Merry Christmas and

a happy New Year! Christmas was great and was enjoyed by all. On Christmas Eve we all went to church and after we got back Den's sister and her husband arrived, along with my mother in-law's boyfriend. We had chili and bread for supper and had a nice visit before getting the kids off to bed.

Jacie got up around 6am Christmas morning and once coffee was made and some prep work for breakfast (I fried up the sausage and bacon and put it in the oven on warm) we headed downstairs and did the stockings, followed by presents. I love watching the kids rip open their gifts and getting them to hand out presents.

I sure miss the extra help now that my in-laws are gone. It was nice having them here and did I mention all the extra help!

I sure wish our parents were closer for obvious reasons...to my thrilled surprise my parents are on their way up as I write this. They decided to come up for a quick visit! I am so glad!

This layout I did for the Dreamgirls challenge. I am so glad I was able to finish it. I honestly thought I was going to be SOL, as it is so hard to find the time during the day to do it. At night I would rather watch TV (as I need the break and need to relax)...I wish I could see our big TV from my craft room, as then I would get a lot more layouts done. Oh well...

I went on Amazon.ca this morning and ordered $73 worth of books...What is so amazing about Grace, Jesus I never knew, Twilight, New Moon, The Bone Garden (Tess Gerritsen), Wreck This Journal-which I will have a very hard time doing as it is so out side of my 'perfectionism box', and Rape of Nanking (which my sister in-law told me about)...and it all gets shipped for free...love that!

Ok, time to eat leftovers before Danika wakes up from her morning nap! Take care everyone!

Travis' preschool party was

a lot of fun. I won't lie though, it was a lot of work being there with three out of four kids by myself. Kael is the hardest right now, as he just wants to motor around and add the screaming to his list...he is a handful. I was really hoping Dennis would come, but he didn't. :(

First there was a concert, followed by snacks and juice and then Santa arrived and handed out gifts. The parents were asked to supply the wrapped gifts for each child attending. Travis was excited to see Santa and wanted to chat his ear off. If any of you know Travis, you know he is a talker and will talk to anyone followed by a hundred questions.

Kael was more interested in who this person was and why he was on his lap. Kael didn't make strange or anything...he was just more curious!














When it was Danika's turn I woke her up and placed her on his lap. She wasn't impressed with being woke up, but she didn't cry.














We got our Christmas tree up on Sunday and it was nice that we were all around to do that. Kael loved the lights when they were on.

I am off tonight to hopefully finish up all the gifts, stocking stuffers, etc!! Let's hope anyway!

We are heading out for a Christmas

party supper with the people from our church tonight. The six of us will be there and ready to eat and have a good time. The party starts at 6pm and I have Jacie and Travis in the tub right now, I am showered, Kael is wondering around (not in his party clothes), Danika is sleeping (not in her party clothes), Dennis isn't home from work yet and we need to leave in one hour! So, what the heck am I doing on the computer??? EEK! I just checked the weather on the computer and it is -36'C with the windchill, so we need to dress extra warm tonight!

I actually got a layout done for How Much is Too Much challenge! I can't believe it! The reason is for the last two days Kael has taken a morning nap, so HALLELUJAH I could have some scrap time! Again my lighting sucks, but I am too impatient to wait until tomorrows morning sunlight to take a better picture.

Well I need to get my party clothes and face on, so I best be doing it while Danika is sleeping...cause as soon as she wakes up you know what she wants...the milk trucks!

Snowy and cold

weather has finally hit here. It is going to get extremely cold by the weekend...-22'C without the windchill factor. I may head out this morning to stock up some groceries, but we'll see. I may wait until tonight and go with just the baby.

This weekend is my goal to set up the Christmas tree and decorate the house...if Dennis isn't working on Saturday. Otherwise we will have to wait until after church on Sunday.

Kael was already in bed when I took this picture. I will try to get a picture of the four of them! It is too bad Kael is missing from the picture. Maybe tonight I will make an effort to get them all.

I finally was able to order the pictures I had taken, since Danika was born, from Future shop as Walmart kept giving me an error and wouldn't let me get to the shopping cart to finalize my order. It was very frustrating. Anyway, through Future Shop they will deliver it right to me for only $2.99 shipping...which I am like SWEET! That is so worth it to me as then I am not hauling the kids in and out of the van, etc.

I went to our local consignment store yesterday with the three kids, while Jacie was at school and got Kael some sleepers and Danika some clothes for when she hits the 6 month mark. I got really good deals and was happy we went there!

I have yet to start another layout. Kael is only napping in the afternoon, so it is too hard to try to scrap with him in my office, etc. I use to scrap when he went down in the morning, as by the afternoon I need a nap! Oh well, maybe once Danika sleeps longer through the night I will be able to get my energy back. Speaking of the darling, she is just waking up! Gotta fly!

Faith

is the topic I chose to do for the Dreamgirls challenge. I am thinking I should have added some journaling to the layout as to why I can't live without Faith and why it is so important to me. I just would have to figure out a way to incorporate it when there isn't a whole lot of room left. Maybe that will have to be for another layout...

Danika had her baby doctor appointment on Wednesday and she is 9 pounds even, so the doctor was happy that she gained all her birth weight back and then some. She is a small 9 pounds and love that she is like a newborn baby size, as all the other children came out looking like they were 3 months old.

I love this picture! Look how relaxed she is. It even seems she has a little smile on her face as she sleeps with daddy. I have yet to get pictures developed of the Danika, but it is priority #1! I can't wait to scrap some pages of her.

Den is on his way home with milk and slurpee's! Yes, the essentials! HA. Yum-O! It was Den's birthday yesterday, so we ordered in Chinese food and after the kids went to bed we both fell asleep early on the couch...I fell asleep scrolling through the TV Guide, looking for something to watch...lame eh! Dennis is still fighting a cough which has kept him up at night...I sleep in the basement, so he doesn't wake us all up and also so he doesn't get us sick! What is it with guys and not taking med's. We have cough medicine but he won't take it...I don't get it! Why not take it and see if it at least helps settle the cough down...weird!

Well not much else to report for now...