2015 Inductee's Onto Lindsay & Ryan's Christmas Tree

Wow! I can't believe I have been doing a post about our special Christmas tree since 2011! Here's a little review...

Rather than buying a whole bunch of souvenir's when Ryan and I go somewhere together, we always picked up a Christmas ornament instead to remind of us of that special trip. We also put  special ornaments that people have given to us and ornaments that represent a special time in our lives. 

Here's the past posts...

2011 

2012

2013 

2014

Oh I loved reading through all of those and remembering all the fun times that we have had and how much our lives have changed since we started this tradition together! 

Every year my MIL gets the girls a special ornament from her! Last year I received this adorable snow man! 

Sammy also got his own ornament for "baby's first Christmas" from his Nana. A cute little Mickey Mouse! 

Ryan and I were also given our own Mommy and Daddy's first Christmas with Sam! It was given to us by Aunt Shirley and cousin Katelyn! I don't know where she finds these neat personalized ones but she always does! 

We also got this little reminder of our first Christmas as a family of 3! Our first Christmas with our boy, such an exciting time. This ornament was from best friends Amanda and Josh! 

I have gotten so much better at marking the boxes the ornaments sit in to be sure to mark who it is from and the year but somehow this one got missed. Eek. I'm PRETTY sure this one was given to us by our neighbors and family, Uncle Jared, Aunt Holly and Family. A special ornament for Sam! 

This next ornament I picked up on my own, when I was not with Ryan and Sam. This ornament actually represents the first extended time I was without Ryan and Sam on a much needed girls trip with best friend Jilly! We traveled to Nova Scotia to relax and take in all the sights and sounds of the east coast! It was such a fun trip and one I hope we can repeat again! :) 

At our company Christmas party an employee handed me this ornament brand new in the box that he wanted me to have. It had belonged to his Mom and he never used it to decorate a tree. I thought it was so sweet of him to give it to me. I love vintage Christmas stuff. 

This last edition was just given to me on Monday night! Sam's FIRST homemade Christmas ornament! When I was a kid, my parents tree would be decorated with mostly homemade Christmas ornaments that my brother and I had made. It's pretty neat to be able to hang Sam's first homemade ornament. The first of many I am sure! 

Happy Wednesday! 

xo 

Parade, Piano and No Time To Rest!

Happy Monday everyone! I have to admit, I am sort of glad to see this weekend come to an end. It's not that it was necessarily bad, just busy. Too busy. I feel like we did so much running around that it was hard to focus on family time. We was all about timing and getting from one location to another. 

But with that being said, it was actually still a good weekend! 

Friday night, I kind of kicked the boys out of the house and my MIL graciously had the boys over for supper so that I could get ready to host our Christmas book club without a toddler attached to my leg. I got my food ready, tidied up the house and eventually sat back with wine and my knitting. It was a very relaxing way to get ready for an event. 

Book club was great! There were 11 members there which makes for lots of pot luck food options (yum!) and good book discussions! We covered "Little Earthquakes" by Jennifer Weiner. A good read if you are looking for something light! 

Saturday morning I was up early to get ready for our busy day! When the boys got up Sam was so excited to see a kitchen stool! A friend from book club had an extra and parted with it for the small fee of a donation to a good charity. Sam knew exactly how to climb up on his own and proceeded to help me make breakfast! It is so nice to have it and I don't feel like I have to watch him every second when he is up there, scared he is going to fall down! 

We headed to a Quebec liberal brunch and then the boys left to go home and I stayed in Shawville to have lunch with my parents. I had to grab a couple of groceries. We are having a "no spend" week this week! Eating whatever we have in the home already and only bought $30 of groceries this week to get us through. 

I had a few minutes to spare so I looked over my piano music because it was recital time. I was a little nervous. I had never played piano in front of many people before. I had been practicing both melodies of Away In A Manger for weeks now and when it was my time to perform, I froze. 

I completely sucked. My fingers were shaking, my eyes blurred over so I couldn't see the music, it was honestly a huge disappointment. I know the pieces so well and I played SO badly. It was a little disheartening when you have worked so hard at something and then fail at the execution.

But I headed home to a quiet house as Sam was napping. I rested, made supper and did more knitting. I was glad to have the 30 minutes of rest time! 

I was able to get out of my glum mood as soon as Sam woke up! It was going to be a fun evening! We ate a homemade pizza for supper, played before bundling up to head out to the Santa Claus parade in our home town! We were going to mess with Sam's schedule because it was going to be his first time meeting the Jolly Ol' fellow! 

The parade was beautiful! And Sam LOVED all the lights! He got a little stuffed giraffe from one of the parade floats and clung to it! We got to the hall and were one of the first people in line to see Santa. I was pretty sure Sam was going to cry his head off when we placed him on Santa's lap. He had been a teething grump all weekend. Well he shocked us and never even shed a year! Even had a couple grins. He was big on showing Santa his phone! 

The next morning we all got ready for church had a great service and then Ryan went home to give Sam lunch while I enjoyed a Wine and Cheese gathering next door at Jills! It was a relaxing visit with lots of congregation members. 

Oh and the boys made breakfast! 

When I got home, Sam and Ryan both went down to sleep and I got sewing! I wanted to finish my nieces Christmas present. Last year we got her a 18 inch doll and this year we made her a little clothing storage unit and lots of new items! Toque, hat, tutu, shirt, skirt, 3 pairs of pants, shoes, backpack, 2 dresses, skirt, new coat and a pair of glasses! I hope she loves it! 

We had a quiet evening at home for the rest of the evening and just as I was heading to bed, Ryan headed to work! 

How was your weekend? 

xo 

FriYAY!

Happy Friday everyone! Sorry for the bit of random postings. Company year end has kicked my butt this year. So many numbers and balance sheets. My head is swirling. 

So we beat a record here in the Ottawa area yesterday. The hottest December 10th since 1946!! Wow! The latest we have ever cut sod on the farm is December 8th. We have officially broke that record and are greatly exceeding it!We are still shipping sod and in the near future, we don't see that stopping! 

It's been a kind of crazy end of season that way. While the order book is much quieter, there are some days we are sanding icy roads and shipping sod on the same day, weird. As a farmer you kind of live for the weather and roll with the punches. I don't necessarily believe in the "global warming" excuse for our warm winter. Historically, it was almost this warm in 1946. As a farmer, you just take the weather for what it is and do your best to continue to work with what Mother Nature gives you. 

In our home, we are still gearing up for a great Christmas together. I am never going to complain about a green Christmas! I know a lot of people disagree, but it still feels like Christmas despite the lack of snow! 

I brought out a bunch of Christmas books that I thought we could start reading to Sam during December. Actually, Ryan and I were hoping these new books would allow us to stop reading the SAME BOOK HE MAKES US READ EVERY NIGHT FOR THE LAST 3 MONTHS! 

Literally, every night Sam whines and asks for the "truck" book. If he try to read him something else he has a complete meltdown. What is this book that he loves so much and that Ryan and I know now off by heart? 

"Everything's Better With A Beard" by the Duck Dynasty guys! 

He is obsessed with this book!! It's been a solid 3 months of reading ONLY this book at bed time! Ugh! 

I MAY have spoken too soon about being SO ready for Christmas. Yes, all the shopping and baking is done. But starting this weekend there are so many Christmas activities that I have zero time to do the final Christmas prep and wrap! Literally, no free weekend time! It will get done and I am going to enlist force Ryan to help! Time for elf duties to be split in this household! 

 How are the Christmas duties split in your home? 

Have a great weekend! 

xo 

Busy Weekend Before Weekends Get Even Busier!

Happy Monday everyone! I hope that you all had an amazing weekend! Ours was kind of relaxing with a little bit of busy thrown in there. It was a good balance. Which is a good thing because the next two weekends, the last two before Christmas are going to be NUTS! They are jammed packed with so many things happening! 

Friday night we had a quiet night at home! Sam was in his usual before bed crazy mood! I seriously think it is getting harder and harder to get a picture of him! 

But after he went down to bed Ryan and I had a "Netflix and Chill" night! One of my most favorite things to do now! 

Saturday morning I was up early because I had a to-do list of things I wanted to get done! Ryan always says he doesn't understand why I get up so early but I really do accomplish SO much during that 1.5 hours of alone time! 

That morning we had breakfast at home and then packed up for a quick grocery run and lunch at Subway. Sam LOVED Subway and we will be going more often as a quick meal option now that we know he loves it. 

When we got home we all unpacked the groceries and then I got started on a batch of cookies. It was still about an hour before Sam's afternoon nap so he helped me! I was surprised how into helping me he is! He is very good about waiting for me to hand him the measuring cup to dump in. He was loving watching the mixer go around and around. 

It was just one of those moments that was etched into my memory. I always dreamed of baking Christmas cookies with my child/children and this was the very first time that happened. 

That afternoon Sam went down to sleep I got his Shepherd's costume for the pageant ready! A 0.99$ pillow case cut right down the middle, cup a spot for arms and shortened. A tie for around the head and a dishcloth for his head. Easy! 

We had a visit with the little cousins across the road and finished decorating the house. We had a quick supper and when Sam went down to bed we had a little date! Our November date actually! Pizza and Mario Cart Tournament! We also threw in decorating the our Christmas tree with all of our special ornaments. 

Sam reading his own bedtime story! ha ha! 

The best thing I got this year is this "treemote"! Who ever invented this thing is a GENIUS! You plug it in and plug your tree to it. Instead of trying to reach around and plug it in every night, without knocking any ornaments off, you just click the "on" button! It is awesome! 

Sunday morning we got ready for church and headed there early to get Sam dressed. The pageant went off perfectly! Sam walked down the aisle as planned but he had NO interest in the rest of the service. He wanted to help Grandpa play piano, play with the candles, stand on pews. I was sweating after the service with my toddler! Ha ha! 

After church we had a great brunch at my parents house and then settled Sam down for a nap at home. While he slept, I got supper ready as we were having special guests over that night! 

Sam's daycare provider (and family) all joined us for supper! I think Sam was a little confused when he woke up from his nap and saw them there! But very excited to play with his friends! We had such a fun visit and the house felt kind of lonely after they left! Looking forward to the next visit. 

How was your weekend? 

xo 

My Family Christmas Traditions

Happy Friday everyone! I hope that your weekend went by smoothly! 

Listen, there is a lot out there about Christmas! And guess what? I am totally into as well right now! I am happy to report that I am DONE CHRISTMAS SHOPPING! Everything from stocking stuffers, bows and paper and Christmas baking supplies. 

This is kind of exciting for me! I feel like I am able to sit back for the rest of December and slowly prepare for the exciting day. Wrapping at a leisurely pace and just enjoy all the holiday time with my family and friends. 

I think one of the reasons that I get a little stressed during the holiday season is because I want to fulfill all of my normal Christmas traditions. It's a short time frame but I really want to fit all of those special traditions into this time. Without them, it just doesn't feel like Christmas! 

1. Decorating for Christmas just isn't the same without Wayne Rostad's, Christmas In The Valley. There is something about those songs that makes me feel so cozy and warm. I have been listening to those songs since I was a kid and we would listen to it as we decorated our tree. When I was younger I would roll my eyes at the old fashioned songs but now they mean a lot more to me. 

2. We were pretty slow at unwrapping gifts. It would start with my parents torturing my brother and I as we waited to open stockings while they made coffee. Finally, the would settle in their room and begin opening stockings. Youngest (aka: me!) always went first! Stocking gifts were always wrapped. One by one we would open  gifts and then when stockings were done we would head down to the basement to see what Santa had brought. But not before Dad would torture us at the top of the stairs saying that Santa had been there. We were SLOW opening gifts. One person at a time. The big thing was that we would have name tags, sometimes silly ones. Sure some said "Love, Santa" but a lot would say something different. Love, Mrs. Claus, The Elves, Frosty, or even Tim the Tool Man (a little hint there). 

3. Around the Christmas season, Mom would make short bread cookies to enjoy. Once Jared and I got older we would begin wanting to help her with this task. One of our "jobs" was to roll the shortbread cookies. One year we were being silly and as we were "rolling" the cookies we thought we'd be funny and instead make them into the shape of worms. Mom would act all mad but would proceed to bake our worms anyways. From there on our we always had special Christmas shortbread worms! And the tradition continues in my own home. 

4. Every year it was my Dad's job to put up the Christmas lights. He is KIND OF meticulous about the task and it would take him all day to do it. One the first Sunday of Advent we would all head outside and the "lighting ceremony". We would walk a piece down the road as someone plugged the lights in. We would all "ohhh and ahhh" at the pretty lights! Another tradition that I drag Ryan into! ha ha! 

5. Christmas eve is just as important to me as Christmas day! There are some things that HAVE to happen! For one, Christmas Eve church service. I think it is so important to take that time as a family and reflect what the true meaning as to what the season is all about, the birth of the Son of God. It is such a joyous service and a great time to reflect. At the end of service we all sing "Silent Night" which is lead by acoustic guitar while the whole church is light by candle light. It really is one of the most beautiful moments of the year. 

After church, we head home where we have some special treats, set out cookies/milk for Santa,  carrots for the reindeer and read "T'was The Night Before Christmas". Christmas Eve is just a really special time and the beginning of the celebration of Christmas as a family! 

What are some of your Christmas traditions? 

xo 

What Happened To Our Dates

Happy Wednesday everyone! I hope that your week is going by so well. I am still filling my days with Christmas cheer! Just yesterday we decked the office out in evergreen and lights! All around me it is looking very festive. 

Yesterday was also the 1st of December! If you have been reading this blog for any time you would know that the 1st of any month means that Ryan or I open our date for that month! You have have noticed that as far as dates go, I have not been very good at updating you on what our date activity has been. And there is a very good reason for that...

We haven't done a monthly date since August. Ouch. 

Our intentions were there. We would still open the date envelope to see what the other person had planned. But a month would come and go and the date would not be completed. 

Did we still have dates at home? OH yes! LOTS! And I think that is one of the reason that these dates stopped working halfway through the year. 

We are home bodies and we have had a change in our life when we become parents. We decided when we were pregnant what being parents meant to us. To us, being parents meant spending as much time with Sam as possible. For the most part, if one of us has something going on, the other person stays home with Sam. We got REALLY good this year at taking the time after he goes to bed to be together. Have dinners together, watch movie and etc. 

Some of these dates that we planned for the remainder of the year involved outings with Sam. As much as I love to do activities as a family, the dates started to feel less like a special time as husband and wife and more like special time as Mom and Dad. I started to resent the dates a little bit because they never allowed for alone time for Ryan and I. We were constantly trying to fit the dates in between Sams schedule. 

To say I was bummed would be an understatement. It means a lot to me to spend a little time every month to focus on our marriage. Ryan and I were discussing this over supper one night. We were both not happy with the way the dates had gone. But we made a game plan that would hopefully work for next year! 

Our new plan for dates of 2016 is all dates to be at-home dates! The idea is to get creative! To come up with fun themes and activities to do together during nap time or after Sam is in bed for the night. 

Being that Ryan doesn't read my blog at all, I'll give you an example of one of the dates that I have planned! 

"Nín hǎo! For one evening, after Sam goes to bed we will enjoy a night in with a treat we never enjoy, Chinese take-out! We will see what our fortunes hold and then watch Karate Kid. Old version and new version!" 

So I hate to say it but dates 2015 were kind of a bust. We were good at spending time together but not good at following the planned dates. I think we have set up much more realistic dates for 2016 that we should have no problem completing! 

xo 

Feeling Like Christmas

Happy Monday! I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend! We sure did! The weekend was FULL of Christmas activities! I am REALLY in the holiday spirit now! 

The weekend started with our company Christmas party! We recently moved it to the shop as it feels a lot more casual and relaxed. We still get a delicious meal catered and the guys supply the music since we have so much talent here. 

It was a great way to wrap up a successful and busy season! This year we gave all the guys (and their families) their own Christmas turkey's. It was fun to pass them all out. 

I headed home with Sam around bed time and enjoyed the rest of my evening doing Christmas crafts in front of the TV. 

Saturday morning I was up early and made a quick batch of Maple fudge. Sam, Ryan and I headed to the city for groceries and to pick up some special treats to Grey Cup on Sunday! 

When we got home and Sam went down to nap, I made my Christmas short bread cookies and got to decorating some of the house. 

Saturday evening I was off for a Christmas dinner out with the girls! It was a good meal at Boston Pizza and then back to Jill's for a "Christmas Favorite Things" gift exchange! 

Sunday morning I was up early and while I sipped my coffee I did a little bit of decorating! I am not putting out all my usual decorations as I am worried about Sam and some breakable ones! But this one is right on the ground for him to play with! 

Sam and I headed to church for pageant practice and then back home for lunch where we had a nice visit with Shannon, Casey and Rylie. 

When Sam napped, Ryan put up the Christmas lights and I decorated the porch! I have been wanting to do more decorations on our porch and have had this plan in my mind for a while! 

It was a bit of extra work but I think it looks super cozy! I'm just missing a couple of blankets for the chairs! 

Every year I always empty out my flower pots and pick some evergreen from the bush behind our house and re-fill the pots. I love this little project every winter! I cannot believe the price people pay for these pots at stores this time of year! To make your own is SO easy! 

 We had a quiet afternoon and when it got dark we all bundled up for our little tradition of "Christmas Lighting". Sam is LOVING the Christmas lights this year and kept saying "wow"! 

I hope you had a great weekend! 

xo