The Twelve Days of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas (many days ago)... it was Christmas Eve...EVE... We were at the Bowers house in Indiana (continued from previous blog), and little Carly was running a fever. A Christmas flu you might say? Now being sick at home is one thing, but being at someone else's house with a house full of people is quite different. It was evening time and Father Rick from St. Patrick had come over for a visit. Carson still quite content with the Wii and the train in the bonus room insisted the "UNCLE" Rick as he continued to call him join him upstairs to watch the train go around. It was quite a hoot as Carson took him by the hand to "train-ville". Yes, I do have pictures. Now, as it was time to settle in to bed it did not seem to be a long night until 2:30 arrived.

This takes us to the second day of Christmas... on Christmas Eve. Then 2:45, then 3, then the crying took us to the car at 4:45. We drove the city streets of Terre Haute until 6:15 and then sat in the driveway for another hour to try to get some sleep. It made for a long day, but she seemed to rebound in time for Christmas Eve Mass when sitting still was not an option. She ran through the aisles, the pews, and we finally found ourselves in the empty nursery sliding down a slide. After mass we left for home, yes 4 1/2 hours away home. The first hour was fine, but considering that there were 3 more to go a bit of trouble was headed our way. We hit Indy and the crying began.... until interstate 75. Yes 97 minutes of straight crying, but who cares about safety and rules... Jason removed her seat belt and she fell fast asleep on her daddy until we arrived home at 1:00 a.m.

Ah yes the third day of Christmas... CHRISTMAS! We arrived home before Santa came, Caitlin sleepily put out the cookies, milk, and carrots for Santa. Everyone slept, and slept and slept. I believe at 8:40 a.m. on Christmas morning I asked Jason, "is this really how Christmas morning is supposed to be?" The little sugarplums finally emerged from their slumber to see what Santa had left them. Aunt Lauri, Uncle Jeff, Chelsea, and Abbi arrived to bring gifts and prepare breakfast. We ripped through the gifts and tried on the twirling skirts and within minutes of putting on the beautiful skirt, Carly blessed her dad and the skirt with a little Christmas cookie toss. And that is the story for the day... It was a relaxing day...

On the fourth day of Christmas (Boxing Day in Canada) we actually had Christmas dinner, and enjoyed being at home. We had a spectacular meal that I would like to have every month!

On the fifth day of Christmas (Saturday) we were supposed to have Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa, but Carson came down with the flu first thing in the morning. He was slightly ill and then fine the rest of the day. We managed to venture out for Dani's varsity basketball game. Carson fell fast asleep at the beginning of the game and within 10 minutes was ready to re-visit the bathroom. Unfortunately we were headed back home and did not even see a minute of Dani in the game.

On the sixth day of Christmas was supposed to be another travel day, but the parents of house were down with what the kids had so Canada needed to be postponed until the next couple of days. I managed to get Carson and Caitlin to see the movie "Bedtime Stories" at the theater. It was Carson's very first movie at the theater. It went well for the most part, he was just more thrilled with the whole setup and how it all worked.

On the seventh day of Christmas (Monday), Jason returned to work that was supposed to be a planned vacation day, but since we stayed home he went back to work. The kids and I enjoyed the Christmas gifts and putting things away.

On the eighth day of Christmas (Tuesday) we decided to journey up to Canada with everyone on the clear of the illness. Caitlin escaped it, so we thought (stay tuned to another day of Christmas to see what happens).

On the ninth day (BIGGEST DAY) of Christmas in Canada it was Christmas again (New Year's Eve)... we opened gifts again. This time a John Deere tractor and trailer for Carson, "girlie" items with sparkles and diaries for Caitlin, and a very cute set of Maracas and sweater for Carly. They enjoyed having a final morning to rip through wrapping paper. As if the excitement of gifts was not enough. We went to a really nice pool to swim in the morning. It had very strict rules about 2 children per parent have to be within arm's length at all times. Caitlin was able to "test out" of parent watch by passing a test of swimming and water treading. It was a proud moment when she received her paper bracelet that showed she could be at the water slide, warm pool, or diving board without a parent. We also ran a multitude of errands after the swimming event. It was Carson in boots, Auntie Sandy in a borrowed winter cap from me, and me well.... it is a secret because I forgot one very important undergarment for myself after the swimming, but desperately needed to help out with groceries. We happened to stop at Tim Horton's for a coffee and Carson was thrilled with his 10 honey dip TIMBITS. That must of been lunch because I had a couple and then I blinked and they were gone. Carson had his usual antics that were so funny I should of written them down, but he just continued on our vegetable dip mix errands with a smile. (LONG STORY, another day, CRAZY CANADIANS...) At 4:20 I boarded the GO transit train with Sam and Carson. It was another amazing train adventure for Carson. We went two stops and Carson would of ridden all night, but we were just sneaking on for a quick ride (it was not an honor system lesson by any means). Another smiling from ear to ear moment for Carson. We eventually made it home to prepare for the New Year's Eve festivities. We went to the Magna center for a night filled with FREE activities. There were jumpers, clowns, and free ice skating. We all managed to pile on the ice in our skates, with the exception of Carly. She was happily escorted around the ice in the arms of mom and dad. We then made it home in time (8:30) for the bash to begin and the guests to arrive. A night of food and fun... and not all made it until midnight, but Caitlin of course waved the white flag at 12:01. Carson and Carly rang in the New Year with a few snores. It was a fun filled day...

On the tenth day of Christmas it involved a wee bit of recovering from all the activities we had on New Year's Eve. Sandy and I did manage to go to see the Tale of Despereaux (SCARY) with the girls and Marc and Jason took Sam and Carson to Chuckie Cheese. The boys had a blast there! Carson's dream for his birthday was to get to Chuckie Cheese. He told everyone he had already celebrated his birthday in Canada at Chuckie Cheese (grinning from ear to ear) and his birthday is 6 weeks away.

On the eleventh day of Christmas we headed out to the Upper Canada Mall in the morning to hit the play area and for the girls to use their Claire's gift cards. a six and seven year old in Claire's for 40 minutes is a great experience, and I highly recommend it ;). The best part of the day is when we piled in the car and headed to Barrie to go snow tubing. We took both vans loaded with snow gear to go to Snow Valley. We did not know that EVERYONE had the idea to go to Snow Valley. Needless to say a couple hours in the car, and 45 minutes in line did not get us an $80.00 trip down the tubing hills so we took our business back to the original point of departure and had some fun on a local hill. The kids loved the tubing and it even snowed while we were there to give it the full effect. Carly and Philly even joined in the fun. That night we went "duck pin" glo bowling. That was fun, interesting, and expensive. It was a great way for the kids to spend our last evening in Canada.

On the twelfth day of Christmas we piled Caitlin, Carson, Carly, Philly, Jason, and Chrissy all back in the car and headed for home. We stopped to watch Sam and Ellie do well at their swimming lessons, then we continued on home. The border was eventful for the kids since someone was arrested in the next lane right in front of us. The kids never spoke a word through the border as they thought that would happen to them! We added in a stop at Sam's. As if the car were not loaded enough with three kids and a dog... imagine all the paper products and diapers, and food added into the mix. We made it home in time to breath in and go to bed!

That is all I could think of for now and not so many days will come before the next blog since my memory only holds so much.