Happy New Year

I doubt I'll be blogging in the upcoming days, so I just want to wish all my friends and readers a Happy New Year.  

How are you bringing in the New Year?  

Not too much here...originally I thought it would be cool to have a sliding party behind our house with the kids and stuff but that sorta took a turn when the forecast here is calling for +6 and +9 temps and RAIN this weekend...yep, only in Canada do we get mild temps and rain in December...oh well - I am not complaining, I will take it.  

After that idea - we were invited to a friends place for drinks and snacks, maybe games...Maddy can come too so likely that is what we will be doing for a bit then depending how late we stay there, come home and go to bed or watch a movie I suppose...oh the joys of getting old...it's just not the same!

See you in 2011!!!

Back to Work

Yep - so Christmas is over, the hustle and bustle is over with, the tree is put away and all the new toys have found a new home and now I am back to work...I don't mind though...it has been pretty boring sitting at home doing nothing - I can only stay in the house sooo long.  


Here are some pics of Maddy on Christmas morning:

My cousin Lindsay got Maddy this cool gift for Christmas and I think it's pretty cool...it's pretty cool when you have a toddler around the holidays who still doesn't listen even though you tell them that Santa is always watching.  It's called Elf on the Shelf - A Christmas Tradition and up until Christmas Eve, I had never heard of this.  Other than the fact that the elf is a little scary (haha) the storyline is pretty neat.  It's basically this elf that parents place around the house for the whole month of December.  You read the story that is included and it tells the child that this elf is special...he watches you every day, all day and then leaves at night to report to Santa at the North Pole.  Parents can move the elf around the house so that he watches them ALL THE TIME.  The children are asked NOT TO TOUCH THE ELF but to blow kisses before bed.  You have to name him and register him online.  Check it out - I think it's a great gift idea and I can't wait to use mine next year...although I think I may leave him out all year to watch Maddy if I can get past the "freakiness" of him:

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

OK...so it's really only Christmas Eve, but I am pretty sure that I won't be back on until after Christmas so I'm shouting it out there now.  I hope everyone has a safe, healthy and enjoyable Christmas. 

I am sooooo looking forward to seeing Maddy's eye's light up as she opens each and every present that the Lady Magician has left her.  However, as any parent knows, along with all these presents comes the dreaded opening of the boxes, removing those little ties, cutting your fingers on hard plastic while your kid is standing over you telling you to hurry up.  Yep...not really looking forward to that!  I will see how much fun we have with this this year and next year, everyone may be told to go ahead, open the present, assemble it THEMSELVES and then wrap it.  Sounds good to me!

Stay tuned after Christmas for my big Christmas re-cap and some pictures to see what Maddy received from the Lady Magician.

Once again, I wish you all a Very, Merry Christmas!

I Believe in Santa Claus

I may have created something here...the other night I was wrapping presents and I placed them under the tree with NO NAMES...these are from "Santa" but I figured my curious toddler would not realize they were there or at the very least, come Christmas morning, she would know that THOSE were the presents that were sitting under the tree all week...boy was I wrong. 

She came down the stairs a while later and was like "Wow..look at all those presents" (might I add in here that it's not all her gifts, just a few) - she then proceeded to ask me "who put them there" and I said "aahh...it's a surprise".  Simple.  Thought that was the end of it until the next morning...

She came downstairs to get her advent chocolate and commented on the presents again but this time she added "the magic lady brought those presents right...and they just appeared"...well I laughed. She then began to explain to me that she has a hat and a wand and she just taps it and all those presents came here. Does this mean my daughter thinks Santa is a magician or something? 

4 More Sleeps...

4 more sleeps till the big guy comes and I still am not ready.  Thank god I don't do dinner at my place cuz I would have to add that my list too.  Tonight after work, I'm hoping to pick up some more gifts for Maddy...then tomorrow will be the trip to LCBO to get some alcohol related gifts, still waiting for a present from Chapters and then just little things that I need for baskets then I can say I am finished.  I did all my wrapping last night - well the gifts that I have anyways. 

Christmas Day we are going to my sister in law's for dinner and I am bringing dessert...still not 100% what to bring.  I am going to make a pan of Social Tea Squares cuz Hubby's family LOVES these...me, not a big fan, so I'll have to come up with something else to make. 

If you have any easy recipes, pass them along to me (either comment, send me a link or email me at stacyjohnston03@hotmail.com).

Weekend Randomness

Well this weekend was pretty quiet and calm for the most part...even though I still have shopping to do, we did not venture into a store or mall this weekend...it is the last weekend BEFORE Christmas afterall.  Friday night was a pretty quiet night, in bed early.  Up early Saturday morning...after a breakfast of bacon and eggs, we went outside to enjoy the day...it was nice out actually and Maddy got to go "bogganing" for the first time this year!

Saturday evening, we went to my friend Sara's for our Annual Ladies Potluck and Christmas Decoration Exchange.  We came up with this idea a couple years ago, it seemed like when we bought gifts for each other, it was always Christmas related, so we decided this: everyone that would come would just buy a Christmas ornament/decoration piece - we set a $25 dollar limit then we gather together, play a game and exchange gifts that way.  It's a great way to decorate your house for Christmas!  This is what I got:

Sunday was a restful day - we skipped Church (bad, I know but I look at it this way: we will be there on Friday for Christmas Eve so it makes up for it!) and went to watch Daddy play hockey...Maddy was pretty excited - she was yelling "He Shoots, He Scores" and cheering VERY loudly!  We came home, had lunch, watched a movie, got supper ready then had Dad, my brother and his girlfriend over then tuned into SURVIVOR - Season Finale to see who was going to be crowned Sole Survivor...and the winner was...FABIO - woo hoo - this is exciting to me because I have started a pool between my friends...we each pay $10 and names are chosen randomly.  Hubby had Fabio so he won the pool...but I am pretty sure the money is coming to me :)

 
Happy Monday Everyone!

Fun Friday

This is what my last night consisted of:

I took Maddy to Zellers to pick out a new pair of jammies for her Daycare party and she comes back with THESE - yep, they're Handy Manny (for those who don't know him, he's like a Spanish Bob the Builder) - now I can't laugh at Hollie for putting the twins in "boy jammies"!

Daddy and Maddy relaxing in bed watching Despicable Me...well Daddy is trying to watch it and Maddy is playing on her VTECH "Puter"...

Cake Pops for Daycare!

Maddy being silly while I was getting supper ready last night - she went rummaging through the front closet and came out with two tuques on, her winter coat, sunglasses, pink rubber boots inside big slippers!  What a kid!

Attempted to make some of these as well - didn't turn out too bad but I like this picture better...

Have a great weekend everyone!  Still have some shopping to do but I am NOT venturing anywhere near a store this weekend...looking forward to Girls Potluck and Christmas Decoration Exchange!

In 10 Days....it's all over

In 10 days, Christmas is all over - it makes me sad and happy at the same time.  This year I have been super stressed with gift buying and finances so I will be happy once everything is over, but it makes me sad that we go through so much trouble for ONE day and then it's all over.  Oh well!

Feel free to follow me and blog about this:

CHRISTMAS WOULDN'T BE COMPLETE WITHOUT...(5 things)

• One argument over dinner
• An orange in my stocking
• Presents under the tree
• A full belly
• Maddy turning her nose up at receiving clothes

Wordless Wednesday

Saw a guy skiing across the Portage Bridge this morning...this isn't him but you get the idea!

Top 2 Tuesday Vents

It's Tuesday morning and even though I feel refreshed after a good night's sleep - I woke up this morning and that mood changed really quickly so I am going to vent about my Top 2 irritating moments this snowy morning:

1 - NO WATER once again in my community
2 - SNOWY Day

Well let me elaborate. 

5:45 am - alarm goes off, I quickly jump out of bed to head to the bathroom where I get ready while Hubby wakes Maddy up and gets her going.  I hear on the radio that it snowed overnight, mixed with blowing conditions is going to make a "lovely" drive in to work this morning.  I hurry to the bathroom, go turn on the water and see a trickle...yep, no pressure.  I realize that Hubby needs to get a shower, so I bend over, stick my head under the tap and give my hair a quick rinse so I can at least style it before we lose the little bit of water we do have. 

6:00 am - I tune into A Morning news and see that a blanket of snow has swept over us and it is causing havoc on the roads...no way, are you serious?  It is probably our "first" snow fall of the winter and that means that our drive is going to be long.
6:30 am - everyone is ready to go - Hubby managed to get somewhat of a shower with the little water we had, Maddy is dressed and ready and we are heading out the door.  The car is toasty, scraped off and ready to go. 
6:51 am - I look at the clock and realize that we are doing good time considering the conditions, it's a slower ride, but we are where we normally are at this time of the morning.
7:00 am - pull into daycare, wake Maddy up again and head into daycare.  Say our goodbyes and off to work we go.
7:15 am - we are still driving
7:30 am - my time to start work and we are still sitting on Allumettieres - we have hardly moved.
7:45 am - we are still sitting in traffic and looking at the clock - I am not too worried about being late because I know that no one will be in the office, however, Hubby has an 8:00 dentist appointment and we aren't even in Ontario yet. 
8:00 am - still sitting in Quebec
8:05 am - finally in Ontario - Hubby is dropping me off on the side of the road so he can just continue to his dentist appointment, 5 mins late right now.
8:15 am - finally at work

So if you do the math, you will see that it took us AN HOUR to get from Daycare to work, which in normal conditions, it usually takes us 20 mins MAX...this can get into a good battle as to who are better drivers...everyone says Quebec drivers don't know how to drive, but I would like to say that Ontario FORGET how to drive when it snows or even when it rains.  When you travel everyday, you see the pattern - just by getting to work 15 mins later, it means that something is falling outside - that being rain or snow. 

The water issue - well in our community, I don't think we go a week without something and it really pisses me off....so glad that I am not a tax payer because where is their money going??  The water lines are SOOOO old and they just keep "repairing" them...ARRRGGHHH how frustrated, ESPECIALLY when you have ZERO notice and are rushed at 6:00 AM....

Anyways there is my vent of the day!!  Have a good day everyone!

Weekend Recap

Saturday morning, the fam and I were up early to head to the city.  This week, I had won 2 VIP tickets to an event that was going on at Lansdowne Park here in Ottawa.  It's called Originals Ottawa Christmas Craft Sale.  It opened to the public on Thursday, but Saturday morning from 8:30 am - 10:00 am, the place was only open to Majic 100 VIP Ticket winners.  I brought my sister along with me, entered the raffles and headed off to look for Christmas gifts.  There were TONS of booths and mostly the same area of things...jewelery, soaps and lotions, clothes, dips and spices, wood working and art.  We toured the place about three times before making a purchase.  I bought three packages of dips from Deb's Dips - you add a cup of mayo, a cup of sour cream and the dip package...yummy.  My second and last purchase was a cute little skirt for Maddy from S Cross Creations.  After the show, I headed to the mall to try and do some Christmas shopping...it didn't work too good, I ended up buying 2 gifts and coming home and ordering a bunch online.  

When we got home that afternoon, I made a batch of spaghetti sauce and some treats with Maddy.  I came across these cool things (maybe called Pretzies but not 100% sure) on a blog, and for the life of me, I cannot find them anywhere to direct you - however Kelly recently blogged about something very similar over here.  The difference between hers and mine are: I used waffle, square pretzels and I used Hershey Hugs for the chocolate.

Sunday we woke up to a very crappy day out - it had snowed a little and was now freezing rain, turning to rain...just making things pretty gross and messy out there.  

I decided it was a good day to stay in and bake some more goodies.  I made some Magic Squares and Peanut Butter Blondies and basically took it easy all day, not leaving the house once.  

Here are some pics of randoms from the weekend:

Maddy in her homemade tent

VOILA!!

Mommy in the tent - Maddy taking pic!

Maddy in her "Fire-Hydrant-Costume-Hat" as she calls it!

Fissells?

What are fissells you ask?  Well in "Maddy language" it actually means FRECKLES.  The other day, I noticed she has a little arch of freckles on her nose...it's very cute...so I pointed it out to her and she has since been calling them "Fissells".

I wanted to do this blog about how much I hated having "fissells" and when I searched Google to find out some interesting facts about freckles and some home remedies for removal...I came across this story and it ALMOST made me tear up as I read it and it's a Christmas story, so I am going to share with ya's (it's long so if you don't want to read it, I understand):

Little Miss Freckles
A Christmas Story for Children

By Nellie E. Donovan

The little girl gazed with interest at the large furniture van which had drawn up outside the gate of the new white and green two-storied house.
Another little girl was standing shyly by the gate of the house watching with eager expectation as the large doors of the van were thrown open and three men commenced the long process of transferring the furniture from the van to the footpath and into the house.

“Hello,” said the first little girl.
“Hello,” the second little girl answered. The first little girl walked up to her. “What's your name?” she asked.
“

Rosemary Lane

,” was the answer.
“Mine's Jane Wilson, but almost everyone calls me ‘Freckles.’ You can see why can't you?” she ended almost defiantly.
“Freckles is a lovely name,” said Rosemary.
“I don't think so,” said Freckles, “but yours is lovely. R-rose-mar-ry,” she repeated it slowly and let it roll off her tongue. “It suits you, you know. What lovely hair you've got.” She fingered Rosemary's golden wavy hair which hung down her back and touched the stiff blue bow which stood on top of her head.
“Please —” said Rosemary as she moved away.
“Oh, alright,” said Freckles, “I was only feeling it, that's all, If I had hair like that, I'd let anyone that wanted feel it.”
“But your hair is lovely,” said Rosemary, “so nice and shiny and straight—”
“As carrots,” put in Freckles. “Oh, I say!” she went on excitedly as she pointed to an object one of the men had lifted out of the van and was carrying up the path. “What a lovely doll's house. Is it yours?”
Rosemary nodded. “Daddy bought it for me last Christmas,” she answered.
“You must be awful rich, if your Daddy can afford a doll's house like that. I've got a doll's house—a small one—but I had to save for months and months and months to buy it, for you can't save much out of threepence a week, especially if you're very fond of ice-creams.”
“No,” agreed Rosemary, “you can't. I'll have to go now. Mummy might want me to help her unpack and I've got a lot to do, too, for I've got lots and lots of dolls to unpack from almost every part of the world. I've lived in lots of strange lands.”
“Have you? Where? Can I help you unpack?” asked Freckles eagerly in one breath.
“Well —” Rosemary hesitated, then as she noticed the eagerness die out of Freckles' face, she went on, “but you may come soon one day to see all my things. Where do you live?”
“That little house on the corner,” answered Freckles. “There's only Mummie and I, Daddy was killed —” she stopped as tears welled into her eyes. Then suddenly she said, “Good-bye—I'll see you again,” and she waved with a somewhat grubby hand as she ran along the street through the gateway and up the path of the little garden where she ran behind a willow tree (the only tree the little garden boasted) and burst into tears.

When the flood of tears had spent itself, she sat very still on the grass and thought of Rosemary. How beautiful she was! Her complexion was like peaches and cream, and her hair was a beautiful golden colour, and what a lovely blue dress she had on, and her shoes were shiny and her socks with blue tops were pulled up straight. Freckles took stock of herself as she had done many times before. She wriggled her big toe out of her left brown well-worn sandal, pulled up the grey socks Mummie had knitted, straightened her faded print frock, patched in the places where a barbed wire fence had torn it, and took out of her pocket a cracked hand-mirror and looked at her freckled face with its snub nose, mouth far too big, and brown eyes— eyes that weren't worth mentioning.— Oh, she wished she was dead—why hadn't she been born beautiful like Rosemary—why did she have to be ugly and have everyone calling her Freckles when her real name was Jane and why—oh, why—but there were too many whys for a small girl to answer. Freckles gave up taking stock of herself and went into the house. Her mother was baking in the kitchen. Freckles entered the kitchen, her face very gloomy.

“Hello, Mum,” she said.
“Hello, dear,” said her mother.
“Making scones?” asked Freckles.
“Yes,” answered her mother.
“Can I lick the bowl after?”
“Alright, but don't make yourself sick, tea will be ready in half an hour.”
Her mother poured the yellow substance into little square pans set in a large tin and popped the whole into a hot oven. Freckles busied herself with a spoon and scraped the bowl, licking the spoon appreciatively.
Between licks she said, “I saw the most beautiful little girl to-day, Mum. Rosemary her name is, and she's got lovely hair and eyes, and her complexion is all peaches and cream.”
“My goodness!” exclaimed her mother, “She sounds entrancing. Who Is she?”
“

Rosemary Lane

and they've just moved into the new white two-storied house on the corner of the street, and she's got a huge doll's house, about ten times bigger'n mine, and she said I could come over to her place and see all her toys.”
“She must be a nice little girl,” said Mrs. Wilson, “but you're not going to make yourself a nuisance over at the house, her mother mightn't like it.”
“No, Mum,” said Freckles dutifully. She wandered out into the garden again and lay on the grass on her back and closed her eyes. Her thoughts took wings, and she imagined that Rosemary was a Princess and she was a Lady-in-Waiting who would wait on her all the time, and bring her beautiful gifts, and then a Prince would come along on a white horse and the Princess would get married and they would go away to a new Kingdom and set up house, and Freckles, or rather Lady Jane, would be left behind, and she would cry for days and nights without stopping, because she couldn't serve her beautiful Princess Rosemary any longer.

The very next day which was Saturday, Freckles walked over to the big house, but Rosemary was not to be seen, and Freckles gazed through the bars of the gate at the well-trimmed lawns and the neat flower-beds, but there was no sign of life about. P'raps they were all asleep in bed, or p'raps Rosemary was counting all her dolls and hadn't reached the right number and had to start counting all over again, or p'raps she was spring-cleaning her doll's house, though it wasn't the season of the year—and Freckles wandered home again, and in the afternoon forgot Rosemary somewhat when three little girls came over to her place and they played happy games all the afternoon.

A week or more passed and Freckles had not seen Rosemary again. Then one day, the postman blew an extra long phe-e-p on his whistle when Freckles was at school trying very earnestly at the time to learn how to spell, and a letter addressed to Miss Jane Wilson popped through the slit in the door and fell on to the thread-bare hall carpet. It was with trembling fingers that Freckles opened it when she came home to lunch, and she gazed in awe at the gaily printed invitation card with a jolly Father Christmas in one corner and a Christmas Tree in another, and lots of bells and mistletoe, and in neat handwriting Miss Rosemary Lane invited Miss Jane Wilson to attend a Christmas Party on Saturday, 16th December, at 4 p.m., in “The Links,” Fairview Crescent.

For the intervening five days, Freckles walked on air. They hadn't addressed the invitation to Miss “Freckles” Wilson, but to Jane, and she felt it would be a grand party.

Mrs. Wilson got together a few shillings and made Freckles a new white spotted muslin frock with a blue sash. Freckles dressed that Saturday with extra care. Pulled up perfectly straight her new white socks, and brushed her hair until it shone, and polished her best black shoes until she could see her face in them, and when her mother was not looking, Freckles tip-toed into her mother's bedroom and took out a box of powder from the dressing-table and with a puff tried the effects of powder on her freckles, but without some other beauty aid, the powder would not stay on, so Freckles dashed to the bathroom and washed all the powder off and rubbed her face vigorously with a towel. Her mother noticed her extra shining face with its flushed cheeks, but attributed the cause to the excitement of the party.

Freckles left home with her mother's last words ringing in her ears to behave herself, not to eat too much and not to be rough in the games. When she strode up the path of the garden of the big white house with the invitation card clutched tightly in her hand, other little boys and girls were also arriving, many getting out of cars at the gate. They were all dressed in their best; the little boys had shiny faces and well-brushed hair. One little boy wore an Eton collar and Freckles turned up her snub nose at him with scorn.

Freckles gave her card to a maid who opened the door. Mr. and

Mrs. Lane

and Rosemary were standing in the hall waiting to receive their guests. Freckles shyly approached and Rosemary stepped forward and caught her by the arm and pulled her towards her mother and father.

“This is the little girl I told you about, Mother. Freckles, I mean—Jane Wilson.”
“How do you do, Jane?” said

Mrs. Lane

, as she shook her by the hand.
Then

Mr. Lane

took her hand and said cheerily, “Hello, Freckles.”
“Hello,” said Freckles.

Then suddenly Rosemary was surrounded by children who all seemed to be talking at once, and Freckles was left alone—dreadfully alone. She felt like running home. It wasn't going to be much of a party after all.

Mr. Lane

had called her “Freckles” when she did so want to be Jane all the time at the party. Then someone took her hand, and it was Rosemary who led her into a large room with a highly polished floor and chairs all around the walls, and Rosemary asked her to sit on a chair by the wall. And when Freckles had done so, she watched Rosemary, the perfect little hostess showing all the other children seats. Oh, thought Freckles, Rosemary looked more beautiful than ever. She was dressed in a pink satin frock with a lovely pink sash and a pink hair ribbon and pink socks and shoes. She made a perfect picture. A wand and she would be a fairy Princess—
Then a funny clown rolled through the doorway and Freckles laughed as loud as any of the children at his antics, and then there came a Punch and Judy show, games, a guessing competition, a treasure hunt and the tea—and what a Christmas tea! Freckles did not over-eat, but when she had finished she just felt comfortably full of cake, ice-cream, trifle, strawberries, jelly and soft drinks.

The grand climax came when a huge Christmas Tree was wheeled into the room with a jolly Father Christmas following on a sleigh laden with presents. Then it was Rosemary's duty to light all the candles on the tree and she was fulfilling her task admirably, when suddenly it happened— Rosemary in her eagerness had swung round quickly and her long hair touched the flame of a candle.

Immediately there was a scream, Rosemary's beautiful hair was on fire! Freckles ran as she had never ran before from a far corner of the room. She pushed children out of the way, swung Rosemary round and in the twinkling of an eye, she gripped the blazing hair with her hands and rubbed and rubbed until the flames were out and all that was left were blackened strands of hair. Rosemary fainted away, but Freckles stood stiffly smiling, her little burnt hands hanging limply by her side. Then the room began spinning around and for her too came blackness, and when she awoke she found herself on a bed and her hands were being smothered with some soothing sweet smelling ointment and being bandaged by a kindly grey-haired man, and Rosemary her face streaked with tears and her lovely fair golden hair lying in blackened uneven strands about her face was leaning over her bed. Freckles had a glorious feeling at that moment. She had saved her beautiful Princess. She was a true Lady-in-Waiting.

Mrs. Lane

kissed her freckled cheek tenderly and said,
“Dear brave little girl,” and

Mr. Lane

patted her head and said, “Little Miss Freckles with a heart of gold.”

And after they had helped her home, and her mother had been told the story and was tucking her up in bed, her little bandaged hands plucked at the counterpane.
“Rosemary will still be beautiful, won't she, Mummie? And her hair will grow?” she asked.
“Just as good as ever,” smiled her mother.
“Why does God make some people beautiful and some ugly?” asked Freckles.
“What a question to ask,” replied her mother. “Sometimes ugly people have the kindest hearts and do the bravest deeds—beautiful faces do not make beautiful people—”
“Oh, but Rosemary is beautiful all through. I'll be like her when I grow up. P'raps I might grow beautiful. Maybe my hair will curl and my freckles will fade away. Do you think so?”
“I wouldn't want my little girl to lose her brave heart for all the beauty in the world. Freckles and all, I love you as you are,” and with a fond kiss and “good-night,” her mother left her and before Freckles fell asleep in a contented frame of mind she thought, “P'raps it wasn't so bad to have freckles after all.”

And on the day before Christmas Day, Rosemary sent to Freckles her doll's house and the note tied to it said:
“To dear little Jane of the golden heart wishing you a Merry Christmas, from Rosemary, your loving friend for always.”

In my "Freckle" search, I also stumbled about this kid's book written by Julianne Moore - Freckleface Strawberry.

Advent Catch Up

So I'm a little behind in Maddy's Advent Calendar but here is the recap of this week's activities so far:

Day #6 - Make paper snowflakes

 

Day #7 - Put candy canes on the Christmas Tree

We didn't have actual candy canes to put on - so I made some Baker Clay and "cooked" some candy canes, then when cooled, we painted them.  Notice that I did not have any red paint left either...haha

Day #8 - Go to the Library and get a Christmas book

Maddy's new favorite thing to do is to walk across the street the local library.  Her advent calendar said to get a Christmas book, so she picked two:

Christmas Joys and Merry Christmas Amelia Bedelia (cuz that is what she calls her friend at Daycare).