We had our parent teacher interviews with Claire's teacher this month and things are going well.  She also got new AFO leg braces with a cool flower pattern, had back x-rays done and got a new standing frame.  Her and Madeline also did a great job at the Primary Presentation.

Claire had a fun field trip to the Jubilee for a Christmas play.  

She loves riding on the bus and her whole class was able to ride the same bus as her.

Our bus driver was a very kind guy.

Claire and her friend Sarah got prime spots.

She was tuckered out by the end of the performance.  She can sleep anywhere, anytime.

Madeline is such a good sport when it comes to Claire's appointments.  She is always my big helper.  Here we're waiting for Claire's wheelchair to get fixed 

Madeline has also been busy with gymnastics, a spa sleepover at aunties house, an eye appointment and a fun friend's birthday party at Galaxyland.

She also did a great job of singing at the Greenview Remembrance Day ceremonies.  Auntie Natalie was able to attend and took some great photos.

We've had a few fun nights with friends at our place, an informal late Thanksgiving at my parents house and continue to work on our basement.