Christmas Prep

What is on your Christmas to-do list?  And how are you doing with that?  I'm someone who likes to plan as much as possible and avoid that feeling of scrambling.  I try to balance between getting all of the things done because they are tradition and I like them and not worrying if something has to slide.  I find so many of us feel like we need to do the same things every year and if you miss one of them then somehow Christmas will be ruined.  But you know what? We will welcome Jesus on Christmas morning regardless of how many cookies we baked, whether we got the most perfect gifts, or got out to every single event.  I know it is hard particularly when you have kids. We think about making the most perfect season but I don't think kids will remember every single thing you did every single year, rather it will be a general feeling about Christmas with only some of the things sticking out in memory, and those things probably won't be the same ones you've planned down to the last detail.  Our minister said something sort of related to this yesterday, sometimes you need to trim something back for new growth.  So if you let something go, a new tradition could be born. 

I'm not saying don't enjoy it all and fit in what you want, but try to give yourself a break if there are some things that you need to let go.  Your kids and family will feel the love anyway. 

Anyway, here is how my list is going:

General Prep (getting gifts together not listed, that's a separate list):

Get a tree

Decorate House

Outside decorations

Design cards

Send out cards

Gift wrapping station

Wrap Gifts

Stocking Stuffers 

Mail out gifts

Visit Santa

Write letter to Santa

Get advent calendar stuff

Order Turkey 

Pick up Lobster

Pick up Oysters

Make Donations

Make gravy

Plan meals for Christmas week

Make Bread Pudding

Make Christmas Dessert

Cookies for Garbage Collectors and Mail Carrier

Christmas Party Prep (for this coming Saturday):

Order wine glasses

Invite neighbours, Facebook, work colleagues 

Decorate for Christmas (tree, lights, other decorations, etc.)

Buy Alcohol (Jamesons, Scotch, Rum, Wine, Beer)

Make cookies

Make other food

Bulk Barn

M&M Meats

Groceries

Pick up glasses (Friday)

Make Ice (all week)

Clean the house

There is also a separate list for what to do the day of the party, but it's exhausting to read so I won't list it here.

Friday Favourites

 

This was a busy week for us! Would we have it any other way?! 

We got our tree on Saturday and then set it up in the house on Sunday but weren't able to get the decorations out until days later.  The kids have trees in their room and they decorated them themselves.  Checking out the ornaments.

Q's tree with Grinch.

Part of decorating means a drink. hot chocolate for Q, cider for E, and an oat nog with spiced rum for me (Dave was out).

Did you check out your Spotify wrapped selections? None of this surprised me. I definitely played As It Was at every opportunity.  The Encanto soundtrack made an appearance on my 2022 list too, just not top 5.

We did finally get around to decorating the tree on Wednesday night.  The kids did a good job at decorating, and I only had to move a few decorations around after they were done.

E would like to learn Carol of the Bells on piano this year.

I met Dave for lunch downtown on Thursday.  We went to The Rabbit Hole and it was so good. Cozy spot and great food.

We visited Santa this week, check out our photos here.

Linking up with Andrea and Erika

Santa!

On Tuesday we went to Sherway Gardens (the mall) to see Santa. It has been our annual tradition to see him there for many years.  They used to do a group thing where about 20 kids (and their parents) would be there all at the same time and Santa would read a story and then each kid had a chance to get photos. In the past couple of years they got rid of the group event and instead you just pre-booked a time for the photo. 

We get digital downloads of the photos they take.

Then while I was in Club Monaco, the boys checked out the Tesla store.  They were playing a video game on the screen.

Then we had our tradition of food at the food court. We usually all get McDonalds, but this time only Q got it.  I wanted Chipotle and E got sushi.  Dave was going out for dinner.  

Indigo had a big Lego Harry Potter, so of course we needed photos.

And this soccer guy :)

What's up Wednesday

What we're eating this week...
Sunday - Eggplant Parmesan at Annette Food Market
Monday - Shrimp and Orzo
Tuesday - McDonalds
Wednesday - Chicken Enchilada Soup
Thursday - Leftover Soup
Friday - Dave and I are out but I'll make lasagna for the boys and my mom
Saturday - Leftover lasagna

What I'm reminiscing about...
As always around this time, I remember back to Christmases past when I was little.  My Nana always had a different colour-themed tree each year, and one year even sprayed painted her tree black!  I saw this gold tree at the store this week and had to snap a photo.

What I'm loving...
My new pink coat. It only has one button which I didn't love at first, but since it hasn't been that cold, the one button isn't too bad. It's just a nice colour and goes well with my grey scarf and white and grey toque.

What we've been up to...
Trying to eat healthy food and drink less, at least for the month of November. It's not exactly a free for all come December, but the opportunities for treats are certainly more abundant.   

What I'm dreading...
E is in ski racing this winter and I'm sort of dreading the amount of driving we will need to do.  We may not all need to go up on Saturday and Sunday, but E will need to get there so someone will be making the trip. And if it's good skiing weather, then we should all be going up anyway!

What I'm working on...
Getting things ready for our Christmas party - decorating, baking, planning groceries, etc.

What I'm excited about...
I am excited about the party though.  We had to skip it in 2020, but managed to get it in last year before Omicron took over, this year should be "back to normal" and I'm excited to welcome everyone back again.  It is a great opportunity to see people, some of whom we only see at the party each year.

What I'm watching/reading...
The Crown, Friends From College (again), Amazing Race, and Easy. 

I wrote about my November books here. Now I've got some Christmas books on hold at the library. I don't find I have as much time to read in December but I like grabbing a few moments here and there to sit by the tree and read a festive book. Last year I read almost a whole book while waiting in a line for my COVID booster.

What I'm listening to...
My favourite Christmas songs (post here).

What I'm wearing...
I'm back to wearing my mask on the subway.  Although it's not COVID that I am specifically worried about now, I am worried about RSV and the flu (although vaccinated for the latter).  I want to be able to enjoy Christmas without being sick or bringing anything home with me.  I feel like most places I go are fairly well ventilated or I can keep a good distance, but I'm on the subway at rush hour twice a day, and it can get pretty tight in there, so the mask goes on.  I feel like we know that masks help and people can make their own decisions about what they want to do to keep themselves healthy. 

What I'm doing this weekend...
My mom arrives for a week's visit, my work Christmas party, house party, and skating with Santa.

What I'm looking forward to next month...
Hmm, what could there be?!  Christmas extravaganza! And some skiing. 

What else is new...
Well, we were pretty excited that Team Canada was at the World Cup, and even excited with their play, but not as excited that they only scored one goal (so far, could still score against Morocco) and will miss going onto the next round. Still, a respectable showing.  A friend of mine was there and I have enjoyed following her journey through Instagram. Also, someone commented that E resembled the head coach, certainly the same haircut, smaller ears ;)

Linking up with Shay.

Weekend Recap

 

Christmas time is upon us and we are here for all of it. 

On Friday, we borrowed an idea from @mel_larson, someone I follow on Instagram. They do Home Alone night where they order cheese pizza, drink Pepsi, and make ice cream sundaes, just like Kevin.  It was so fun.  We got our pizza (and garlic fingers) from Maker Pizza, and a large 2L bottle of pop.  Q had never seen a pop bottle that was that big and he was shocked!

On Saturday morning we went to pick out our tree.

As I was taking this photo, E said "new backdrop?" for my phone, and he was right!

My Nana Do would have loved this gold tree.

E helped tie the tree to the car.

We did the last of the leaf bags when we got back and then I took Q to swimming. It was his last lesson and then it was cut short because of a pool fouling (ew).  

Dave and I each got a workout in and he commented it was like we were at the gym.

Then we went to the Marlies hockey game.  Our neighbour gives out free passes for Halloween so a bunch of us chose the same day to go and met up there. 

We like popcorn.

And we went out for supper afterwards in Liberty Village.

We were lucky we could do a parents table and kids table.

We tried watching a movie and I could not stay awake unfortunately, but I think Dave liked it.

On Sunday we were at church for most of the day.  Regular service, special service for our new minister (where E was participating), and a craft event (more on that below).  But we did sneak in a visit to the post box to mail Q's letter to Santa. 

And we were able to help Dave with the lights.

We brought our friends with us to church for the craft thing.

So nice to see the lights on the house.

I also went out for dinner with friends on Sunday night.  We went Annette Food Market. That place is a gem! The food was delicious and so was the wine we chose.  It is always nice to go out to actually catch up with friends.