The last of the flashbacks...onwards to 2009

There are so many great things happening around here right now and I have not blogged them because in my mind, I had to complete my December flashback posts before moving on. I really wanted to do a comprehensive review of December...it was fantastic...but I am letting that go. Here is the last 'flashback' post I am going to do - December 21,24-25 and that will be it. After this we are moving forward...to 2009.

Christmas Day
Adrian and I both said that Christmas Day this year was exactly what we wanted it to be. Full of fun for the kids, very low key, minimal time spent cooking the big dinner, more time playing with the kids, time for quiet reflection...really just a perfect day. Here are some of my favourite shots:Owen reading the letter Santa left. I love this shot because he is really reading, I am amazed at how advanced his reading has become over the past few months - he is now reading at a Grade 2 level!
Isabelle eating her Chocolate "B"...Owen figured that Santa couldn't find an "I" for Isabelle, so he got a "B" for Bella. She ate that chocolate B all day on and off...dropping it on the floor when she had enough and picking it up a little later.
These are presents that Owen picked out for me - a purple flashlight because it would match my shirt and a fire starter so I would not burn myself anymore. Side Story: a few weeks prior to this I was lighting a fire and when striking the match, the flame-lit end fell off the match and landed on my pj's burning a hole in them and burning my leg a little. Adrian took Owen shopping and he picked these out himself...my sweet thoughtful boys...thank you!
Adrian and Owen putting a new toy together. We made a point of putting things together right away rather than just moving from one gift to the next. It was nice to take breaks to play.
Isabelle wanted to have a "fleep" in her new doll house.

Santa got tricky with a few gifts, Owen had to follow the arrows to see who this gift was for.
Owen is wearing his Superhero cape from Grandma and holding up a new I SPY book.

This is a new game Owen got for Christmas (wonder pets Trouble) and I do not think a day has gone by where it has not been played at least once. Here he is taking a quick break from the game to wish Nana a Merry Christmas.
Breakfast happened around 10am...chocolate chip pankakes...yummy! (notice the game is being played)

Adrian putting together King Arthur's Castle - this was a tricky one...28 pages of directions...he spent hours and hours putting it together...what a great dad!
Isabelle playing Polly Pockets which she lovingly calls "Lolly Pocklets"
The kids got some new bath stuff from Santa - bath tints and foam soap...so of course we had to have bathtime mid-way through the day.


Mom came over mid-day and was the only one dressed - we all stayed in Jammies all day. Here she is holding up a present from Nora. And helping Isabelle feed her new baby. And opening up a button Christmas Tree that Owen had made for her.



Owen in Isabelle's new fairy wings...I am not sure they are supposed to give the wearer super lightning-fast speed...but that is what they did for this Spider Man.Here is Bella in the same fairy wings...looking like such a little fairy of the forsest flitting around the room in her wings and diaper.
Grandma always gets the coolest books...here are some shots of us reading the new 3D books.
Arian reading Jungle Animals
Grandma reading Dinosaurs
Owen and I reading Ocean Animals

A really great Christmas was had by all!

Christmas Eve

Dec 24
Ever since Owen was a baby, it has been a tradition in our family to open up 1 gift on Christmas Eve, and that gift is always new pajamas. I won't lie - I started it because of the Christmas day photos...I really wanted us all to match and look great. But what started off as a silly little photo 'necessity' has grown. Owen was so excited this year to see his new jammies and even helped me pick out Isabelle's and Daddy's. It is nice to have traditions.


And we also sprinkle reindeer food so that they can find their way to our house.

December 21

December 21
Christmas with Nana, Papa and Auntie KaitlinWhen Owen was a baby, we decided as a family, that we would not travel on Christmas day. We did this for lots of reasons; 1 - he was a terrible traveller as an infant, 2 - we wanted to start our own family traditions, 3 - we really wanted to always be in our home on Christmas and starting that when he was born felt like the right thing to do. That year we started to celebrate Christmas with Dad, Barb and Kaitlin at our place on Christmas Eve. This tradition as evolved over the years, they have moved up north and now we celebrate it on the Sunday before Christmas. Both Dad and Barb's families have big family parties on the Saturday, the 3 of them sleep at our house on the Saturday night and we celebrate on the Sunday...it really works well.

Auntie K got the kids some wonderful gifts:
Isabelle and her Little Pet Shop treehouse
Owen a Light Bright & a Yellow Speed Racer car

Owen made a button tree for Nana
Owen also made some pom-pom decorations for their tree
Papa and Bella looking at pictures - "this one is Owie, this one is Mama, this one is Bella, this one is Daddy"...she could go on all day...
Isabelle playing with her new necklace - not really sure what is going on in this picture?? After breakfast and opening all the gifs, Auntie K and the kids made a gingerbread train. Nana and Isabelle had a peanut butter and apple snackIt was a really wonderful family day!

Dec 26, 27, 28

Friday, December 26, 2008
Snow Day - Boxing Day - Christmas with the Gills Day - Perfect Day

Here are some of my favourite shots of this busy, wonderful day

Building Igloo


Playing countless games of Trouble with Nana and Daddy


The Kids

Where are the presents?


Reading books
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Adrian and I strive to teach Owen about the world, to care about others less fortunate, to understand why we recycle and compost, to value nature and love animals and to protect and nurture this wonderful world we live in. I was so thrilled to see this amazing globe while shopping in Toys R Us, it is hollow plastic with sponge continents. Owen and I spread on chia seeds and then fill the world with water and watch it grow. We rotate the globe so it gets even sunlight, mist it to keep it moist and delight when the first seeds start to sprout. So very glad to see these kind of meaningful toys alongside the trains and dolls and commercialism.

Sunday, December 28, 2008
It has been a long tradition in the Gill Family to see a pantomime at Christmastime. Last year, the boys Owen and Logan were old enough to attend and had such fun...a new phase of the tradition was started. This year was Cinderella and Ross Petty did not disappoint. Lots of laughs, lots of sillyness, lots of audience interaction, perfect pantomime. My favourite parts of the day though, was seeing the boys delight in the excitement of new and different experiences. Walking along a high wall, riding the escalator, having fun with a light up wand and looking in the Christmas windows of the Bay. It was a truly perfect day.




The photos you get when you ask 2 five year olds to pose nicely in front of a Christmas tree:

Dec 30 - Visit with Auntie Kaitlin

December 30: I have a confession to make: I have a wonderful sister and I got to spend a whole afternoon, evening and morning with her. She is extremely busy and when she is home from university there are so many among her family and friends vying for her time and I got a huge chunk...lucky me! She came over to play with the kids, help me bathe them and put them to bed, and then we went out for dinner - just the two of us. It was wonderful. We watched a video at home and spent the morning with the kids. Magical Auntie K. The kids love her, Adrian loves her, I love her and I think she loves us too.

A New Year

I love the reflection that a New Year brings. 2008 was a year of many things for us - lots of fun, lots of surprises, lots of change.

I finished my Montessori teacher's course and started back to work after being off for 16 months with Isabelle. Adrian found out that his job will be ending at some point in 2009. Owen started reading, really reading. Isabelle started talking and has not stopped. We made a huge life change - pulled the kids out of the Montessori school and hired Nora. Owen started Sr. Kindergarten at the school across the road. Owen stopped wearing pullups at night and Isabelle started potty training. Lots of work travel for both Adrian and myself.

That is just the big stuff though, there were lots of little wonderful moments...the moments that really define us and how we live our lives. Trips to the zoo, play dates with best friends, 2 visits to Great Wolf Lodge, bike rides, soccer games, strawberry picking, concerts and theatre trips, swimming, trampolining, crayoning on walls, birthdays and holidays and so very much more.

I am not a New Year's Resolution maker, I used to be...but when I fell off the wagon in mid-February I would be very hard on myself...not very nice really. So this year, I am setting some goals - for myself, for our family. As most of you know, I am a list lover, and I have been writing my fair share of lists the past few days, I'll save teh personal and boring ones for myself, but I thought I would share the family-centric ones here.

• Take better photographs. Adrian got me a new lens for my camera for Christmas and with some courage and time spent learning, I think I can do this.


• Play more. I am striving to be the mom I want to be, and to be that mom, I need to play more. Less structure (which will be tough) and more just free on the floor, use your imagination, play time.


• Commit & Complete. I am the Queen of Unfinished projects. Craft projects, household projects, personal projects. This year, I want to commit to less and complete more.
  

Happy 2009 Everyone!
~jen~

ps. I will be posting some holiday pics over the next few days - just found the cord for the camera thanks honey and will get caught up soon.