holiday fun

Just popping in for a quick hello, and to say that I hope your Christmas holiday was (and still is) full of fun and all things festive. We have been taking it easy (sort of) out this way with lots of playing, lots of sledding, lots of skating, and lots of munching and merriment! Even though Christmas has come and gone once again, spirits are still high as we unwind and try to fit in a little bit more r & r before heading back to school and crazy schedules next week. The last few days have been full of excitement (and crabbiness!) so instead of boring you with all of the crazy details, I thought a bit of a photo collage of sorts would tell the story just fine - and much, much faster!

Needless to say, Christmas was a lot of fun. There were so many magical moments both big and small that I hope to remember for the years to come.

We are slowly starting to get things cleaned up and re-organized from all of the festivities, along the way dealing with the big "post Christmas let down" that has resulted in a few tired and well, to be honest, cranky kids! Hopefully this final week of the holiday break will find things getting slowly back to normal, and let us ease back into the daily craziness of life.

Until then however, we will cherish our next few days at a slower pace and spend those extra long mornings lounging around in our warm and comfy pj's!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays Everyone!
May your season be filled with all the magic and sparkle that comes with this special time of year. Enjoy the holiday, have a very Merry Christmas, and all the best for the upcoming new year!

Love Always,
Brent, Shari, Aidan, Maelle, Jenna, Bree, & Dakota
(lots of holiday hugs & kisses!)

"sleigh bells ring....

...are you listening?"

That was the song I was singing today as I witnessed lots of giggles, smiles, and belly busting laughter as the kids headed out for a little tobogganing this afternoon. The hill was perfect for everyone to have a go on the sled....even Bree and Jenna made their debut as super sledders!

Of course...they have Aidan and Maelle to teach them everything that they know. I have never seen these kids work so hard! The sled would barely even slow down at the bottom of the hill and they were already jumping out and making their way back up.

A great afternoon on this Christmas Eve Eve! Tomorrow, we are prepping for the big day and I am sure anticipation will be running high. We will be tracking Santa's progress all day as we finish up all of our projects, clean the house, head out for our annual Christmas Eve Light Tour, and then settle down for a long winter's nap!

(ok...seriously...that part about long winter's nap....yeah, so not true. There are four kids six and under in this house....we will be lucky to see 6:30!)

"Christmasing" & "Elving"

No...I don't think those are actual words, but I have heard them used before out in blog land and it is just the best way to describe what has been going on around here as of late. There are little ones making things in every nook and cranny of the house (including inside my craft cupboard), secrets being whispered, tape and paper rustling behind closed doors, trails of empty ribbon spools scattered about, and lots of dry glue & glitter drops on table tops. It seems it is the work of several busy elves. Elves making gifts, baking, and getting excited! Very excited!

I think so far however, the best thing is the rather large gift that is currently under our tree. It is for me. There are several (yes, several) tags and cards stuck to it with "mom" written in various sizes and colours, planned and crafted by both Aidan and Maelle. The funniest thing...they wrapped a bell inside the box to serve as an "alarm". So every time I "accidentally" bump it, or move it, or attempt to shake it, this little bell rings and the kids come running! Oh what fun!

I do love how Christmas has evolved over the last few years. This year especially I have noticed a big change in Aidan and Maelle. They are much more interested in making gifts which I think is fantastic. Seeing their excitement when they have a "project" to do is awesome. We have a good balance this year of lots of handmade treats and gifts both for the kids (that's a secret!) and for friends. I hope that this can become a tradition that carries us through the next few years and beyond. As the big day draws even closer, I would imagine that there will be much more "elving" and "Christmasing" left in the days to come.

Oh....next year would you be so kind as to remind me to buy my Scotch tape in bulk?!

holiday mode

It's here. Finally. Winter break has arrived....today. Yay!
No more rushing around in the morning trying to get the kids fed, dressed, and ready to head out the door to school. No more crazy driving and lunch time pick ups and drop offs, and no more in-between-school pick up runs to Timmy's or Starbucks to pass the time. Alright, I might miss that one!
For the next couple of weeks this is what we will be doing....

...lots of exploring and playing outside,

...lots of creative crafting and projects,

...lots (and I mean lots) of ice time with family and friends,

...lots of quiet time,


....and lots and lots of baking!

We are feeling the relax mode setting in and are trying to slow everything down for the winter break, and the big day that arrives around this time next week. We still have a few parties and get togethers to go, and some business and work to tend to, but the biggest rush (school) is over for now. We are switching gears to "holiday mode" which I expect as the big day draws closer, that the kids (and mom's and dad's) will gradually become more and more crazy for the the big dude in the red suit! It's the kind of craziness however that is all good.

So, here's to the start of a winter break full of hot chocolates, yummy treats, fun and games, and hopefully (fingers crossed) a few good books!

zoo lights

One of our big traditions as a family at Christmas, is making the trip to see Zoo Lights! Every year we are all in awe at the millions of lights that light up the zoo. It is such a spectacle and totally worth the trip. We usually get to the zoo later in the day, take in a few of the animal exhibits, have a nice dinner, and see the lights before the crowds arrive. The kids love it! My favourite thing to check out is none other than the "Tree Of Life".

Bree and Jenna loved running around and looking at all the twinkling lights and dancing to the many Christmas songs playing throughout the zoo. Although, the best way to travel is wrapped up snuggly warm together in the stroller. (Thanks Auntie Ky for snapping this pic!)

There are lots of activities for the kids, including igloo building, snowman bowling, hay jumping, sled races, and snow ball rolling.

There are some more adventurous things such as sliding down huge rubber tubes which is always a hit with the kidlets.

Wait....did I say kidlets?

Yes....that would be Brent, attempting the speed record for the fastest time. What started out as standing up, quickly turned to...um...well, perhaps one should leave the tube sliding for the little ones. Good for a laugh though!

Once again Zoo Lights did not disappoint. We had a blast! It was a great evening to spend outdoors and now it totally feels like Christmas! Hard to believe that the big day is just a short time away! The excitement level is high around here, and as the school week slowly comes to a close, we are all looking forward to some serious down time. Is that even possible at this time of year? Letters to Santa are being written, baking is getting done (and eaten up just as fast as we can make it), and there are a whole lot of projects being worked on both by me and the kids for the big day. So here's to one more busy week of holiday preparations and festivities and then....it's relax time!

turning four

Can you believe it? I am not sure that I can. Maelle is now officially four. Sigh. When asked how it felt to be four....her response "I think I feel bigger....what are we having for supper?" Yep. That's our not-so-little-anymore, Maelle.

It was all about Maelle today as we tried to do all of her favourite things. We all took in several games of Princess Chutes and Ladders, and read many a story snuggled up on the couch. A special treat for lunch, a favourite dinner, and more cupcakes for dessert. Not a bad day at all I would say!

Maelle got the royal princess treatment from Grandma (and Grandpa) Werkman with a handmade (yes...that's right) a handmade Cinderella dress complete with her very own glass slippers! So cute! Maybe, just maybe, one day this little princess will be able to meet the real life Cinderella in person!

Thank you to everyone who called to chat today and wish this little darling a very special day. It meant a lot to her and to us. Although, now, every time the phone rings, Maelle says "it's probably for me!"

Maelle gets the run down on her new and very first Playmobil set from the expert himself. The kids (all) love this stuff so much. In fact, while I was getting dinner ready, all of the kids had a major village set up throughout the living room. It was awesome to see how fairies, knights, and construction vehicles can all work together! Really! Who knew?

The one thing that Maelle did request for her special day....a cake with Tinkerbell. Done.

Lemon cupcakes, white icing and candied butterflies, all decked out with Tink and her clan of fairies. Perfect. And yummy.

So Happy Birthday princess. Thanks for bringing into our family so much happiness, so much fun, and thank you for being our little "free spirit" and making sure we never have a dull moment around here! We love you so very much!

ice time

The puck has been dropped and here we are welcoming another season of Snider ice time on our backyard rink. Under blue skies on Sunday afternoon, the kids (and Brent) took to the ice for their very first skate. The rink is a bit larger this year, and it has a few "new" and "unique" features. Brent got a touch of the creative bug and laminated a few pics of Tinkerbell, Lightning McQueen, and a Canadian maple leaf, and embedded them all in the ice. So much fun! The kids loved it!

The hockey net was given a new life with a new net, and is ready to handle all of the slap shots about to come it's way.

We are totally looking forward to as much ice time as we can get this year. The best part, the backyard is wired for night skating. We have lights people!

I think there have also been several requests to the rink manager that Christmas twinkle lights are also needed to complete the overall look. I will see what I can do about this one!

Have you seen Waldo?

This past weekend marked our joint birthday party for Aidan and Maelle. The theme...."Where's Waldo?" of course! I had been brainstorming this get together for a few months and slowly piece by piece it started to all fall into place.
I started off by placing Waldo and his crew (cutouts) in various places around the main floor of the house to get the kids practicing their search and find skills. Then it was onto the big one! Six huge posters lined our main hall, each one a different Waldo scene. The kids were each given a "Search and Find Kit" that consisted of a magnifying glass, a pencil, and their passport for the Waldo adventure.

And then....they were off!


Teamwork was the name of the game for the "Where's Waldo Adventure". I have never seen a group of such determined kids! They worked together, they worked on their own, they wandered away for a bit, but they always came back for another "quick look".




Determined I tell ya!


And it wouldn't be a party without the cake....well, cookie cake I guess....a great and yummy way to end off a fantastic party. And yes....the kids went right back to looking for Waldo again and so did the adults!
Thank you to everyone for making this party a great success!

the advent

Now...if somebody could have told me (or better yet, maybe I should have known) that the advent calendar this year would bring so much excitement and anticipation that one would guess it to be even more exciting than Christmas Day itself.....I would have had another advent calendar leading up to the actual advent calendar!


The kids have literally been counting down the days until today...December 1st. The advent calendar has been up for about 2 weeks or so and has caused so much anticipation as to what was in those little red boxes, it really has been something. Very entertaining! Anyways...today was the first day (as we all know) of December and the beginning of the advent calendar. We did something a little different this year and stuffed little red "take-out" boxes with goodies and treats. This evening the kids got to open up the first box. In it were 2 tags marked "large snowman box" and "small snowman box". Under our tree I had put out 2 boxes earlier in the week with no tags...just the boxes. Mean...I know. But oh so much fun to hear the kids chattering about their mysterious contents! Tonight they figured out who's box was who's and opened up - what I hope to be another holiday tradition - Christmas pj's to wear leading up to the big day. So much fun!



Next year I hope to get Bree and Jenna involved but decided that this year they can observe...that is if they can sit still long enough!
Oh....and as for what's in the other boxes...I bought the Lego Advent calendar this year (my goodness...so awesome!) and I have stuffed the mini Lego sets in most of the boxes, mixed up with some yummy Hershey kiss Christmas treats.
Only 23 more sleeps until the night the big guy himself arrives!

'tis the season

We are busy getting the house all decked out for the holidays this weekend. We are a bit behind schedule however, as I usually have my tree up by now, but it's been a busy week. Brent was in San Diego for a few days...and I hope to have a few pics of his adventure up on the blog soon. It looks like a very fun place to visit one day. Aidan agreed...but I think it was only because he found out that there was a Lego Land! Anyways....we are warming up - finally - after a very, very cold week. We are also battling a few colds and fevers around here, but we are still managing to keep in the holiday spirit of things. The shopping is done, the baking plans are in the works, the decorating is almost finished, and we are also gearing up for a joint birthday party next weekend for Aidan and Maelle. So looking forward to that!
Today, however, we are taking things in stride. We have had a nice relaxing afternoon, putting up the trees (the kids have their very own) and working on getting the house finished up, so I can start on a few fun little Christmas projects! I love Christmas projects! I promised myself no "new" and "unnecessary" projects this year - hence more time just to enjoy. So far so good!



Bree and Jenna are going to be way too much fun this year. Their curiosity is never ending!

Oh....and I can't forget the most important aspect of a holiday season at the Snider house....


...the rink is underway! As soon as we shovel off a very large area of snow that is about a foot deep!

blasted by winter

It has finally stopped.  I think.  At least for the moment.  It has snowed since Monday night, and today there were moments that it actually wasn't snowing, and my goodness the sun came out for an ever so brief amount of time.  The temperatures however, well, that's another story.  It is cold!  Welcome winter!

At last check (which was this afternoon) it was minus 18, with a wind chill of, oh, let's just say minus 25.  Give or take.   Depending on where you are in the backyard the snow depth ranges from about 8" to 12".  Definitely "fresh" outside, and oh so very beautiful.  There is something to be said about the beauty of a fresh snow - especially after a snowstorm like we have been having since Monday evening.  We have been bundling up, enjoying peppermint hot chocolates after school, and shovelling every day - oh wait....that was Brent and Aidan.  The kids have made snow angel after snow angel, and have been busy building forts in the backyard.  How I love winter!  And....it sounds as though there just might be some more white stuff heading our way over the weekend.  It may not be over yet!