Christmas didn't come too early, Sprout was the first one up at about 8 o'clock with Little Dude right behind him.  They got Munchkin up and the fun began!  First the stockings...though Little Dude was trying to pull presents from under the tree, stacking the ones with his name on them near his stocking.  I tried to have them take turns picking presents to give out...but chaos errupted as they tried to get into presents before someone was finished opening theirs, they even opened one of mine!!...so I took over and made them sit near their angry birds blankets and wait until I called their name! 

 Little Dude picked out a couple of things from the top of his stocking and then tipped the stocking over and dumped everything out at once.  Munchkin on the other hand pulled things out one by one exclaiming surprise and excitement for each one.  Little Dude asked, "How come Munchkin has more things in his stocking?"  HA!...had to break it to him that he had the same amount, the difference was in the unwrapping!

 Sprout went to Big E for help with his orange.

 A recorder!!  Music lessons start in January!

 Excitement over Sprout's present...they all run to see.

 A rope bridge!  (For Thomas the Train trains.)

 A Wii controller Sprout-sized!!

We are excited about this!...already been playing with his electronic pet, and bathing it!

 And more games for Little Dude's leap pad.  Amazing things these Leap Frog items!

And last, but not least, 2 links to videos.  One for Munchkin and one for Sprout.  :)  Merry Christmas all!!  (I'm off to enjoy some of my goodies!)

Munchkin opening on of his trains

Sprout opening a present

Here's Munchkin's Christmas concert performance.  :)  Enjoy!

Concert Performance

 Here's Munchkin getting ready to sing...

 He looks totally into it, don't ya think?

 Chatting with his best friend.

 Looking to see if he can find Mom or Dad in the crowd.

 Brothers in a line, in new pj's.

 Merry Christmas!

 Individual shots.

 Big E figured out a way to hang our stockings.

 The end result...looks like it will be a fun morning!

Free digital ecard created with Smilebox If you click on the above card it will take you to the Smilebox webpage and our little card.  :)  Merry Christmas all!  (And to all a good night!)

Christmas Tradition

There is a church here in the city that has decided to do a HUGE production every year for Christmas.  We went last year and again this year.  However, this year Big E was able to come and so I was able to snap a few photos.
They changed it up a bit this year and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  It was PACKED.  But we kept a close eye on everyone and there were always Roman Soldiers on hand if needed.  :)

 We waited in line outside (they had a hot chocolate cart out there), and again inside.

 After a brief act by the three wise men, we went in to see the sheep and angels appeared and sang.

 The boys' highlight..the soldiers and the 'dungeon'.

 With a church this large I'm sure they always have a newborn baby...Sprout was fascinated.

 Guy complained as we walked past about how the Roman soldiers were forcing him to make these crosses and they had to be ready by such as such a time.  :)

 Ancient blacksmith.

Things to taste, touch, smell at the different booths.  Quite a night!!  Next year we'll have to invite some friends and family to come with us.

BEDBUGS.....no, not us.  Our Neighbour.  Which means we had to be treated for them as well.  I might as well have moved, just about.  All living spaces had to have everything removed unless it was wood or linen (that had to be in the middle of the floor), then the guy came in and he turned everything upside down, took off all the light switches and we couldn't come back for 12 hours (or more for the kids).  So, I thought I'd show you what it looks like if you ever have to prepare for bedbug treatment.  On a side note, they told us in their little letter that there will also be a second treatment later but that the preparations for it will be less.  ANYTHING would be less...other than moving.  The following pictures should give you an idea.  We could store things (that were glass, metal, plastic...not linen or wood) in the kitchen or bathroom.  So this is what our dining area looked like...

 Here is our livingroom.  I refused to move the tree.

 Yup, you guessed by the glimpse of the shower curtain....this is our full bathroom upstairs.

 Our 'spare' room.

This was not much fun.  If you have an enemy you want to get even with, call the landlord and tell them they have bed bugs!

 We had a real photographer take some family photos.

 It was -18 outside, but we were fortunate to have a heated enclosure to warm up in.

Photo shoot wasn't until 3pm, so I spent the morning on hair and make up, not dishes...and you can see behind me!

 But I mostly liked the result.

 Had to get everybody ready...

 Think it worked out pretty well.