As I was breaking out the tulle this morning to make a few more Tutus I realized that I never blogged about my homemade Christmas this year, even worse is that I didn’t take pictures of their presents all boxed and ready to go.  And honestly I didn’t make a lot, for my family, as I spent way too much time making stuff for the craft show, that I didn’t leave time to get the family stuff all made.

So, I improvised.  My Sisters got a mix of hand made stuff left over from the craft show, with a movie, a recipe book and a wine guide for making a date night at home.  My nephews got handmade DS cases, made out of neoprene and some money to treat themselves.  And my nieces each got a Tutu with some money to treat themselves.

Apple got a Tutu as well.  Here, I was thinking she was going to love it and I would have lots of pictures of my sweet little girl dancing around in her Tutu with her princess shoes on.  Well, she has worn it once, and that is it.  I love the Tutu, it is so fun and fluffy.  With a Tutu you can be a ballerina or a princess, the choice is yours.  I still remember my Tutu I had as a little girl, I wore it until it was no more.

So for now, all I have to show you is a photo of Apple’s Tutu and hope that in time, she will want to wear it more.  Now, back to making some Tutus for other little girls, who apparently love them.

We have been doing a lot of nothing around here this holiday season.  This is the first year that Hubby really didn’t have to work between Christmas and New Years.  He did go in for a couple of hours one day, but that was it.  I on the other hand have been filling in for my Dad and Sister with our elderly friends, so every day around noon I head over and make sure all is well at their house. They have been doing quite well and have enjoyed the company.  Today, I even brought the whole family which always lights them up when they see the kids playing in their backyard and running around their kitchen.

One thing that we have been doing is some tobogganing.  Unless it was too cold we would bundle up the kids and head over to the park across the street and zip down some hills.

This one early evening I brought my camera along.  It was late afternoon so I was able to catch some of that wonderful blue light that sets in when the sun goes down.  It was lightly snowing and not too cold.  I was no good on the hills with my bum ankle anyway, so why not grab some fun shots.

Even the big boys had a little fun rolling down the hill.

I can’t believe I am going to say this but, I am really not looking forward to school starting on Monday.  It means back to work and back to the grind.  I have really enjoyed having the family around this past couple of weeks.  Which is a huge accomplishment because normally if the whole family is home, I go a little wonky and wonder why we aren’t away somewhere on vacation instead of home. But, not this time, it has been a wonderful break in the school year and I am already looking forward to March Break when we can do it all again… without the toboggans… hopefully.

Today I walked around the house taking random shots of things that were out of the norm or just there and normally I don’t realize it. Now Hubby and I are going to get ready to go on a date and see some old bands from High School, mixed with a little new bands from now.

Welcome to a BeachMama Christmas, one hour, one photo at a time (Andrea mentioned she was going to do it, so I thought it would be fun to see if I could pull it off.).  Starting from when we got up to when we left my Mom and Dad’s after dinner.  It gives you a bit of an idea of how we spent our day.

Opening the stockings left by Santa.

J, playing with one of his new Storm Troopers.

Mickey, wondering why all this stuff is scattered around his sleeping quarters, otherwise known as the aftermath.

Miss Apple, heading up to get ready to go to Grandma and Grandpa’s.

Dad reading the Christmas Story

Luke 2:8-14

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

and My Sister, laughing at something silly that was going on in the room.

Hmmm… my Sister being silly while everyone else is getting brunch ready.

I missed a couple of hours in between these two just because, well… I had a nap….

My kitchen while I was making profiteroles for Christmas Dinner, which my Mom was hosting this year.

Apple and I while Supper was being prepared.

Apple and J at the kids table.

Three Sisters. Three rings, each with a meaning.

The prettiest bathroom around.

Wishing you and yours the most fabulous holiday possible.

Last night I received the most delicious treat from a girlfriend of mine for Christmas.  My girlfriend lives in the Cayman Islands right now and I only wish we could make it there for a visit, but for now we share emails and phone calls and we get to visit when she comes home to see her Mom.  And while we are complaining of -20C temperatures, she is feeling the heat, sometimes too much to bear, but I still love her.

Now to tell you of this fabulous treat.   The courier handed me the most  beautiful little box.

And inside this little green box are the most delicious handmade chocolates, I have ever tasted.

A little map of their chocolates.

Now, look at this!

And if you think they look beautiful, just imagine how they melt in your mouth.  It was killing me to take these photos, and not gobble them all down in one shot.  However, they are not gobbling kinds of chocolates, they are cup of tea (or coffee) chocolates, where one is all you need to last you a little while.  They are chocolates to savour and enjoy.  They are Koko Chocolates.  A local (to Ottawa) company.  I loved them so much that I called immediately this morning to see where I could get some for my Mom’s stocking.  Unfortunately she is finished her Christmas chocolate batch, but there is a special little coffee shop that I love that carries little 3 packs, so I will be over there to pick up a couple tonight. Mmmm….

And yes, this truly was a little bite of Heaven.

p.s. I have tasted two more since I photographed these chocolates this morning and am still floating on a cloud.

In Santa that is.  No, I don’t believe that a man comes through my non-existent chimney and leaves gifts for the children.  But, I do believe in the Spirit of Santa.  To me, Santa goes hand in hand with the true meaning of Christmas.  The reason for the Season.  The Birthday.

Jesus is the reason we are celebrating this holiday and we make sure that the children know this.  But, yes there is another reason for this holiday.  The Spirit of giving.  Saying thank you to others and doing things for others because we can and want to.  I actually wrote about this two years ago, when my nephew was first told that there was no Santa.  It breaks my heart that other children don’t get the chance to believe.  There is something special about not really knowing but knowing.  Even though I grew up knowing there was no Santa, my older Sister and I always thought my parents were wrong and secretly believed. I remember how special that was to us, wondering if Santa was out there on the rooftops making deliveries.

How could you not believe in this guy, look at that smile.  He and J were having a great chat while I was taking some shots.  Apple really wanted nothing to do with it, but J spoke for her.

 This year, for the first time I decided not to buy the shots from the photo lab at the mall, but just bring my own camera.  I have brought it before, but always bought a package anyway.  Well, not this year.  I would have never got these great shots without the few minutes we had by ourselves.

Thank you Santa, you truly are an inspiration.

Not something I talk about here, at all really, but once a week I help out some friends of my Dad’s.  They are a Brother and Sister who are on the elderly side.  I am sure they didn’t plan on spending their latter years hanging out with each other day after day, let alone sharing a house, but such are things that this is the way it worked out for them.  They were both married and have lost their spouses.  The Sister had two sons and lost them as well. So now, they have each other.

Once a week I go over and do the general cleaning, pass a vacuum, clean the bathrooms, a little laundry.  My Dad and my Sister also take turns and do what is needed to keep them in their house.  Which is amazing, that they still live in their house.

A few weeks ago we got to talking about Christmas decorations and how there were some in the basement and wouldn’t it be lovely to put up the tree this year.

Last week, I grabbed my littlest helper and headed over to decorate their tree.

I’m not going to say she was the most help, but it was nice to have a little girl running around their house.  She certainly brightened up their day.

In the basement I found boxes and boxes of these totally retro decorations.

I only used about 1/8th of the decorations they had, but it did the trick and a tree was born.

Not bad for a busy Mom, a little girl and some antique decorations.

Please head over to my Photography Blog for a wonderful Christmas Giveaway.  This is a chance to pay it forward to someone you know, who could really use a boost this Holiday Season.

You should know me by now that when this site is left idle too long, life has just gotten crazy.  And although I should be doing some work right now, I just couldn’t let another day go by without putting up a post.

If you want to see what I have been up to head on over to my photo blog and see the gorgeous people I have been blessed to photograph lately.

In addition to a few photo shoots, I rolled my ankle on Saturday as we were heading out the door to pick up the Christmas tree.  Thankfully I was able to hobble around by Sunday and it looks like it was just hyper-extended (I rolled over the top) not torn, broken, sprained or otherwise.  It still hurts, but thankfully it wasn’t worse.

We have been trying hard to continue with our 25 Days of Christmas, so I have made up a photo collage to fill you in.

On day 4 we wrote to Santa and mailed his card.  J even drew Santa a card of his own, it broke my heart to put it in the mail.

Day 5 we went to pick up our Christmas Tree at Ikea.  We get two, one for my Mom & Dad and then we get the gift certificates to use after Christmas.

Day 6 we put up and decorated our Tree, Mantle, Dining Room.

Day 7 we decorated the kids trees for their rooms.

Day 8 we watched a Christmas movie after school and sang carols on our way to swimming (loud enough so the guy next to us started singing along).

And Day 9 the kids played in the snow for two hours before dinner, that was all the Christmas we could do yesterday.

To be sure, I have my own 25 days of Christmas going on in behind this one.  I have made a few batches of cookies, made, ordered and addressed the Christmas cards, picked up some Christmas gifts, sang carols till my throat was sore and started making the Christmas gifts that need to be handmade.

No wonder I am tired.