Christmas Eve 2009

After weeks and weeks of preparation, it's finally here. Christmas!! Well, Christmas Eve anyway.

Riley was so excited. He went to school today so Mommy and Daddy could do some last minute shopping, cleaning, and baking. He wasn't thrilled to go since he knew Mommy and Daddy weren't working today and he wanted to stay home with us but after some tough negotiations, he went.

We got our shopping done and the crowds were crazy. Actually it wasn't so much the crowds in the stores as it was the parking lots and streets. People are NUTS!! I also got some baking done (Peanut Butter Bon Bons and Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars). I must admit that Daddy did the majority of the cleaning, as always, and the place was sparkling by the time we left to pick up Riley.

I must say it was easy getting Riley out of school with the promise of Grandma and Grandpa and PRESENTS!! Luckily we were only home for a few minutes before Grandma and Grandpa pulled into the driveway. I believe the first thing out of Riley's mouth was infact "PRESENTS". Manners obviously take a back seat at Christmas time. Luckily he was satisified with having the presents to look at and wasn't devastated when told that he'd have to wait until after dinner to open them.

Speaking of dinner....YUM!! Christmas Eve always means Cheese Fondue in our family. It has since I was a little girl and now it's an important part of Dave and Riley's life too. We only have it once a year so we always look forward to it. With the expansion of our family (Dave and Riley), we've now graduated to TWO fondue pots. And if I do say so myself the fondue was particularily excellent this year. Really cheesy with a bit of a bite from the french onion dip. Perfection. Riley enjoyed it too although, note to self, maybe DON'T give him a fondue fork to use since he almost took out his eye and my shoulder. Oh well, maybe next year he'll be more careful.

After dinner it was on to presents. Riley was spoiled as usual. Actually we all were. In the interest of keeping an accurate record so that we can remember in the future, this is what everyone received from Grandma and Grandpa:

Riley:

• Magnetic Shapes
• Funky Town Play Mat
• Nine Dog Christmas DVD
• The Littlest Light on the Christmas Tree DVD
• Fisher Price Power Touch Learning System

Me:

• 2 pairs of pyjamas
• SingStar for the PS3
• Beverly Hills 90210 - Season 5

Dave:

• Terminator Salvation - Blu Ray
• Gods of War 1 & 2 for the PS3
• Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 - PS3

We also got two joint gifts:

• Two adorable magazine covers of Riley - coolest kid and kid of the year
• An indoor/outdoor thermometer

Both Grandma and Grandpa really seemed to like their gifts as well. The chocolate covered pretzels that Riley and I made were a huge hit. Riley was a bit over-stimulated so it made for a bit of a trying evening but all in all it was a fun night.

We put out cookies and milk for Santa, and carrots for Rudolph (no dip) and Riley was off to bed. Of course it wasn't as simple as that but it's all about remembering the positive...lol.

The Wiggles!!

I think we must be CRAZY!! The Wiggles have been banned in our house since Riley's Wiggles Birthday Party in February. It was a drastic move but it had to be done after his Wiggles obsession got out of control. The first word out of his mouth every morning was "Wiggles". The last word out of his mouth every night was "Wiggles". And he even woke up in the middle of the night crying out "WIGGLES". Obsess much?!?

So we banned it. Cold turkey. No more Wiggles music, no more Wiggles DVD's, and no more talking about the Wiggles. Of course the Wiggles still did remain in his life a bit. They still listened to Wiggles music in daycare so he did get a bit of exposure. Before long he stopped asking about them and life was peaceful again. Whenever he did mention them, he made sure to tell us that "Wiggles at school, NOT at home". So he got it.

Fast forward to yesterday. Wiggles tickets went on sale and they are playing in our city. How could i NOT buy some knowing how much he loved and still loves them. So i did it. I bought Wiggles tickets. Great seats too. We got 12th row, right on the floor by the stage. He's going to go CRAZY when he finds out. The concert is October 21st so obviously we're not going to mention it until that day or else we'd never hear the end of it. So, hopefully i don't end up regretting this decision. Hopefully he realizes that the Wiggles are at school and at the arena, but still not at home. But even if we do go through the withdrawl again, it'll still be worth it. Because this is seriously one of the coolest things I could've done for him and I know he'll have the best time ever.

It's times like this that I LOVE being a MOM!!!

Thank You Blue's Clues!!

After 3 1/2 years of getting up early with Riley we've FINALLY discovered the secret to sleeping in. BLUE'S CLUES. Riley LOVES Blue's Clues and we never get the opportunity to watch it since we don't have cable or satellite. So i finally found some Blue's Clues DVD's for sale on the Kijiji board and bought them up. Now when Riley gets up in the morning, he climbs into "the big bed" and watches Blue's Clues for an hour or so while Mommy and sometimes Daddy get a bit of extra sleep. It's complete heaven. Not only are we getting to sleep in a bit (8am seems like heaven to me) but we get our sweet little snuggly boy in our bed with us cuddling first thing in the morning. I can't imagine anything better...

I've been meaning to do this forever. Create a space where I can record all the silly, and crazy things that Riley does and says everyday. I know that one day, in the not too distant future, I won't be able to remember them anymore and I would hate not to have it documented somewhere. So now I will!