Friday, December 27, 2013

Boxing Day

There is a tradition at the Fritzke farm each Boxing Day that keeps growing. Julie came up with the name, and each year we hit the 'red neck slopes.'  If you're CeCe, this is a giant mountain for sledding. If you're an adult, it's a nice hill in the pasture. 

The first year consisted of a toboggan being pulled behind the backhoe. The next year we made it into the hills. Last year there was a fire and some roasting of hotdogs and marshmallows. This year was a feast consisting of hotdogs, smokies, oranges, cookies, marshmallows, juice boxes, pop and thermoses of coffee. We were joined by Julie's uncle and his family this year as well. Julie's other uncle drive out her great granny to watch too. Being 92, she chose to just watch the sledding.  
She enjoyed a hotdog and a juice box and visiting with everyone though. Here are some more pics of the festivities:
Yes, the event is definitely growing. Julie's Dad spent the day before plowing a path out there, so everyone could drive out. I believe we had two cars, two SUVs, a truck, a quad, and the backhoe. 

Everyone had a blast, and other than a few sore muscles on some of us older bodies, there were no injuries. Needless to say, the girls had no problem falling asleep. Later. 










Christmas Day

On Christmas Day, we set out for Julie's parents' place. It's about a three and a half hour drive which can seem like a lot more depending on how the girls are doing. The drive started out alright. Jorja and Ginny decided that they were going to look out the window to 'see the beauty of the world around us.'  The next few kilometers were filled with 'look, a barn' and 'cows!' and 'look at the trees. They're like a real forest.'  It's amazing what you see when you turn the tv off. The novelty of all this nature was pretty much worn off by Delisle though (maybe half an hour) and then the DVD player came on. There was still a lot if 'are we there yet?' from CeCe before she fell asleep. 

We arrived late afternoon in time for a feast and then more Christmas presents. Jorja read the Christmas story his year. 
Theses next few pictures are actually from our Christmas in Saskatoon, but I just found them on Julie's phone:
As you can see, everything was a hit. Merry Christmas everyone. Later. 




Thursday, December 26, 2013

Christmas Eve

Christmas for us starts on Christmas Eve. We went to a beautiful service at church which told the story of Jesus through the eyes of various characters. The actors all did a great job delivering this powerful message. The service always concludes with a candle light singing of silent night. One candle is lit in the front of the church and passed from person to person until every light is lit. This picture doesn't do it justice but it's pretty special to be there. 
We came home and opened our presents. This always starts with everyone getting new pjs. 
Once everyone is changed and settled into some comfy sleepwear, we continue and open the rest of the gifts. It's so much fun watching the kids. Especially CeCe. She's so precious at this age. She said 'this is the best Christmas ever' several times. Then she looked at her stocking, paused, tilted her head to the side, put her hand on her chin and said, 'it's perfect.'  It really was a perfect night. I couldn't have said it better CeCe. Later. 


Monday, December 23, 2013

As you wish

This morning I told CeCe to put the lid back on her marker before she left the table. She said, 'As you wish.' I love that kid too. 

We had a Christmas party for some of our friends this weekend. We started looking at who we would like to invite a while ago and realized our house would not be big enough. So we rented the school gym. That has to have been the best idea ever. I think the mix was about half adult, half kids with a total of 30 people there. The kids all had a blast. Maybe it's the fact they've been cooped up inside for so long with this cold weather, but just running around with a few balls in the gym provided hours of entertainment. They were close, but not too close, so we could visit too. It was a great time. 

Needless to say everyone was a little overtired the next day.  The two little girls were up at their usual 7:00, but Jorja of all people slept till 8:20! That is unheard of for her. Maybe she's hitting her teenage years early. Maybe not, because she was the first one up again this morning. 

So yesterday after our party was a bit of a lazy day. CeCe wanted to relax and watch a movie, so I put Barbie's 'A Perfect Christmas' on for her.  I just put it on and walked away. A few minutes later I heard 'Daddy! Daddy, I need you!' coming up the stairs. I said to Julie that if I went down, CeCe would want me to hit play on the DVD because it was now stopped on the menu screen. I went downstairs and this is what I found. 
She wanted me to hit play. How could I refuse that, all snuggled in already.  As you wish CeCe, as you wish. Later. 

Friday, December 20, 2013

A happy day, a sad day

Today at the supper table, my heart broke a little bit. The girls started playing a 'guess what number I'm thinking of between one and one hundred' game. It was my turn to pick a number so I did and gave them a hint.  The hint was Wayne Gretzky. They looked at me and said 'we have no idea who that is' and proceeded to laugh hysterically. Apparently I have some history to teach. 

Today was also the last day of school and my last day of work until next year. Julie still has to work Monday which kind of sucks, but the rest of us are off.  It will be nice to have a break and enjoy the Christmas season. Stay safe and warm and I'll try to keep my sanity. Later. 

Friday, December 13, 2013

Well played

Jorja and Ginny sit beside each other at the supper table. Sometimes eating takes a backseat to other shenanigans. In order to prevent certain behavior, today I told them that if I had to 'talk' to them at all during the meal, there would be five minutes of cleanup time. They were actually quite well behaved (better than usual) but did have one little hiccup. So they each ended up with a five minute sentence. I told them I would set the timer on my phone while they went about their business. I was upstairs and the timer went off. They were busy cleaning away, so I didn't bother disturbing them. Soon they came up and said they were all done. 'Great job!' I said. Then they asked if their five minutes were up. I sheepishly said that they went overtime. Jorja gave me a look and said, 'Well played Dad, well played.'  It was all I could do to keep it together. 

Fast forward a little bit into the evening. Jorja and Ginny were sitting side by side in the recliner watching tv. I came downstairs and they both started giggling. I wasn't sure what was up and they weren't telling me. Anyway, their show ended and I told them it was time for a shower and bed. At this point, Jorja proceeded to let out a big fart. Then the two of them started killing themselves laughing. Jorja said, 'You played a trick on us, we played a trick on you.'  At that point she pulled my toque out from under her butt and handed me the freshly farted on piece of headwear. (They were beside themselves laughing now.) I've got to hand it to them. Well played Jorja. Well played. Later. 

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Christmas party

We spent this past Sunday afternoon at the Great Western kids' Christmas party.  Instead of having it at the Fun Factory as we had the past few years, we had it at the brewery this year in our old hospitality room.  We went back to some old time stuff - cookie decorating, crafts, colouring and a fish pond.  And of course there was an appearance by Santa and Mrs. Claus as well.  The girls all had a blast getting hopped up on sugar and Christmas spirit.  Here are some of the highlights:








The next little while should prove to be interesting as well.  We had our church Life Group Christmas supper on Sunday as well.  (So the babysitter got the hopped up kids.)  Thursday is my Christmas party, Saturday is Julie's and the following Tuesday is the school concert.  Busy, busy, busy.  But then it should be all over and we can just enjoy the season and getting ready for the real meaning of Christmas.  Later.