Family Newsletter

Dec. 31

    I'm a little late writing our holiday letter this year, but I must admit I did enjoy stressing less about getting it out before Christmas! We hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday this year.

Looking back, I realized at the beginning of 2016 we still had one in diapers (if only for overnight)! It seems like ages ago. Rachel has come so far, and seems so much more grown up and capable now!
January got us off to the sleepy start to the year that it usually does. The girls resumed their swimming lessons, and Laura continued her drama classes and practicing with her 'mini' cheerleading team for their competition in February. Grandma and Grandpa Maitland came up for a visit after her competition for an early birthday celebration for Laura and myself. Laura received the video game 'Mario Party' from Santa, so she wanted to have a Mario-themed birthday party, which was a lot of work, but a lot of fun! She, too, has grown so much this year - her reading has improved markedly and she just seems so much more mature and socially capable. People are constantly remarking on what a lovely child she is, and we are inclined to agree. [wink]
We were involved in various homeschool programs in the spring: sugar bush tours and science classes, etc. Easter weekend we had dinner at my mom's and celebrated my Aunt Pat's 80th birthday with family in Hamilton. Laura lost her first tooth exactly five and a half years after it came in.
Although we had been casually looking for a new house outside of town for the last year or so, we started looking much more seriously once the snow was gone this spring. We replaced the flooring on our second floor and did a few more upgrades here and there around our house so it would be market-ready. Unfortunately, the housing market in this area is difficult for buyers right now, and we still have not found what we are looking for (or weren't quick enough! Here's hoping 2017 is a better year for that.)
We tend to get busier as the spring goes on - lots of little friend's birthday parties, and at the beginning of May we celebrate Josh's and Rachel's. Rachel turned four this year and we had a cute Teddy Bear Picnic party for her at the park. We also surprised her with a trip to Great Wolf Lodge (an indoor water park in Niagara). We were fortunate enough to have both Grandmas be able to come out for Mother's Day brunch this year, too. For our ninth anniversary Josh and I snuck away for a few hours to try the Timber Challenge high ropes course at Blue Mountain. It was certainly a challenge, but a really fun afternoon together (and a bit scary!). At the end of May, and after reading the books, Laura and I used the tickets we were gifted for our birthdays to see 'The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe' in Stratford. We enjoyed the one on one time with each other and made some fun memories.
At the beginning of the summer, Laura started playing baseball. Rachel graduated nursery school in June - an emotional milestone for Mama, for sure. We certainly miss the staff there and the program they run; they were fantastic. Josh had two gigs with his band in three weeks. Things started to get busier! The girls sold lemonade a couple times at various yard sales this summer and made some good cash! Father's Day weekend we visited StoryBook Park. There were lots of end-of-school-year parties and birthday parties and good bye parties to attend.
The first week of July, the girls attended a dance day camp, which they loved. It was weird for me to have a few hours completely to myself that week, but I managed to get through it! [wink] The following week we went on the "Girls' Annual Geography Lesson", as I have started calling it. This year we travelled to each of the five Great Lakes on a road trip with my mom. We visited various family and friends who hosted us for a few of the nights, and we also spent two nights on Mackinac Island, where there are no vehicles, just horses and bikes. It was quite a unique and memorable experience! We made our way back home through Sault Ste. Marie, Manitoulin Island, and Tobermory which were incredibly beautiful. We sure were excited to see Daddy by the time we got home, though! He had been working hard every night recording several different artists he had the house to himself. Later in the month, he also recorded the first annual Live & Original artists from a competition put on by the Town of Collingwood. It was a big project to take on while working full-time at his regular job, but the Town was impressed with his work and have already asked him back again next year. We hosted another Japanese student for a few weeks through the summer, and kept ourselves busy entertaining her, camping, visiting the zoo, etc.
Rachel started music lessons in the summer, and we had lots of park playdates with our friends that we only usually get to see in the summer.
In September, Josh escaped up North to his buddy's cabin for a week to record their band's second off the grid, solar-powered album. They set out to accomplish eight songs, and ended up doing twice that much! He had an awesome time, and when we came to pick him up, the boys performed a show for us on the dock. So much fun! After that we headed out to Brighton for Cousin's Weekend 3.0 with the Maitland branch of the family, and the following weekend to Toronto for cousin Ellery's birthday party. Laura also resumed her music lessons and cheerleading for the fall.
The first weekend in October Sam and Ruth came to visit and we had a really awesome time at Blue Mountain's 'Community Day' where all the zip-lining, rollercoaster, and mini-putt were free for locals! After the very hot summer we had endured, we were grateful for the cooler fall temperatures and enjoyed more hiking and outdoor activities. Later in October, my sister and her wife had their first baby - my first, very own niece! The girls are very excited about their first FIRST cousin! They are still living in Halifax, so we didn't get to meet her until they brought her home for Christmas (an agonizing wait for me!) For Halloween this year we dressed up as The Wizard of Oz. Daddy was the Tin Man, Mommy was the Scarecrow, our dog, Chester, was the Cowardly Lion, Laura was the Wicked Witch, and Rachel was our Dorothy. We even borrowed Grandma's little dog to be our Toto.
In November, we celebrated my mom's 60th birthday by driving down to Florida for a whirlwind trip to Disney World. We had a fun but exhausting trip - five days is not quite enough to cram everything in! Once we arrived home, everything was basically in full swing for Christmas. We enjoyed celebrating Advent again this year with our elf, Buddy, and had a lovely holiday with both my and Josh's sides of the family. Now that we are all rested up, we are looking forward to what the new year will bring us, and we hope you all are too!
Happy New Year!

Advent

Dec. 1
Buddy the Elf returned this morning, delighting the kids with a game of Hide & Seek.
He left a series of clues for them, leading to his hiding spot...

Well hello again Laura and Rachel,

I hear you have been excited for me 

to come back this year -

but you'll have to find me first!

This is your first clue,

you'll find the second clue 

in the downstairs bathroom

#2: Aha! You found it!

Collect this candle and

look for clue #3 on the TV stand.

#3: You found clue #3!
Collect this candle 

and look for clue #4

under Rachel's bed.

#4: Congratulations!

You found clue #4!

You will find clue #5

where you get your forks.

And don't forget the candle!

#5: You have done a great job 

finding all of the clues, girls.

The last place you look

is where you'll find me:

somewhere in the kitchen

that's warm and light...

#6: You found me!

I knew you girls liked Hide & Seek!
*elicits giggle from Laura*

Now that I am here, 

I will join you for Advent

to remind you about Christmas Spirit.

Today, you can take the candles you collected

to the First Light Festival

to kick off the holiday season.

Love, Buddy

      We went over and met Grandma to see the First Light Festival, and watched her choir perform. They light over 5000 candles; it was really lovely.

Dec. 2

Good morning Laura and Rachel!

I know you have been excited for this,

 so let's put up the tree today!

Love, Buddy

     We didn't actually get time to put the tree up until the next day because we had to pack up and get on the road for Laura's cheerleading competition. The girls were happy to finally be putting it up when we did, though!

Dec. 3

Laura and Rachel,

Spend some family time together today

cheering on Laura at her

cheerleading competition!

Love, Buddy

     We had lots of fun cheering Laura on at her competition, and her team won first place in their division!

Dec. 4

Hi Girls!

I had lots of fun

playing with your toys here!

You should consider

sharing some of them with

kids who don't have as many!
Love, Buddy

     The girls did a good job pairing down their toy collection, specifically a bunch of stuffed animals! (Hooray!)

Dec. 5

Good morning, Girls!

Why am I in a boot, you ask?

Well, last year we learned about Hannukah,

and this year I would like you

to learn about Siinterklaas

and Saint Nicholas Day. 

Love, Buddy

 Because Buddy wasn't really on the ball, we had to go to the library to learn about Saint Nicholas Day today. There wasn't much material we could find about it, but I was able to find a blurb in one book about holidays in December. I sat with Laura and read it to her while Rachel paid no attention. Laura paraphrased it afterward to Rachel, and then we put some oats and a carrot in our boots that evening (you know, for Zwarte Piet to take to Saint Nicholas' horse) and he left them some new puzzles and some treats!

Dec. 6

Hello Laura & Rachel
Today is the day
to let the Big Guy
know what you would
like for Christmas!
Love, Buddy

   After being very excited about their surprises from Saint Nicholas and Zwarte Piet, the girls wrote their letters to Santa. Laura did a very good job sounding out and spelling all the words in her letter, only needing a little bit of help. We took them to the post office to mail when we were done. 

Dec. 7

Laura and Rachel, 
Let's have some fun
with Rudolph noses today!
We'll make some 
Christmas treats to 
give to your friends.
Love, Buddy

   The girls really enjoyed making these treats to hand out to our friends, and Daddy commented that we were like little elves at a Reindeer Treat Factory. Mommy did the cutting, Rachel drew/ coloured the faces, and Laura wrote "Merry Christmas" on the back of each of them. It was fun!

Dec. 8 

Good morning, Laura and Rachel
I dreamt of ghosts last night -
just like in 'A Christmas Carol'.
Perhaps you should read up on it today.
Oh, and I have tickets for you 
to go see the play tonight!
Love, Buddy

   We unfortunately incurred a winter storm this evening, and were seriously considering not going, as it was an hour's drive away. But we decided to tough it out and we ended up really enjoying the show - the acting and singing were quite well done! The best part was when Scrooge was hiding behind his bed curtains and peeking out nervously awaiting the ghosts and the girls were giggling so much, the whole audience started laughing with them. Afterwards, someone came up and told us that was their favourite part of the whole show. <3

Dec. 9

Good morning, Girls!
What a storm, eh?!
Maybe you could show some 
Christmas Spirit today
and help your neighbours 
shovel their driveways!
Love, Buddy
P.S. How did you enjoy the show?!
We didn't get out quite early enough to shovel the whole driveway, but the girls did help!

Dec. 10

Laura and Rachel,

Today is the day for painting!

Go paint some

Christmas ornaments
after swimming lessons!

Love, Buddy

I usually find this activity a little stressful (getting paint in places it doesn't belong), but we actually had fun this year, and I'm really excited to see how Laura's, in particular, turned out. She painted each of us on her ornament, and I just so love her drawing/ painting style right now. 

Dec. 11

Wheeeeeee!
Laura and Rachel,

Let's go sledding 

today as a family!

Yahoo!

Love, Buddy

We took the girls to a toboggan hill we have never been to before. Josh debated bringing his snowboard, but didn't want to dig it out of the crawl space. Anyway, we all actually really enjoyed ourselves. Josh and I did a few runs with them, but had just about as much fun watching them go on their own. They had never been down such a big hill, and Rachel especially was loving it. <3

Dec. 12

Ho Ho Ho!
Good morning, 
Laura and Rachel!
Why don't you go and 
visit Santa Claus
at the mall today?
Love, Buddy
i feel like this one was a bit half-assed, but rachel was so excited when she found buddy this morning wearinga santa beard.

Dec. 13

Laura and Rachel,
Today I would like you to 
show Christmas Spirit
by spending time time together
with your family.
Can you think of something 
to do for each person
that would make them happy?
Love, Buddy 
Today is the anniversary of my second miscarriage and hysterectomy (and only 3 days off the anniversary of my first miscarriage), so I typically hold a little vigil on December 13. This year I was planning to involve the girls, too, because I think its important to talk about, and pay our respects. But, I feel like it has been thrown in my face a lot in the last week, and I had a rough night last night with all of it, so I decided it would be too much for today. Daddy suggested a day of helpfulness, so that is what we went with instead.

Dec. 14

Hello, Girls!
Let's do some christmas baking
today to share with 
our friends and neighbours
love buddy
We remembered that our children's librarian's favourite cookies were oatmeal craisin, so that was what we made to bring to her this morning! Then we ate a bunch.... so we might need to make some more for the neighbours!
Also, today was the blood donor clinic, which I had wanted to go to. I was nervous because of what happened last time, but I also feel like I still owe a whole lot, so I powered through, and am pleased to say that I donated without a hitch! I'm a little extra thirsty, but that is about it!

Dec. 15

Laura and Rachel!
I blew you some Elf Bubbles! 
They are un-poppable!
You can use them 
to make Christmas gifts
for your family today.
Love, Buddy

Dec. 16

Good morning, Girls!
I'm just getting back to nature here,
making a popcorn garland.
Today you are going to learn
how people in the olden days
decorated for Christmas with
what they had!
Love, Buddy
This seemed like a good idea, in theory, but when the girls got up this morning, Buddy's popcorn garland had mysteriously disappeared (Thank you, Grinchy McPiggy Chester!). Luckily, his needle was stuck through the edge of his sleeve for him to "hold" it, so that wasn't consumed with the rest of it! We had a good time at the Tiffin Centre making old fashioned Christmas decorations today, though it was cold! We warmed up by the fire in one of the cabins and worked on weaving with sticks, which Laura in particular really enjoyed. Then we had some hot chocolate and our lunch before heading home!

Dec. 17

Hello Girls!
Why don't you show some Christmas Spirit
and bring some treats to the horses
when you go on the horse-drawn wagon
ride today?
Love, Buddy
The horses had to wait until their dinner time to eat the carrots because they had their bits in, but their driver seemed appreciative. :) The wagon ride was fun. Rachel seemed to especially enjoy it.

Dec. 18

Laura and Rachel
You can run and run
as fast as you can
but you can't catch me
I'm the gingerbread man!
Will you please bake
me a house today?
Love, Buddy
Rachel once again won the gingerbread creation idea again - she wanted to build the paw patrol tower, so that is what we are doing!

Dec. 19

Good morning, Girls!
I brought you some skates, today!
Let's go skating! Whoopee!
Love, Buddy

Dec. 20

Hello Laura and Rachel
I'm standing here in plain sight
but I have hidden 48 candy canes
over night. See if you can find them
all and hand them out today!
Love, Buddy

Dec. 21

Today is the Winter Solstice:
the first day of winter and
the shortest day of the year.
Let's celebrate the light
by making ice lanterns today!
Love, Buddy

Dec. 22

Laura and Rachel
Let's have a family
games night tonight!
Oh, and don't forget
about your Solstice lanterns!
Love, Buddy

Dec. 23

Good morning Girls!
Good luck at your
Christmas recital this evening!
You'll be great!
Love, Buddy

Dec. 24

Dear Laura and Rachel,
Tomorrow is Christmas!
It's practically here!
And now that advent is over,
I, in my cap, will be settling down
for a long winter's nap.
Here is one last gift for you
to remember me by.
You two did a great job
of spreading Christmas Cheer this year.
Love, Buddy