Okay so I got to experience my first ever green Christmas. It was still Christmas, but I have to admit that the next time I experience a green Christmas, I am hoping it will be on an island!!
It's Boxing day today, and we have finally seen some snow. I'm not convinced it is going to last beyond the day because it is above freezing, but it somehow makes the season a bit more festive!!
I am not sure I have ever seen Erin quite so excited in my life!! It literally took until 9:30pm on Christmas Eve for her little body to finally say 'enough - go to sleep!!' We had a great evening though. I picked up some take-away Chinese food for dinner. It was odd though in that Christmas Eve was so warm I didn't need a jacket! We lit candles around the house, had dinner, and talked about Santa's arrival down our road, and of course the order in which he was going to deliver toys to everyone! We tracked Santa both on TV and on the Internet. Erin was excited to see him flying over top of Buckingham Palace!! Everytime she heard the wind blow, she swore it was Santa. We don't have a fireplace (we are intalling one next year - so Santa can come in the conventional way - ha ha, I'm kidding!!), so Erin didn't know how he would come in the house. We decided to leave the patio door unlocked so he could come up onto the deck and bring her presents into the house that way! We baked cookies and cut up apples to leave for Santa and his reindeer. Once the wild girl was finally off to sleep, 'Santa' got to work! Santa Gord put together the Barbie house that Erin saw in the toy store and I went to wrapping and unpackaging. I have no idea who came up with the bright idea of torturing parents by packaging toys in a way that want to drive you to drink, but I'm thinking about starting another blog on that subject - there has to be a parent's lobby group out there somewhere to deal with the distress we all feel when taking 500 twist ties off of a simple little toy..... The stomach flu has been making it's way around the neighbourhood, and I was it's lucky victim on Christmas Eve. There I was wrapping presents and dropping my head into the toilet. Not particularly the most wonderful Christmas vision, eh? I think Gord and I finally nodded off sometime around 1:00am.....
Christmas morning woke me up before 6:00am. Erin was still snoozing away, but the dog got me up and I couldn't get back to bed. I decided to see what movies were on TV, and sat down and watched 'Click' - I love mindless Adam Sandler movies! When Erin finally woke up around 7:30am, we were greeted with a very sick little girl with a high fever and a nasty cough. We gave her some tylenol, and then she came bounding out to see what Santa brought her! She was pretty funny this year. Last year she would open a present, then want to sit and play with it. I thought it would take forever to get everything opened. This year was completely the opposite. She would take a gift, unwrap it, look at it, toss it aside and get something else!! Once she had everything opened, then she went back to play with everything! By the way, the Barbie house was a big hit! I think her favourite toy though was of all things a Nemo view finder. Yeah, you guys know what I am talking about. Those plastic binocular-like toys where you put a circular film strip in and you click the big handle? They are still pretty neat, and she loves it! Despite all of the high-tech stuff out there these days, I guess the simple toys are still the most fun!!
Santa was good to Gord and I as well. Gord received an XM Satellite radio and speaker docking station, and I got a video ipod. Very cool....
We decided to have dinner at our place this year, so around 10:00am, Gord and I started in ernest, to put preparations together for dinner. I picked up a huge turkey (30 lbs) and I was just glad we were able to squish the big bird into the pan!! Erin helped me to set the table (see the pics of her great work?!!), and Gord went and picked up his sister and mother in Ottawa. I guess that was the good part about no snow, at least it was a good day to travel anywhere. Everyone started to arrive shortly after 3:00pm. I was really happy to see my sister-in-law's beau Bill come out (Patricia had to work, so I hoped he would come), and her daughter Jane, who is home from Edmonton came as well. All told, there were 15 people here and I think everyone had a good time, and certainly enough to eat! My fridge is packed! Mmmmmm...... turkey leftovers!! Everyone left just before 8:00pm. Erin asked if she could play with some stickers as I began the thankless clean-up job. By the time I brought a sticker book out to the living room from her room, she was out like a light. Gord had brought his sister and mother back to Ottawa, so I had a chance to get the place cleaned up before he came home. When he came home, we found that Erin's fever had returned - she is just fighting a cold - so we gave her some more tylenol and put her to bed. I was pooped, so it didn't take me long to crash myself.
Erin woke up in pretty good humour this morning. She is really congested, but you know, this is a good week for her to be a bit sick, because we are both home and there is no more big plans for the week, so everyone can relax and rest. She is sleeping right now. I gave her somed medicine for her stuffy nose and had her take a nap to help her get better. Gord is out braving the electronic stores to see what Boxing day goodies are on for good prices!
Like I said there are no big plans for the week. We will have the odd visit with friends, and I have promised Erin to take her to see Charlotte's Web at the movies. I love Christmas holidays!!
Enjoy the pics and I'll check in before we bring in 2007 (I hope!!).
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