Getting to know you: Christmas version

I saw this quiz on my friend Tammi's blog, so I thought I'd play along.  Merry Christmas!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper.  It's just not as much fun to "tear into" a gift bag.  However, I do also have a fondness for a certain gift box that has passed back and forth between me and the members of my family for quite a few years (no one throws it away, it's kept and used again the next year - it's probably been around for more than 10 years!).
 
2. Real tree or artificial?   Artificial.  I wish we had a pre-lit tree, though - I can't stand putting up the lights.
 
3. When do you put up the tree?   Before Emmett was born I didn't have a set date for putting up the tree (usually end of November or early December), but now that Emmett's birthday is December 2nd, I don't put up the tree until after his birthday is done.
 
4. When do you take the tree down?  No set date, but usually sometime after New Year's.
 

5. Do you like eggnog?  YES!!  Love it!!!  I drink the light version, though, and sometimes I add in a little skim milk, so I don't feel too guilty.
 
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I don't know if this was my favorite gift, but it was definitely one of the most memorable - the year we got a VHS VCR.  I remember shopping with my dad at Canadian Tire before Christmas, and he put some blank VHS tapes into our cart and I said to him, "Dad, we have a Beta" and he said "well, maybe they'll fit".  Turns out they did fit - in the new VCR!
 

7. Do you have a nativity scene?  Yes, we have three.  Two are mine (no touching!) and one is a Little People nativity set for the kids to play with.

8. Hardest person to buy for?  My parents.
 
9. Easiest person to buy for?   Annika.  
 
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?  I can't really think of anything off-hand, but probably something from a "bring a gift, get a gift" exchange.  I usually would end up disappointed with what I got, so now we only participate in one of those kind of exchanges.
 
11. Mail or email Christmas cards?   I usually hand out most of our cards in person - I think I've mailed cards once or twice.
 

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?  White Christmas.
 
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?   Early December.  Every year I think I should start earlier, but it never happens.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?   Yes.  I don't have a problem with re-gifting - you just have to make sure the original gift giver doesn't find out!

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?  Hmmm, that's a tough one - so many yummy things to choose from!  I love "puppy chow" (Crispix cereal coated with chocolate, peanut butter and icing sugar) - it's always a Christmas treat for us.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree?  Clear.  We also have clear lights on our house.
 

17. Favorite Christmas song?  My favorite non-religious Christmas song is "Sleigh Ride" (it always reminds me of my high school band), and my favorite religious song is "Away in a Manger."
 

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?  Does going to family gatherings around Southern Manitoba count as traveling?
 

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?  Dasher, Dancer, Donner, Blitzen, Prancer, Comet, Cupid...  Rudolph...  how many are there???
 

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning.  However, when I was growing up my brother and I always opened our presents from each other on Christmas eve.  I may re-start that tradition with our kids when they get a bit older.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?  All the expectations - it seems impossible to be everywhere/do everything that we "should" be doing.  My cousin wrote a great post about this on her blog - definitely worth a read!
 

23. What I love most about Christmas?  Now that I have kids I think what I love most is seeing it all through their eyes - all the wonder and amazement and joy of the season.

Christmas is in the air

A few pictures of how we've been getting ready for Christmas....

Putting up the Christmas tree

 

 

The kids did a great job of helping me decorate the Christmas tree last week.  Yes, there is an abundance of decorations in the bottom 2 feet of the tree, but Annika is doing her best to help even things out.  I told her to try not to bunch all the decorations in one spot, and now whenever she notices that there are 2 ornaments on one branch, she notifies me and asks if she can move them (I've since told her that she's free to move them around without always telling me). ;)  As some of you know, I like my Christmas tree the way it is (blue and silver with snowflake ornaments) and I'm not crazy about the idea of a lot of mis-matched homemade ornaments, however, if you look closely at the picture of Annika and the tree, you'll notice that one ornament she made at school did in fact make it onto the tree.  It's a pine cone with sparkles on it.  Annika hung in on the tree, right front and center, and I haven't even moved it!

Christmas cuties

These are actually the kids' Christmas outfits from last year, but they still fit!  Emmett got a new shirt for underneath his vest, and he never actually wore those pants last year (they're a size 12-18m but they're way bigger than that), but I was so glad that his vest still fit - isn't it adorable?  He looks like such a little man, and Annika just loves this dress.

Making gingerbread houses

 

We normally make gingerbread houses with Carey's extended family (it's a family tradition), but this year we had to miss because of Emmett's birthday party, so we made gingerbread houses at Carey's parents' place the other day.  Annika decided that she wanted hers to be a gingerbread stable with a manger, instead of a house, so we left off one side and one roof piece to make it look more like a stable.  I just love her creativity.  I made Emmett's little house out of graham crackers, and he and Carey had a great time putting candy on it.  My house is the one on the left - I love decorating gingerbread houses.  I think it's something I'll never grow out of.  :)

Visiting with Santa and Mrs. Claus

 

Santa and Mrs. Claus came to visit the kids this morning at Y Neighbours (another yearly tradition).  The kids aren't crazy about Santa (even though we actually know this couple in real life and I whispered to Annika to look closely and see if she recognized them), so we don't push the Santa thing too much.  We've never gone to see Santa in the mall, but it's nice to get a picture each year from at Y Neighbours.

The advent calendar

This tradition dates back till when I was a kid.  My mom made this advent calendar for me and my brother when we were little and we used it each and every year that we lived at home.  Just last year it made its way to our house, and I'm so glad that we could use it again this year.  The kids take turns putting an ornament up each day - Annika is working from the top down and Emmett from the bottom up!  It's so fun to see them enjoying a tradition that I enjoyed myself as a kid, and to hear Annika's different views on things.  For instance, my brother and I had an on-going agreement that the star would ALWAYS be the last ornament put up, on Christmas day, but Annika decided that it should be the first thing to be put up.  Also, do you see the little green angel (right above the deer, towards the bottom)?  Annika insists that that's not an angel, it's a dinosaur eating a person.  Where does she come up with these things??  She also thought that the baby Jesus looked like a girl. :P

How have you been getting ready for Christmas?  What are your special traditions?

Popsicle stick snowflakes

I saw this idea on Pinterest a while ago, so yesterday morning the kids and I made popsicle stick snowflakes.

Our inspirations....

Source: Uploaded by user via Chrys on Pinterest

Source: teaching-tiny-tots.com via Erin on Pinterest

Annika has been really insistent on doing crafts lately, mostly due to a book she found at the library about making ornaments.  I regret letting her take it out, not because I don't want to do crafts, or even because I don't want a ton of homemade ornaments on my tree (although those are both true to a certain degree), but mostly because a book of 30 or more crafts, most of which needed materials we didn't have, was just overwhelming, for both of us.  She wanted to do them all, right away.  I quickly returned the book to the library, and decided it would be better for me to find appropriate crafts (ones that we had the required materials for), one at a time, and do them with her.  Hence, the popsicle stick snowflakes.

I used a glue gun to glue the popsicle sticks together (Annika chose her configuration, and I did mine and Emmett's), and then we painted them white.  Annika added glitter and buttons to hers as well.  Then we tied on ribbons for hanging.  I think they turned out really cute.  I collect snowflake ornaments and other snowflake-themed items, so they fit right in with our Christmas decor!

Annika's snowflake

Emmett's snowflake

My snowflake

This moment - elves

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Cranberry muffins

I found this recipe for cranberry muffins on Allrecipes.com and we made them today (I'm trying to use up some frozen cranberries).  They are delicious!!  The kids really love them too - Annika has quite a taste for sour or tart things!  Next time I won't put pecans in the whole batch so that Annika can take them to school for snack.  I made a few changes to the original recipe (some of my own, and some as recommended by the reviews), so I wanted to write out my recipe so I remember it for next time (and so you can enjoy them too!).

Cranberry muffins

Makes 12 muffins

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour (I did 1 1/2 cup white flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar (or slightly less)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

Ground chia seeds (I don't measure too carefully- just throw a spoonful or two in)

1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped

1/2 cup pecans, chopped 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a muffin pan, or use paper liners.
2. In a small bowl, mix together applesauce, oil, egg and vanilla. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and chia. Make a well in the center, and pour in egg mixture. Stir until just moistened. Fold in cranberries and pecans. Spoon into muffin cups, 2/3 full.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes (about 18 minutes for mini muffins), or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 2 minutes before removing.

Enjoy!!

Emmett's birthday

Here are a few pictures (okay, a lot) from Emmett's birthday yesterday...

We had to be at church early, but we took a few minutes in the morning to quickly take some family pictures, since we were all dressed so nicely (yes, I planned our outfits :P).  I think they turned out pretty nice, considering we were just using the self-timer!

After church we went to Montana's for lunch, just the four of us.  Emmett was NOT a fan of the big moose ears, but he did enjoy his ice cream cone (which Annika very nicely shared with him - they were actually her dessert, but she gave him one as a birthday present!).

After lunch we went home for a quick nap, and I got things ready for the party.  We invited a bunch of our friends and family over for a "come and go" party, from 3:00 - 5:00.  It was pretty low-key, but I was still pretty busy getting everything ready, since we had been out late (for us!) the night before for Carey's work Christmas party.  But everything got done, and we had a lovely afternoon.  The theme of the party was "Lego"- one of Emmett's favorite toys.

I bought a plastic mold in the shape of Lego blocks, so I made chocolate Legos to top the cupcakes and as treats for the guests to take home afterwards, and I also used it to make Lego ice cubes for the punch!

I made cupcakes because I find them easier than doing a cake, and because I thought it would be better suited for our "come and go" party (that way guests that had to leave early could take one home).  The other food was pretty simple - M&M's (yes, I sorted them by color - did you know that there are significantly fewer red M&M's than the other colors??), Lego-shaped candies, cheese & crackers, chips & dip, and fruit.  I also made some cranberry apple cider in my crock pot.

The decorations were also very simple, but I was quite proud of this Lego "happy birthday" banner that I made (I had to hand-color the yellow outline around each letter before cutting them out).  If anyone is planning a Lego birthday in the near future and would like to have it, please let me know!  It seems like a shame to just throw it away (please forgive the poor picture, it was hard to take a picture with so much light in the background).

Emmett had a great time at the party - I don't think he totally understood what a "birthday" is, but he enjoyed opening presents, eating yummy food and being with friends.  Thanks so much to everyone who came out!

Happy birthday Emmett!

Two years old today!