Putting up the tree!

Last night before we put Claire to bed, we put up the tree! We figured it we didn't soon, there wouldn't be any time to enjoy it. We are going home to the US for Christmas two weeks after Thanksgiving. I thought that this year Claire would be able to help...and she did...in her own way!

The tree box is fun every year!

It didn't feel like that long ago that she was in the tree box when we put the tree up last year! Charlie put the branches on the stand, while I played Christmas music off the ipod. Gotta listen to Chrismtas music while putting up the tree! :)

Claire loved the lights. Who knew they would cause a huge meltdown when they had to be put on the tree? She did better with the ornaments. They were fun to hang on her wrist like bracelets.

Yay, putting up the tree makes it seem like going home is not too far away! Charlie and I are super excited to be going back to the US for the holidays. I might kiss the ground when I get there!

Oh yeah...when we got home from Church yesterday it was snowing again. We got another dusting on our just cleared driveway! Nobody has to dream of a white Christmas here...it just keeps coming! :)

Welcome to Canada, Philip!

My brother surpised us last week when he called and asked if he could come visit us over the weekend. Like I would turn any visitors down! So, on Friday night we stayed awake to go pick him up at midnight from the airport. At first I was just going to send Charlie, but after thinking about it I woke Claire up and we all went. It was exciting, driving in the snow late at night to get Philip! Claire stayed awake the whole time...I think she was excited too!

Welcome to Canada!

Poor Philip didn't have much time to see everything. He had to leave early Sunday morning. So he went with Charlie to the university Saturday morning. When they got back we went to the big mall. I really couldn't think of much else to do in this cold weather! It has barely made it into positive temperatures lately.

We checked out Galaxyland. Philip was interested in the roller coaster, so Claire and I waited while Charlie and Philip went for a ride.

Lately Claire has really enjoyed riding on Charlie's shoulders. When she got tired, we put her on Philip! Ha!

We even got Philip to use my camera to take a picture of us!

We ate dinner at a restaurant in the mall (I think Philip was impressed with all there is to choose from!) and ended up sleeping to a movie after Claire went to bed. I was sad to see him go, but it really won't be too long until Christmas. I'm sure he was ready to go back to warmer weather! :)

And the temperature is...

We survived our first snow storm! Claire and I have been stuck inside the last two days. Poor Charlie still has gone to work. It is definitely weird that everyone still keeps going here, but home in Kentucky or Tennessee the whole world stops for this much snow! I think we got around 4 or so inches.
Anyway, I wanted to take Claire out to play in the snow, but the temperatures lately have been sooo cold! Check out what the temp is this morning!

Yes, it says MINUS EIGHT! We still measure the temperature in farenheit even though they use celcius here. It has been hard for me to get used to! I know that in a few weeks this will be warm compared to what is coming, but I have never been in weather this cold before!
My Mom says that when we come home for Christmas it will feel like summer. I am looking forward to thawing out there! :)

An IKEA Breakfast

Today Claire and I ventured out to IKEA for breakfast. A friend from Bible Study told me they had breakfast there for one dollar! I can always go for breakfast...and for one dollar? It didn't take much persuasion! Today is Rememberance Day here (like Veterans Day in the US). Lots of people must have wanted to celebrate by eating breakfast at IKEA. It was packed!

When we got upstairs to the restaurant we got in line with everyone else. I noticed a lot of people had little shopping buggies that held your tray...some smart Mom must have thought this invention up! I grabbed a couple of chocolate milks and one of the dollar plates. They had a bunch of other stuff too, but I wasn't sure how hungry Claire was.

Here is what we got for a dollar. Looks good, huh? Claire pigged out. I shouldn't have shared with her, because she does NOT share well. Next time, she will get her own plate. She loved everything!

And the best part was the chocolate milk! We stopped by the kids section when we were done. Claire found a chair that spins and wanted to spin there for the rest of her life, but we managed to get away and I got to look around.

When we were in the checkout line, they had a moment of silence for Rememberance Day. I don't think I have ever had a moment of silence in a store before! I was very respectful during the moment of silence, but Claire needs some more practice.

When we got home, Charlie surprised us by coming home early. It sure did make my day to spend extra family time together.