Christmas Morning

After a pretty disrupted sleep, waking G up every few hours, we actually slept in a bit on Christmas morning. The kids were so excited when we woke them up. G tore into the big present that magically appeared over night, and was thrilled to see that it was a SmartCycle from his wish list. The kids were very excited to see a letter and filled stockings from Santa, and L said over and over again, "Santa Claus made all our dreams come true!." She was thrilled to get the "Sleeping Beauty Barbies" she'd been asking for. M was just happy to play in the wrapping paper.

G had bought presents for each of us on an evening out with his respite worker, and he was very excited to give each of them to us. He was very thoughtful in choosing a present for each of us. Grandmas and Grandpas came over for a brunch of home made waffles with white sauce, then we spent the rest of the day playing with toys. G and L got to choose whatever they wanted for Christmas supper...and it was extravagant...hot dogs, mac & cheese, and broccoli ;-) Later that evening, Grandma and Grandpa brought Auntie Al over.

waiting for Santa

Things have been busy here! Yesterday the kids had their Christmas program in Church. G played three songs during the prelude, and did really well. During the program, the kids went up to say their poem. L mainly stood there looking cute, but G was enthusiastic in his performance :-) We had lunch with some friends, then went home to clean the house before the gatherings began. While we cleaned, the kids made a gingerbread house with Grandpa. This year, the process ended up being more successful than the actual house itself... everyone was so eager to start the decorating...before the icing holding the walls and roof together set.

Today we had Christmas with Ralph's family. The boys played hockey with Grandpa after brunch, then we opened presents and played. Grandma, Grandpa and Auntie all had an after-lunch nap while we played.

After supper, we went to Church for a Christmas Eve service. The kids were excited to go up to the front to help find the final advent candle, and when they were coming back to our pew, G tripped and hit his head really hard on the corner of the pew. The whole congregation gasped. He instantly got a huge goose egg that is pretty close to his temple, so we rushed off to the ER. Luckily, the bonk didn't knock him out, but it sure seemed to hurt a lot. So far, there have been no signs of a concussion, but we'll be waking him up every few hours tonight to make sure he's okay. Not exactly what I had hoped would be the cause of a poor sleep on Christmas Eve :-(

When we got home, the kids were excited to prepare a snack and a letter for Santa, which they set up in front of our Christmas tree. I can't wait to see how excited they are in the morning when they see the snack eaten and the deliveries from Santa!

ho ho ho

Very exciting day today...last day before Christmas holidays and a visit from Santa! The kids were SO excited to hear that they are all on Santa's "good list" and that he's very proud of them for playing nicely and listening to their parents. Santa read them a story, sang songs with them, and talked with them. I just love the magic of Santa :-)

I am also so grateful for the wonderful, caring, and gifted people who care for our children at daycare and at school! The kids just love these adults! Nita especially has been such a gift in our lives. She is so naturally talented at helping G learn to be a friend, and he loves her a lot! Every one of the childcare staff are so caring, and they take such good care of our kids! It really makes it much easier for me to be at work, knowing that our kids are so happy and loved.

Other exciting news today is that we have gotten the ball rolling on working with an RDI consultant (who is also an OT). I'm very excited about what that is going to mean for G's future.

Finally, our little baby is turning into such a big girl much too quickly. One of her new favourite past times at both daycare and home is lounging on the kid-sized furniture and paging through a book (sometimes right side up, sometimes upside down). It's way too cute :-)

loud and proud

Two Christmas programs in two days, and we've got some over-stimulation going on! But, he did SO well...knew all the words and actions, sang them really really loud, and did all the actions! Yesterday was the program at school. L was invited to come along, and even got to join the children on the steps for storytime. She was so serious, and acted so grown up. After the program, we got to do some learning centers with the children. We looked at two books that the class made. One was the Christmas story, and one was "If I were a gift I would be...". Of course, G wrote that he would be a Leapster, and he drew an incredibly accurate picture. There was also a snowball toss game, a "Pin the star on the tree" game, a guessing game, a matching game, a listening center, and snack time. The children did a few more songs to end the party, and then brought us some gifts that they made.

Today, was the preschool program. The younger children started with some songs, and then the older children did some songs. G belted out the songs...there was a bit of a competition between him and the other children to see who could sing the loudest. His little sister was a lot quieter, and his baby sister just clapped and bounced to the music, and they were all super cute!

They're eagerly counting down the days till Grandma & Grandpa come home, and they're excited about Christmas, but I think that's about the time we'll spend with family more than the actual presents :-) This is such a great age for Christmas... I just love their excitement! It's so contagious!

This time of year is hard too though. G has a tough time adjusting to all of the changes in normal routine, to the crowds of people, and to the general busyness. He's managing, but I can tell that it's stressful for him.

It's been humid out this week, which has meant a lot of beautiful hoarfrost! When I downloaded photos from the Christmas program earlier, I was surprised to find this beautiful scene on our camera! I love that there are a few beautiful things about this time of year :-)

running, scooting, and playing hockey

We rented the gym at a local middle school this evening for a Christmas get together with friends. Had a pizza picnic in the hallway, and then the kids had lots of fun in the gym for a couple of hours. They ran, they played hockey, they had rides on scooters, they tried skipping, they played catch, they played "What's the time, Mr. Wolf?," and just burned off a lot of steam! It was great, and a lot easier than hosting in one of our houses :-)



It was a beautiful day here today, a great day for kids to play outside at daycare, and a nice change from the deep freeze that we've had lately. Hopefully the weather stays milder for awhile!

After we got home tonight, we did a whole bunch of wrapping. Our calendar is going to be so full for the next week that we decided we better get wrapping asap. Our tree is looking really nice and full, and the kids have been remarkably good about leaving all the gifts alone!