Roses

 

Check out the gorgeous roses I got for my birthday yesterday!

Gingerbread Train

You'd never know there was singing and dancing the entire time by the looks on their faces in this pic!  Such serious work decorating a Christmas Gingerbread Train...

 

Voila!

 

(Advent Calendar Day 3 activity)

The Best Laid Plans...

Well this past weekend went nothing like I thought it would...

 

On Friday night we had a date night planned.  Unfortunately that bug that Damian had been fighting since Tuesday night would just not let up and he was not feeling well enough to justify going out and ordering a fabulous meal that he probably wouldn't be able to taste.  He'd had fever, chills, stuffed up nose and sore throat all week and had been in bed by 8pm every night.  Friday was really no different.  So we traded in our steak dinner for chicken noodle soup. 

 

Saturday the girls were off to Poppa and Lolo's to spend the night and attend their local production of Aladdin.  Unfortunately that too ended up being disappointing with a lot of local references being made and jokes that went right over their heads.  I think they still had a fun time though!

 

My sister and niece came over for a visit on Saturday.  It was a lovely, somewhat relaxing, and enjoyable visit.  It had been so long since we'd had time just us and since Damian still wasn't 100% he was banned to the basement (where he thoroughly enjoyed watching a couple movies).  It was interesting watching Caelan interact with his tiny cousin.  A little insight into the future when Baby #4 arrives. 

 

Caelan pretty excited about holding Jill on his lap!

Sunday the girls were supposed to have curling and we were scheduled to meet Poppa and Lolo there to get them back.  Apparently curling had been cancelled although we never got any notice.  Then because of the mild temperatures and rain that was falling our afternoon plans were cancelled too!  We had reservations to go here and now I'm not sure when we'll get another opportunity to go.  Our weekends are all booked up between now and Christmas!

 

As it seems to have become our routine, Caelan and I spent some time Sunday morning in the kitchen making cookies.  Caelan had a blast adding the smarties on top!  They were warm out of the oven when the girls got home from their cancelled curling so it was perfect timing to brighten their day and put a smile on their faces.

 

We ended up having a Family Fun Movie Night... Something we haven't done in ages.  It was a good night and our first Christmas movie of the season.  I wasn't sure how much of it Caelan would actually watch since it wasn't a cartoon but he did a lot better than I expected.  By the end of it we were all laughing and that's the sign of a great night!

For a weekend where very little went according to plan it still turned out pretty darn good!

Monthly Meal Plan - December

December - another month another menu. This month will be a busy one so I'm trying to keep things simpler and using up all those pre-made meals we've got in the freezer!

1. Stirfry with noodles
2. Pulled Pork Sandwiches
3. Eggrolls, wonton soup and some leftver stirfry with noodles
4. Mommy's Birthday and we're going out!!
5. Tacos
6. Chicken Cordon Bleu
7. Meatballs, rice and veggies
8. Homemade pizza
9. Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken
10. Baked Potato Soup
11. Turkey pot pie
12. Cabbage rolls
13. Homemade mac and cheese
14. Breakfast for dinner
15. Shepard's pie
16. Christmas Party
17. Meatloaf and scalloped potatoes with veggies
18. Pork Tenderloin, rice and veggies
19. Taco soup and Quesadillas
20. Chicken Saltimboca
21. Burgers and Fries
22. Christmas Party at Nana and Grampsy's
23. Steak and Baked Potato, Ceasar Salad
24. Christmas at Gramma and Grampa's
25. Turkey and the whole sha-bang!
26. Christmas at Poppa and Lolo's
27. Leftovers
28. Spaghetti
29. Thai Chicken Wraps with Spicy sauce
30. Toad in the hole (sausages cooked in yorkshire pudding)
31. New Year's Eve - Christmas with the Cubaynes and we haven't discussed menu yet!

Let the countdown begin!

December is here and it's time to start the advent calendars...

 

 

Look how much someone LOVES me!!!

Best early birthday present EVER!

 

I'm so happy with my new advent calendar.  I have all 24 countdown activities written out but have to get them in their respective containers before the girls get home!  It's just going to take a little coordinating with the already busy December calendar.