It's been busy here lately, hence the pathetic lack of posts. Christmas preparations were frantic, but Christmas Day - and the days since - have been calm and lovely and filled with fun and visits.
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| Dinos from Santa |
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| Happy with her stocking contents |
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| Celebratory breakfast - coconut flour waffles and bacon |
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| Three happy kids in their Christmas Eve jammies |
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| Three less-than-happy kids, way past bedtime on Christmas Day! |
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| Princess Light for Baby Belle |
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| A brave knight for Music Man |
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| A fierce, fire-breathing dragon for the whole gang |
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| Mermaid Princess Honour for Princess |
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| The whole home-made gang that kept me VERY busy recently! |
The little quiet toys I gave the kids are made of acrylic felt. I'd love to be able to make another set down the road out of wool felt - once I can afford it! Also, I didn't include it in the photo, but the mermaid princess transforms into a girl - her tail comes off, and she has a little pink skirt. My Princess loves her princess!
(You might also notice that Music Man's knight is of a much fairer complexion than his sister princesses. My middle child has inherited my complexion, while my daughters bear much more resemblance to their father.)
Our Christmas Day was simple, and
just right. The kids opened their stockings from Santa, then we had our big waffle breakfast, then the kids opened their gifts from us. They each got one "big" gift from us, their little felt friend, and a big pile of art and craft supplies to share. We really try to down-play the gift part of Christmas, and so far it's working. We realize this will get harder as the kids get older and compare gift lists in January with their classmates. Until then, I'll enjoy how excited Princess gets over a brand new pair of child-safe scissors.
Tonight my parents arrive, and Christmas will happen all over again tomorrow. They're bringing some gifts for the kids, and I'll cook a turkey dinner which my in-laws will join us for. Then two days later I'm throwing a (large-ish) birthday party for my sweet, loving, hard-working husband. I tell you all this to explain in advance why you're not likely to see many posts in the next week, but I assure you that "More blogging!!" is on my list of New Year's resolutions.
From our home to yours, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I know what you mean about the days before Christmas. As Dave reminded me, "Elena, you need to remember that Dec. 21st-Dec.25th are the worst days of your entire year and you just need to get through them." How unfortunate but true: lots of tears and frustration and missing family. How I wish that my family were flying in tonight as well. They are in Dallas and fly home tomorrow, home being Hfx. Everyone there looks beautiful and I still think that Elena is a throwback to Carmel - am I right or totally off on this one?
ReplyDeleteYou know it's funny, *I* don't see the resemblance to Nana, but you're not the first person who's mentioned it. The first time my cousin Aaron met Elena, he gasped and took a big step backwards and said, "She really has Nan's eyes! Those are Nan's eyes EXACTLY!" I don't think our inspiration to call her Elena Carmel was coincidental - named for two strong, beautiful women. :)
DeleteDo you really not see the similarity in the eyes? I am glad that your cousin could see it. To me Elena's eyes are absolutely uncannily like your Nan's. I am amazed each time that I see a picture of her. Beautiful 'coincidence'! I didn't see the likeness when she was younger but the most recent pictures are uncanny. The Lord knows just when a resemblance needs to appear. And, I am humbled each time that I see Elena's name. By the way, one of Dave's colleagues just had their fourth baby on Dec 11th. They named her a name meaning light as she was born at a very dark time of the year. This made me realise how significant my name and birth day are (not intentional by my parents). Anyway, guess what they named her? Norah! (Their other names are just as strong and beautiful: Jude, Violet, Margot and Norah.)
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