Holiday Countdown....Reader's Digest version

Yes, I've been utterly lax with the documentation of our countdown. I've given up apologizing for my lack of commitment here, suffice it to say, some days, amidst the sheer randomness of life-as-we-know-it around these parts, the prospect of uploading and posting photos is more than I can bear.....:)  And I'm continually wrestling with the thought that really, who gives a rat's ass what we're up to and why am I doing this again? Excuse the existentialist sidetracking, such is my head-space amongst the holiday frenzy.  Plus we're thoroughly embroiled in the new Mystery Case Files game - Dire Grove.

That said....here's a smattering of what we've been up to. We're a tad behind but finding it all quite scintillating and there are only a couple of things I might change up for next year...

Much baking of cookies has occurred...

Savannah has produced a startling amount of holiday craftiness...she's been like a little elf in the Art Cave/Santa's Workshop...and our invisible tree (invisible because we haven't got one yet) already has a pile of handmade goodness underneath for both two and four-legged family members alike.  I am shamelessly proud of her un-prompted generosity and thoughtfulness. She's powering through scads of paper and glue and paint so I only hope that The Elves got my message and are planning to replenish her stock...;)

Of course, there has been a lot of outdoorsy-ness as well....and sometimes, when the mood strikes, we simply put our snowsuits on over our pajamas*.
 

*NB. Once it darkness falls, no matter what the time (which is around 5:30pm-ish these days), Sebastian likes to don his nightwear...and so our various forays into the night to witness the twinkly, sparkly light displays mean he's most often in his jammies...

One of our annual treks to the Festival of Lights....thankfully they've got some new displays as it was starting to get a bit old.....this one is one of the originals and second only to the train as Sebastian's favourite.

Other highlights  so far have included an attempt at Solstice lanterns, making edible gifts for the wildlife around our 'hood, putting together a big bag of food for the Food Bank, choosing gifts from Plan Canada (we went with mango trees and bee-keeping kits, I bought a home-birthing kit on behalf of my work-chums)....

Today we're off to get our tree to complete the greenery within.....

Holiday Countdown - Days Two and Three - December 2, 3

Wednesdays and Thursdays are tricky days as they're my work days so we are limited to what we can accomplish......Wednesday's task was to dig out our holiday/winter book collection and start reading one each night at bedtime. We also have a  copy of Do You See What I See? Christmas so we're working our way through that one. The seek-and-find books are big favourite of Sebastian's but these ones are a bit more challenging so we do a few pages at at time.  Thursday was 'decorate windows with paper snowflakes' -- which we sort of did. Savannah wanted to save the actual crafting of the snowflakes until her bff M. came over in the afternoon {she and her mom look after the kids when I go to work on Thursday afternoons} so I missed out on any pics.....this is one she'd made earlier....

Holiday Countdown - Day One - December 1

Because you can never have enough pictures of your kids sleeping...

...especially when they're up way early and can't help but tip over on the sofa and immediately be fallen upon by heat-seeking snuggle-hounds {Oscar is curled up in the crook of her knees}

Today marked our first holiday countdown day....not a very original or new one, but we're starting off slowly so as not to ramp up into a frenzy too soon before the Big Days ahead....

So off we went to the library and indeed maxed out our cards....we actually had to put two things back because for some Grinchy reason, adult cards are only allowed to take out two things as opposed to the five allowed for kid cards. {insert raspberry here}. Alas, Sebastian was coughing and hacking and snortling all over the library computer - upon which we were getting some rather nervous glances from the other patrons - so we didn't stay long. I'm quite certain someone immediately swooped in and disinfected everything we'd touched......

We meandered to our usual apres-library coffee shop destination, drank hot chocolate and ate cookies to fortify ourselves {okay, fortify ME, who had to carry five tons of library books and movies in the backpack} for the walk home...

....upon which, after much deliberation, we reactivated Savannah's Club Penguin account.  Being a bit older and having basic reading skills now makes all the difference and she's quite charmed with the whole thing. If anyone else out there plays, her penguin's name is Wagonberry....

Hot chocolate and a jam doughnut wears off fast when you're working your way up the belts in Card Ju-jitsu, so milk and an Oreo was in order by mid-afternoon.

Holiday Countdown 2009

In a shameless pilfering of Other People's Ideas, we've decided to do a holiday countdown...sort of an advent calendar-esque type thing.  It took some convincing as Savannah is rather fond of the shitey chocolates that come in the shitey-yet-ever-so-fabulous cardboard calendars that we've added to our repertoire in the past, so we negotiated the additional creation of a  Countdown Jar of Chocolate which we will fill with some yummy niblets and sample each day as we ponder our assignments.

Absolutely determined not to make a Huge Production out of the thing, we just made-do with what we had around the house (as my mind soared off in all sorts of grand and crafty directions of how we could make each envelope a fragment of Divinity itself)....thusly we used construction paper scavenged from the Art Cave and glossy flyers of a Christmassy theme we found by rummaging through the recycling bin.

'Twas also a shameless opportunity for Savannah to practice scribing her numbers...particularly those which she has trouble with....2, 3 and 5.  We made up some silly rhymes to remember how to draw them and by the end, after each one was the proclamation... "Look!!! It's the perfect..{insert number here}!!!!"

Our little pile of lopsided envelopes grew over the course of the afternoon....my template was a bit off, trying to be as frugal as possible with our paper usage....plus, I'm wonky on a good day.

Then, Savannah stuck the numbers onto each envelope....we went from 1-25, deciding not to go past into the days past Christmas. It was harder than I thought, when factoring in work-days and times when we would want B to be around etc, but in the end I was quite happy with The List.







And here's our list:

1.Max-out our library cards on holiday books and movies (you're allowed 5 items per card)
2. Get out our own collection of holiday books and read one each night.  See how much of the Do You See What I See? Christmas book we can finish this year.
3. Decorate the windows with paper snowflakes.
4. Go to see the Festival of Lights at Spencer Smith Park.
5. Family dinner tonight at Auntie B's! Bake something to take for dessert.
6. Use up last year's Blockbuster gift cards on a previously-viewed movie.
7. Go to the mall with Nanna to see the decorations. Put our gift(s) in the Toy Drive Bin. Eat lunch in the Food Court.
8. Make a holiday parcel for the Food Bank.
9. Choose a gift from Heifer Int'l or Plan Canada.
10. Change over our nature table. Listen to some holiday music while we do it.
11. Drive along Lakeshore to see all the lights on the fancy rich people's houses.
12. Happy Hanukkah! Shop for some yummy snacks for our........family movie night!!! Go ahead...open up the surprise. {a copy of the new 'Buddies' movie}
13. Go to Kerncliff for a winter hike. Gather evergreens for our decorations.
14. Decorate the house.
15. Make Solstice lanterns.
16. String popcorn for the tree.
17. Make edible gifts for Bushy and her friends and the birds.
18. Choose the Best Tree Ever.
19.  Decorate the tree; dinner at Nanna and Granda's house! Don't forget to take your homemade gifts for the kid's exchange.
20.  Christmas party at the Navy Club!  Light our Solstice lanterns and leave our edible gifts out for our animal friends.
21. Happy Winter Solstice!! Welcome back the Sun and be thankful for our warm, cozy house and our cupboards full of food.  Prepare a festive dinner and open our Solstice gifts when Daddy gets home from work.
22.Make a batch of cookies for all the family dogs.
23. Watch holiday specials/movies. (Mommy votes for It's a Wonderful Life...please?)
24.  It's Christmas Eve!! Bake cookies to eat while we read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. Don't forget to leave the magick key out for Santa.
25.  Merry Christmas! Have a wonderful day filled with laughter and joy and the love of family and friends.

 I shall perhaps unleash my creative urges on the Chocolate Jar.....currently masquerading as an empty Mason jar smelling slightly of the pasta sauce that used to occupy it....it's sitting in the middle of the table, just waiting for inspiration....