Merry Christmas!

This year for Christmas each set of grandparents had a full day. That way we weren't rushing around and trying to fit everyone in when others would be there and for this year it worked. Christmas Eve we spent at Ryan's folks place with everyone. We played games, the kids ran around with all their cousins like crazy people and loved it. We had a potluck dinner with an international theme so Ryan and I made some sushi rolls to share with everyone and they were supper yummy, success.
Christmas day we spent at my dad and Peggy's. Kait & Matthew were there and all Peggys' boys came as well. It was so relaxing and I think the first Christmas we've had in Canada where we weren't trying to be at more then one place at once. The kids got to open their presents and then actually have time to play with them! It was awesome. Dinner was amazing as it always is at dads and it was nice to have everyone there.

That night Madison started to act off and felt a little warm but I had assumed it was because of all the excitement. I was wrong. It was because she had the flu and was up puking all night. The really sucky thing was that she puked all over her PJ's and I had only brought one pair. I had to change her into clothes and then she puked all over those as well. I was running out of options and she was not impressed at the thought of sleeping in jeans. Maybe next time she'll try a little harder to get everything into the toilet and not all down her person. Blah.
Boxing Day morning we were off to my mom and Brians house. Madison only puked once that day ... at the 7-11 in the parking lot on the way to my moms house. GROSS. Moms house was great and of course we consumed loads of good food, my family sure can cook! There was SO much food and my family relies on Ryan to finish a lot of it up with his 3rd and 4th helpings but today he was no help at all... why you ask? He spent the afternoon puking out whatever flu it was that Madison had the night before. While Ryan napped the boys went to the school gym and flew remote control helicopters they got for Christmas (Brayden and Brian) and us girls played with our new toys.
This year was so relaxing, I loved spending so much time at each place and being able to let the kids not only open up gifts, but let them play with them and enjoy them before scooping everything up and moving onto the next house. Spending so much time with family was way better, it was a good Christmas!

Sammy Day 25: Until Next Year

Wow, another season of finding Sammy has come and gone. I can't believe he leaves for the North Pole tonight with Santa and we won't see him until next Christmas. Christmas is tomorrow! How did that sneak up on me?
Sammy left the kids each a present as his goodbye. Like last year they were some PJ's and the kids had kind of assumed as much. Hopefully leaving them gifts and not coal means that Santa will do the same.

Sammy Day 24: Like A Wrecking Ball

The kids could not find Sammy this morning. They were freaking out because the day before he hadn't moved and then today it was like he had vanished. Maybe this was it for Sammy!? Maybe he went back to Santa a few days early because he had been fondled too close to Christmas, maybe he didn't love us anymore?
Nope, none of the above. Sammy was just in such an unexpected place no one thought to look for him there. He was above our kitchen table swinging on the light like he was riding a wrecking ball. This is probably the best thing to come of the song by Miley Cyrus.... Our Sammy, making me proud.

Sammy Day 23: I've Lost The Magic

With only a few days left until Christmas it was a little alarming to wake up and find Sammy in the exact same position he was in yesterday because he had been fondled the day before. Yikes. I really hope that he's left alone today, we don't want Santa thinking the kids are misbehaving so close to Christmas.

Sammy Day 22: Looking For Love In All The Wrong Places

It looks like Sammy loved snuggling with Brayden the other night so much that he's looking for love in other places now. This guy is hanging from our fridge and it's a long way down but at least he's finding things that are his size. Hopefully he doesn't fall.

Sammy Day 21: We Can Always Use More Angels

It appears that Sammy thinks our nativity could use more angels but I don't see his wings?

Sammy Day 20: Nobody Steals My Lucky Charms

So I guess Sammy wanted to see what he looked like as a leprechaun instead of an Elf for a day. What do you think?

Sammy Day 19: Sleep Tight

When we woke up this morning to find Sammy looking at something on my camera. The kids went to check it out and found pictures of themselves with Sammy. They were taken while they were sleeping and I'm not too sure if Sammy had a friend come and take them for him or if he used his magic but the kids LOVED that Sammy had gone and seen them during the night. It looks like Brayden is super cuddly when he's sleeping!

Sammy Day 18: Stay Away

Sammy was a little difficult to find today. He wasn't really up to mischief like usually or out in the open. It's a little strange for our Sammy to be hiding, I think he likes all the attention the kids give him when he's doing his silly stuff.
After checking all the rooms in the house and even venturing into the basement (a place Sammy has yet to go) we found him hiding in the blinds. The kids have been getting pretty bold with Sammy and trying to play around with the things they find him with each day. I think he was trying to give them a message: Leave me alone or I will loose my magic. Thankfully, no one will be able to reach him up there.

Gingerbread Fun

Tonight after supper we did the gingerbread house. It's something you've got to do every year even though you don't eat it and the entire house eventually ends up in the trash. Even though it's a big waste of nasty stale gingerbread the kids could not wait another way to do this. This year I had bought a pre built house kit from Costco and we used our extra candies bought at the Bulk Barn for extra decorations. It was way easier to have the house already to go, no added frustration from the walls always falling over or the icing not being thick enough to hold it all together. Way easier.
The house turned out great, the kids loved it and now it will be our kitchen table centrepiece until it makes it's departure.

Sammy Day 17: The Piano Man

I guess Sammy has yet another hidden talent: He can play the piano, or he likes to pretend. Maybe the ladies Barbies like it?

Sammy Day 16: Hide and Seek

I was a little confused this morning when I woke up and the kids weren't dragging me to Sammy and showing me what he was up to. Instead Sammy was hiding and the kids went to school thinking Sammy didn't come back today. Thankfully during the day Madison was able to spot Sammy's little legs hanging out of the lamp shade and let the kids know as soon as they got home from school.
I think Sammys workout from a few days ago really helped because it has got to take a lot of strength to hang on like this all day long:

Sledding Beattie Style

I think it's sad when -15*C weather is a warm break. It's still too cold for me to be outside and enjoy myself but the kids don't seem to care. Today Ryan hooked up the sled to the back of the kids dirt bike and took them for a few rides. Our long gravel driveway has been packed down with snow for weeks it's perfect conditions for a slippery ride. Ryan would take them around the loop in front of our house, down the driveway and then turn around at the end of the cultasac and then come back for another loop. The puppies for a few doors down apparently wanted to get in on the action and followed them home.
Maybe next year we can just tie the sled to all the neighbourhood dogs and have them take the kids for a ride.

Sammy Day 15: Bath Night

I guess we know how Sammy keeps himself clean. I'm not quite sure how well mini marshmellows clean off the dirt but in the least he's going to small amazing!

Sammy Day 14: 12 More Days To Go

It looks as though Sammy is excited as we are about Christmas. Now hopefully he keeps his greedy butt out of my candy stash.

Sammy Day 13: Ho Ho Ho

Sammy had a fun surprise for the kids this morning. He had Santa email a personalized message for each of the kids to his email account. We found him sitting at the computer with his email account open and a little sticky note asking the kids to click on the link. When they did Santas video opened up and he addressed each child, told them what they wanted, if they'd been naughty or nice and gave each a challenge to work on over the next year.

If anyone has never done these videos before, my kids absolutely love them. You can check it all out here and ask Santa to put a little message together for your little ones, or for you!

Sammy Day 12: Let's Get Physical

I guess Sammy thought he should work on those scrawny arms of his because we found him pretty much getting flattened by my weights this morning. Poor Sammy, maybe he should have started with a toothpick.

Sammy Day 11: Sack Races

It looks like a close race with tiny reindeer almost crossing the finish line. I'm pretty sure that's not the order they were placed in to begin with but I'm not surprised to see the order changed as Brayden was first awake and now his stuffy is in the lead. Everyone else seems to be spot on so at least he left Sammy alone. Speaking of Sammy, it looks like he can't take his eyes off Barbie. Is it because she's so beautiful or because her hair is stuck in that crazy position?

Sammy Day 10: Sugar Munchies

Sammy was taking up someones seat at the table this morning showing off his breakfast of champions. Is this really the type of food Elves live off of? Don't they worry about sugar bugs or do they have a really great dental plan? Maybe I'm just jealous but seriously, he needs a really good multivitamin.

Sammy Day 9: Tree Climbing

Sammy tied himself up a handy harness and was making his way up the Christmas tree this morning. He only made it half way up before the kids woke up, better luck next time Sammy.

Sammy Day 8: Candy Binge

Sammy spent his free time binging on the kids Halloween Candy last night. We busted him in their stash trying to get into some cheesy's this morning. The kids must have been nervous about accidentally touching Sammy and causing him to loose his magic because no one asked for a treat yesterday.

Sammy Day 7: Snowball Fight

I guess it's too cold outside for Sammy to have a real snowball fight, he has to dig into my secret marshmellow stash instead. At least he has a worthy opponent with Operetta the Monster High Doll, she's seems to be doing quite well considering she only has one hand (a war wound from a different battle named Sydney).
When I woke up this morning and went to make sure the kids were getting ready for school I busted Brayden with some of Sammys snowballs in his mouth. Thankfully Sammy had restocked in time for the picture! Now that the pictures are taken its fair game. I'm sure I'll find Madison with her mouth full at some point today.

Sammy Day 6: Sledding!

Sammy was ready for some action this morning. He got himself ready to be launched before the kids woke up. All they have to do is give his little sled a little tap and he's going to fly down the rail!

Our First Snow Day

It started late Sunday night. We could hear the wind whipping around outside and the snow had started to fall. Monday, thankfully, the kids didn't have any school thanks to a PD day so we hunkered down inside and watched the snow fall sideways. For a lot of the time we couldn't see past the end of our driveway with all the blowing snow and we were thankful we had a nice warm place to stay because it was freezing cold outside.
Our neighbour was out plowing the driveway and finally around 3pm Ryan couldn't stand being stuck in the house any longer so we all piled into the van (yay for AWD) and took off to Canadian Tire. It was so insane outside. There were so many cars just stuck in drifts of snow or people that had their vehicles stuck in parking lots because of the snow piles left from the big plows blocking their exit. Other then the random cars all stuck in the roads, it was pretty dead.
On our way home Ryan kept jumping out of the van to offer his pushing services but finally we decided it was time to get the kids home. As we pulled into our driveway we noticed that the neighbour's truck was on but it wasn't moving. We waited for a while and slowly went as far as we could until Ryan parked the van and ran to see what was up. Johnny's plow was stuck and so Ryan went to help pull him out while we sat in the van and waited. During this wait our other neighbour from across the street pulls up in his truck and offers his help so off he goes barrelling down the driveway as fast as he could until he's totally stuck as well. By this time Neighbour 1 had his other truck out and Ryan was helping to try to pull out the plow only to have Neighbour 1 get his second truck stuck.
So now with 3 trucks stuck in the driveway Ryan heads to get his truck and help pull....
Now with 4 trucks stuck the kids and I make sure all the snow gear we had with us in the van is on our persons and we make a run for the house. The -30*C wind pelting us with snow down our 400m driveway was ok but hauling Madison through the huge drifts was a challenge. My butt hurt the next day after that short work out.
By this time Neighbour 2 had run home with our van (since his truck was stuck) to get his big snow digger machine and Ryan was starting up his big work rig to try to yank all these trucks out since it saved the day last time.
Thankfully the big rig only got half stuck for a while before they were able to get it positioned properly on the driveway and get everyone hauled out and the driveway got plowed. From the time we arrived at our driveway to the time it was plowed 4 hours had elapsed!

The next day was a snow day from school and Ryans big work rig had been trapped in with a massive drift through our front loop so it looked like it would be a snow day for him as well. Ryan was able to borrow the neighbours plow and he went to work on our road pushing snow into big piles that would be somewhat out of the way. We also had Neighbour 2s snow digger/blower and so Ryan cleared off the huge drift in front of the house creeping up the front stairway.
By the end of the day all the drifts that were blocking the driveway and the turn about on our property were cleared away and the kids made their way outside to play.

As if that wasn't enough we went into Airdrie to a friends for dinner and Ryan spent the entire time using his brand new tow rope pulling loads of people clear from our friends street. By loads I mean about 45 minutes time. I thought we had it bad out in the country but after driving through Kings Heights subdivision I was blown away with the amounts of snow piled on everyones lawn.
After we were well fed and warmed up we ended up at the theatre for cheap night to watch the new Disney movie Frozen with some more friends. I have to say that the perfect way to end a snow day is to watch a cartoon as a family all about snow!
I hope all of you were able to stay unstuck or help quickly found you!

Sammy Day 5: Elf Yourself

Sammy was hard at work on the computer last night as we slept! With a bowl full of candy, he got himself to the Elf Yourself website and made himself a little video for us to wake up to this morning. It was pretty funny, the kids loved it and of course had to make one of their own. Since it's a snow day today it was the perfect way to start our day!

Sammy Day 4: Someone Has a Crush

Sammy is starting to get a little possessive of Mary. This morning we woke up to find Joseph pushed out of the way and Sammy snuggling up in his place. I hope Sammy figures out Mary is taken or things might get awkward.

Sammy Day 3: Zip Line Fun

It looks as though Sammy still loves his extreme sports. We found him zip lining across the family room this morning. I hope the kids aren't getting any ideas.

Our Christmas Mouse Mice

Since it's December we decided we could put up our tree and decorate for Christmas. The kids had a PD day from school and the weather was rotten so we hunkered in and started rearranging so we could find a spot for the tree.
While the kids and I cleaned up their rooms with their newly arranged furniture Ryan went up into the loft part of the garage and dug out our tree and decorations. We didn't have too many ornaments packed away because we had bought new ones but we had a tupperware that had the few we saved, homemade ornaments and the gifted ones to the kids each year from grandma. Ryan starts pulling out some things and notices movement. He calls me into the room telling me we found a Chrismtas mouse but we quickly decide it's not just one but two. As we start digging through the tupperware and pulling things out we start to think that there are 3 of them in there ... then 4 ... then 5.
We finally get everything out of the tote and decide that it's going outside for the dog. He's a mouser, this will be his early Christmas present. Banks has his way with mice after we get a final tally of 7. By the time Banks has finished with his new toys he's completely covered in snow and bouncing around like a kid on Christmas morning.
ICK!