Winter Wonderland

It's been such a busy month already and Christmas is still another few days away.
Since our little man is a December baby, this month will be a fun filled packed 31 days of festivities.
Here are a few activities that have been keeping us busy this month so far...



Decorating the Christmas tree. Showing Jackson some special family ornaments.



Baking gingerbread pieces for our fire engine.



Our finished gingerbread project. Notice the smoking house with the brave firefighter to save the day with his water hose and big fire truck.



Snuggling with Grumpere at nap time.



Watching for the Christmas carol truck.



Daddy braving the cold to spread some Christmas cheer with the carol truck.



Bright warm smiles on our local fire fighters on a very cold night.



Cuddling up with Mommy & Grammie.



Opening gifts with our coastal family.



Helping Daddy with the upwrapping part.



Enjoying a nice walk out with the family.

Aloha! It's My First Birthday Luau!

Celebrating Jackson!
What a great feast to share with all our friends and family who were able to join us in celebrating Jackson's first year in our lives and hearts.



And as tradition goes in the Hawaiian culture, a baby's first luau with lots of food and 'festiveness' was just the right fit for our birthday celebration.
The menu included Kalua Pork (tasted just like the roast pig I had for my first birthday), Shoyu Chicken (a huge hit as always and multiple requests for the recipe), Pancit noodles, traditional Hawaiian macaroni salad, Asian coleslaw, veggies and dip and fresh fruit with yummy peach goo (fruit dip).
And for dessert... Aunty Joy's red velvet 'Roast Pig' cake with little piggy cupcakes. Yum Yum!





It was very low key with lots of friends and family gathered at the ODF fire hall. And although it was almost 20 below, we still celebrated like we were in Hawaii with as much island spirit possible.





And Jackson was very blessed with so many presents from all our guests. And Daddy & his 'crew' finished Jackson's amazing birthday gift. His very own fire engine wagon. Simply amazing! He loves it! From the hose beds and diamond plate to his own personal ladder and OFD license plate.





Thanks to all who joined us and to all those who sent their birthday wishes!
Happy First Birthday Jackson!

OFD Kids Party 2008

This was Jackson's first year to attend the OFD Kids Christmas Party. Last year he participated while still carrying a ride in Mommy's belly, but this year he was in full party mode.
There was lunch and snacks and ice cream sundaes. Then games and fun in the truck bays with all the firemen and their gear.



This year Santa arrived on a fire truck with his bag of presents and treats. Jackson was great with Santa. No crying or fussing like some of the other little ones. But he did wonder who this bearded jolly fellow was that was giving him a gift. I think his favourite part was all the fun playing with so many other fire department kids. It was well after nap time by the time we were finished for the afternoon so he was very pooped and down for the count. Mommy is hoping to get some Christmas gifts completed and wrapped up! Thank you to all the OFD members who put so much work and time into this year's party and made it yet another success. (Daddy included! We love you!)

Marking Memories

I was inspired to write this blog posting this afternoon while I was arranging a picture to be hung above our bed. As I was scouting out just the right position on the wall, I spotted some funny little marking on the headboard of our beautiful sleigh bed. But upon further inspection I discovered that they were not just your ordinary wear and tear scratches on the bed post. They are in fact tiny little teeth marks from our little muncher.



Jackson likes to pull himself up on everything right now and our headboard is just another obstacle to add to his accomplishments. And I guess while he's hanging out up there, he gets a little nibbley with his new teeth. But instead of being upset about our bed having a little blemish, I actually got a little weepy knowing that Jackson had etched a memory into our furniture. It's like he scraped his name into that wood making it timeless and forever ours. He is growing so fast every minute before our eyes that I feel we can't document them fast enough. And with me now back at work, I feel that I may miss more of these moments. I need to just enjoy each second as they are all a gift. And not be so rushed in getting through the day but slow down and notice all the little things with our quickly growing little one.



(Jackson on his way to his first day of daycare fun with Shannon & the kids. And Mommy's first day back at work from maternity leave.)

Cupcake Capers

Well it's that time of year again...yeah, Christmas is coming and time for all the baking!
I love baking! It's my therapy. I don't eat much of the confections I create but I love to make them. Are you kidding me? I would never be able to shed these extra baby bumps if I ate even a fraction of the amount of baking made in my kitchen. Thank goodness for my husband's Thursday night fire practices.
And I am especially thankful for bake exchanges...It's my chance to try out some new recipes and cookbooks. I have been itching to reproduce one of the amazing designs from the Hello Cupcake! book that I received for my birthday. (I dabbled with a simple technique in a previous posting!)





So I was very excited to learn that I had another opportunity to make some creative confections. I love how the cupcake book breaks down the techniques so that they look amazing but are still easy enough for anyone to accomplish. But they can be time consuming...more so than I anticipated when having to create eight cupcake creations. I really had my heart set on making everyone a beautiful white wreath with the hand painted white chocolate leaves, but after two hour of painting mint leaves and then trying to peel all those fragile wafers from their fragrant stencils, I gave up. I was also out of mint leaves and paitence! So I decided that the one and only wreath I created would be my sharing treat for our exchange night and I would pick a simpler project to swap! (But the wreath did turn out amazing if I say so myself.)





So my next pick were the gingerbread cupcake people! I decided to make them with mini cupcakes instead of the regular size ones so that everyone would get two people with seven minis in each. They were so fun to create and decorate. Especially when drawing the expressions on their faces...so cute! And pretty easy once you get a system down.





The cupcake people went over very well with the goodie exchangers and nobody wanted to be the first to eat my winter wonderland wreath (they eventually broke down and dug in). And here are some of the goodies that we received from the exchange...yummy yum yum! Jackson got to taste them all. Thanks to all those from work who participated in this year's exchange! Jackson said his favourite was 'More!'

Made With Love

We are so blessed that Jackson has so many people who love him and think of him so often. He has many hand crafted gifts from friends and family. One of those special people in his life is Mama Karen. She is a truly talented woman with the gift of crafting fabric and textiles. Jackson has been especially fortunate to have a handmade original Mama Karen quilt with various vintage vehicles. (We hope to make this the center point of his room when we redecorate.)



And his knit camouflage blanket had been with him since he was one week old. It is just right for our autumn afternoon walks.


Jackson just over 2 months old 'hiding' in all his camo gear.

Most recently, Mama Karen found Jackson an amazing pattern for bibs during her last travels. The pattern is unique in that it is extra long and has tabs that loop around his legs for extreme coverage. And the prints used for the bibs are totally Jackson....(and Daddy approved!) We love that it catches all the bits and pieces during mealtime and keeps our little muncher extra tidy. (Not that Jackson is one to let any morsel go astray, but sometimes a few slip by...)
And we are all so blessed that Aunty Brenda's Momma Froese is such a talented seamstress and can interpret all those pattern symbols and such. She zipped them off in no time. They are our favourite bibs!



Thanks to all who love our little boy as much as we do and gift him with so many handmade treasures which we truly cherish.

Comfy Movie Night

While the little cousins were all together this weekend, we decided to have a fun movie night for the four of them.



After all the baths were done and everyone was dressed in their pj's, Grandma Schaffrick popped some popcorn and we snuggled in front of the TV to watch this DVD, A Bug's Life. The little guys, Jackson & Fynn, weren't as interested in the movie especially when they had a special treat of popcorn twists.



But Sophie & Travis enjoyed this fun family movie. Even the adults got into the relaxed mode and donned their jammies too. It was a nice end to a great family weekend.