Dreaming of a White Christmas...

Wow... it's been so long since I've found the time to sit down and write!  I guess Christmas will do that to you!  Every year I say I'm going to be more organized - buy gifts starting in January, have cards done by October, gifts in the mail by December 1 - and every year I'm caught off guard by just how unorganized I am!!  It always costs me more to mail gifts to Danny's family than it does to purchase them.  Next year, I'm shopping online... shipping's usually free!! :)

We arrived in Fredericton (well, technically Lincoln) on Monday to officially kick off our Christmas vacation.  We were supposed to come up Tuesday, but after checking the weather and seeing a ginormous snowstorm coming our way, we decided Sunday night to pack up and be on the road by morning.  That meant around 32 loads of laundry to be done in one day, house cleaned (cause who wants to come home to a disaster?) gifts packed, luggage packed, and all that good stuff!  It was a challenge... but I succeeded!  At 10:30 p.m. Sunday night, I called to Danny to pack up the car.  I was finished!! :)

It's 5 1/2 hours to get to Nanny and Grampy's.  We left at 7 in the morning on Monday.  We had a few stops to make, so by the time we actually got moving on the highway, it was close to 8:00.  We drove straight to Sackville (NB) and stopped for lunch, then carried on until we made it here... safe and sound, and before the snow hit!  Mission accomplished!  I've asked Danny before, "do you ever wish we didn't have kids?" and we both agree on the answer... only when we're driving!  By the time we do all the gas runs, potty stops, lunch breaks, and actual driving, it's an almost 8 hour voyage for us to get here.  And Gracie, God love her, never shuts up the whole way!!  My mom laughs, and says she's just like me.  But there was a big difference when I was a kid.  I didn't care if anybody was listening.  As long as you gave the occasional "uh-huh," or "yes," or "really!?" then I would just keep on talking.  Gracie isn't quite like that.  Gracie's too smart and realizes when you're trying to brush her off.  She expects a reply.  A real one.  Actually, what she expects is for you to repeat what she said, that way she knows you were reallllllllllly listening!  Here's an example:

Gracie:  "Mom, my sock came off.  I took my sock off.  Mom, I took my sock off.  My sock is off.  Mom.  Mommy.  I took my sock off.  Mom?  Mommy!  I took my sock off.  My sock is off.  Mommy.  Mom.  I took my sock off."

Me: "Gracie, did you take your sock off?"

Gracie:  "Yes."

Then 2 minutes of silence before she moves on to the next thing.  So there's no sitting up front, with one of us occasionally throwing out an "uh-huh."  You must be listening.  You must stop what you are talking about to acknowledge her.  You must repeat what she says.  AND, it must be the right person.  Once, Danny replied to her, saying "Yes, Gracie we hear you.  You took your sock off."  To which she replied, "No, daddy.  I'm talking to Mommy.  Mom, I took my sock off......"

Anyway, we made it here, and Tuesday and Wednesday brought us one whopper of a storm.  We lost power for most of the morning on Wednesday.  We went out sledding on the front yard, and Gracie loved it!  When we first went down the hill, I thought she was crying.  Turns out she was laughing so, so hard!  It was hilarious!  Here's a video of the first time she went down the hill by herself.  You'll have to excuse the heavy breathing by me... but carrying a 27-pound child up a hill half a dozen times is more exercise than I've gotten allll year!! :)

Before I go, I must tell you the latest Gracie-ism that took place while we were at supper a couple days ago.  Gracie needed to pee, so we trudged off to the bathroom.  The first stall was taken - "there is a person in there, mommy!" so we opted for stall #2.  While Gracie was doing her thang, the woman in stall #1 let out the loudest fart.  Gracie's mouth dropped open, and she said (very loudly, I may add) "Oh. My. God.  That was the biggest fart!!"  I tried so hard not to laugh, but the woman in stall #1, to her credit, did chuckle a little.  When I took Gracie off the potty, she bent right down to peek under the stall "who is in there mommy??"  I washed her hands, ushered her out, and laughed all the way back to our table!!  

So that's our adventure so far... here's hoping the snow doesn't completely melt away before Christmas.  We love us a white Christmas!  Stay tuned, I'm sure Gracie will find more ways to entertain and amuse us!! :)

Accidents Happen!

It's true... accidents happen!!  And that's how the story of Baby Ford #3 begins.  Just kidding!! :)

My sister was over this morning for our weekly coffee break, and Danny remembered an important lesson... always check behind you while backing out of a driveway.  

This is my sister's new car.  She got it... oh, about 3 weeks ago!   I doubt that she and her husband have christened this car, so Danny took care of it.  He banged her real good!  And let me tell you, it's gonna leave a mark to remember!  Well, at least until we get it to a repair shop to make her all shiny and new again.  Patricia, if you're reading this... let me just say, "Whoops!" (and sorry) on behalf of the Ford Family! :)

We were brought up with a sense of humour, and not to sweat the small stuff... so when Danny came back into the house to tell us what he had done, Patricia did pretty much what I expected her to do.  She said "meh, it's only a car, we'll get it fixed."  In fact, knowing Patricia, she probably apologized to Danny!  "Sorry, Danny... I shouldn't have left the car parked in the side of your driveway where it wasn't in anybody's way!!"  Danny, of course, felt horrible!  But what's done is done, and that's what insurance is for! :)

It's funny how it happens though... and this accident was pretty inevitable, really.  There have been a few times that I've been backing out, only to realize there was a car parked to the side of me.  It's just unfortunate that Danny was the first to not miss the car by mere milimetres.  It's also unfortunate this car was brand-spanking new.

I have done almost this exact same thing once... it was prom night, 2002.  My brother returned from the car wash, and his lovely Toyota Camry was so pretty, and shiny, and waxed up real nice!  He was dressed all purrty, and was just about ready to head out to pick up his date.  I was on my way to work in my beautiful Geo Metro and I backed up and heard that sound... *crunch*  Yup, drove right into the side of Leslie's newly-detailed car.  Whoops!! :)

Then there was the time that Leslie flipped that beautiful Geo Metro on an icy road.  After crawling out of the window of the upside-down car, and sludging through a snow drift to get himself onto the road to call my dad, I believe he said something along the lines of "dad, I forgot to turn the car off!!"

That same Geo Metro was also involved in a little scraper when I was driving down the north mountain in the pouring rain.  The road wasn't paved, and I got caught up in some loose dirt and a rain rut, spun the car around 3 times, knocked over a little tree, scratched the paint a little on the side, and ended up in the ditch.  We pushed her out, carried on our way, and I told my dad about it later that night.  Sorry, mom, we probably didn't feel the need to tell you about it then... but, on behalf of 19-year old me, "whoops!!"  :)

And in case that wasn't enough trauma for my poor little Geo Metro, my dad also wrote her off once after being hit by a gentleman in a snowstorm.  She was a tiny little car, but God, did I love her! :)

When I called to tell my mom and dad about the damage we inflicted on Patricia's car today, she told me a story about how she was rear-ended by a woman on a cell phone at a stop light.  They got out, surveyed the damage, realized there was nothing to really worry about, and carried on... only to have the same woman rear-end my mother again at the next stop light!

And there was the time that my mother was backing into a parking space at a church dinner, and smacked a tree with our station wagon.  She turned around in the seat, said "don't tell your dad," and proceeded to move to a different parking spot, only to hit a different tree!

And, not to pick on my mother, but she also hit our house once.  Not quite sure how you can miss a house in your review mirror, but she certainly didn't miss it with the car!! :)

My brother, in his brand new car, also pulled out in front of somebody once (whoops!) and had his car rear-ended and smashed in 2 days before moving to Ontario.

Patricia had a man back up at a street light, right down the side of her car.  Not quite sure why you would back up at a stop light, but I am quite sure he wont do it again!  She was also rear-ended by a lady at an intersection once, but she sent her on her way without getting any information after she realized there was no damage to her car... except that her bumper fell off once she got home.  

So needless to say... accidents happen (apparently, quite a lot in our family!)!  It's good to have a sense of humour about things!   Just carry on, and start your own collection of embarrassing car moments!  I'm sure my whole family is thrilled I shared all of their stories with you!! :)  Especially my mother, she loves it when I tell that tree story.  So just remember people... there's no point crying over scraped paint!!

Christmas Time is Here...

It's the most wonderful time of the year!  Danny and I both looooove Christmas, and we hope to pass that love onto our children.  We have already established certain traditions, and Christmas decorations are up no later than December 1.  This year we started early, since we are spending Christmas in Fredericton, and we wanted to be able to enjoy our decorations before we leave.

Yesterday was December 1, and we brought home our tree.  It is the biggest, fattest tree we've bought yet... and we've had some pretty big trees!  I don't know how we're going to beat this one next year... but we'll try!! :)

Here she is... hard to capture her largeness!

While the girls were napping today, Danny and I decorated it... she's a beauty! :)

First go the lights...

Then the ribbon!

Bulbs are next!

Star on top...

All finished!! :)

So there's the tree... Gracie likes it, and Ella loooves it!  She just stares at the light... it's so cute!

Gracie kinda sorta understands Christmas.  We have our very own "Elf on the Shelf," and she knows he flies back to the North Pole every night to report to Santa.  We've also told Gracie that the only way Santa brings toys is if you leave some for him to take with him.  She's already picked out 3 toys to give away... they're all Ella's! :)

I think Gracie's favourite part of Christmas is the Advent Calendar... she gets to eat an entire chocolate every single day for 24 days!!  She gets quite excited at supper time, cause she knows it's almost "add-int cow-a-der" time!

The one downside to this time of year is the never-ending everything that goes on!  Shopping, decorating, wrapping, baking, visiting, card-making... all on top of regular every-day life.  This makes me exhausted... because I have apparently yet to return to my pre-pregnancy energy.  This will be the first time in 2 years that I haven't been pregnant at Christmas, but yeesh, I'm so tired, you'd never know it!! :)

And there... my brain just shut off!  Guess that's enough for now!! :)