We're So Fancy... you already know

The Christmas season is in full swing and we are ready.  The house is decorated, the tree is up, we have been making festive crafts and gifts, we have had some holiday parties AND my shopping is done! (that feels good, I can fully just enjoy the festivities now!)

The boys have written their letters to Santa, and they went to see him for a special visit.  Wil has decided this year that he would like Santa to bring him a "Marker Maker" set, and Carson has his heart set on a garbage truck with a garbage bin.  In getting ready for our visit to see Santa, I suggested they wear something nicer than "comfy" pants, so Wil decided that they should wear their wedding suits from the summer.  He thought Santa would really like those.  So they both got all dressed up in their suits and we headed to the mall.

All dressed up and ready to go!

Hanging out in Santa's lounge, waiting our turn

(we were second in line, we just had to wait for Santa to arrive)

Getting a snack!

BIG hugs from Santa

(He was so great and really chatted with the boys... even telling them how handsome they looked)

Getting a nice picture and another chat about what special toy they want

Decorating cookies in Santa's cookie shack

Their "Elfie Selfie"

 

It was a great visit with Santa, and they got a great picture for their Christmas scrap book.

 

Onto more holiday fun....

 

Painting Christmas Sun catchers

Our homemade air hockey table

(Wil's High Five magazine had the idea for the craft)

Decorating the tree

(Carson was very excited to put the star on top)

The boys took the decorating very seriously this year.  They worked extremely carefully and were really quite proud of themselves

(the tree looks amazing, a bit bottom heavy with ornaments, but it is perfect!)

Tree hugs

Harvey The Hound was at Wil's practice a while ago and here are some of his pictures

Wil loves his Christmas Tree Advent Calendar, he gets really excited to colour it every morning)

We DESPERATELY needed haircuts!

Wil after!

Carson after

Here we....

GO!

"Did you get it mom?"

Red Faux hawks!

Handsome boys!

 

Carson having a rare quiet moment

We made indoor snow

(A recipe I found online with baking soda and shaving cream... it was so fun)

This kept Carson busy for nearly 2 hours, it was really messy, but it bought me enough time to do my hair for our Christmas party

So I'm not big on selfies, because I always feel weird, but I did take some of my outfit for Chad's Christmas party.  This was SOOOOOOO far out of my norm and out of my comfort zone.  I was taking a risk, but I have worked really hard over the past two years to get where I am and while I still have a ways to go to get in the shape I would like to be in, I am pretty proud of what I have accomplished and felt like I wanted to try something totally new for me.  So I bought "leather" leggings...

So here is me taking a selfie to commemorate the leather pants!! haha!

My handsome boys!

My handsome husband

(and a little photo bomber)

Ready for a Party!

(it was a really fun night, thank you WestPark)

 

Finally.... our latest bit of excitement....

William lost his first tooth!

He was pretty happy!

(and the tooth fairy came and brought him "THREE coins!" That was so exciting!)

 

Good bye Fall, Hello Winter!

Summer was great.... we had tons of fun and so many adventures, both in Ontario and Alberta.  Fall has also been very good to us.  After the freak September Blizzard, we were back to sunny skies and warm temperatures and lots of time to squeeze in some more outdoor play.I have enjoyed walking William to and from school, and the boys have loved staying at the playground to play with new friends after school.  The weather is starting to get cold and some big snow is coming, but I am determined to keep up the fun and excitement and enjoy this winter too.  So far we are off to a good start.  I love this time of year, when we get ready to start celebrating Christmas and the holiday season.  People are putting their lights up, everything is feeling festive and it makes the oncoming winter seem much brighter.  There are also lots of things to do to keep kids busy and from whining about being bored! Here are some, okay, lots of pictures of the start of our winter!

Snow won't stop this kid from his favourite thing... riding bikes!

(testing out William's big boys bike, and doing great!)

Trying to go sledding on a tiny patch of snow in our front yard!

(good effort boys, good effort!)

Playing Uno with Dad

(these two love to play Uno together)

Bath tub fun!

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf??

(the Wolf hat he made at preschool, that he wore and chased Wil and I around the house with)

Harvey the Hound came to hockey practice

(he visited the kids in the stands first, then went on the ice with the Timbits... Wil's picture is coming once we get it!)

Wil and his hockey buddy Noah pulling each other on the ice

Relay with Harvey riding the net!

All that hockey excitement, then Charlotte's Princess birthday party

(poor Carson was exhausted!)

Swimming lessons continue

(the hot tub is our favourite part!)

Wil growing his Movember mustache

(It came in quite nicely for a 5 year old!)

Our busy pace and a few sleepless nights means Carson falls asleep anywhere... especially in the car on our 2 minute drive to pick up Wil at school!

 

The Lake pleasure rink is open... Yay!!!  We are so excited!

(making ice angels and skating)

Wil helping Carson out

(You can do it Carson, skate to me, I got you)

(best brothers)

Silly Boys

Fun with tires at the Science Center

They made an obstacle course

(of course they did... still obsessed!)

(we stayed at the science center for 6 hours!!  That was a loooooong time... we were all exhausted!)

Our first hockey picture!

We got new toques!

(we couldn't resist, they look so cute!)

Crafting at Heritage Park's Once Upon a Christmas

Snow mazes!

(these kids love mazes!)

Asleep!

(This weekend started with 6 hours at the Science Center Friday and dinner out with Dad, then hockey and a BUNCH of running around Saturday, then early morning hockey and Heritage Park for the rest of the day Sunday... they were EXHAUSTED!! I had to stop and get milk on the way home, we had none in the house so I really had to... I let them sleep like this in the car in the parking lot for 20 minutes, then tried to wake them up for the quick run into Sobeys.....)

It didn't work.... they didn't wake up...

It does not look at all comfortable... but they slept through the whole grocery stop.  Nearly everyone in Sobey's commented on them, or laughed about them... it was pretty funny.  They have never done anything like that before... I think the crazy weekend definitely caught up to them!)

More Skating on the lake

(we just love the lake... every season there is something to do!)

Feeling festive and starting to get some things out for the holidays.

(My littlest elf eating dinner)

 

Phew... are you exhausted yet?!?!?!?  It doesn't look like life is slowing down at all, but we are enjoying it all and making lots of time for fun and adventures! We are expecting quite a lot of snow and some really cold temperatures this weekend, so it looks like it will be perfect to stay in (aside from hockey) and drink hot chocolate and decorate our Christmas tree!