Monday, December 28, 2015

And then Christmas also happened!

THE CHILDREN SLEPT IN UNTIL AFTER 8am MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ME. Eleanor woke up  and was like, I have an idea! After breakfast, let's open all of our presents. And I was like, Hahahah good plan, you reasonable beast.


Eleanor wanted to be 'the elf,' by which she meant the person who gets the gifts and brings them to the recipient.


I though Geneva would be more baffled, because of how overwhelmed she was at Early Pretend Christmas, but she was extremely businesslike about the entire thing. Eleanor would be all, GENEVA IT IS YOUR TURN I HAVE A PRESENT FOR YOU and Geneva would drop whatever giant giraffe she was snuggling


and pull the new present onto her lap like Ok yes I will take care of this very important task for you. Eleanor got some stamps, and spent the morning playing librarian. 'But I only work on Tuesdays!' Joel and I each cried off after two hand stamps, but Geneva had like zero reservations.


Lookit them arms.


Geneva got a bunch of dinosaur magnets, which she organizes according to her own internal logic.


We had to scootch them out of the way for Joel's organ magnets. Impromptu biology lesson!


We are rich now in puzzles.


And books.


Eleanor got a 'Mary Bobbins' ornament because I'm taking her to see the play in the spring. LONG-DISTANCE CHRISTMAS GIFT!


Joel worked Boxing Day, and Eleanor was like, HOW DO WE CELEBRATE BOXING DAY? And I was like, I dunno, we put stuff in boxes? And she was like, OK COOL don't put the Mary Bobbins ornament in a box because I want to, and I want to put in a box all the ornaments off my own tree.


So we did that, and then we went out and bought me like $75 worth of new baking sheets and a knife sharpener and a second round of the tupperware set that we bought maybe a year ago, which we have LOVED and now I only have one type of tupperware in MANY DEPTHS but only three lid sizes and also cookie sheets I can put in the dishwasher without ruining and also my knives are all sharp and I am feeling super middle-aged about all this but look.


And then Geneva got croup,


which is my least favorite Christmas tradition.

Christmas! Is a thing that happened. After Christmas Eve, which also happened.

Oh man, every year is the best year. Ok so. Joel worked Christmas Eve morning, but I'm not hanging around the house all day because nothing is open and also not giving my kids a bunch of new toys that I happen to have wrapped and waiting. LOOK AT THESE TWO AND TELL THEM THEY HAVE TO WAIT ALL DAY FOR THEIR STOCKINGS.


I mean, right. We did them one present at a time, taking turns, and it was SO CIVILIZED and took like an hour.


Geneva got a photo album full of pictures of the two of them together, and reading it is how she spent Eleanor's turns.


They each got a new rolling pin because the one we have for play-doughing is awful. Geneva's just rolling her thighs.


Geneva got some trucks, Eleanor got some stickers, Geneva got a mermaid, Eleanor got a robot; she has named him Cherry Cake. Boop be boop.


Everybody got toofbrushes.


(Gotta roll my thighs some more.)


Eleanor spent the morning doing arts.


Geneva spent the morning trying to carry all her treasures around at one. (Come here, moots.)


Geneva is really into watching what Eleanor is up to, she doesn't even usually mind that she can't touch. (Dooon tutsh!)


It was pretty lightly snowing, so we took some of the more waterproof toys outside to play in the yard.


The girls waited for Joel so hard


so that we could have hot chocolate and watch The Grinch.


We had a Chinese food


(that is like the longest ginger beef of ever, Eleanor)


and then Eleanor put the take-out bag on her head and chased Geneva around for a bit.


THE END.

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Simple pleasures.

I gave the girls tea because Eleanor is still so sick and will eat literally nothing and I just wanted to put fluids into her body, and they both spilled on their shirts and turmeric really stains so I changed their shirts, and I had put Eleanor into her Bogey-dog shirt and Geneva saw that and LOST HER MIND. 


And I was like, Ha HA, do I have a treat for you. And I went into the vault and dug out HER OWN Bogey-dog shirt. MMMUAH!


And literally every ten minutes, for the rest of the evening. GO-GEE! GO-GEE!



Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Seen better days.

Eleanor has been sick. 


Like, pretty sick. 


This is Geneva, right before she pooped in the bath. 


Tomorrow is gonna be better. 

Saturday, December 12, 2015

The Wishing Pickle

Joel was absent from supper all last week (he was home in the mornings instead. Two days I left Geneva with him, dropped Eleanor off at preschool, and then wandered through Indigo, drinking a seasonal beverage and talking myself out of buying these shot glasses that were shaped like tiny copper mugs JUST THE RIGHT SIZE FOR A LARGE DOLL OR SMALL CHILD but omg they were $10 each). He was home last night, so I roasted a chicken. You gotta capitalize, feed your babies some protein.

Afterwards, I'm denuding the carcass and pull out the wishbone, so I call Eleanor over and explain wishbones to her. 'I wish for a present,' she says. We pull the wishbone and it snaps and she gets the top bit. 'I wonder when I will get my present!' Well, Christmas is coming, and so is your birthday, so probably then.

The next day (today), we stopped by the post office on the way home to pick up a package. We ALMOST didn't stop, Geneva was crying and it was already past noon and everyone was hungry, but I just couldn't wrap my head around getting everyone back into their gear after naps and walking back down, and we were already out. Literally the only good thing about being away from family during the holidays is receiving giant boxes full of gifts.


We hauled it home and everyone had lunch and a nap and then Eleanor and I opened the box to put the presents under the tree. To Eleanor's great delight, one of them was labelled Open me NOW. 'It's my present!' Eleanor says. 'My wish came TRUE.'


It's a Christmas pickle from my sister. Eleanor screamed with laughter. A Christmas pickle.


We've been talking about Santa, whether he's real, whether he really brings presents. I love whimsy and wonder but I am deeply uncomfortable with lying to my children. I feel the same way about wishing, and I dread the day she realizes that wishes don't all come true. The Disappointment of Eleanor is my worst nightmare (don't talk to me about the time she was at the mall with her dad, and they saw a princess headed towards her car and they couldn't get to her in time to say hi). But this was so magical and such perfect timing. She has years ahead of her to learn that winning the wishbone won't always land you a Christmas pickle, so I'mma let this one ride. 

Tuesday, December 08, 2015

Bouncy castles. Winterludes.

Other things we have been doing! Mailed some Christmas cards.


Dinovember slid into December.


Eleanor spent a literal solid hour decorating and re-decorating her dinosaur tree.


Geneva you have a drinking problem.


The Elf on the Shelf is out and about, and Geneva LOVES HIM and is always trying to feed him bits of her lunch. Nummmnumnumnum!


Oooh! There was a free bouncy castle day at the mall, they had like six of them set up in what used to be the Target (and then, briefly, the Halloween Store). Geneva has gotten to the telling-you-stories-about-things stage, and she's always bringing up this cow that was wandering around the castles, giving out pencils.


And then she'll give herself a high-five and go 'SIVE!'


And then, Huggggggg.


And then, Houm! Because the cow eventually went to her home and both girls were like DEEPLY sad about this. But then Geneva will say 'Dassle!' By which she means 'castle,' and then she will bob a little bit and go 'bowse, bowse' and whenever we are talking unrelatedly about like princess castles or whatever she's like, BOWSE! Because she thinks all castles are for bouncing.


So that was just like an extremely Saskatoony thing that happened. ANOTHER SASKATOONY THING was the Winterlude Festival. Remember the theater troupe that put on Hercules in the park last summer? They put on a musical version of that seminal Canadian classic, The Hockey Sweater. Both the girls got to be extras. Look at those leetle Maurice Richards!


Also there was free hot chocolate.


Geneva, you hamball.


I don't wanna eat your orange.