December Daily - Days 8 - 11

I fell a bit behind - life got busy and I had a couple of "low" days - but I'm all caught up now!

Here we go ...

Day 8:

This was the start of my low period. I wasn't feeling very creative so thought a page of journalling would be enough. On the back of the cover page I stuck the note from the girls' Advent Calendar - they got to make finger puppets. And then I decided to add the price tag from our Christmas Tree. Ali had talked about how she wished she'd included the price of the tree each year and I thought that sounded like a good idea. It will be interesting to see how much extra we pay each year!

As an aside I think I'll add some comments about our tree choice too. We got a Noble Fir and I love its bushiness. There are tons of branches for all of our ornaments. The one thing I'd look for next year is a bit more fullness at the top. We've got this incredibly tall, thin top and with the lit star at the tippy top and then nothing for a good foot, it looks a bit odd. We're also having trouble getting it to stand straight. Ah well, as long as it doesn't fall over I can deal with a bit of a lean!

I thought about including my journalling but have decided not to. If you're really interested you can leave a comment and I'll email it to you. (Or you can just stop by and read it for yourself!) I typed it out after starting to hand write it and running out of room! I could have written more too but decided not to bring the tone of the book down too much!! It's one thing to document "Real life" to have as a reference later, it's quite another to use this as a personal journal to whine, complain and generally vent!

On the back of the journalling page I used a piece of patterened paper and added a picture of Marley's Charlie Brown Christmas tree. When she came back from getting the tree with Greg she had a handful of fir branches. She proceeded to tie them together to make her own tree. She then made ornaments using these stencils I purchased from Scholastics. I was grumpy so not impressed with the mess of pine needles she was leaving behind, but I have to give her credit for all the work she went to. She is such a creative little girl! Love that!!

Oh, and I called it a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree because that's what it reminded me of at the time. Remember, I was feeling a bit sorry for myself and I felt it looked like how I was feeling. A bit ragged and chaotic. But someone loved it enough to give it a home!

 Day 9:

The girls got to make Christmas Cookies today and decorate the tree with Greg.

But the big story of the day was that LC and I got to watch Paige's ballet class.

I went around the house today (Sunday the 12th) and took some pictures of random ornaments/decorations to intersperse here and later (you'll see). I also had a ton of pictures of Paige - who could resist such cuteness?! But I learned from my Day 4 entry and only included a few. One big one on the first page, then 2 on the back. I also added a little journalling and the word 'Joy' as it really describes how Paige feels when she dances. She was looking pretty serious in most pictures because she was concentrating really hard, and also a bit nervous having to perform in front of all the parents, but every now and then her smile lit up her face as she forgot about us and just enjoyed the momement.

Day 10: 

This was Marley's day to show off for the parents! I forgot her ballet shoes at home (boy did I feel bad about that!! on today of all days!) which is why she's tight-less. As with yesterday, I put one big picture of Marley on the main page and two on the back. (I also stuck the note from their Advent calendar onto the back of the cover page. Paige got to decorate some of the Christmas cookies after preschool. Marley had to wait until Saturday to decorate hers.)

I wasn't able to get as many pictures of Marley as I did of Paige which was unfortunate. The viewing arrangements were tighter and Marley was often in a spot I couldn't see very well. Or she had her back to me. OR ... as I wrote about in the journalling strip I added to the second page ... I was busy trying to keep LC from joining in!! She was SO good when we watched Paige the day before but this day just would not sit still. I eventually had to take her out into the waiting area!

Instead of a second picture of Marley I decided to document LC's behaviour. I think it's part of the story of the day and should be remembered! She loves to play with cell phones (she's already destroyed one of my cells) so in an attempt to keep her quiet I gave her my phone. Well, she very quickly figured out that sliding the keypad out unlocks the phone as well as making a cool noise! Then I had to keep a watchful eye to make sure she didn't actually figure out how to text someone! If you received a gibberish text on Friday I apologize!!

Day 11:

Our 4th Annual Christmas Open House!

The journalling tag on the cover page says: " When we moved into this house in 2007 we knew that it was perfect to host large gatherings. That year we held a House Warming combination Christmas Open House. It was so much fun that we made it one of our traditions. 2010 marks the 4th Annual Open House. It wasn't as well attended as we'd hoped but one of our guests called it the "event of the year" so I think we'll keep it on the calendar for 2011!"

I added some more of those pictures I took today of Christmas decor and some rub ons and embellishments on patterned paper. The main page was perfect for my shot of the food table. We generally buy a few appies and ask that people bring something to share. The table was a lot more full than this shortly after the picture was taken but I got so busy in my hostessing duties that I didn't get to take many more pictures that night.

On the back page is a rare family picture! It may show up on a couple of family calendars this year!!

Paige isn't smiling which is pretty much par for the course. She had the additional excuse of being super tired by the time this picture was taken. She and Marley had swimming lessons in the morning and then she went to the birthday party of one of the boys in her preschool just before our party. To say she was in serious need of a quiet cuddle is an understatement!

Well, there you have it. I've got the pictures from today downloaded and hope to have a bit of time tomorrow to put together Day 12. Marley went to a Pirate themed birthday party!!

Thanks for checking in with me again. See you soon!