Christmas-Day Secrets

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I think I finally found it: the secret to a perfect Christmas.

Now before you whip yourself into a tizzy trying to guess what it is, just remember what you know about me. I have a healthy reputation for reinventing the wheel. . . over and over and over again.

So, if you're wondering what the secret is, I think I can squeeze it into two words: preparation and simplicity ("and" doesn't count). This year, for the first time in my life, I started getting things for Christmas around the time school started. I barely went into a store during the last two weeks (and when I did, I rarely found what I was looking for, let alone at a price I wanted to pay). Add to that "simplicity," which in our case meant one Santa present for each kid (it ended up being two, but whatever), and books, art supplies, and a gift card from us, and voila! Easiest Christmas ever. Besides that, we really put the kids in charge of gifts for each other this year, suggesting that they make things, or use their own money to buy. What a lot of hassle that got rid of! It's nice that they're old enough to make some interesting things.

With all that preparation out of the way, there was a little extra time left over during December for some fun stuff. I suppose if we didn’t have a conductor in the family it might have been a lot of extra time, but there’s no such thing as an wide-open Christmas season where musicians are concerned. Even a little went a long way though. We baked cookies and made almond toffee and sang Christmas carols around the piano, of course, but we also managed to cram everyone into the van one night to go pick out a Christmas tree—to cut down ourselves. No, no, it wasn’t out in the middle of the woods or anything (if there are woods in Saskatchewan, nobody has told us about them), but there is a cute little tree farm just outside of town where they grow trees. When we got there, the owners gave us a couple of sleds, one for the kids and one for the tree, and we trekked back through the snow to choose one. Not one tree on the whole lot stood over six feet tall, but after looking around for a while, Aaron found us one that was a little taller than most, and sawed it right down. They had hot cocoa and cookies waiting for us when we got back to the shop, and then we sang along with Harry Connick Jr. and admired the northern lights (we can see them from here!) on the way back home.

Although it looked a little tacky once we finally got it decorated, it was tacky with love, overflowing with hand-made ornaments created by all the little hands in our family. The kids had fun lying together under the tree and imagining Christmas morning. And everyone, Sera included, got pretty good at belting out Angels We have Heard on High, which turned out to be this year’s favorite carol. We attended all Aaron’s concerts, and managed to squeeze in some Christmas caroling and cookie deliveries.

After we had counted down almost all the days to Christmas, the kids got a big surprise. On December 23, we packed them all into the van and told them we had to go on a long drive to go pick up a big bag of rice that was on sale (why rice? Who knows—they’re gullible, so we took advantage). We sang and chatted as we drove for 45 minutes, and amazingly, there wasn’t much complaining. As we got closer to our destination, we told the kids to look for a place that had the word “mineral” on the sign. Bright kids that they are, they found a big one that said Temple Gardens Mineral Spa. No alarm bells went off in their brains. So we went inside, carrying a big suitcase (to hold the rice, of course). Right away the kids noticed that this place looked like a hotel. “Aw, I wish we could stay here!” Theo and Addy started saying. Then we saw an enormous mineral pool that extended outside. “I wish we could go swimming” came next. Just then a lady came by and asked the kids if they had come to swim. “No, we just came for the rice,” Theo said dejectedly. Then they noticed a swimsuit shop and Theo, Addy, and Emerson started talking about whether or not they could pool the money in their accounts to buy swimsuits. Well, rather than prolonging their agony, Aaron and I told them to open the suitcase to make room for the “rice.” They practically fell over when they saw their swimsuits inside! We swam all evening, then watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas and ate a fabulous spinach/feta pizza for dinner in our super-fancy suite with two rooms, a fireplace, and a huge mineral-water Jacuzzi tub. We let the kids open their new pajamas before bed and stay up late watching A Christmas Carol. They told us probably a thousand times how awesome we were, and what parent doesn’t love that?

We got home in time for a nativity pageant on Christmas eve, some last-minute wrapping (not much—I really did start earlier this year), and went to bed happy (aside from Aaron’s and my yearly quarrel about which things should be from Santa). Christmas morning was perfect for everyone, and we even did the Eyre Eggs Benedict tradition that we’ve been so half-hearted about. Then we kissed 2008 good-bye, a little sadly. It was a good year for us (compared to 2007), and we hope it was for you too!

Countdown to Christmas

Winter!


The magic of Christmas

Sera's favorite Christmas friends


Cutting down our own Christmas tree!

At Temple Gardens Mineral Spa:
The best bath ever!

Warming up at the spa

Our favorite spot was outside, where the temperature was -30 or so, but the water was HOT-- We hopped out and ran around in the snow, then jumped back in!

It wore Sera right out . . .

. . . but not these guys!


Christmas Eve!
(I didn't do so well with Christmas day shots, though)

Because the Canadian Post Office just made my black-list: Our Christmas Card

December 2008
Okay, so life with a family of six isn’t always easy, but it sure is interesting! With neither infant nor pregnancy to slow us down, we’ve been amazed at how much we can accomplish. The year has been as full as it has been fun, with a family reunion in Yellowstone and a ten-year-anniversary trip to Denmark and Sweden (yes, my husband rocks!) as highlights. Aaron loves his job as choral director at the University of Regina, and even took on the orchestra this year. Meanwhile, I’ve been squeezing a bit of writing between full-time mothering and teaching a couple of music classes. Canada can be pretty chilly, but we’ve learned to go “tobogganing” (a.k.a. sledding) to keep the blood pumping, and the giant canisters of hot chocolate help a lot.

Merry Christmas!

Love, The Mitchells

___________________________

Theo

A spitfire of energy and ideas, Theo has fallen hard for science this year. He comes home from our library trips loaded down with thick tomes about space, magnets, experiments, and electricity. Full of big plans for improving the world, he has an entire drawer filled with “treasures” (aka: garbage) which he uses for his many “inventions”—a true recycler!

Addy
Addy would be my little mini-me if she wasn’t so much better than I am at most things! She paints and colors and draws stacks of pictures for everyone in the extra hour she has before the rest of us wake up each morning. She enjoys French immersion kindergarten, which she started this year, and serenades us with the cute songs she learns there.

Emerson
Full of style and spunk, Emerson keeps us laughing. He’ll strike up conversation and friendship with any stranger he meets, no matter their age, and he’s an awesome grocery shopping companion. Sera thinks he’s pretty much the king of the universe, and he’s gentle and sweet with her. He loves nursery and preschool, and plans to be Santa Claus when he grows up.

Sera
This girl is nothing but trouble. If it’s not dancing naked on the kitchen table, it’s coloring all over herself and the walls with marker or flushing the toilet sixteen times in a row. But her cheeks are so kissable (and we mean all of them) that it’s hard to get mad when she flashes her killer grin. She’s a total movie-star, and adores performing and applause.

November Nothings

My apologies for my alliteration addiction--I should probably see someone about that.

Right. So, not that much actually happened this month. Theo and Addy started indoor soccer to stay warm, now that the temperatures are plunging. Emerson and Sera are pretty much just trooping around to playgroups and stores with me (not Christmas shopping, thankfully—I managed to get that done early for once in my life). We’re building up a nice supply of Christmas decorations, as I’ve been taking Theo to an awesome Christmas craft time at the library each week, and Addy has been attending a different Christmas craft class at the local arts center—I might be able to make it through the holidays without even braving our somewhat disorganized storage room!

Aside from that, here are some ups and downs and a few pictures. The Christmas cards are pretty much ready to go, so if you’ve moved, make sure we have your new address!