We're still alive. I promise. Although we've all been enjoying some much deserved time off...academics and blogging included.  

The holidays have officially come to a close around here. The Christmas decorations have been taken down and are neatly packed in boxes that are now in the storage closet. Toys have been placed on a newly purchased shelf in the kid's room and I can again walk through the living room without fear of impaling my foot on a Lego. Although from the looks of it, I still have to worry about taking a Beyblade in the rump if I'm not careful where I sit.

We had a wonderful Christmas.  Especially, skyping with our family who live far away, as well as enjoying a whole week of Grandma and Grandpa visiting.  

Thankfully we have a few more days of recovery. The kids don't go back to school until Monday, so we'll be enjoying a few more days of no alarms. Hooray!

Isabel received some money from GG this Christmas and decided this giant penguin was what she really wanted. It's practically as big as she is.

Cole on the other hand decided to be different and buy a Lego set....because the copious amount of Legos he received for Christmas and his birthday somehow just wasn't enough.

Santa visited our house Christmas Eve and left many surprises for kids and parents alike.

Isabel got an Easy Bake Oven.

And immediately made pizza for lunch.

Cole got several Lego sets (to no one's surprise...not even his...he's gotten Legos several Christmases in a row now) and spent the afternoon putting them together.

As for the adults, Santa brought Clay a new green tea pot and strainer, and he brought me an Adele CD.  Both very merry indeed.

I hope that Santa stopped at your house this year.  Happy Holidays, everyone!

Nine years ago, today, Santa came a day early and brought Clay and I a lump of Cole.  Or a St. Nicolas...depending of course on whether we were trying to put him to sleep or not.

And so began the wonderful chaotic learning curve of being a parent.  These past nine years have been a joy watching Cole grow and learn and play.  It's been an amazing journey, one that I am happy to continue.  Here's a look back.

Happy Birthday, son!  We love you so much!

I really love Kingston.

And I have lots of reasons for loving it, but one of the top reasons on my list is the farmer's market.  Kingston is home to a bustling farmer's market that runs 3 days a week.  That's right, 3 days a week! I can get fresh veggies, fruits, plants, local meat, poultry, and eggs on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.  The only thing that it doesn't offer is someone to cook the food for me.  Oh well.

Now, admittedly, a lot of vendors have ended their season, being that we're into winter now, but I was down there today and I could still buy apples, maple syrup, eggs, and fresh meat.  That's pretty impressive considering it's December.

The best part, though, is that it's only a few blocks away.  During the warmer months you can usually find me walking down there all 3 days it runs.  When the snow hits I'll probably drop down to one day a week depending on how cold it gets.

Anyway, my love of fresh food has gotten me into a book called Urban Agriculture by David Tracy.  In it, Tracy argues that urban agriculture is the wave of the future.  Cities need to start providing food for the people that live there and relieve some of our dependence on the fossil fuels used to transport food to us city dwellers.  The book begins small for those of us living in apartment and condos, and then broadens from there into backyards and neighborhoods.  

One of the ideas he offers really intrigues me.  It's the idea of window farming.  You can check out this website for more specific information www.windowfarms.org

Maybe it's because I have these giant windows just begging to used to their full potential.  Maybe it's because I like the idea of fresh herbs for my cocktails.  Maybe I'm just totally in love with having the freshest food possible.  

Whatever the reason, I'm thinking I need to explore the wonderful world of window farming and see where it takes me.

I've been trying to get the wrapping done before school lets out on Friday and I'm doing pretty good so far.  Just a few more items to go.  Normally, I wait until the very last minute and then stay up late on Christmas Eve to finish.  There's no way that's happening this year.  Our apartment is so small and the kids will be so wired for Santa that I'm certain one little rustle of paper would have them out of bed and running for the tree.  Nope.  This year I'll be ready ahead of time.

Anyway, all of this gift wrapping has got me thinking a lot about what I want my kids to get out Christmas.  Mostly they're just excited to get presents...and who can blame them, after all they're only 5 and almost 9.  But, this year we wanted our kids to get more out of Christmas that just stuff.  We wanted them to actively give this year.  

So, how did we go about it?

This year we forewent the usual "there are kids who don't get christmas" talk and instead tried to grab some low-lying fruit.  For starters, the kids' school was collecting donations for a mitten tree.  They had an assembly about what the mitten tree was and why they were collecting, so all we had to do was take the kids to pick out mittens.  It was a really easy way to get the kids in the giving spirit.  They were really excited to help and they actually understood what it was all about thanks to the assembly.

Next, we took the kids shopping to pick out gifts for each other.  I got this idea from a friend at the rock shop who really wanted to get her kids invested in giving.  I realize that this should be a natural jump, giving sibling gifts, but we've never done it before.  It was so much fun helping Cole pick out a gift he thought Isabel would like.  And I'm hoping they'll be just as excited to give their respective gifts to each as they will be to receive it.

Where do we go from here?

Well, giving is something I want my kids to do throughout the year, so I think we'll brain storm some ideas as family about where and how we can give our time and resources.  I know already that my kids want to volunteer at the Humane Society, so maybe now is a good time to start.  And who knows, maybe next Christmas we can give even more.

The kids' school put on a Christmas concert tonight.  Each class performed a song or skit for a packed gymnasium, full to bursting with family and friends.  It was such a delight to see the little community of Sydenham come together.  Since our school is so small (JK-8th grade = 100 kids) I'm always amazed to see the outpouring of love and support this little school can muster.

Unfortunately, I can't post any pictures or videos because of privacy rules.  But, let me tell you, the kids did such a great job.  Clay and I are so proud to have such wonderful kids.

They never cease to amaze me.

Today is a very special day in our house.  We celebrate 3 birthdays on this very special day.  So, let me start by wishing my mom and my sister-in-law a Happy Birthday!  We love you both!

The third birthday we celebrate today is Clay's.  Yep, today he finally catches up to me and turns 31.  Hooray!  

I thought about trying to write all of the things I love about him, but it's hard to imagine summing up everything I love about him into a blog post.  So, in light of that I thought I would share with you this...

...this is the first gift Clay ever gave me.  We hadn't been dating that long when he went to a conference out in California.  While he was there he took a little side trip to Tijuanna and bought me this.  So much of what I love about Clay can be summed up by this little salt shaker.

First, Clay is thoughtful.  Like I said we hadn't been dating that long when he bought me this, so the fact that he did says something about how very thoughtful he is.  It's amazing.

Second, Clay has an eye for beauty.  It's a beautiful little salt shaker (despite the rust spots it's getting).  I love the hand painted bird...it's so...me.  And I love the fact that he picked it out without any help.

Third, Clay is practical - after all it is a salt shaker.  

Fourth, and finally, Clay lacks common sense.  The joke here is he only bought me one.  So, while it's a beautiful, practical little salt shaker, I've never used it because I don't have a pepper.  But, his lack of common sense has always provided me with fits of laughter, so I wouldn't want him any other way.  After  all, he's not always like this.  I mean, he had enough common sense to marry me.

And I've always counted myself the lucky one.  Who know where this salt shaker would be without her pepper.

I love you, baby!  Happy Birthday!

Finished my stocking up last night.  Here it is...

I thought it was perfect for me since all parents are honorary elves.  I'm so happy to have all of the stockings done just in time for our party tomorrow evening.  As for the rest of the house....let's just say there's a lot left to do.  Having never hosted a holiday party before, I didn't realize quite how insane it would be to get ready.  Then again, maybe that's just me.

A friend of mine told me today that all I needed to do was clear a path in my house and people would be happy.  While this may be true on some level, I have a hard time overlooking the clutter in my house when I have guests.  So, the next 24 hours will be spent scrubbing the house from head to toe.  For the most part, I just need the kids to pick up all the stuff they've left laying around the common spaces...and their bedroom...and my bedroom.

I can tell I've reached the upper limits of my stress level.  My jaw has been hurting me for the past couple days and today my right shoulder is aching something fierce.  I'm starting to wonder if hosting a party in the pursuit of holiday cheer is worth it.  But, I'm sure it's nothing a little adult egg nog won't cure.  Mmmm, egg nog.

I've been working hard this past week to get the stockings done for my little family.  Of course, I'm concerned about Santa having a place to put stocking stuffers.  But, more importantly, we're having a holiday party this Friday and the stocking are part of my festive decor.

I'm sure you're wondering why Clay and Isabel have the same stocking.  Well, the truth is, there were only 3 designs available in this style stocking.  Noticing this, Isabel said, "Daddy! You can have the same stocking as me!"  She was so excited and cute that Clay couldn't refuse.  So, now they have matching stockings.  I changed a couple of things to make them slightly different, but I'm certain that I'm the only one who will notice.

My stocking is in progress right now and I will be posting a  photo as soon as it is finished.  

Other than that, today was spent cleaning.  Windows washed, curtains hung, slipcovers taken off to be washed, some laundry done, etc, etc, etc.  Sigh.  I'm wiped.  Now, I just have to keep Isabel away from the windows with her grease crayons.

I dedicated some time today to finishing off the felt ornaments we bought a couple weeks ago. Here they are.

Cute, huh?  The other plus about them, they're cat proof as well as child proof.  Hooray for no broken ornaments!  Anyway, I still have a lot to do, but at least I can check this off my list.  Next up, stockings.

On a totally different subject, remember that scary looking prong thing that was supposed to be a ring?  Well, here it is now.

I think I'll probably tweek a few of the twists and bends still, but the soldering is finished so that's good.  It could use a good polish as well, but it'll have to wait until next week.  Not too bad for my first try - at least it's creative.