Merry Christmas Eve!

The gingerbread house has been built, the letters to Santa have been written (the kids are REALLY excited!) and now a snowman is about to grace our front yard.

We are a lucky family. A family built on love and trust and damn hard work...

Let the celebrating begin!

The start of Christmas Vacation.

So, today is the first day of every parents' hell called- Christmas Vacation.

Emma took Kristen to the mall to go "Christmas shopping" but as we were walking out the door she was asking me for money...seems that she's not a great saver and her paycheques don't last as long as she'd like. (ANOTHER great teaching opportunity for Eric and I. Great.) Kristen was so excited to go shopping so I gave her $20. I gave Emma a lecture.

It took us half an hour to navigate our way to the mall through traffic and snowy roads and then about 15 minutes to get close to the mall entrance. I kept quizzing Krissy about what to do if she gets lost, where to go... she was getting really irritated with me...so then I started quizzing Emma. She's a teenager so she knows everything and that can really come in handy when I try to have a discussion with her. Therefore, she doesn't get irritated- she just says over and over again, "I KNOW mom."

Any hoo-ha after we dropped the girls off, Brandon, Sam and I went down to the shop to give the guys some cookies and then to do some grocery shopping. Sam is always excited to go out and he really doesn't care where he's going. But Brandon. Brandon really, really didn't want to come. I told him that Christmas is about family and he needed to come and help his out, so he came and irritated me the entire time....that kid can make noise NO MATTER WHAT. Drum beats on the shopping cart? No problem. Flicking the pen that I'm using to scratch stuff off of my list? Yup. Turning up the radio in the car so I can't concentrate on driving? Uh huh. Noise is not a problem for my son!

So by the time all of my shopping was done it was time to make the snail's pace back to the mall. As Emma and Kristen jumped in the van, I noticed Kristen had her face made up in some makeup that made her look like a child transvestite. I guess they made it to Sephora. But her makeup couldn't hide the huge smile on her face, so it was all worth it.

Now we're home and Sam is watching tv in his winter coat, snow pants, touque and rubber boots.

Sigh.

Tomorrow we'll get up and face this insanity all over again. Except we're going to attempt to build a gingerbread house. I must be CRAZY...

Giving back is the best gift. Ever.

So, as the mom of 4 kids this time of the year can present a certain amount of stress. Buying gifts, wrapping, baking, concerts and getting ready for the Big Meal is a lot when you have a large family. So, it came as a bit of a surprise when my husband asked me if I'd like an "extra" job.

You see, his company has raised almost $2300 over the course of the year to donate to local families through the Lion's Club. Isn't that great?!!? This year, they are going to support 3 families for Christmas!! Yesterday, Eric asked me if I'd like to do a little shopping for a 40 year-old single mom.....just what I need at this time of the year, right? Well, it turns out that it was just what I needed. That and $150.......

At first, I couldn't imagine how I was going to buy for someone that I don't know. But once I got into the stores I got into a groove and had so much fun shopping for this woman. And I think I did a pretty good job, too...I'm really feeling excited that she's going to have gifts to open on Christmas. So excited, in fact, that I'd like to be there when she opens them!! LOL!

I've never been ashamed of where I've been in my life. I've been this woman. I have made decisions in my life that haven't been easy, and I'm sure she's going through the same thing. I have lived in poverty with 2 babies and the only reason I survived was because of my family. Don't get me wrong- I've worked my ass off to get where I am today, and being down in the dumps has only driven me to work harder....but my family reached into the depths of my despair and pulled me up so I could see something better. Not everyone is so lucky.

Today I Christmas shopped for a woman that I don't know. And, yet, I know her very well.

The Great Christmas Tree Hunt.

The tree has been picked, cut down, trimmed and decorated. I think it's one of our best so far...the journey to the tree was fun and, at times, annoying....

You see, it all started with 3 very tired teenagers. I know, I know! We only have 2 teenagers! Somehow, magically, we picked another one up along the way named Alex (friend of Brandon). He's such a nice, well-mannered kid and I gladly would have traded Brandon for him early yesterday morning when it was time to go...."Mom- I don't really WANT to go"...."Brandon, I don't care. You're going, and you're damn-well going to have fun. If Alex wants to go home, we can drop him off....."....."But, Alex WANTS to go...I don't".....BLAH, BLAH,BLAH.......So, after a small arguement that I was unwilling to lose Brandon, Emma and Alex were squished in the back seat of the van with hats, mitts, coats and miserable looks on their faces. Eric and I turned on the Christmas music and sang our asses off while in the middle row, Kristen and Sam fought and pounded each other and in the back row, the teenagers looked like they were making a suicide pact.

The truth is, I didn't really care who was tired or cranky or cold.... I was going to find the perfect tree. We had a great time with Caroline, Ron and Saida (as always) and by the time we took the tractor ride out into the forest everyone was getting into it! Even Brandon....

I tend to measure successes in "kid measurements" such as: it was a great day because I didn't have to carry a 60lb slippery snowsuit through the deep snow... Or: it was a great day because nobody peed their pants...Or: it was a great day because the teenaged hormones stayed away....But, what really made it a great day was my family. Blemishes and all, we're a team...and team ILAQUA got a kick-ass Christmas tree this year!

A Christmas Miracle.

That's what it's going to take to get all 6 Ilaqua's together to cut down our damn Christmas tree! It's all planned for tomorrow morning...we're meeting Caroline and Ron at Drysdale's in the early a.m. so we can get in, get the goods and get out before the crowds arrive. The stealth coordination necessary to complete this maneuver is overwhelming...Emma needs to be picked up at 7:45am from her friend's house, Brandon has a friend sleeping over and he's going to come with us, Caroline and Ron are meeting us at 9:15....whew!! I'm not even mentioning the work involved in getting everyone dressed and finding 6 pairs of mitts that match!

A few years ago, when I found myself with 2 VERY young children I told Eric that I didn't want to go through all of this crap just to cut down a tree...he listened, but then he told me that it was our special tradition and everyone loves it so just, basically, SUCK IT UP. So, here I am several years later facing all the overwhelming details again. But the kids are so excited- even Emma and Brandon! And when I watch them get excited, I get excited at their excitement!! That's kind of when I realize that it doesn't take a Christmas Miracle to gather a family together-all it takes is a tradition.

It was a busy weekend.

Well.....we've had busier. But it seems as though our weekends are eaten up by driving teens to work and parties and friends' houses. In between all the taxi services, we took Kristen and Sam to see Bolt on Saturday afternoon and we went to Eric's office kids' Christmas party on Sunday.

The movie was really, really good! Kristen laughed the loudest during and Sam cried the longest when it was over. You KNOW it's a really good movie when you take your kid home and he cries in his room for 20 minutes...although, he may have been crying about his sore tummy- the kid ate soooo much popcorn, pop, Nibs and M&M's. Maybe it was diabetic shock he was experiencing?

The Christmas party is always a good time for the kids. It's held in Stouffville and comes complete with sugary treats, a creepy clown/magician, Santa, presents and the biggest loot bag you've ever seen. If you look around the room during the party, you can even catch a room full of bleary-eyed parents!! Merry Christmas!!!!!!

Now that December is upon us, I know that our days and weekends are going to become even busier. It's all part of the "season" and even though we complain, we all know how much we love it!

Christmas starts early

At least it does for our family. Due to a very large, aging, spread out family we are forced to have our party early and in a hall. I think the count last night was around 125 aunts, uncles, cousins and a bunch of people I didn't recognize. So, the kids were super excited to see Santa and get presents....

This year Emma sold tickets for our annual draw. Everyone brings something to put in the draw as a way to raise money for next year's party. We had a banner year for ticket sales thanks to Emma and her cute face! We also had a silent auction and auctioned off 4 larger dollar items. I won a half day at a horse farm (For Krissy and I to spend a special day together) and a handmade Christmas quilt wall-hanging thingy.

All in all it was a really nice day and I don't even have any really funny stories to tell about it. I just felt so proud of my little family last night! Everyone was on their best behavior and it meant the world to Eric and I.