A holiday weekend....literally pigging out!

This past weekend was a whirlwind that pretty much involved non-stop visiting coupled with non-stop eating (with a little drinking thrown in for good measure).

On Friday night we held our annual Tree Trimming party. This year, we added a little twist. C-- had a pig, we had a party, so we combined them and turned it into a Tree Trimming / Pig Roast party. We had about 36 adults and 15 kids in our house, along with a 70 lb pig, baked beans, amazing potato salad, scrumptious coleslaw, and desserts and snacks brought by our guests. The pig was amazing...and took up almost the entire length of my island. Oh yeah...and we had two kegs in the garage.

The kids did their usual excellent job of decorating the tree...at least the bottom 3 feet. They did so with great concentration...it was my favorite part of the evening as they plucked decorations from the containers and placed them very deliberately on the tree. And it was great fun having people from so many different areas of our lives finally meet each other (like F--'s old babysitter and my parents).

We had a full house to sleep over as well, which made the next morning fun. It was Mom and Dad, Uncle, Aunt, and Cousin. We all slept in, at least as much as possible with the kids up early...even though they didn't get to bed until almost 11:00.

Saturday, we took F-- and A-- to see Max and Ruby. Although the kids enjoyed it, I could only think that there was probably some sort of tell-all movie possible about this production. Guys running around in big bunny suits obviously have some issues. And, it came through in their "performance" or lack of it. Oh well...live and learn.

Saturday night, D-- stayed over, and we had family trivia (after transporting the kegs over to K-- and R--'s for a party they were having.

Sunday was our last party day. Because the parents are headed to Australia for 9 weeks, we had early Christmas with my side. Gramma and Grampa and Aunt M-- came and we at a huge brunch together...with lots of pork products strangely enough.

Then, Santa rang the front door bell and brought in a whole bunch of presents! F-- ran to the door when she heard the bell and was shocked to see Santa. She immediately ran over to stand with Aunt M--. She wasn't really sure what to make of this but once the presents started, she quite enjoyed the whole situation...although she never sat on his knee. When Santa left through the upstairs fireplace, she was concerned the fireplace might be on.

The, Sunday night was the Grey Cup, so R-- and K-- came over with the kids, and we ate leftover desserts, and drank beer (well, the boys drank the beer, we had tea).

And, that was our crazy, but fun, weekend. Merry Christmas!

How sick is sick?

After 3 trips to the doctor in 5 days, I think we finally have F--'s various illnesses under control. After a 1:00 am ear ache last night and fever we hit the doctor on call for Sunday and got some zythromax. The best part is that it's only 1 dose a day. After having to give eye drops every 2 hours for 48 hours, this was a welcome relief. (Did I mention that getting drops into a screaming kid's eyes is like entering the seventh level of hell?) When the doctor asked her to lay down on the exam table today to check her throat, she automatically put her hands over her eyes to ward off the next attack.

So, we missed W--'s baptism due to illness (mine and F--'s). G-- was the family representative today and apparently he did a good job. :) F-- was pretty upset that she missed the event, but was placated when I mentioned that A-- was coming for a sleepover this weekend. (Her cousins and Uncle and Aunt sent back some lovely ornaments, including a wall-hanging with her name on it! Very nice.)

The best part about today was a surprise visit from F--'s teacher. Mrs. S-- had called last night to check on F-- because she missed three days of school. (Did I mention the seventh level of hell?) Today Mrs. S-- dropped off a care package at our house! Can you believe it? She had a get well card, some movies for loan, a book for Faith, a package to make a necklace, a funky light up ball, and her homework (of course). Mrs. S-- is amazing! It made F--'s day (and mine too).

Can you say pink eye?

Yes, we entered the wonderful world of pink eye today. F has a lovely cold and the eye infection came along as part of a package deal. So, this meant I was off work for the day to take her to the doctor for eye drops.

Of course buying the eye drops was much easier than actually getting them into her eyes. For some reason, little kids don't like having someone come at them with a tube of stuff to stick in their eyes. Go figure. The best part is we get to do this twice a day for 10 days. Happy times!

What the ?!*$

School was a half day today, which meant F got to ride the bus with all the older kids. She thought this was the most exciting thing ever.

We were sitting at the table when she said, "Guess what? We got to ride the bus with the big kids today! And I was thinking 'What the crap was that all about?'"

Well, I tried to hide my laughter, but G didn't even bother. He was guffawing in the kitchen and F was sitting grinning at the table.

I'm sure we'll hear this phrase again, likely in church.

A busy week

On the weekend, I finally planted my spring bulbs (thanks to K and P for a whole bunch from their garden). I did most of them during the biggest wind storm of the season...the dirt and the bulbs were blowing away. But perserverance paid off and I'm hoping the spring will bring flowers that made it worthwhile.

On Sunday evening, G's parents visited and stayed overnight. F had a great time playing with Nana and Papa. She asked Nana to put her to bed (which meant it dragged out quite awhile), and she even gave Papa a big hug goodnight. Much progress on that front!

And, on the milestone front, F finally reached 40 lbs! This of course means that she no longer needs a car seat which is probably something G and I are happier about than her. Yesterday, she got to ride in the van for the first time using the adult seat belt. She was just beaming! The best part was when we got home and she unbuckled herself and as already out of her seat by the time I walked around to get her out. She had on a devilish, "independence" grin. I guess it's only a short time from no car seat to driver's license.

Trick or treat princess style

F had a huge Halloween day today. Costumes and candy at school. Candy from the bus driver. Costumes and candy at daycare. She was very hyped up when I picked her up. She informed me that one of her classmates was skipping supper to go trick or treating and that she would have to skip supper too.

This was pretty much the case as the trick or treaters started arriving before I'd even gotten the candy out!

F dressed up as Sleeping Beauty in her pink, hoop skirt princess dress, and proudly carried her meowing, light-up trick or treat bag with her. The bag was a big hit with the neighbours. It was my turn to take her around this year, and the weather was perfect. We did about 20 houses, but she was dragging at the end. She sat down for "a break" on someone's lawn.

When we got home, though, she loaded up on sugar and was pretty much a hyper maniac. She ate some "healthy food" because she thought that would be a good idea, and then went for the candy again.

I wore short, shorts

Another picture in C's series of pictures from my past. I can only hope that F will have pictures like this when she grows up so someone can embarrass her. :) I think this is from about grade 5 or 6. What a sense of fashion!