A Markert Christmas

 

We started our Christmas celebrations last weekend with my family.  There are 10 grandkids under the age of 7 - 8 of which are boys that have a lot of energy.  So we rented the ice and had a game of hockey.  Following that we went to mom and dads and did gifts and ate.

 My dad hasn't been on skates for a while so it was great to see him out there. 

 Little baby Hudson got to hang out with his dad (my brother).  Hudson is 5 months younger than Lexi and weighs more than her.

 My other brother Dave.  Man was it fun playing hockey again with my family.  Growing up my family and another family would rent the ice every Tuesday morning before school.  My sister and I practised skating for a bit and then joined in a hockey game. 

 But it was soooo fun watching the cousins play together

 Tim was playing pass with Kale.  That little guy has some great hand/eye coordination.  He could pass better than some of the kids on Connor's hockey team.

 My sister Pam is one of best skaters I know.  She is now helping coach one of the teams that her 2 boys play on.  I love watching her with the kids and always learn something new from her. 

 Connor is at the far end with my sister and has the puck, he shot......

 And he scored.  He was so happy!

 The young ones didn't last as long.  My mom and Auntie Naomi had hot chocolate and cookies for them all.

 Little clause got a beautiful chest from my parents and was very proud to be playing inside it.

 My mom couldn't do much due to her recent knee surgery so we all came to her.  I love the chaos is these pictures.  It captures our family perfectly. 

Lexi got a hold of this stick and wasn't going to let go.  She loves to play hockey with her brothers downstairs.

Busy Last Day

The 19 was Connor's last day before the Christmas break.  I went into his class in the morning to help with his party.  Both kinder classes were together.  It was so fun watching them all giggle and tell all sorts of stories.

 Following school the boys had their skating party with the skating club.  Kale is doing tremendous in his lessons and really improving. 

 Parents, sibling and grandparents were invited to skate with the kids.  It was fun racing Connor around the ice.  I think Tom was the only grandparent out there. I loved it.  I hope when I am 64 I'll still get my skates on and play with the grandkids.  

 Between hockey on Sunday and skating lessons of Tuesday Connor has become a beautiful skater. He likes to go as fast as he can - this means he falls more than he stops.  We are working on the stopping but he has a tendency to get frustrated when he cant master a skill quickly.  I wonder where he gets that from?

Shortly after the skating party Connor had his Christmas concert at the school.  The school had  trickster in for the last week.  Each teacher picked a prop and a theme from curriculum to incorporate into the theme of giving is the best gift.  Tim and Tom didn't appreciate it at all but Ruth and I enjoyed it. 

 

 

Pure Mischief!!

 This little girl entertains all the time.  She decided to be like a dog during dinner the other night.

 The next day she got into a container that had a container of glitter in it.  Instead of freaking out I quickly grabbed the camera. 

 Kale has been my little helper with holiday treats.  We were making butter tarts and he got the left over dough to play with...

 He decided to make explosions. 

 Today Kale helped me make 5 dozen cinnamon buns and 3 dozen sugar cookies.  We wrapped a bunch of presents and even fit in a nap snuggled together watching a movie.

 Lexi is now wanting to join in at the counter.  I was kinda glad Connor was at school because he would have wanted to get in there too. 

This duo really is pure mischief!!

Advent Activities

A few years ago I created an advent calendar for my kids.  I wanted to incorporate family activities, service activities and just have some fun with the kiddos.  This is the link to what the advent calendar looks like.  http://www.earle-expedition.blogspot.ca/2012/11/our-advent-calendar.html

 Day 1: make a gingerbread house.  I found a village kit which they loved cuz they each could decorate a couple.  I tried to use the icing they provided to stick it together but I was getting frustrated way too easily.  So I pulled out the trusty glue gun and it all went better. 

 These 2 pictures are included to show how crazy Lexi is getting.  Her new favorite thing is to climb onto chairs.  But she doesn't just sit there, she starts to rock it.  So we have all gotten in a routine of pushing the chairs in so she can't climb up.  But...the other day she figured out how to pull them away from the table. 

 Day 3: Make a Jesus basket for a family.  This one is still in the process of being made as well as locating a family that could use a little extra this season.  If anyone in the Cremona area knows of a family that could use a Jesus basket please let me know.

 Day 5 and 6: have snowman soup and read stories by the fire.  Saturday was +6 out but we still made a fire and enjoyed snowman soup (hot chocolate with marshmallows and candy cane).  After that we pulled out some plastic cups and started making towers.  Kale has become quiet an engineer.  It is fun watching the boys work together to get a BIGGER one.

 Day 7: Go Christmas Tree Hunting.  Sunday was absolutely beautiful and we all enjoyed the walk and fresh air. 

 Day 8: Make Christmas Goodies.  We are part of a cookie exchange so I figured we'd kill 2 birds with one stone.  Connor has Literacy Backpacks that he brings home weekly.  They are themed backpacks that incorporate books and activities to enhance their learning at home.  Connor's backpack this past week was gingerbread themed.  His activity was to make gingerbread cookies, so we made gingerbread man/cookies.  About 14 dozen.  Needless to say he took cookies to class this morning.

Day 9: Play a board game.

I'm walking now!

 

Lexi has been taking tentative steps for sometime now.  But last week while we were at the science center she decided it was time to walk.  I finally got around to videoing it.  I love watching them at this stage.  When she has gone a little distance she often giggles and sometimes claps her hands.  She is quiet proud of her new accomplishment. 

 

She has always been a monkey but also in the last week she has discovered how to climb up the ladder type stairs to go down the toy slide.  A little scary for mamma but she loves it.  She has also figured out how to climb onto the kitchen chairs. 

 

Oh what trouble she is getting into....

Cousin Time

I always wondered at what type of relationship my kids would have with their cousins up the road.  I am so blessed with the friendship that they have.  Beck had to work on Friday so we had Jesse and Damon over for supper.  We got loaded up to go skating, only to find it cancelled.  So instead we have a campfire in the back yard.  Took out the sleds - even though there is no hill by our house.  We just put the sled down, backed up, ran and rode on our bellies across the back yard.  You couldn't really see each other but you could tell where the others were by the constant giggles. 

 Greg is gone on a missions trip at the moment and Beck has a 2 day course today and tomorrow.  So we are all looking forward to having the "cousins" down for a sleep over tonight.  I love those boys and cherish the times we get to hang out. 

 My boys look up to them and copy (good and bad) everything they do and say.  Connor has started farting with his armpit now because his cousins taught him.  And Kale has adopted Damon's "whatevers" into his stories.  He'll be telling a story and then all of sudden he'll say "like whatever". 

It's All About Farming

 I've included this picture just to show you our policeman, firefighter and damsel in distress.  I think the boys did a good job rescuing her - she seems happy.  At one point of trick or treatin' Kale says "I like this trick or treatin thing, it's awesome."  Sums it up pretty good - except for my tummy ache right now from snitching to many treats.

 Since harvest, the men have been super busy bringing home the cattle.  What does a day with dad, a day outside, a quad ride or two, hanging out with Grandpa, chasing cows, and a chance to use a chasing stick get you?  One HAPPY little boy.  Kale is in heaven - especially after the farm show this week where he got his own chasing stick.  They even gave him a key chain version that he can use on his cows in the house!!  On the days off school Connor has been tagging along.  He likes it but not nearly as much as Kale. 

 Kale has been showing Lexi how load the liner and rrrmmmm tractors.  I will often find her playing with Kale's toys when he is away.  She is particularly fond of the dairy cow and corey combine.

 This morning all three were hauling cows together - so cute!

 We sold the cows yesterday and today was preg testing.  So they needed their chasing sticks.  Kale likes to put his stick under his bed at night that is how much he LOVES it!

Chasing cows on the quad, what could possibly be better than that for these two little boys?

Traditions

I love having family traditions.  As the kids are getting older these traditions seem even more important to keep.  One of our traditions is going down to Greg and Laura's for Thanksgiving.  This year was almost cancelled due to exhaustion from the harvest.  But we decided to do it anyways, and it was great.  The weather was beautiful.  We all got down there just before lunch so we had a quick bite to eat.  I put Lexi down for her nap and we headed to the park to play.  Ruth stayed with Lexi so I could go play too.  We had a fun game of soccer and once everyone was tired of that the kids played on the playground while we visited.  We pulled out the Frisbee and ball gloves too.

 Laura cooked us a delicious turkey dinner.  After dinner we headed down to the river valley to play - another tradition that our boys love.  Unfortunately Greg and his boys left before we went down.  We missed them.

 The train bridge is always fun to see, especially when a train goes by. 

 Greg is very talented with the camera, so I always hit him up to take family pictures. 

Thank you Greg and Laura for opening your home to our houlagans.