Busy!

We have been so busy lately. I am now working about 20 hours a week for Statistics Canada on the Census, following up with all of those people who haven't yet complete their Census forms. Its a lot of walking, which is good exercise, but also makes me sore and tired.

Here's how today and the next two days are looking, just to show how busy we are...

Mark had an interview today. While he was there, we were at Chloe's dance class. Mark then ran some errands. Then I went out and did 2.5 hours of tracking people down. Then I got home, we cleaned up and watched the 2nd half of the Canucks game (we won!), then put the girls to bed. THEN Mark went out to Jordy's for the evening, and I spent another 50 minutes entering data in the tracking system for Census.

Tomorrow is my birthday, I'll be 29. We've got groceries in the morning while Mark is back at Jordy's house. Then its a mad scramble to clean the house while I also make a cake. My mom will be arriving around 2pm to watch the girls while Mark and I go out for an early dinner (somewhere...). We need to be back by 6:30, as Aaron and Andrew are coming for board games around 7pm.

Sunday is church, followed by a brief visit to the Sapperton Days Street Festival. Then I go to work for at least another 3 hours, and then we go to Mark's parents for dinner.

I think I'll fall over now... and again in 3 days.

"When I Grow Up"

Chloe is all about being big the past few weeks. She keeps talking about when she grows up and what she will "be" when she's an adult.

In the last week, she has wanted to be:
- a hockey player
- a firefighter
- a cowboy
- a hair dresser
- a dancer

Job

So, I went for training today for a job with Statistics Canada. I am helping collect data for the Census. I feel kinda brain dead now. I haven't done that much learning in a while.

Easter

We went to Lee's in Vernon for Easter. We had a great time.

Uncle Lee was funny, as expected, and very fun to play with. He bought the girls some stuffed bunnies that they really like.

We played games, played in the park, watched movies and hung out. Mark played through all of Portal 2 (single player) and I played the first bit of Kirby's Epic Yarn, a game I still want to get. We also had an egg hunt, which was a lot of fun for everyone.

    

We had a horrible drive on the Coquihalla last night though. We left Merritt as it reached full dark, and it was pouring/snowing the whole way from there to Chilliwack. The road was just a black, reflective surface, which made seeing anything really hard.

But we made it home safe, which is the important part.

ABC's

So, I know Kara only turned 2 just over a month ago, but she knows almost all of the alphabet! She decided she wanted to learn it late last week, and we ran with it. As of tonight, this is what she knows:

A B C D E F G H I J L O P Q R S T U W X Y Z (correctly pronounced "zed")

In other words, she is missing K M N and V. That's it! She also loves to sing, and will often sing Twinkle Twinkle or Itsy Bitsy Spider, or something she just makes up on the spot.

Chloe is obsessed with her "tap dance" game, in which she puts on her dressy shoes and stomps/dances around the kitchen floor. I, of course, get to be the audience. Kara will often join Chloe, though its not as much her type of game.

Also of note is the amazing way that our girls play together now that Kara can talk so well, and the fact that Kara has started on her terrible twos with much shrieking over very little things.

This weekend we are headed to Lee's in Vernon, and Chloe is SO excited. She often tells me that "Uncle Lee is the funniest of all." It will be fun to do something different for Easter this year, and hanging out with Lee and his kids is always fun.

And that's about it in our crazy life :)

Birthday Photos

Some pictures from Kara's party on Sunday.

Kara and her cool new sunglasses. Thanks Ava!

Showing her mermaid to Auntie Alie.

Birthday cake!

Blowing out candles by herself.

TWO!

So we're still alive, really. Life has just been super hectic, and there are so many things to do.

Today is Kara's 2nd birthday. It has been an amazing and wonder-filled two years. She has learned so much and is entirely her own person now. She's sometimes even very opinionated! We love her dearly and are so glad she's part of our family.

Going

Things are going. I'm still working 2 or 3 shifts a week at Reitmans, Kara is getting better at talking every day, and we're having fun just being us.

Santa?

When Mark and I first realized that we were going to be parents, at some point we had a discussion about whether or not we would "have Santa" in our house. We decided no.

I'm realizing now, after going through a Christmas season with a 4-year-old, that this is easier said than done. Santa is everywhere on TV and in the stores, we can visit him in the mall, and all Chloe's friends have parents who promote Santa. Grandpa Barry also dressed up as Santa yesterday afternoon while we were over at Rose & Barry's for presents and dinner. Chloe thought it was SO awesome that she got to see Santa and that he gave her a present. (Kara not so much. She kept saying "No like it!" while Santa was there, and she cried a bit.)

After thinking about it a bit in bed last night, I have realized that there is nothing really wrong with Santa - its what we say about Santa that is important. What I find wrong with Santa is the "naughtY or nice" aspects, implying that you need to be good to get presents. This is why I think it is wrong:
1) You can't expect children to be good all the time. You can't expect adults to be good all the time either. We are all born as fallible humans, sinners. This is why God sent his son Jesus to save us, the reason we have Christmas in the first place.
2) Presents don't need to be "earned." Mark and I give presents because we like to, and because baby Jesus received gifts from the wise men. We will give our girls gifts whether they were "good" or not.
3) We are ultimately responsible to and judged by God, not Santa. If we are striving to be good, we should do so in an attempt to be closer to our Father and Maker, not to get presents from some fictional character based on a God-serving man from a few hundred years ago.

So next year, I think we'll make it simple, just like this year: a single visit to say hi to Santa (no photos), no presents from Santa on Christmas morning, a discussion about St. Nickolas on Dec. 6 (and likely later too), and maybe a visit from Santa at Rose & Barry's. No "Santa is pretend" from us, but no promotion of Santa either. I don't want to deny my girls the fun of pretend, but we want to keep Christmas focused on Christ.

Merry Christmas

Again we celebrate Jesus's coming to Earth to save us all. We are so thankful for this.

May you all have a wonderful Christmas, enjoying family and friends (and presents). We wish many blessings for you and yours.