After Armin's birthday it feels like December hit us like a ton of bricks!! I have been going non stop!! We went and picked out our Christmas tree on November 30, we went to Green Haven because I heard that they hang their trees without being netted so you can get the full effect!! They then net it for you and make a fresh cut on the bottom and drill a hole so it will stand in the tree stand better!! The trees were beautiful and the same price as we have paid at Home Depot in the past! Arren got a tree in Vulcan for only $10 less than ours and it is only 5 and a half feet tall!! Ours is at least 7 or close to 8 feet tall! So we really lucked out, its big and bushy too!
Friday night we decorated our tree!! The kids had so much fun as usual! Though there was a little bit of bickering as Emry wanted the decorations placed just so, I think she has a slight case of my syndrome, though I've learned to let it go a little easier than she has!!! Jared put the lights on and the garland, his designated job!!
Saturday I had to work at the annual Snowflake Festival held in Vulcan. A bunch of organizations come together and promote their programs and what our community has to offer! I was in charge of getting a couple of crafts together for the kids to do while they waited their turn to see Santa. I came up with a jingle bell necklace, they had to thread a jingle bell onto a string as well as some beads. I also came up with a simple card they could make, sticking circle shaped stickers onto card stock to make hanging ornaments. We must have had at least 60 kids come through, and all seemed to have a great time. That night we had the Brandley's Crazy Rook party to go to, always a fun night with friends and super yummy food!!! I didn't get the lowest score this year either, bonus, though I was a close second!!!!
Sunday we surprised Mark for his birthday and shared cake and ice cream with him! Then we went home and watched the Christmas Devotional, always a highlight to the Christmas season, a great way to start!!
Monday was my last session of Alphabet Soup, yay!!!! Plus, it was our monthly Builder's meeting, our Christmas one to boot!! So I made cheesy ham chowder for our meal and chocolate mint brownie cookies for dessert! A lot of extra work but totally worth it when everyone was so thankful!
Tuesday Calum had an orthodontist appointment in Lethbridge, so he and I went a little early to do some Christmas shopping! He wanted to pick out presents for his brother and sister!! He was so cute looking and pondering what to get them!! Such a thoughtful boy! It turns out he will need partial braces going on in January! Then he'll need a full set like Emry once all his adult teeth are in! Oh yay :(
Wednesday was our annual Nativity display at our Church. I wasn't able to be at the afternoon performance due to Emry's wrist appointment in Calgary, but the boys each performed with their class and did a great job, so I heard!! That evening our Choir sang and the boys had another part to do with the Primary kids. The Nativity's as usual were beautiful and the performers were great, setting the stage for a wonderful Christmas season!
As I said earlier, Emry had an appointment for her wrist with a surgeon at the South Health Campus. She had been complaining about it hurting for quite a few months, I finally made the call to the clinic and made her an appointment, in hopes that they would say nothing was wrong with it! Unfortunately the x-ray came back and it was broken, but healed in a bad position, held together with scar tissue. They put a cast on her arm at that appointment and said to wait until we had an appointment with the surgeon to see what happens. The appointment with the surgeon came, and she is excellent, really easy to talk to! Emry will have to have surgery to fix the break. They cut the piece of bone out and clean up the scar tissue then take a piece of bone and some cartilage from her hip and pin it in place. The healing process is 8-12 weeks with the pins coming out after. This will prevent her from developing early stages of arthritis in her wrist. The surgery is tentatively scheduled for the middle of February, she needs to see a hematologist before to ensure they do everything possible to prevent blood clots if her blood test comes back positive for Factor 5 Laden. A blood clotting disorder I have.
Thursday was my last day of work for the week and then I went straight to Calgary with a few ladies to work a shift at the Casino as part of our Kindergarten fundraiser. I was cashier, which I enjoy doing, but it was a long night! We started our shift at 6:30pm and weren't out of there until 3:30am. But I had fun with the ladies I rode up with, we had some good laughs!!
Friday was a day of sleep for me, somehow getting in at 5:00am wreaked havoc on my system!! I also got ready for celebrating Christmas with Mom and Mark and my sisters the next day!
Saturday was a day of celebrating! The kids had a great time playing with cousins, opening presents, zip lining and of course eating!!! Armin did have a minor accident on the zip line, the seat flung back as he was getting off and it hit him near his eye. Calum ran into the house and yelled, "Armin's eye is bleeding!" And boy was it ever bleeding, as head wounds always do!! It turned out to be a minor cut just beside his eye, but all around his eye is turning black, so it did hit him good!!!
Sunday was church, but right after I had to head to Vulcan to pass out the candy cane reindeer I made for the kids attending the Holiday Train! I made 200 and had about 20 left over, so a good crowd!
Alan Doyle from Great Big Sea was the singing entertainment on the train and he did a good job! Even though the train came in the middle of the afternoon there was still a big crowd!! It is hosted by the Food Bank and I think they did well with their donations! I had to leave before the train left to get back to Champion in time for our Young Women's in Excellence program. The 4 girls we have did a great job with their talks and their 10 hour projects. I was so proud of them, they are a great group of girls! Then at 7:00pm Myrna had asked Emry and I to join her in seeing the Claresholm Cantata! It was great, the singers all did a wonderful job ringing in the sounds of Christmas!
That has been my life these past couple of weeks! A little overwhelming to say the least. But its the season of love, laughter, peace and joy! I couldn't be happier with all that is going on!
