Our Merry Christmas!

It will be hard to have everybody go back to school on Monday and get back to our real lives. Having the family all home together has been so nice. We're getting spoiled. We've stayed busy doing crafts, cooking, and going on outings but we've also enjoyed just vegging on t.v. and movies, taking lots of naps and eating lots of yummy food. This is what the holidays are supposed to be like. Here are some photos to see what we've been up to.

We were the green family this year. Our photo shoot was a bust but I'll include my favorite one which is of course the one where I look the best. Duh, who is the one blogging here?
Luckily and thanks to modern technology. We were able to combine two photos in photoshop and then erase my dumb face for the good face onto the picture that had everybody else looking good. Behold.


Christmas was fun. We had gingerbread waffles on the belgium iron which makes them look like snowflakes. Then we put applesauce and real whipped cream (wiping the drool off my mouth) on them. Delish! Our kids patiently played while breakfast was being made and then we did presents afterward. I doubt that will be so easy when they get older.

I got the best present ever from Chloe. She really did let me sleep in all week long. She woke up around 7:00 or 7:30 which is sleeping in for her and then would come and get us at around 8:30. It was dreamy. It was really cute too because she kept telling me that it was my present and she was really making an effort to sleep in.

The girls had so much fun opening presents and even Tati got into it which was really fun to see. Their favorite presents were their piggybanks. Well, actually Chloe's was an owl bank. We got a few rolls of pennies for the girls and they loved putting the pennies into their banks and feeling rich.

We also had fun making some Christmas goodies.

We went to the mall to see the Petting Zoo. Well it was freezing outside and we didn't really have anywhere else to go so that's what we did. It was sorta festive. I mean we did see a donkey, several sheep and one of them was pregnant--kind of remnisent of Bethlehem. But I was glad to be the photographer because I don't really want to pet a guinea pig. Call me crazy. Chloe was hilarious with the chicken because she kept wanting to pet it but then the chicken would run and as soon as she touched it and she would freak out. But then she'd follow the chicken around some more. I think they were in there for like half an hour and still wanted more time.



After the petting zoo, we let the girls play on the ridey toys. Tati thought she died and went to heaven when she got to sit with "Boba!" Chloe just had fun watching Tati get so excited. She's such a good big sis.

We learned something fun too. If you go swimming on Christmas Eve, you are likely to be the only people there much to the chagrin of the lifeguards who aren't very merry but we had a great time. Hope you all had a great Christmas as well! And now, onto New Years!

Just Your Average Ole Day

Here we are going to the library.

It was fun on the way there but the way home we had an incident at a cross-walk where the big sister wasn't holding on to the little sister, and to be fair, the little sister was squirming and crying so she was a little hard to hold onto. So, the little sister fell over into some gutter gunk. But we all survived.

The Goose is Getting Fat!

Remember that song? Randomly stuck in my head. "Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat. Someone put a nickel in the old man's hat..."

Anyway, we're excitedly getting ready to celebrate Christmas this week here in Canada away from family. Yes, away from family is a bit sad and lonely but it is also good to come up with ideas of things to make it memorable and fun with the kids. This week has been so cute watching these two be so excited about having matching jammies. So cute.
Happy no school to all and lots of mornings of sleeping in. Could you go ahead and wish it to me too? Couldn't hurt. I told Chloe that's what Mommy wanted for Christmas: a week (2 if she wanted to go crazy) of sleeping in. You see when she wakes up, she wakes up Tati and then Tati starts yelling for me or for Daddy (usually Daddy). The mornings are cold and dark and I just want to sleep in--in my cozy bed until 7:30 (or 8:30 would be fantastic too). Too much to ask?

Tooth Fairy Turmoil

Well, we may officially be the worst parents in the world now. Actually I take that back. Come on there are some horrible parents out there. But we definitely aren't going to win any prizes for this victory.

It was like Chloe thought she was dying.
Like she thought we were killing her.

Here are some of my excuses:

• Her teeth had been loose for like 100 years and even though she was supposedly wiggling them all the time, she wasn't.
• The teeth had changed color and were looking dead.
• They were just "hanging there".
  
• She kept complaining about things she couldn't eat (usually anything in her dinner). Those teeth were impeding any and all healthy eating.
• She stopped brushing her top teeth. (This one I had to be a detective about since I was noticing some serious funk was appearing underneath her teeth. Sick.)

So we did what any parent would do, we gave her an ultimatum. Either she wiggled her teeth hard all day and made them fall out or she wiggled them all day and then we pulled them out. Either way, they were going to be out that night before bed. Let's remember this is our first kid. It's not like we know what we're doing. We just wing it most of the time with good results. There were a few times though during this evening when we wondered what long-term scars we were creating. I mean Chloe is 5, you can reason with her and she understands what we're saying and why we're saying it. But she kept having these involuntary reflexes where she'd grab her mouth and try to cover it, or when her body would be convulsing and spasming in this elaborate escape maneuevers. (Good to know her instincts are working.) So we were forced to hold her down and when she asked if we were going to pull it, we avoided the truth and when she said, "You're just going to wiggle it." we answered with vague noises. I looked at Daddy and told him in Spanish that he had one and only one chance at this. He had to get it out because there was no way we could do this whole production again. Then the yelling came. Then it was out. Then we told her we were going to get them both out because there was no way we were going to go all through that whole ordeal again. So we did. And she cried partly in fear, partly in anger, partly in pain, partly in relief, and partly in sheer joy.

After some major pep talking about how brave she was and how awesome she looked, some love and a long, warm shower (to recover from the adrenaline), she was so happy. She told me she was glad we did it and she was even more glad that she didn't have to do the other one the next night. She even thanked us.

It turned out that one of them had this like hook piece on it holding it in. That's how it was able to still have so much hanging on even though it was so loose.

And of course the tooth fairy came to visit. Each tooth was dropped into it's own clear water. She named one tooth Adam and the other Eve. This tooth fairy was green--obviously because her fairy dust turned the water green. She got some craft projects, $2 and a letter telling her how brave she was and to make sure she wiggles her loose teeth harder in the future. The tooth fairy likes to throw in advice wherever she can. ;-)

A little scary.

I can't even put these fancy ear phones in. It's hard to decide who likes this ipod touch more, Tati or Daddy.

Snow Day!

We've been getting hit with lots of snow. It has been mostly fun and beautiful. It is getting a little cold though. Below zero just really isn't what my body is made for. I tried to take the stroller to pick up Chloe from the school the other day because I couldn't dig out the car and it was the longest, sweatiest (for me) ride ever. Then the ride home was full of the girls crying. So Daddy came to the rescue and picked us up a new sled. He tied a rope on it and wa-lah, I'm a husky dog.

Tati's least favorite thing is the snow on her face. I guess that was the only place she wasn't bundled up so we fixed that and put a scarf around her. She could barely see but she stopped crying. Chloe on the other hand just kept eating snow. I don't understand this fool. She never tires of eating the snow. She's like her Daddy.

Here's our fun, festive front window.

Snow Angel Time!

Here's our baby birdie making her first snow angel. It was so cute and fun. She didn't really get it even after watching Daddy and big sis do it. I'll put the video of her trying right after the pic.





Greg is so happy in the cold and when it is snowing. Sometimes it is a wonder we survive together. Me freezing, him melting. But when we have a snow day, you should see the energy and happiness that comes out. He had a lot of cold love to share.





That night as the snow kept falling, one of my favorite things happened, the lights in the backyard got covered in snow. I love that effect.

Sorta like a glowy snow cone.

I need to remember snow days like this when it is April or May and still freezing especially since I have such hilarious relatives who like to tell me it is so "freezing" where they live and it is like in the 50's. Yeah, but they're a little jealous right now. At least some of them. I bet you wish YOU had a glowy snow cone too!

Eve R.Green

This is our tree this year. Her name is Eve. Well her full name is Eve R. Green. The "R" stands for "Herbs" because that's the sound an "R" makes, "errrr". Funny Chloe. Anyway, we'll be like practically every t.v. show and do a flashback post. Here is where we ended:

5 Hours Earlier:

Here we are driving to Ikea to get our $20 real tree. Tati was so packed up she couldn't even move but she had a smile on her face and of course her shades so all was well.

We walked around for what seemed like forever or maybe it only seemed like forever for me since Tati was trying to eat the ice melt and running around like a coo-koo bird while Daddy loyally looked through each section until he could find just the right one. Still, the girls had a great time. (P.S. Greg has really perfected this. Some people say you can't tell what it looks like b/c they are all tied down but if you pull out the lowest branch and hold it out, you can see how wide it will be and well for height, you just hold it up.)

Everybody wants to be a helper.

What can we say? Our futures are bright.

2 hrs. earlier:

Chloe decorated her and Tati's tree for their room. Chloe did most of it while Tati napped but we all agreed it was better that way for this year. We let her hang a few ornaments once she woke up. She thought it was all awesome anyway.

Happy Decorating!

Ninja Night

So I don't call this place the "Crazy North" for nothing. I gotta say I've really met some great people here and also some great characters. I got invited out to a "girls night" where we "decorated" our friends' backyard for her birthday. Check it out:

I could only seem to find a flower mask to protect my identity. Where's the balaclava when you need it?
Yeah, t.p-ing is like so high school, you know what I mean? Real women just throw bras around. 40 bras to be exact. Where does one procure 40 bras you're wondering? Well, first one asks for donations (I mean everybody has at least one that is on the way out anyway) and then you have to hit up a few thrift stores for the rest. 40 bras. Just think about that one for a while. That's a lot of bras. It was all so organized and so easy. I couldn't figure out if it was because we were older and so much smarter about the vandalism or if it was because it was bras and not t.p. Since there were 5 of us, we each only had to deal with 8 bras. It wasn't too hard but you really did have to put your "chest" into it. I mean we did try to hang low so as not to be seen and kind of wabble to and fro to stay out of the sensor security light. I gotta say, it went by too fast. Yeah, too fast, like our getaway.
It was such a fast and slidey getaway that the camera couldn't even keep up with us. Luckily we didn't fall into any "booby traps". Now you're all "abreast" of the low down. Any friends passing a milestone soon? Maybe you could set some "booby traps" of your own.

p.s. Her almost 12 year daughter was excited at some of the smallish ones we left there. It is kind of like the gift that keeps on giving.

And then just when we thought the night couldn't get any better, we ran into the w.t. version of the General Lee.