Enjoying the View

Aja and her friend Griffin were just chillin' and enjoying the view while eating their snack.

Oh Dear....

I caught a glimpse of teenage life today!

Cool link to Top fiction books of 2011 video

Enjoy c

Watch Book Critic Ron Charles Discusses Year's Best Works of Fiction on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

Aja's Favorite Hat!

My friend Christina is very creative. This hat is one of her creations. Check out her website at mairsydoats.blogspot.com

Evva had asked the girls for one more idea each for Christmas gifts and Aja specifically wanted one of Christina's owl hats. She puts it on every time we head anywhere now.

More Dakota Ridge

Sledding

We went up to Dakota Ridge today with Ann, Andrew and the boys. It was fabulous! We had the mountain to oursleves for about an hour and a half before the carloads started arriving. The kids had a great time sledding!

Learning to Knit

Sedona got a little sewing kit frim Nana that she wanted. Luckily after dinner, Auntie Ann was on hand to get her started because I don't knit! I have a feeling we'll be making many visits to Auntie Ann's for some help!!!

Christmas Dinner

We had a lovely afternoon/dinner with Chris' family last night at our house. Everyone chips in to cook the meal which is so nice. There were 11 of us in total. The kids were all in good spirits and it was a really nice evening!

Santa Came!!

Santa found our house yesterday and I have to say it was the most remaxing Christmas! Sedona woke up a whole hour earlier than Aja so she had to wait, but it was a nice wait!

When I asked Aja a few weeks ago what she wanted, she said "a bell for my bike." Little did she know she was getting a nw bike and helmet to go with it! Even though we only bought her bike in April, she's already outgrown it. You can see we took it for an inaugral spin in the pouring rain. She looks so grown up now with a bigger bike and a skater helmet!

Sedona has wanted an ipod touch since last Christmas because her friend got one. We had told her if she saved up for half, we'd pay the other half. Well, she more than did that. I think I'll let her keep the money, but am glad she learned the value of saving. She is already more adept with this device than her poor old mom who doesn't have one! We'll have to keep a close eye on her.

I haven't gotten a picture yet, but Grandma Lou gave them new babies (that cry real tears, talk, laugh etc.) and a double stroller and highchair for them. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but the girls' favorite pasttime together is playing babies. So yesterday, they played babies in their jammies until we made the decision at about 1:00 to go for a ride. Pictures to come!!!

Concentration!

I can't lie: I let the girls open Christmas presents when they arrive in the mail. I figure they will get enough on Christmas day, that it is actually more meaningful to them if they open them before the big day. This is one of the gifts from Nan and P.K.- a mosaic jewelry box to decorate (for Aja) and she let Sedona help her decorate it. They had a good long period of concentrating this morning!

Skating with Santa

We went to skate with Santa today. The girls declared right away though that it wasn't the real Santa as he was way too skinny and not nearly jolly enough! However, the Santa whose knee we sat on at the mall this morning (who was the same one as the other night at the family dance) is the real guy we figure. He's really jolly and has a real beard. And today when he asked Aja what she wanted for Christmas and she said "I don't know," he looked into her eyes really intensely and said "Hmm. How old are you? 4 1/2? I know exactly what I'm going to get you." He also knew the little boys' name in front of us without him saying anything, so we're convinced! Anyway, skating is way more enjoyable these days as Aja can skate by herself now so I don't have to bend down and help her!!!

Early Christmas

Robert and Karen are away for Christmas this year, so we celebrated a bit early with them last night. The girls had to show off their new outfits and shoes, along with their haircuts. You can see our tree in the background. It looked so grand and glorious when we cut it down, but when we got it up in the house, Chris and I both kind of looked at each other and said "oh. I thought it was bigger." It makes all the decorations really stand out though!!! Right?!

Family Dance

Last night there was a family dance and potluck at Sedona's school. Santa came and there was also a photo booth, a dance circle and glow bands that were a big hit! The girls had a ball!

Brunch with Santa

Our local Rotary Club put on a brunch and craft event with Santa. On the menu: pancakes with M&M's! It's amazing what a difference a year can make... if I recall correctly, the girls still wanted Chris and I in the picture last year, whereas this year, they hopped right on up. We don't do a lot of talking about what the girls want Santa to bring, so when Santa asked them what they wanted, they both looked at him and said "I don't know." I'm enjoying that they haven't hit the stage yet where they have a list a mile long. It's events like these that really make me appreciate living in a small town (okay- forget about what I said in the last post about McDonalds)!

Christmas Tree

As usual, we printed off a permit online and headed up to the bush to cut down a tree. I took the first picture, because when Chris and I first met and used to mountain bike up here, we would stop here and have a beautiful viewpoint. The trees are so grown up now that there isn't a view anymore. The girls are eagerly waiting to decorate the tree!

Book Club Christmas Dinner

My book club just had it's second Christmas dinner/book exchange. We went to a restaurant in Gibsons called "Smitty's Oyster House" and had great food. They had a holiday menu that stated "pay what you can" so you get to choose how much to pay???!!! They said it all works out in the end. It's a rather small restaurant, so after 3 hours, we were kicked out of our table because another party had reserved it for an hour earlier. We tried as hard as we could to go somewhere else because we still had to exchange books. However, besides a bar ( we were done with drinks), our only option was McDonalds! That's crazy that the only option at 10:00 on a Friday night is McDonalds- there's a small town for you (not that it's ever bothered me before). I can't say I frequent McDonalds (actually, I feel very good about that decision!), and was a little skeptical. Let's just say the remainder of our night was quite entertaining... I'll leave it at that! We missed our final member Lee. I feel so lucky to have this group in my life because it's way more than books!

Watching Week

This week was "watching week" for the girls in their dance classes. Aja is taking a primary combo class which is a combination of hip hop, modern and tap. Sedona is taking two classes this year: modern and hip hop. They both look forward to dance every week!

Light the Lights

Sunday night marked our 5th annual "Light the Lights Celebration" in downtown Sechelt: Christmas carols and hot chocolate followed by a parade of trucks decorated in lights.

Gingerbread Train

This year we made a gingerbread train instead of a house.