Go Fish!!

Tonight after dinner Sebastian, Jamie and I played "Go Fish". This was the first time Sebastian has ever played a card game with us (his Flash cards don't count) and it was awesome watching Sebastian's face when he went fishing and actually found a match for the card he asked for!!

Jamie and Sebastian were a team and Jamie helped Sebastian recognize the shapes of the cards and the numbers by teaching him how to count the "spots".

It really was a lot of fun, with Sebastian actually seeming to understand the concept of the game, and this means...drum roll please...that family game night has now begun!! Yippeee! Can't wait for our next one!

Just arrived home after having an enjoyable Christmas with Jamie's family. We arrived at "the Farm" (as I affectionately call Jamie's parents home) mid-afternoon on the 24th and stayed put until shortly after noon on Boxing Day.

It was a wonderful holiday characterized by relaxing and just enjoying each other's company. We spent Christmas Eve enjoying the traditional spread of cheese and meat platters, fresh fruit, baked Camembert with cranberries, Trifle and Christmas cheer (mulled wine, rum and eggnog, rye etc.) with Aunt Janice and Aunt Jennifer before slumbering down for the night. Sebastian was up by six and we were greeted by Papa already awake with fresh coffee brewing soon to be followed by Nonee joining us and Aunt Becky shortly thereafter.

After opening our stockings we sat down for breakfast and enjoyed the Lazy Wife's Breakfast that Aunt Janice had kindly left with us the night before. After breakfast we returned to the living room where we listened to carols on the radio while we continued to open our presents. Sebastian opened everyone of his gifts slowly and examined each one before waiting patiently for his next gift (the Christmas Elf hands gifts out and we wait until someone has opened a gift before the next gift is handed out). It's hard to say for certain if Sebastian had a favourite gift. He most definitely enjoyed his gift from Papa, in which he gave Sebastian a handmade wooden dump truck and the wooden tea seat that "Santa" had given him.



Once presents were opened preparation for the evenings dinner soon commenced. By 3 p.m. the house was full and it was time for gift opening once again. We merrily enjoyed each others company and with full and happy stomachs went to bed shortly after everyone departed for the night and after Sebastian had some cuddle time with his Aunt Becky.

Boxing Day morning we all slept in (sleeping in for us was 8 a.m.!), enjoyed leftovers and lazed about, with Sebastian spending more quality time with his Aunt Becky, until it was time to head home.

Sebastian was sad to go, as he always is, but we told him not to cry as we'd be back again one day.... We weren't even at Guelph Line before he was fast asleep! Anyways, we're now home for a few days and then we'll be off to Fort Erie to celebrate my dad's birthday and the New Year with my family.

Thanks for such wonderful memories,
Kim

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Wishing you and your family a wonderful holiday surrounded by family and friends and all the best wishes for a prosperous New Year!!

Snow!

Visual of the actual amount of snow sitting on our patio table! Looks like a giant cupcake!!

This weekend, as I'm sure a lot of you already know, we were hit with snow... lots and lots of snow! As we didn't get a lot of opportunity on Saturday to go out and play we made sure we were out of the house by 9 a.m. on Sunday to venture out for our snow adventure.

This was my tobaggon from when I was Sebastian's age

Our first stop, after daddy shoveled the walk, was to the park where Sebastian experienced the joys of tobogganing for the first time. The snow was literally past his knees but he did a great job walking through the drifts, even surviving a few face plants along the way, and doing a few angels in the snow. Along the way home we stopped in a little abandoned yard where Sebastian and daddy played while I dug out the car. I've never found the need for snow pants but now that we are so active in the snow I really must look into purchasing a pair in the new year for myself! Snow angels in jeans just doesn't cut it!! Brrrr!!! And I really don't want to be the one stuck shoveling out the car when I could be playing instead!



We then went home and enjoyed hot chocolate before Sebastian settled down for a long winter's nap.

We call this the bunny hill...

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

When Sebastian was 3 mos old we celebrated his first Christmas. Being his first it was very special but there really isn't too much a 3 month old can do, except of course be put in a Santa outfit and have a million and one flashes of the camera in your face. The next year Sebastian was 15 months old. He was walking, running and talking and although he didn't pay too much attention to all the ornaments and trinkets he definitely enjoyed himself being surrounded by family and friends. This year however, has been so much different and I don't want this feeling to end....

Sebastian has brought back the magic of Christmas.

For example, we've been taping the old classic holiday specials and watching them together curled up on the couch as a family. We've also enjoyed watching Sebastian place items in his quilted advent calendar that Nonee had made for us. Sebastian has a lot of fun putting his hand into the "magic Christmas bag" and pulling out one holiday themed item to place in the calendar daily. While eating he'll look at the calendar and talk about what pictures he sees and the item he thinks he's going to be pulling out of the bag next i.e., a gingerbread man.

This year also marked our first Santa Claus parade, our first real live (as live as a chopped tree can be) Christmas Tree, Christmas Carrol's, Santa Claus and of course Christmas Specials. And the fact that it isn't even Christmas yet and we're having so much fun is making it difficult for me to contain my excitement for the actual day!!

And I guess what also makes Christmas so special for us with Sebastian is that we've been able to begin to teach Sebastian the importance of giving and that Christmas is a time to spend with our loved ones and family (not that those are two separate things) and to appreciate just how lucky we are. Because that in itself, is the true magic.

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?
-- Theodor Seuss Geisel

Santa's Message to Sebastian

Sebastian received a special email from Santa Claus today and we, Sebastian and I, thought we'd share. Click here to see it!

Magic

As I mentioned in an earlier post we had purchased our first real Christmas Tree this year. During the past week I slowly began decorating the tree. First the lights went on the tree Sunday night, then on Tuesday the garland, on Friday I placed a minimal amount of decorations out (all stuff that Sebastian could safely touch) around the house and then on Saturday night Jamie and I decorated 3/4 of the tree, leaving the lower branches for Sebastian to decorate with all the non-breakables this morning.

Sebastian was a pro, as you will see, with decorating the tree and thoroughly enjoyed himself. It was wonderful watching his face light up as he took each ornament out of the special Christmas tin we had placed them in, and then put them on the tree. Anyways, it was a special morning for all of us and I thought I'd share this little snippet of Sebastian in action. Hope you enjoy it:

Big Cousin!!

Sebastian is now a big cousin!!!

On Wednesday December 3rd, my sister/Aunt Shari, gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Sophia Violet Carpenter. We had the honour of finally meeting her on Saturday and I'm trying to get Sebastian to say Sophia but right now he just likes to refer to her as his "Baby Girl Cousin"!! He actually didn't pay her too much attention, spending the majority of his time playing with his cousin Jeremy's toys, but that was okay with me as it gave me more time to cuddle with my new niece!

Congratulations again to Shari, Dave, Kassandra and Jeremy!

Our weekend...

On Saturday after Sportball we loaded up the car and headed to Paris to help celebrate Nana's 82nd birthday. While there Sebastian played with his relatives and enjoyed sitting on his Great Grandad's lap and having a story read to him. Jamie purposely brought along the book Green Eggs and Ham for Grandad to read to Sebastian as Grandad, as the story goes, used to read Green Eggs and Ham to Aunt Janice so often when she was a child that he literally had nightmares from the book! We're hoping he didn't have nightmares of Green Eggs and Ham on Sunday night, but even if he did, just as when Aunt Janice was a child, I'm sure it was worth it!



And on Sunday we ventured out to purchase our very first Christmas Tree! Sebastian helped pick it out and after we got home we put it out on the back deck to let it relax. However, that didn't last too long as it started to rain...so in the house it came. It was also a first for me too as I've never had a live tree before and it was wonderful smelling the tree all evening. Sebastian however doesn't quite agree that the tree smells wonderful as he told us this morning that it smelled stinky! Oh well... he may change his mind once it's actually decorated!



We then spent the remainder of our afternoon singing while my cousin Kelly accompanied our beautiful voices (ha ha) with the violin. Sebastian absolutely loved his jam session and thoroughly enjoyed having his own playmate once again. He has quickly caught that when we have company they really aren't here to visit with us!