Holiday Happenings...

We are on the Island right now, having a VERY white Christmas. Santa spoiled us all — good thing we brought the utility trailer so we can haul it all home! Ben is having a hoot, especially because he is getting a great big huge dose of Granny (his favourite person!) and the combination of Christmas — fun fun fun! Mike totally surprised me and got me a Nikon D60 camera.. WOW. I am in love LOL! So much to learn and remember from high school photography, but I am up for the challenge. What's another thing to do right?!


Sleeping kids on the way to the Ferry... they are great travelers.

We hadn't turned the lights on.. but he could still see there was gifts under the tree!!

Ben seeing what Santa left him..

Presents! Let's open them!

Daisy all ready to go for a ride in her sled! Snug as a bug.

The gingerbread man has seen better days..

Stella, with her Snuffleupagus eyes

Ben got a kazoo in his stocking. He figured it out right away!

Brrr! Lots of snow.. Christmas was so nice and sunny :)

It's my first Christmas!

Blue!

Yay! My first My Little Pony!

Ben isn't liking his picture taken lately (hence them mostly being of Daisy). This is the general expression I get LOL!

I surprised Mike with a snazzy iPod!

I still can't get over her blue eyes! They are even bluer with this camera!!!

Dazed and slightly overwhelmed by Christmas! But his eyes are such a gorgeous shade of brown.

All set for turkey...

Daisy had her first Christmas dinner!

Tis the Season..

... to be crazy busy!

Wow. I didn't realize it had been that long since I posted! I post in my mind you see, thinking through my days "Oh ya, I should post this, post that" but then I never seem to get the pictures off of the camera. *sigh* But here I am!

We took the took the kids to see Santa last week. Ben was SO excited. He was vibrating, jumping ahead of line to sneak peeks, saying hi to Santa, asking not stop if it was his turn.. but well behaved!


Daisy did what she did best — be adorable! It was so much fun taking them.. Ben was in AWE, answering all his questions, nodding along and in a trance. Daisy was awesome, didn't play strange at all. Santa thanked me at least three times for bringing her and that she was a pleasure :) I guess any baby/child that doesn't cry is a welcome treat!

The tree got put up the first weekend of the month.. again, a very happy bouncy Ben. He went to bed very happy, that it was up at last. We had wanted to go to a tree farm nearby, but the weather was really cruddy and Daisy still had a cold. Didn't want to push our luck, so the artificial one came up from the crawl space. I think I say this every year, and it's been since Stella was a puppy, that I look forward to the day when I can use my ornaments. The one that aren't entirely pipe-cleaners, felt and plastic!

Ben's tree in the dining room..

Mike finishes work on Monday, then he starts school January 5th — last term! I know he is anxious to get it over with. No more school! We will be down to one vehicle during the 10 weeks, so it will be interesting coming up with things to do with the kids and not getting cabin fever. I sense lots of play dates at our house!

Ben's new thing the past week is not napping. And let me tell you, it SUCKS. He is so crabby. Every other day he either falls asleep at the dinner table, or on the couch. Tonight he didn't even eat a thing of dinner. Was in bed just after 6. Will be an early morning... again.

Yes, he is asleep at the table.

Daisy is getting tooth #8. May even be in this weekend.. she is so strong at standing it freaks me out. Is this early?!? She pats us on the back now when we cuddle, I swear she waved tonight. Playing peek a boo with her bib is a fun game at her high chair..

The kids have been "playing" together, Ben asks to go in Daisy's crib with her. He piles all her stuffies and they crawl and roll around LOL! There are no tears, so if we limit it to a few minutes, it's great!



This will probably be the last post before Santa comes, so everyone please have a happy and safe holiday! Merry Christmas!

~ The Merriman Family

My warm happy little sunshine after her morning nap!

Trying out her walker.. Santa might bring her one for Christmas though :)

Ben decided that he wanted to have a picnic with Daisy.

My wee man of mystery

I finally finished our photo wall in the living room!

Another first...

Daisy has her first cold :( So far she is handling it like a trooper, but it's still a cold. It's got a bit of a loose cough, so using her sucky isn't an option because she kind of gags. We'll see how tonight goes.. I woke up a ton last night, worrying every time I heard her cough. Poor girlie. But she is amazing at everything else, no doubt this will be gone in a flash.

What else is new.. Ben is done swimming lessons for the year. They would like him to repeat this level again (Guppies 2) as he didn't complete a couple things that he should have, and that is because he just didn't focus as much — because he was too excited every class LOL! We won't be able to go back until the spring, but will try to get to the pool more on weekends.

The Christmas preparations are underway! We are planning on getting a real tree from the Christmas tree farm nearby on Saturday, but if the weather is cruddy, then I think we will just use the artificial one we own. No sense suffering in rainy cold weather. Hopefully I can get the rest of the house decorated this week! It's normally all up by now, but I have been too busy and a bit under the weather to find the energy. Shopping is nearly done, just a few odds and sods, and then will have to hours and hours wrapping LOL!

Hopefully this weekend we will take the kids to see Santa, too! Ben and I wrote him a letter and I am curious to see if he asks for the same three things that were mentioned in the letter: a dinoraur (dinosaur), a hamster and a hippo toy. Such a strange child! Somehow I don't think his list will always be this small & cheap!

Must go do one of my many things on my list today — Happy Tuesday!