The Best Christmas Concert EVER!

Last night was Matthew's Christmas concert. It was a concert/potluck/craft evening. Very very cool.
First of all, thank you to EVERYONE who gave me ideas for our potluck item. We had totally settled on meatballs, but someone already signed up. Then Jeff gave me this awesome dinner idea, and when I went to sign up I discovered there were no desserts.
So, I went with an old standby - trifle. It was a total hit. Seriously, I was approached by a couple of people saying it was really yummy. So, yay for that. I'll post the recipe.
Anyway ...
So we got there around 6:30. We dropped the kids off in the classroom and headed down to the cafetorium for the concert. Matthew's daycare is in a highschool, hence the cafetorium. I was a little concerned because Matt was really confused about why we were leaving him again, but his super amazing teachers took care of it, brought him into the classroom and calmed him down in like 10 seconds.
We got seats, all the parents filed in, and waited a few minutes.
Pretty quickly, like within about 10 minutes, in filed the children. It was super adorable. They were all wearing reindeer ears, and they actually all filed in in a line and went right up on the stage. I, of course, was going crazy with the camera, as were most of the parents.
Serioulsy, the concert was the cutest thing in the world. They had all of the children come on the stage, and there are about 25 kids. And they led them in 4 songs - Jingle Bells, Rudolph, Up on the Housetop and finally We Wish You a Merry Christmas.
The kids all sang. Matthew was right into it. He knew all of the words, he was tapping his foot, he was standing in one spot.
I couldn't have been prouder or taken more pictures.
When they were done we all found tables and lined up for the potluck. In between lining up, eating and waiting for Santa they had tables of crafts for the parents to do with their children. We made a Rudolph ornament.
Santa arrived with, no kidding, a bagpiper, who led him around the room and played Christmas carols. Then he sat on a bench and all the kids got to sit on his lap and say hi.
The evening was over by 8pm, just in time to bring our kids home to bed.
If I wasn't happy with this daycare before, I am THRILLED with it now!
The teachers were great. The kids listened, they had fun. The parents chatted, the teachers chatted. They kept it under control, and most of all they had a lot of fun. When Santa came one of the teachers was there making sure that the kids took turns seeing Santa.
We just left feeling great. We felt like we'd made the right choice of daycare. We could see Matt is happy. We're happy.

Weird

Ever have a weird day?
Not bad. Not wonderful. Just weird.
That was my day today.
The weirdness started in the morning. When we had mini golf at work. I know. Crazy. I've never worked somewhere where you mini-putt at work.
And that - it was weird.
It was weird because I got kind of cornered into it at the last second and our little pathetic team came up with the idea of a golf hole with the general theme of Christmas.
The problem was that half of our team was sick.
None of our team was artistic.
We were all lacking in time.
And motivation.
And budget.
And we didn't have any idea people would take it so seriously.
So while we cobbled together a mini putt "hole" made out of dollar store Christmas Crap other teams created phenomenal mini putt holes. I mean phenomenal. If I get pictures I will post them. But they were awesome.
Like one team - they made this contraption out of (I hope) old computer parts. It had a proper ramp, it had a proper little green. You name it. And the guy who did it, who I happen to know is a golfer, took it very very seriously.
At one point he told me he was disappointed because it was a par 3 (I think) hole and he thought it should have been par something else.
I didn't even know that par 3 meant something.
The hole next to ours was run by the department that wins everything. They didn't exactly kick our butts. They pretty much steam rollered right over us. They, too, had a Christmas theme. Except they brought in a tree and also had some sort of contraption that they built that spit your ball out and went around a corner. They had a full size fireplace with stockings hung and this giant "Happy Holidays" sign. To clarify, they had stockings hung until I decided to take my turn and my over ambitious swing sent the stockings flying. Anyway ...
So our lovely hole. The name rocked. It was called "Ho Ho Hole in One." I know. Genius. But, it pretty much sucked.
And I was disappointed. Like almost crying disappointed. And my bronchitis inflicted friend tried to calm me down by telling me that it was just all in fun. That no one cared. That it was just a silly corporate event.
And then I kind of got upset at my friends, my BFAW's (sorry guys) becasue they didn't exactly help as much as I wanted. Nor did they help me clean up. So, up and down. Up and down. All day.
But then it was kind of nice because everyone was great in the end about it. Everyone was pretty positive. You know - at the end of the day I kind of realized I was being silly. It was just a stupid corporate event that I didn't need to be upset about.
So, you know, up down. up down.
Okay. needy toddler.

Tumble Tots!

Matthew and I start gymnastics in January.
I'm very excited. Thrilled, in fact.
I was a little worried because I'm not exactly what you would call coordinated. Wisely, my parents put me in sports like soccer because I had a tendency to injure myself a lot. In grade 9 gym (which I loved) we had a gymnastics unit. I was so bad at it that my teacher asked me not to try the uneven bars rotation. This is because I kept trying to use the vault and was so banged up that I had to have an ice pack after every class.
Yes. I was that bad.
Matthew, however, seems more coordinated than I am. And, I thought he would really like gymnastics. I discussed this with my four year old niece who assured me that he would LOVE gymnastics (cause John-Wes does) and it's really fun.
I started looking into classes. Since Matt is still 2 the only classes available are parent and tot classes. Uh-oh.
I've never been in a real gymnastics gym in my life.
Luckily one of my BFAW's was a gymnastics teacher (coach?). Seriously. So, I finally plucked up the courage to call her and beg her to teach me a cartwheel. She laughed. Okay. It is funny. She has high hopes for me. We are in discussions about where we will do this practice.
Anyway...
So I called to sign up.
I was pretty nervous. Guess what? The parent's role is just to make sure that the tots don't run away. That's it. NO CARTWHEELS REQUIRED!!
I did point out to the friendly lady that I did yoga, and I can do sommersaults. Just not cartwheels or backflips. She said that if I mention that to the teacher that perhaps she can have me demonstrate.
So, it appears that I am now booked every Saturday from January to May. 9am.I can't wait!!

Advice Needed!!!

Okay everyone out there.
I need your help.
Friday is a potluck at Matt's daycare. It's a Christmas party/potluck dinner/performance thing. And we have to bring something yummy. I need to sign up for something to bring.
HELP!
Does anyone have any ideas?
I need something that will make me seem cool. I have visions of being the cool mom who works full time, commutes, and still manages to whip up something nutricious and delicious. I want to be the person who returns home with an empty dish.
Last year we did mini cupcakes for the Christmas thing at the old daycare. These were a big hit. I will make these also (if my sister has a mini cupcake pan that I can borrow??? Beck??)
But I need to make something main coursey.
Something cool. That does not involve tofu. Something easy.
I live across the street from a grocery store. Groceries are not a concern.
HELP!!!
Oh and I will literally run in the house, pick it up, and leave again. So I need to make it Thursday.
And, for some fun a picture of Matty and Me.

Ahhhh Sunday

Things have been a little intense lately.
The house, the lawyers, the cold, work. I've had enough. So last night I did my Christmas cards, bought myself a grocery store chicken, put on the movie "Legally Blonde" and chilled. Forget the boxes that were crowded around me (we got a new load of stuff from both sets of parents - seriously, how much stuff do we own? My dad brought a sticker book from when I was 7! Can anyone say pack rat?). I was fully embracing the Christmas spirit.
And, how can you not be in a Christmassy mood when you address cards with your toddlers adorable face smiling back at you.
The more I wrote, the more I got into it.
I write a Christmas letter every year. But some people, the ones I rarely see, got a more fullsome note. Bill, my hairdresser, got congratulated on his new television commercials, old neighbours got a full update on Matthew. As the cards rolled on I realized how much life is changing. One of my friends just had her third baby and all their names didn't fit on one line. My cousins are all dating people or getting married and I'm struggling with how to address cards (since I keep forgetting boyfriend's name).
And it made me realize just how much I'm appreciating things lately.
Life is good. The more I addressed cards and talked a bit about Matt's progess the luckier I realized I was. Two years ago I was in a totally different place. Our Christmas letter was sad. We had this adorable child but we had no idea what our direction was in life. I remember sitting in the car with Mike on Christmas Day sobbing that I was terrified about going to work and leaving Matt in childcare. He just said to me that we'd figure it out.
And we did.
And two years later it's Sunday morning. I'm sitting in our living room. We have a Christmas tree outside that we'll decorate later today. My toddler is laying on the couch watching his favourite show. We've been chatting all morning - about Santa and Reindeers and telescopes and trains and a million other topics.
And I'm realizing that life is good. Not perfect. Nothing ever is. But, for now the holidays are in full swing, I have the cutest kid in the world, I'm surrounded by people who love me. That, my friends, is happiness.