So that was Christmas

Whew! I totally didn’t mean to go MIA for practically two weeks, but Kyle had the week before Christmas off so we got busy enjoying some family time around the holidays and I pushed blogging onto the back burner. (Can you blame me?)

A lot went on so I figured I’d just break down our Christmas holiday time in bullet-form!

  • Kyle’s dad came into town the weekend before Christmas for dinner and to stay the night. Kyle made an amazing roast beef dinner and the girls enjoyed the visit a lot!
  • Kyle and I took Isla to see her first movie in theatre! We dropped Norah off at Kyle’s mom’s and we didn’t tell Isla where we were taking her, other than it was a surprise. She was super excited when she learned we were watching Moana in theatre, and in 3D to boot! She did awesome and loved the movie, so we cannot wait to take her to another one.
  • Isla and I put together a gingerbread house and she really got into decorating it. While I had a method to my “side” of the roof, Isla went more freestyle so the result was pretty amusing ;)

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  • Right before Christmas Norah had her 18-month doctor check-up. While she’s right on target for growth (and tall, even!), she was diagnosed with an ear infection and so she had to start antibiotics. It would explain why she was waking up in the middle of the night and after a couple days of medicine she was feeling much better and getting back to her usual self!
  • Christmas came bright and early on Sunday! Kyle and I actually woke up before the girls and managed to shower before Norah woke up, and then we all had to go get Isla out of bed to open presents because she was still sleeping at 8 a.m.! Santa spoiled us all rotten and it looked like a wrapping paper bomb had gone off in our living room. We hosted Christmas dinner with 10 of us all together, and Kyle put on an amazing spread! I must say, I’m pretty lucky to have a multi-talented husband; I’ve yet to cook a turkey because Kyle always takes the lead. (He’s far better at multitasking than I am!)

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  • Boxing Day was a bit of a relaxing day for us as we didn’t really leave the house. My dad was coming to town to drop my brother off at my mom’s, so they stopped at our house first to have lunch and exchange gifts. Kyle had to go back to work on Tuesday, so it was nice to have a low-key day since Sunday was pretty hectic.
  • I continued on with our Boxing Day tradition of taking down our Christmas decorations. Isla was pretty sad about it, but as much as I like decking the halls, I like having the house back to normal!
  • On Tuesday the girls and I went down to my mom’s to visit some more with my brother. Norah got to play in the snow for the first time ever and her reaction was pretty standard – freak out at first then warm up to it like any Canadian ;)
  • My mom had gotten Isla a pass for a splatter paint session at 4 Cats Studio, so Norah hung out with my mom while Isla and I went to that. Isla had a blast and didn’t want the session to end, but she’s excited to go back and pick up her masterpiece!

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  • We’re now slowly adjusting to our usual schedule since Isla heads back to school and dance next week. I can’t believe that 2016 is almost over! Year in Review posts to follow this weekend.

How was your Christmas? Was Santa good to you??

Christmas Blog Swap 2015

This year I decided to join in on a fun little Christmas Blog Swap hosted by Leigh and Lindsey! I generally don’t do swaps because I think I’m a lame gift giver most of the time, but this year I thought I’d give it a go. Plus, I love sending (and receiving) mail that’s fun and not bills.

I was partnered up with Jen from Pretty Little Grub. We exchanged a couple of emails back and forth to get an idea of what our personal tastes were and went from there! I had fun shopping around for the perfect ornament to give to her, as well as a couple other little things, but you’ll have to hop over to her blog to see what I came up with ;)

Anyway, it was an exciting mail day when I received my package in the mail! (Fun fact: My MIL works at Canada Post sorting parcels and knows when I’m getting a package before I do. No fair!) It made me happier that the package fit in my mail slot and I didn’t have to make a trek down to the post office outlet to pick it up ;)

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How cute is the little gift box? I’m pretty sure I mailed ours away in a toddler-sized shoe box . Anyway, after (gently) shaking the package, I was curious to see what was inside!

Jen picked out the prettiest little mitten ornament for our Christmas tree, and included a yummy Eos lip balm, a cute, festive wine bottle stopper, and chocolate – ALL the chocolate! I may or may not have devoured it all already … you know, to hide it from Isla …

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The mitten is the perfect addiction to my eclectic mix of tree ornaments! Our Christmas tree has no theme, per say, and it looks perfect hanging in the branches!

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So, thank you, Jen for the lovely ornament!

What’s your favourite Christmas ornament that you have?

Christmas Cards 2015

Hello friends! Once again I’m mailing out Christmas cards, so if you’d like to receive one, please click the link and fill out the form! I’m keeping it live until Friday, November 13, so be sure to fill it out before then!

And as always, if you’d like to send one my way, just send me an email to karawriteswords[at]gmail.com and I can provide my mailing address!