The Unofficial Christmas Traditions List

With some input from Michelle, we came up with a list of our own family traditions that we enjoy sharing with our kids during this time of year.  It is through our yearly traditions that connects our family, but also differentiates our family from everyone else.  It is all of our little idiosyncrasies and patterns to our life that make us . . . well us.  So now that our Christmas Break is almost over, I thought I would shed some light into our Unofficial Christmas Traditions List that usually only our family is privy to.

1.  Michelle begins her Christmas shopping in January, yes January.  It is great that Michelle does this because she is constantly looking for sales throughout the year and it minimizes our stress come December.  The only problem is that Michelle will often forget where she puts all of the gifts, which creates another stress on the family.  Often, I am looking for gifts that I have no idea what they look like or even an inkling as to where they could be . . . I always get this feeling that perhaps I moved it or threw it out one day during my carelessness.  Michelle can be frequently heard saying, "I hate when I do this".
2.  I must admit that Michelle is the wrapper in the family . . . no she is no Lil' Kim, but she does add a 'sick' bow to each gift.  One thing about wrapping is that I think that I do a pretty good job, yes it is Plain Jane and often times there is no name tag attached, but it is quite easy to tell the difference between the gifts I wrap and the Martha Stewart Wannabe gifts that Michelle wraps.  I know that wrapping gifts is a time consuming task, however in my defense, I do offer my services . . . but it is quickly declined.  I don't blame her, besides I know Michelle loves giving me a hard time about it every year.
3. Our kids always love driving around and looking at all of the colourful lights and festive decorations that can be found around our neighbourhood.  The only problem is that Michelle loves the look of her white lights . . . white lights on the banister, on the mantle, on the tree, and on the house.  I can remember coming home on many occasions where the kids would see our house with the "classy" white lights on and the boys would "boooooo" them and say, "boring" and give the thumbs down.  It became a bit of a joke every time we came home, so one year the boys and I went on a mission.  We called the mission, Operation White Lights, where we simply got into the truck and headed out to our local hardware store and secretly bought some colourful outdoor lights for our house.  When we got home we quickly strung them up and called Michelle out for the unveiling.  The boys still get a kick out of retelling this story with Michelle every year.
4.  I must admit that I am not a morning person and the kids have figured that out.  The other day, the kids came into our bed in the morning and squeezed onto Michelle's side . . .  I heard Michelle say to the boys, "How come you don't go to daddy's side?"  Jamie's response was, "because he is grumpy".  Personally I think I am just misunderstood because I just need a little time to wake up, clear my head, and orient myself as to where I am . . . this usually takes about 45 minutes or it will occur naturally after 9:00.  I must admit that I do love having the kids crawl into our bed and not be in a rush to be somewhere . . . a slow morning in a crowded bed . . . priceless.
5.  A hot vanilla latte is a must have . . . yes, a vanilla latte.  The most important one of the day is the first one and it needs to be made by the Barista, me, by the latest 9:00.  Michelle is a bit like the Incredible Hulk . . . she maintains her calm and caring demeanor until about 8:30, but then she slowly transforms into the Hulk.  The warning signs are very clear and easy to spot for a trained professional like me.  1) She gives subtle requests such as, "coffee, coffee???".  2)  Her requests become a little more direct, "Okay, lets get those coffees going".  3)  She recruits the kids to 'jokingly' ask daddy for a latte, "Daddy, make mommy a coffee".  4)  Skin begins to turn green . . . look out!  :)  One thing that I have learned is that once the first sip has been taken all of the symptoms will subside quickly and all will be forgotten.  We generally have a few lattes everyday during the break, but the key one is the morning one.  I have learned that this is non-negotiable and one that only the Barista can fulfill . . . sorry Starbucks, but you are not good enough for my Princess.

What can I say?  Another amazing Christmas holiday with friends and family with our Super Mom at the center of it all!!! 

Christmas Day

 We are all set . . . letters for Santa, cookies, milk and of course some carrots for the reindeers.

An exciting day that was spent with family opening gifts, eating food, sharing stories and most importantly reconnecting.

Thanks Santa for the goalie gear.

Another great day full of excitement, surprises and laughter.

I love this picture of Emma, Michelle, Grandma, and Great Grandma.

 

American Girl meets Dora the Explorer

The elusive Ba-Chan makes the blog.

Christmas Traditions

Since we have been growing together as a family, we have started to create some Christmas traditions.
1) Every year we have been going out with my brother in-laws family to purchase our tree.  This year we thought that it would be fun for the kids to go and cut the tree themselves at the U-Cut lot.  Emma started the event off by falling asleep in the truck, so we let her sleep through most of it.  The boys enjoyed running around looking for that perfect six foot tree.  Lets just say that the tree we found was probably more like seven feet tall, but thanks to uncle Jeremy we kept it in our budget by leaving a two foot stump in the ground.

2) The kids always look forward to opening up their advent calendars in the morning.  This year, the kids were especially excited because they had three calendars to open up.  Grammy and Papa gave them peanut free chocolate ones, I purchased a Lego one during my trip to the Huskies game earlier in the year, and Michelle made a daily activities calendar for the kids.  Michelle and I had to implement some rules to these calendars since the boys would be getting up awfully early to see what they got.  Our new rule was that they could open up their little doors after breakfast.
One of Michelle's activities was to create a snowscape using whip cream, which is always a hit with the kids.

Emma wasn't too sure what to do when I filled her mouth with whip cream.  Lets just say that Michelle was not home to witness this.

3) This year, the kids enjoyed looking for Jingles who would fly back every night and report in with Santa and then would fly back and hide somewhere in our house.  Jingles was found hiding in our tree, stockings, blinds, vases, and cupboards.  The kids are looking forward to his return next year.

See you next year Jingles.

4) Chuck e Cheese, yes Chuck e Cheese is on our list.  No holiday for the kids is complete without a trip to Chuck e Cheese.  This year we tied our trip with a night of looking at the holiday lights in Langley.  Can you believe we made it out of Richmond!  We all enjoyed voting for the best house on the block, which has motivated our kids to want to do more with our house.  Griswolds here we come!!

This was one of our favourites of the night.

5)  A new experience that might make the list was our first trip to Vandusen Gardens which was an adventure in itself.  A couple pieces of advice . . . buy your tickets on line the day before as the line up was anywhere between 45 minutes to 1 hour long, bring some hot chocolate and make sure that you watch the Elf Show.  My favourite part was watching Emma slip under the blocked off areas and Michelle trying to act all calm and natural as she chased the smiling and laughing Emma through the grassy areas.  And of course, I was the supporting husband who heckled Michelle from the right side of the fence.  Shouts of "Hey control your daughter" could be heard from the onlookers!!  HE HE

One of the high"lights" of the night!!

6)  Santa here we come!  We headed off to go and get our pictures with Santa with our new Christmas outfits and neatly combed hair.  The kids had a fun time interacting with the elves and collecting all of the Elf Cards that they could get their hands on.  The picture this year turned out really well . . . my criteria for a good picture with Santa include: no parents in the picture, no screaming kids, and two out of the three kids smiling.  Lets just say that all of the kids are smiling and looking at the camera, who could ask for anything more . . . priceless. 

7)  On Christmas Eve, we have been taking the kids to the Winter Wonderland that is set up at the skating rink.  Yes, we were at the rink again.  We meet up with our cousins and skate around for a couple of hours.  This year, Emma was up on her clompers for about 15 minutes, but she did not last long as Grammy's arms were too tempting.  After our skate we usually go back to Grammy's house for dinner, some hot drinks, and making gingerbread houses, but this year everyone came back to our house.

Future Giants

 

Vancouver Giants - Seafair Night

On the evening of November 12, the Vancouver Giants  played against the Kelowna Rockets, but for many of the fans sitting in the stands they could not wait for the first period to end.  The anticipation and the excitement continued to build as the H1+ were getting ready to take the ice at the Pacific Coliseum.  The magic of Hastings was once again live and well as the future Giants got their game faces on and attempted to down the last of their French fries and popcorn before having to head down to the dressing room. It was as if the paparazzi was there to capture the latest Hollywood scoop as cameras flashed and video tapes rolled to capture every moment of this special night. With parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends all sitting proudly as our Seafair H1+ players took the ice and gave it their all.  It was as if you could hear, Jim Robson doing the play by play on Hockey Night In Canada, "Jamie streaks down the ice on a break away, he shoots . . . Oh great save by Nathan!"  Okay, maybe I am exaggerating a little, okay maybe a lot, but it was a great night as our kids got a chance to be in the spotlight and feel like Sidney Crosby for their "Five Minutes of Fame" on Heroes night at the Coliseum.  You could see the kids holding their heads high as they returned to the throngs of their endearing fans with lots of words of encouragement, high fives, and hugs.  A very successful night that everyone involved will remember and reminisce about for years to come.

Get your game faces on!

On our way to the dressing room.

It is always so nice to be able to share the experience with our cousins.

 I figured that we should hit the gym after the big game since Jamie is about 40 lbs soaking wet!!!  My big little guy makes me so proud.

I'm Baaaaaaaack!!!

Okay, okay . . . yes, my ears have been burning as many of you have been wondering when I was going to update our blog.  Lets just say that "life" has taken over and I am finally making time to sit down and do some blogging.  Lets just say that I have a bit to catch up on!

Dance Party

One of the things that Emma loves doing is dancing to Cody Simpson. Gee, I wonder where she gets the Star Performer attitude from?

Trick or Treating

The night started of with a Halloween Dinner of spider pasta and festive plates. 

Booooo!!!

Michelle has to hide this from me on the weeks leading up to Halloween.

Although it was a bit windy tonight as the kids trick or treated with their cousins, it was a great time had by all. Emma did a great job walking for most of the night carrying her bucket full of candy. You know those times when as a parent all you are trying to do is help your children out because you think you know best, when clearly they don't want your help, but you persist anyways . . . well, let's just say that I had one of those moments. Emma's bucket was clearly getting too heavy for her as she was straining to carry her bucket full of treats. You know the signs, body leaning to one side to counter balance the weight, the constant need to put the bucket down to rest her arms, and the gradual slowing down of our five houses every twenty seconds pace. So what did I do you ask . . . well, I simply tried to empty her bucket to make it lighter. Common sense right? No, not even close. Not in the eyes of a two year old, as Emma thought that I was taking her candy away for good, therefore leading to water works, hysterical crying, and the classic sit-in protest on the side of the road. What did I do you ask? Well, I tried to reason with her first, which was as useless as trying to reason with Michelle when she doesn't get her morning latte. So, I did what any normal parent would do . . . panic and throw even more candy into her bucket to simply appease her and stop the crying. So, I can honestly say that I filled her bucket in more ways than one.

"I am ready to go!"

"My boys"

Constable Josh, reporting for duty.

Three Police Officers, a Bat Girl and a Cat Burglar?

Yes, we still believe in the honour system.

On the other hand the boys, ran around from door to door with their cousins taking turns ringing the doorbells. There were three police officers, a Bat Girl, and a cat burglar? It is amazing how they can't walk around the mall for twenty minutes without being grumpy and whiny, yet they can run from house to house collecting candy for two hours (stores could make my life so much easier if they had incentives for children to come to their stores - happy children = happy parents = more spending, sounds logical enough). Anyways, it was fun to watch the boys as Josh would get them to crouch down and pretend that they were a swat team ready to pounce on the unsuspecting owner as they opened their door. I think Jamie said it best as one home owner opened the door.
Jamie "You are under arrest!"
Owner "Uh oh"
Jamie "You need to come with us"
Owner "But then I won't be able to hand out the candy"
Jamie "Then bring the bowl!"
Let's just say that the man was left laughing hysterically as he watched this five year old walk away with his candy.
As we have been doing for the last few years, we went and met some other friends at the park for some Halloween fireworks. The kids are always very entertained by the colorful lights and the noise that they make. Sometimes, Jamie surprises me as he can be so confident in so many situations, but at the fireworks, he really did not like the "loud ones". For the first few minutes he was attached to my leg and finding comfort behind me. As the show went on, he became more confident about the loud ones and would venture out from behind my leg . . . not going to far. Sometimes I forget that he is only five. When we got home the kids spread their candy out onto the floor checking their loot and sifting out the bad ones. I can still remember doing this as a kid sorting it into different piles and counting up how many treats we got. I think the next few days are going to be candy filled as they look for any chance they can get to have a treat.

So, what does a successful night of trick or treating look like you ask . . . well?

Pumpkin Carving

In preparation of our pumpkin carving party, we take the time to take the "guts" out of the pumpkins before heading over to our friend's house.  It is a good chance for the kids to get their hands dirty and to squish the guts all over the place. 

For the past few years, we have been getting together with some friends to carve our pumpkins. Generally, the night consists of kids playing together, carving the pumpkins (well, usually it end up being me taking over and finishing the pumpkins for them),dinner, and then me rushing off to soccer. This year it was slightly different as the boys did a great job carving their pumpkins by themselves. Josh was very determined to finish his pumpkin by himself and I must say that he did a great job. I was pleasantly surprised by Jamie's determination as he carved everything except for the mouth of his skull. Usually Jamie will start something and quickly get distracted by something else . . . I wonder where he gets that from? Michelle stayed clear of the pumpkin carving, but probably had a harder job of helping Emma decorate her pumpkin.

"Use the Force Rick"

Josh did a great job from start to finish on this one.

Jamie's is the one on the left.  I am pretty amazed by his carving this year.

Pumpkin Patch

Garbage bags, gum boots, and excitement were all packed up as we headed out on our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. This year we met up with Michelle's cousin and her two kids at Westham Farm in Ladner. We always enjoy this trip because it is a relaxing time where the kids explore the farm and have the freedom to run around searching for that perfect pumpkin. The kids loved seeing the chickens, baby goats, donkeys and a thing that looked like an ox . . . sorry animal lovers out there, but it was big, brown and hairy . . . it could of been a Sasquatch for all I know. (I know what some of you are thinking, poor city boy needs to get out more or at least leave Richmond more than twice a year). The part that I always love is the constant questions and curious looks at the different vegetables and pumpkins that they have. This year we picked up some orange pumpkins, white pumpkins, mini pumpkins, purple carrots, and some yummy corn. I had to draw the line with Michelle on the full stalks of corn, yes, you read that correctly, FULL stalks of corn!!! Usually I give into her asinine, I don't know where she comes up with these things, ideas, but I could not give in even if I wanted to. Our truck was packed with two shooter tutors, goalie gear, Josh and Jamie's hockey gear, pucks, cones, and my coaches bag which left enough room for one pumpkin. Lets just say that the 11 pumpkins and vegetables were already pushing the storage capacity of our truck. I tried to ignore the "are you kidding me" stares of passer bys and trying to pretend that this is a normal truck load of stuff . . so, Michelle's corn stalks lost out . . . this year!!

Three kids, three smiles in the same picture . . . priceless!

Emma was a little unsure about sitting on the pumpkins, "no waaaayyyy".

Josh was fun to watch as he simply went off into the patch going further and further away looking for his pumpkins.

Jamie enjoyed looking for the big one and poking his finger into the rotten ones on the ground.

I found one and it was this big!

The kids always enjoy spending time together.

Another great family day at the patch.  These are the times that I love when we can slow down and simply enjoy each other doing the simple things in life.

"Too heavy"

Purple carrots?

Designer gum boots???  Who knew?  Another great day spent together.