10 posts tagged “christmas”
Today, I took Brianna to a real, pointe shoes, tutus, men in tights, no talking or singing ballet: The Nutcracker. I have been to many musicals in the past (The Phantom of the Opera, Evita, Show Boat, Les Miserables, and more), but this was my first ballet. This one was performed by the Moscow Classical Ballet troupe, and they did an excellent job! The tickets were part of her Christmas gift this year, and I was so excited to give them to her!
I made sure to prep Brianna to be sure she knew what to expect. Up until now, her only exposure to the story was by watching "Barbie In The Nutcracker", which is not quite the same. I showed her clips from You Tube before I even bought the tickets, because I thought she should have the chance to decide if it was for her. She was all for it, so I went on-line and managed to get fantastic seats: Row 7, centre stage! We could see everything so clearly! Thankfully the theatre had booster seats for the kids... it made things so much easier!
We went to the matinee, so there was a lot of kids there... It was so sweet to see little girls all dressed up, some wearing glittering plastic tiaras, some with fancy ballet slippers... all with stars in their eyes!
Brianna was hilarious at intermission. I told her we should go to the restroom, but she said she didn't have to go. Too bad... we're going! We were in and out in no time (the line was well out the door by the time we got out!), and headed into the lobby to get a snack. Those lines were incredible! After a few minutes of waiting, the 10 minute bell sounded, and Brianna imediately started to panic. "What if they start without us??" I assured her that we had plenty of time. 5 minutes later, the 5 minute warning sounded. Hoo boy! I swear, she was on the verge of tears!
Snacks in hand (actually, they were hidden in my purse), we were back in our seats with a couple of minutes to spare!
The show was great, but I was a little disappointed that there was not a live orchestra... I've never been to a show without one, and I had wanted to show it to Brianna. We discovered that "Peter Pan" will be presented in April. Brianna is big into Tinkerbell right now, so I may look into that!
Christmas Eve. Brianna filled our Santa plate with Chips Ahoy cookies (I was surprised she didn't choose some of the cookies she helped to bake... Santa got store-bought), and nine baby carrots for the reindeer. Instead of milk, she decided egg nog would go down much better! I couldn't help but think back to a couple of Christmases ago... Brianna refused to put out milk & cookies because she just did not want that terribly scary, fat man to come into our house!
This is the 'before' shot of the tree. Santa's gifts are wrapped in special paper with special tags... no others were wrapped the same. This is for the belief-factor... all I have to do is keep the wrapping paper hidden all year! No... all those gifts are not for the kids. We had many gifts for other family and friends too!
"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...." Mine was so heavy, it had to sit on the floor! ;-P I had moved the Santa plate by this time, but upon inspection Christmas morning, Brianna was pleased that all he left was an empty glass and some crumbs on the plate! Hee hee hee!
The aftermath. This was after all the wrapping paper had been cleaned up. The kids enjoyed all their gifts, and although we didn't buy many toys for them, the few that they did receive were much loved! I was very spoiled, and love all the gifts I received... especially the spa gift certificate, and the 15" flat panel TV/monitor for the kitchen!
Mike with his new bottle of Scotch. I usually buy him one every year on our anniversary (we were married in Scotland, you see), but I couldn't resist spoiling him with one for Christmas. I think he has at least 10 large bottles in the cabinet right now, and another 10 mini samplers we brought back from Scotland. All different! He's become quite the connoisseur!
Great-Grandpa Leo brought over a small guitar for Brianna. She was just thrilled! She is so musical, so having a real instrument to learn on is very exciting. Only problem, she's a south-paw, so it will have to be re-stringed, and the black, paisley-shaped thing on the sound board will now be at the top (might look a little strange), but at least she'll be able to learn. I only wish I could play so that I could teach her.
My cousin Sean, however, can play and tuned the guitar for her..... she has since messed with the knobs and it is out of tune again.
A great day (and night) had by all!
So, as I've mentioned before... we are not what could be described as a religious household. We celebrate Easter and Christmas, but more as a family gathering. Even as a child who was baptised and attended my First Holy Communion, I can not pretend to know all the stories of the bible, etc.
This has affected my daughter more than I expected. Despite the fact that I no longer practice my religion, I still know the story of Christmas, the history of the holiday, and I appreciate the fact that it is celebrated all over the world in many ways. Much to my horror, Brianna told us her version of the spirit of Christmas: PRESENTS!
OK. I know this should have been explained to her a long time ago, but it is just not a part of our lives. To make a long story short, we did explain the story of Christmas, Baby Jesus, the Nativity, etc. We also stressed that the most important thing about Christmas is being with all of her family and friends.
I can't blame her, though -- she comes by it honestly. I remember clearly just vibrating... waiting for all the wonderful presents to come my way. I have matured into a person who would just rather spend a whole day entertaining family, cooking a great meal, and sitting back that night to a glass of wine and singing carols with my family. That's the way it's always been, and I'm not one to let go of traditions easily.
Anyway, Mike had a long conversation about the story of Christmas, and I'd like to share the end of it:
Mike: So, we celebrate Christmas in honor of Baby Jesus.
Brianna: Oh. I see.
Mike: People celebrate his birthday all over the world!
Brianna: Wow... He must have been a very important person!
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL... AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!
Every year I do some Christmas baking to share with friends and family, and to serve when guests pop by during the holidays.
Sugar cookies, chocolate bark with various fruit, nuts, etc, rum balls, nanaimo bars, fruitcake (don't gag -- my husband loves it), mincemeat tarts, macaroons, and so on.
This year, Brianna has really been a great helper. Although it makes the job a bit longer, it's fun quality time for the both of us to share. I hope this becomes a tradition that the twins can join later on.
Making the Sugar Cookies. I cheated this year and bought a huge box of Betty Crocker mix from Costco in the States. Hey... they turned out great, and Brianna didn't care!
The first batch was barely cool from the oven, and Brianna was ready to taste test! Yummy!
Thumbprint Cookies. This recipe was on the side of the Betty Crocker box. Apparently, these were just as delicious!
So, I read a recent blog from Tamzen, regarding 'Giving Green' and it reminded me that I had better get going with my gift-giving -- I agree with her that Christmas has turned into 'who gets what' as opposed to the true meaning of the holiday.
I have to admit that my daughter is very materialistic (nobody's fault but mine), and we are not at all religious (besides both my husband and myself coming from semi-religious backgrounds), so I think she would go into coronary arrest if the space under the tree remained bare save for 5 pretty envelopes containing a 'Thank You' card from a charity. This is something we will have to adopt as a family tradition rather than a lifestyle! We already sponser a child in Indonesia through World Vision, and I often donate extra money to help others in need as well.
My More-Of-A-Mother-Than-My-Real-One-Step-Mom asked us to donate to a charity in her name from a Christmas Gift Catalogue sponsored by a Catholic program she supports -- Christian Child Care International. She hi-lighted a few items she thought she would like to donate (all priced between $10 - $35), and let us choose the item we want to pay for.
I asked Brianna to choose and she selected Chicks & Ducklings and a Pair Of Breeding Rabbits. She first suggested we just give the Africans money (can you hear me slap my forehead?), but, when I explained that these gifts are more meaningful, she got on the bandwagon.
I went on-line to start the process, and I was amazed at how long it took me to figure out how to donate on-line (calling the toll-free number and speaking to a real person is just sooo inconvienent!). Anyway, it turns out CCCI does not have a secure site to conduct on-line donations, but they do have a link to a charity site that can take care of that for them. For a measly $3 donation, they will process your card and forward that info to the charity you select. The said charity will then send a card to the person you made the donation for, and let them know that a family will benefit from the items selected.
Easy Peasy. I didn't even have to take off my warm, smelly, fuzzy slippers and head to the cramed mall... or pay for postage! Even better: I get a tax receipt!
Interested in Giving Green this year? Check out www.ccare.ca Tamzen's choice www.heifer.org or my favorite charity www.worldvision.ca for some great ways to give to those in need, and make your loved ones feel all warm and fuzzy at the same time! (hopefully they won't smell like my slippers...).
Brianna has helped me decorate the tree for the past couple of years, so I guess it will become somewhat of a tradition. She loves to see all the keepsake ornaments we have collected over the years (I have some from my teen years), and I just love to bring out the decorations and put them all out while Christmas CD's play in the background. Really gets me into the spirit! OK... I'm posting this well into December, but I have to admit that my tree has been up since the last weekend of November! I'm usually not so eager, but I had a Pampered Chef open house that Sunday and I wanted the place to look Christmasy!
This year, the twins thought they would pitch in as well.
Not to worry... the extension cord was unplugged! I didn't mind them playing with it because it kept them distracted from the boxes of ornaments!
The finished product! I can show you only the top 2/3 of the tree since the bottom part is obsured by the baby gate we had to set up to keep 20 wee fingers off the ever-so tempting, twinkling, dangley ornaments. They can still reach over, but it's so much easier to tell them "No" to that, then having the whole tree within reach! I have to say that they are very good about it!
Those gates really came in handy to section off parts of the living room as the twins started moving around. I knew I wanted to use them around the tree, though, so we opened up much more of the house for them to explore.
I just love this time of year, and I think that having kids really brings the magic back to the whole season! I hope everyone else is enjoying the holiday season!
OK... I know I'm a week behind, but I'm slowly catching up here. What do you expect from a gal with 3 kids under 4?
Christmas was a lot of fun this year. The build-up for Brianna was way better than last year. Brianna actually sat on Santa's lap -- and smiled! -- and she was so excited about his arrival. She asked so many questions about the chimney, the reindeer and so on. I felt bad about lying, but I think that seeing her excitement made the season special for me again!
The twins were obviously clueless about the whole thing. Next year will be different!
It amazed me how well Santa worked as a discipline tool. "I guess I have to call Santa and tell him to put you on the naughty list. How would you feel if Santa brought gifts for the twins and not you?" Oh yeah. Too bad it's only useful at Christmas time. ;-)
On the 20th of December, Brianna's school held a Winter Celebration Concert ("Christmas Concert" just isn't PC). I was so proud of her for getting up on stage and singing with her classmates. She had been practicing her songs over and over for about 3 weeks beforehand, so I felt like I knew them well enough myself!
Each class had its own presentation, and the older students even did their own version of The Nutcracker (ballet and all)!
Anyway, I felt so badly for Bree when she got on stage... she was the only student without her scarf. I had packed her scarf & mittens in a bag as instructed by her teachers and sent them to school a few days before the show so that they would definitely be there for rehearsals and the show. I hadn't realized that Brianna had worn her scarf home the day before the show, so it was no longer in the bag. I still hadn't clued in when she saw her scarf on her coat hook at home and said, "Here's my scarf, Mom! I was looking everywhere for this!" She says that about everything she comes across, so I just dismissed it. When we pulled up to the church for the concert, she realized that the scarf was still at home and told me she forgot her scarf. I looked at her and told her she was wearing a scarf (she has many scarves and had one on with her coat), so I still didn't clue in.
Once I saw her on stage, it all came rushing back.... the pick scarf I had packed in the bag, around her neck when she left school that day, on her coat hook when she became excited about finding it (she must have been looking for it at school and probably very distressed), and then in her hand as we were leaving for the concert. She must have put it down for some reason before we left the house (I saw it sitting on the stairs when we came home).
I felt AWFUL. How could I have been so dense???? If I had just taken the time to listen, I could have suggested that she use the scarf she had worn to the concert. It didn't matter what colour it was... she just had to wear a scarf & mittens. She didn't even think of it as her teacher called her and her classmates to follow her and prepare for the show.
That's what I get for not paying attention. Sometimes, my 3 year old DOES have something to say, and it takes something like this to happen to make me just stop and listen.
Well, the show was wonderful anyway... and they did sing some traditional Christmas carols (the entire school sang We Wish You A Merry Christmas at the end). She didn't say anything about the scarf, so maybe it wasn't as big of a deal for her as it was for me.
Brianna's Grandma brought a gingerbread house kit, and Brianna was just thrilled! The kit came with so much candy I figured there would be a ton left over. It didn't take me long to realize that the excess candy was to compensate for all the munching that goes on during the construction of the house!
Yes, I do regret dressing Brianna in a white outfit that day. I had no idea what was in store for her. I suppose I could have put an art smock on her....
Anyway, some of the candy did make it onto the house (and even on the cookies that came with the kit), so the finished product was something to be proud of.
It was Brianna's 1st gingerbread house, so of course it had to be displayed for all to see. I have to admit, I was pretty impressed! I spent the rest of the day scraping the child off the ceiling. Gee, thanks Grandma.
The first weekend in December is when we decorate our tree, and Brianna is just the right age to start feeling the magic of the season. Last year, she was 2 1/2, so her assistance in decorating was limited. This year, she was able to do much more.
I have some ornaments that I have had for years, so I explained to her that they are delicate and special to me and I would hang those ones myself. Once she realized that some ornaments were hers (Baby's 1st Christmas, Granddaughter's 1st Christmas, a Santa Bear with her name on it, etc.), she informed me that they were very delicate and special to HER so she would hang those. She did a great job.
Once we were finished with the keepsake ornaments, the standard round bobbles could fill the gaps. She was in charge of the lower half, and I took the top. The twins supervised from their swings.
Brianna was quite pleased with the finished tree, and, to this day, she continues to "adjust" the ornaments to make them hang just so.
Mike and I couldn't help but get excited when Christmas Eve finally arrived. Believe it or not, but we promised each other that we wouldn't go crazy on the gift-giving this year, and I swear I spent less than last year! Not all the gifts were for us... quite a lot were for family and friends! Brianna's face was priceless when she woke up Christmas morning and saw all the presents!
