We went to the cabin today between the holidays, supposedly for some unplugged relaxation.  HA!  Remember the weekend I went to the cabin by myself for 48 hours for my birthday?  Yeah, that spoiled me and it has never been as good since.  I keep thinking…remember the weekend when pillows/blankets/half-eaten apples/Duplo’s/ crayons/children weren’t scattered all over the floor…all the time?  But I digress.

We got to Langley in the afternoon, dropped off Dwayne, the kittens, and the cooler and went up to the Meerkerk Gardens of fairy fame.  Not surprisingly, we had all those acres to ourselves.  Right away, Piper spotted a rhody that was actually blooming. I have one in my own yard that blooms early February, but I don’t have anything flowering in December.

 

I take lots of pictures of Wesley whenever he isn’t cranky, and I’m afraid I may have given the impression he is always the cheerfully adorable chap you see here.  He isn’t.

We found one more rhododendron covered in blooms.  Christmassy, isn’t it?

A monkey tree is the perfect backdrop for a picture of my three.

 

On our explorations, we found fairy houses partially intact from last summer, and a few with their original denizens!

 

We found a little Dopey Dwarf snuggled in a hiding spot in the Secret Garden.

 

And when we got back, Daddy took over for a few minutes before making dinner. Phew!

 

My kids were determined that they were going swimming on the 26th of December (grouses their mother who has done the Polar Bear Plunge for 3 years now).  I kept them busy playing until 4pm and said they could go before we left.  And it was a lot colder at 4pm than it was at 2:30, so only Wesley still wanted to go.  He took off his pants and went far enough in to submerge his toes.  Then we both ran back to the warmth of the car!

Just some shots for posterity, really of no interest to anyone else.

I love Christmas Eve services with family, and it doesn’t hurt to serve us cocoa and cookies.  The kids didn’t mind, and I didn’t even want to count how many treats Piper began the evening with. 

Julie and Keith hosted with pizza and…alcohol.  (J&K are certainly still Christians but not Lutherans.)  Let me just say this about Julie:  she’s sneaky.  Sneaky, like “Here’s some (4 different bottles) stuff to put in your innocent hot cider that makes it taste really good.  Here’s some sangria I made [everyone knows how sneaky sangrias are for getting one to imbibe without really noticing].  Here’s a great bottle of red wine to go with the pizza.”  See what I mean?  Some would call her an excellent hostess.  I say she just excels at getting me tipsy on Christmas Eve.

The kids had a few gifts to open before I stopped taking pictures and started focusing on hot cider.  Cecily was thrilled about her new backpack.  Well, maybe not thrilled.  She finally just caught up to what Parker had that she coveted.  That’s a score for little sister.

 

Piper loves her gifts.

 

Grandma and Grandpa fully fed his superhero complex—Spiderman pj’s, underwear, action figure…

..is that a little Clark Kent trying to get out?

 

And my beautiful Kyla…

 

And I don’t want to even think about all the desserts Julie served.  Piper and I were trying to out-gorge the other when we realized it was 10pm and we hadn’t heard the boys for a while.  Unfortunately, Wes and Parker weren’t sleeping but dumping out every board game they could find downstairs.  We left.

Santa was on his way!  (Stay tuned to see how much coal Wesley got this year.  It should be enough to heat our house the rest of winter.)

My wonderful, wonderful friend, Rochelle, took all three kids for the day today.  (I take her daughter occasionally for overnights, but I’m just adding one more kid who entertains my kids.  When she takes mine, she quadruples her child population, so I am particularly grateful to her.)

With an afternoon to myself, I put on an audio book and started shoveling.  Actually the kids’ rooms didn’t look so bad, but I was determined to go through everything and get rid of all clothes too small, stained, ripped, or simply unworn.  I got rid of stuffed animals never played with, puzzles missing pieces, toys that liked to scatter but were never actually played with, and collected “treasures” that weren’t (scribbles on paper scraps, rocks, etc.).  I went through everything but the books, but I will do that with each child.   As I sorted, everything that didn’t immediately go into the garbage or recycling got tossed into the hallway. 

 

This is what the hallway looked like just before I hid everything in my room and went to pick up the kids. 

 

Most of it is bagged in the car ready to be donated or recycled or returned to original owner.  Some I’ve kept but have hidden in boxes.  They are nice toys, but I don’t think their absence will be noticed, especially with Christmas tomorrow.  I’ve attacked my own closets without mercy as well, so I’m not just taking things away from the kids. 

It’s not very catchy, but I’m going with “Less stuff in 2014!”

It was Wesley’s first ballet, so he put on a pink tutu over his button down and vest (with snow boots, of course!).  He really enjoyed 90% of the show, and then he fell asleep in my arms for the last few numbers. 

* * * * *

 

If you are going to see a community (not Pacific NW Ballet Co.) Nutcracker production, I have to recommend the Cornerstone Studio, mostly because of the breakdancing. 

I took my mom, aunt, the three kids and friends for both Kyla and Piper to the matinee performance today. (My dad and husband politely declined their tickets.)  The first half was fine, certainly different levels of abilities with lots of great costuming.  But the second act, with all Russian, Chinese, Arabian, etc., dances, was phenomenal.  The director used loose interpretations of the selections, and the Russian dance became an amazing break/street dance of a puppeteer and his “puppet” (a younger, fellow dancer).  The Chinese dance was both ballet and acrobatics, which was so entertaining.  I’ve never seen the Arabian dance done so perfectly.  The Nutcracker Prince had been dancing since he was two, and was easily one of the most graceful and fluid dancers on stage that day.  He also sported a Mohawk (mostly pinned down to uphold his deal with the director), so I am a fan.  I’d see this again.  

This is the best one can get with a lousy camera and 5 children!

 

 

For the second act, I found 4 seats in the very front for the girls, so they would be able to see better.  They got to show me how they could act like young ladies, and they were perfect!

 

And then the girls got pictures with my two favorite dancers, the Prince and the Arabian.

My brother, Brian, and his wife, Sandi, were able to come up for the weekend before Christmas so we could be together as a family for at least one day (Sandi is an oncology nurse at a hospital, night shift—not conducive to normal schedules!)

The next shots are only partially curated and were taken with a cheap camera that has been dropped too often.  What I’m saying is that this is only a post for the people who were there this evening and are trying to find a good shot of themselves or their children. 

Parker and Wesley had matching jammies (on accident), and looked more like twins than cousins.

 

It’s an annual tradition.  It is worth the late bedtime…once a year.

The Sugar Plum Fairy is new this year.

 

The kids get peppermint lollipops and we get more bubble-snow.  Kyla always tries to taste it.

 

Wesley was happy to just sit crankily in the stroller. Ironic, huh.

 

And then I had to put the camera down and just dance.  One of the reasons I love Snowflake Lane so much is that Dwayne will always dance with me!

 

Getting closer to a Christmas card shot.