A Christmas To Remember

The idea of going "home for the holidays" is always something I anticipate, however this year we stayed home for the holidays.  We stayed in British Columbia while the rest of our family celebrated Christmas and the new year miles away in Ontario.  

The anticipation of staying home for the holidays was huge for me!  Although I didn't take a lot of time off work, I strategically worked shorter days and at times that lengthened and optimized my time at home with the girls and Kevin.  

I anticipated relaxation and Christmas music.  I anticipated the excitement of my girls as they gazed down at the tree lined with gifts.  I anticipated sipping coffee flavoured with Bailey's.  I anticipated Kevin and I finding out that Santa had really done a great job this year.  I anticipated doing nothing but lounging and taking it all in, because really, we had no where else to be but home.  

Oh and it was just that .... with a layer of snow!  Ah-mazing!  

Christmas Eve was spent together viewing emails from Santa and tracking his progress on Norad. 

It wasn't even 4 pm and Kamille was already begging to go to bed.  She asked a number of times if she was going to be late getting to bed or expressed concern that she was not going to be in bed on time.  I had to remind her that we hadn't even had dinner yet!  Needless to say, it was just after 7pm and the girls were practically racing to get to bed!  

And while the girls slept, Santa and myself got straight to work!  

The girls had gone shopping with Kevin during the day while I was at work.  Their mission was to purchase cookies for Santa.  They did well and left him some bakery delicious chewy chocolate cookies.

i promised them that I would replace my gin and tonic with a glass of milk before i went to bed.  ; ) 

Also while I was at work, Kamille wrote three letters to "Satan."  Yikes.  After all her great spelling of Santa on her own, she missed it this time!  Kinda funny.  

I did some final wrapping of gifts and set out all of the gifts from Santa, as well as those sent from family out east. Once that was done, some final touches of magic....

The girls had left Santa a plastic vile filled with magic"reindeer food."  I sprinkled it outside on the driveway.  Apparently the reindeer were messy eaters.  ; ) Although Kevin loves how much I promote this magical thinking, I think he thought I crossed the line when I asked him to chew half of the carrot and spit it out onto the driveway with the "reindeer food" I had dumped, again, making it look like the reindeer were very messy eaters (just as the note said!).   Ah!  He furrowed his brow at the request, but he did it!  ; )  

And just like that, the scene was set for Magic!  

I was giddy with excitement as I tip toed up the stairs with excitement.

Thankfully, I was exhausted by this point and fell asleep instantly!

It was a restful, and believe it or not, long sleep for Kevin and I.  I couldn't believe it when I rolled over to the sound of Karis crawling into our bed at 7:05am!  Its rare that she sleeps near 7am!  She's usually in our room any time after 6am, but after 7am!?! What a way to start the day!  I listened to hear for Kamille but the rest of the house was dark and quiet!  Wow!

We pulled Karis in close and talked about how exciting it was that Santa had come.  Karis hadn't peeked downstairs but she already had "stories" about what had happened that night!  ; )  In a moments forethought, I had Kevin snuggle with Karis while I ran down stairs and plugged the lights in on the tree!  Magical!

Then the three of us waiting for Kamille to wake up while we snuggled and bounced around in bed.  It was nearly 7:20am by the time we saw Kamille.  With two very excited girls in our bed we took the day in stride and waited for them to insist that we go down.  I'm not sure Karis truly "got it" as she was fine just to lounge in bed, but Kamille was certain that there was more to be excited about.

Karis!  Come see!  

Kevin and I suggested we start with stockings.  It seemed that as much as they were excited, they are still young enough to take a slower, more paced approach to things.  They were content to start with stockings, take a break for coffee making and have a look at all their new loot that far.  I loved it.  Time to take it all in.....

And once it was gift time, Kamille did a great job at handing out the gifts.  She of course opened up hers as she went along.  Santa's great gift of house matching Hatley coats was a hit!  They loved them!

"Blank pieces of paper" and "pencil crayons" just as her letter to Santa stated!

And Santa would have been listening months ago when Kamille was saying that she really really wanted her mommy to buy this for her one day while we were in the local toy shop!  That Santa never forgets a thing!

Deals that Santa had scored in summer!  ; )  Yay Santa!

I am lucky that my girls are big fans of receiving clothing as gifts because I'd say that close to, or maybe just over 50% of what they received was wearable items!  

They are both little fashionistas, Karis is more in training, but opening a new dress, a new hoodie or pair of tights brought smiles to their faces!  

While Santa was doing some pondering of gifts one day at Park Royal he thought that Karis could use something fun and creative under the tree.  This "Tinker Toy" like gift ended up being an instant hit for both my girls.  They immediately loved it and have continued to keep it into their rotation of toys since opening it up.  I was thinking that I might need to initiate the play on this toy, but they have it down!  

Karis also received a couple fun toys from Aunty Jilly, Uncle Jeff, Rachel, Cordelia and Kingsley - a talking My Little Pony Unicorn (the "flying unicorn" from her Christmas list) and a My Little Pony in a remote control car!  Wow!  How fun and such fun to see her open toys with excitement!   

But the morning took a turn when the remaining presents under the tree did not have Kamille's name on them. Again, we weren't going at an extremely fast pace, but apparently, Karis, Kevin and I were not as quick to the gift opening as Kamille was and this upset her.  It upset her so much that she began to sulk and tell us that she "didn't get enough" and say stuff like she "should have more!"  Noooooooo!!!!  Our amazing morning was slowly taking a nose dive as Kevin and I desperately attempted to distract, offer our own gifts for opening, rationalize, ANYHING to not allow her to go to this horrible and selfish sounding place.  Oh the number of times we have spoke about being grateful for what you have and puff!  Just like that it makes no difference.

I could feel my buttons being pressed.  I tagged out.  Eventually Kevin and I just ignored her when none of our efforts were making a difference.  She sulked for a bit, but then eventually she was back with us and assisting in pulling gift wrap from mine and Kevin's gifts.

So once the gifts were opened and my second cup of Baileys and coffee was poured it was now time to sit and let it all soak in.  To look over gifts, check out the scene in the room, watch the girls sort through their candy and chocolate....to really just enjoy the moment of having no place to go or nothing particular to do.

The girls were most excited to try on new clothes and pyjamas and so we had a little impromptu fashion show and right after that they chose the "Tinker Toy"-like toys to play with!  Awesome!

Karis had also got her "mircophone" that she had asked for on her list as well, so she was keen to try it out.  Sadly, the product was damaged so we will have to wait until it is exchanged before we'll get to know the full noise effect of this gift!  No rush on that exchange though, right Kev!  ; )

Vroom vroom!  

Thanks Auntie Jilly!  She loves it!

And puzzle time too!   These girls loooove puzzles and there were couple new ones under the tree for them to tackle!

And what did I get?

A fire/flood safe Safe so I can keep all my valuables like photo discs, drives and videos, etc ( I have asked for one for a while now!) and I got a new pair of long johns, and some other great items, but what I loved the most was a homemade book that Kamille had "privately" worked on in the days before Christmas.  I say "privately" because I was strictly forbidden from the office on many occassions while she was working on it.  On papers put inside a duotang, she drew and labelled many Christmas and Holiday items, "a Santa Claus," "a elf," "a christmas tree," etc.  It was so special to have such a thoughtful gift come from my big girl.  Its in my fire/flood safe Safe, of course.  xo

Second to that, my gift of the day came from Mother Nature.  The gift of a peace and calm in our neighbourhood and the gentle falling of the most gorgeous snow I had ever seen....or at least in a while.  There was something so incredibly amazing about the soft white blanket that came on Christmas day.  It tucked us into our home, cozy and warm just as a soft warm blanket tucks my girls into their beds at night.  Sounds are dulled and everything feels light and fresh.  It was the perfect backdrop to a house that smelled of coffee, was filled with the sound of Christmas music and was flooded with the positive energy of my girls!

The view from my bedroom window as the snow began to fall.  

Truthfully, the most gorgeous snow I had the opportunity to walk through came in the morning after.  I woke up to each and every one of these trees completely blanketed in snow on December 26th.  Now THAT was also a day to remember!  So so so fresh!

Our day progressed with a delicious bacon, eggs and sliced tomato brunch prepared by Kevin.  And then it just somehow passed with lounging and enjoying the company of each other.  There was the temptation to get outside and to enjoy the day in the fresh air, but somehow the lure of our Christmas pyjamas and (Justin Bieber! no joke!) Christmas music held us tight.  Needless to say, I don't think I have ever seen my home look so messy.  It was like a Christmas exlplosion had occurred, but on this day, I was able to set aside the usual anxiety I feel with a highly chaotic looking home!  I was grateful for that sense of calm in the chaos.  After all, this day does have to be different and special.  We had 3 different neighbours drop in to say hello and to borrow this, that and the other thing to make their holiday plans come together.  It was nice to greet them!

By 3pm I figured I should probably start thinking about preparing for our night.  We were invited to our next door neighbours on one side for pre-dinner drinks and for Christmas dinner with our neighbours on the other side.  I was in charge of veggies for that.  As much as I was thrilled about not having to put together my home or a Christmas dinner, I couldn't even bring myself to think about getting up to prepare veggies.  Luckily it all came together deliciously while I ran back and forth from one side of my house for a drink, to my home to throw something in the over, to the other side for pre-dinner cheer and back to my house I went to check on things....In the end, our pre-dinner drinks, and Christmas dinner were fantastic and we were truly grateful for the incredible friends we have at home.

I managed to help spruce up my girls as well!  

Their official Christmas photo in their fancy shmancy dresses!

And look how well my Kevin cleans up.

Thankfully you can't see me because at this point, I was still running around with a towel on my head in my pink fuzzy muumuu.  ; )

Every year on Christmas day I remember to periodically pause and think about how fast this day goes by.  So much hustle, bustle and buzz leading up to this very day and it would be a shame to have the day pass by without creating memorable moments and thoughts of it.  I thought about all the fun we had leading up to Christmas, all the fun I had shopping for my girls and Kevin and the many awesome moments in our Christmas day.......

Double hearts in the snow.  That is my official rating for Christmas of 2012.

A Merry Christmas In The Snow!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

My Christmas wishes came true this year!  I got my wish for a family photo and for white gorgeous snow!  I am such a lucky girl! 

Because I follow many photography blogs I am often inspired by family photos and the use of props in photo shoots.  I think they call them stylized shoots.  This Christmas, I decided that I wanted to do something fun with my family.  I had a vision and I knew thought that it would be simple enough to bring it to life.  

So on a mid-December Sunday morning, Kevin and I agreed to put our plan into action -the plan that we had loosely made together.  By looking outside our windows at home there was a wet slush falling from the sky and barely staying visible on the ground.  The temperature was cool, but it wasn't cold enough to have snow, nor to keep us indoors.  Kevin and I knew that we wanted to do a family photo outside and had discussed going to the grounds where we keep our trailer.  

  

My vision was to bring the holiday comforts of indoors to the outdoors.  

To use the backdrop of our summer "home-away-from-home"to set the scene for this.

To ensure that it was fun enough for the girls to enjoy. 

Kevin had a list of items to collect and things to prepare so he drove out before me and the girls would arrive.  It wasn't long after he left that we received a text message from him with a photo of a snow covered road and trees.  Just 25 minutes away from our wet and slushy outdoor scene, was beautiful falling snow.  

So completely unexpected for our photo shoot, but so welcomed!  

When we met up with Kevin after a slow and snowy drive to our destination, we still had a few tasks to take care of, one being - location, location, location!  

With big gorgeous snow and acres of land to choose from, it seemed like many places would do, but we chose a place closer to our lot where we camp in the summer and voila, we transformed it.....

there usually exists a wood swing to swing from here.  

...into a a scene that looked as comfortable outside as it would be indoors!  

It took some time, but thankfully, the girls were bundled and ready to play.

choosing sticks for arms!  

Ta-da!  

It was so gorgeous out there and the snow just continued to fall.  It made everything out there seem fresh and new.  Even our site, was a much different sight to enjoy.  

Oh, and one really cool thing is that just prior to us girls arriving on this morning, Kevin was collecting a couple items from our site and he looked out onto the island and saw a herd of ELK!  So awesome!  I have only ever come close to about 6 on the road on the way home, but to see a herd of many!  Very awesome!  Kevin snapped a couple shots with his iPhone.  He said it was pretty cool.  

So as the girls played in the gorgeous snow, Kevin and I set the scene by lighting a fire, building a mantle, hanging stockings, decorating a the tree and cutting log chairs.  

All the while we responded to cries of "I have to pee" made by small children in snow suits and we also dealt with our own little frustrations that happen when two creative people haven't fully joined in a complete vision for this project.  Sigh.  

  

But soon enough, (but not soon enough if you know what I mean), we were ready to make a go at it....
Our first ever stylized family photo shoot.

We let the girls call the shots from here on.
"What should we do?" I asked them?  "How should we pose?"

our first shot - and we had it nailed.  this was our holiday greeting!

Look!  Its Santa Claus flying through the sky!

Throwing snowballs at Mama as she runs to press the shutter button (Note to self: Birthday list: camera remote).  

Hey wait a minute!  The plan was for all us girls to gang up on Daddy!

It was only a matter of minutes before we really had done as many poses that the girls had the thought of and patience for.  The fire was dying and the girls were starting to get a bit fidgety.  A few last "warm cuddles" and we called it a wrap!  

this was our secondary christmas greeting photo!

The girls ran free and got silly in the snow.  

 This was just as much fun to capture.

How often do you get to run free outside, in the snow, in your jammies?

For a climate that is usually so damp, on this day the air was cool, but not cold and we were all very lucky not to have a chill as we frolicked in the snow in light layers!   It was so ideal.

A behind the scenes look at our story.  

Just before we bundled up and took down our set, the girls and I got close to the dwindling fire for a couple more shots.  

This snow was such a beautiful and unexpected surprise.
And although the long and drawn-out process of getting set up was not within my expecations, the silence of being alone as a family in the great outdoors, putting fresh tracks in the snow, and catching snowflakes on our tongues and eyelashes seemed to have a calming effect on our day.

A much overdue lunch at one of our favourite restaurant was our treat on our way back home that day.  

Thank you Kevin, Kamille and Karis for being part of this vision of mine and helping it to come to life, and photos.  

( I think next time we'll just hire a professional!)  ; )  

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays! 

*December 2012*

A couple other fun things....