Ready for the Big Guy

We started off the day on a sugar high with the boys consuming the very last chocolate in their Advent calendars by no later than 6:31 am.

After a busy day of LEGO building,

swimming at the neighbourhood indoor pool, afternoon napping, and visiting neighbours for a holiday get together - it was finally time to get ready for Santa.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care.

A homemade ginger cookie and glass of coconut milk were left out for Santa. 
Oh yes, and a carrot from the garden for Rudolph.

Liam and Seamus are sporting some brand new jingle jammies.
We read "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and "The Night Before Christmas" one last time (until next year).

The boys finally went to sleep.

Mama, Papa and Grandma wrapped gifts, stuffed stockings and got everything under the tree.

We are now ready for Santa.  I sure hope he comes quietly though because I am absolutely exhausted.  I do not need to hear any "prancing and pawing of each little hoof" tonight.  Really, I would prefer a good night's sleep and a wake up call that is not substantially earlier than 6:30 am.  Once again, here's to hoping.

Happy Christmas Eve everyone!

Here's Some Cheer

One of my favourite things about the boys is that you never know what they are going to say.  Maybe this is because they have not embarrassed us too badly yet but sometimes they come up with things that are really adorable.

After getting hopped up on homemade treats...

and fantastic gifts...

from this morning's family brunch, we rounded out the day by delivering our treat packages to the neighbours.

The boys really enjoyed this activity.  Liam opted to pull the sled full of treats around - who doesn't love to play Rudolph?  Meanwhile, Seamus preferred presenting the box of baking to each respective recipient at their door.

Seamus' modus operandi at the first several houses was to thrust the box silently at the intended recipient but at our second last stop he unexpectedly changed it up a bit - as he handed over the box, he said very clearly "Here's some cheer."  It was beyond cute.

I knew the boys were excellent gift receivers, but they have really exceeded my expectations in the giving department so far.  They were very enthusiastic treat deliverers and definitely engaged in spreading some Christmas cheer.  They did a really good job, Ian and I are proud of them.

Weathering the Storms

It continues to pour outside.  So much rain has come down over the past 24 hours that the floor of poor Charlie's barn has turned into a mud puddle.  We mucked her barn out this afternoon and put down two bales of fresh straw to try to soak up some of the water.  It is still soggy.  Hopefully the rain changes to snow soon to give the water a chance to get absorbed into the ground.

While it storms outside, I have been busy baking up my own storm in the kitchen.  I might have given myself a sore back and sore feet but I am happy to report that my holiday baking is now complete.  I have made everything that the boys asked for, as well as all of my holiday favourites that remind me of loved ones.

I am ready to get started. 
I needed a "rest chair" in the kitchen. 
Seriously, I am that pregnant.

 I tackled Dad/Aunt Jane's fudge first.  I knew that this was going to be a tough one for me because Dad and I have always made this together.  However, I wanted to try so today was my first solo attempt.  I have detailed instructions from Dad, so everything went according to plan.  It was strange to work through the steps by myself but I find that doing things that he used to do helps me to keep his memory alive in my heart. 

It is a bit on the shiny side still and has a very creamy texture. 
Next time I will mix it a tiny bit longer to get a drier consistency.
Definitely edible though.

Next up were GG's butter tarts.   This was a specific request from Liam.  I am happy to report that I am more reliably able to make these well.  I have made this recipe about 8 times now and am getting much more comfortable with the process.  They turned out great!

Another family favourite is peanut butter balls.  The boys really like these and so do Auntie Megan and Uncle Christian who will be visiting us over the holidays.

Finally, I made cream cheese oreo truffles.  On a break from work, Ian helped me dip these in white chocolate and sprinkle them with candy cane dust.  Done and done!

What the heck are we going to do with all these holiday goodies you ask?  Share, of course.  The boys are well versed in the "getting" part of Christmas but we continue to work on the "giving" part.  

To reinforce the importance of giving at Christmas time, after school today Liam and I prepared holiday treat packages for our neighbours.

These gift boxes are all packaged up and are ready to be dropped off tomorrow morning along with some holiday cheer.  Hopefully this activity helps refocus some of the boys' attention on giving instead of always getting.  Here's to hoping.  I think it is a work in progress.

Packed and Prepped

Things are still ticking along here on the farm, though admittedly it has been mostly indoor activities as of late.  Yesterday I packed up our hospital bag so we are ready for when the time comes.  Who knows when this kid will decide to make his appearance!

The Season of Light

After spending a good portion of today decorating our tree, Liam declared it to be "the most beautiful thing in the world".  It seems that we did well.

The boys worked hard hanging all the kid-friendly decorations
in a ring around the bottom of the tree.

Grandma put on all the fragile decorations and evened everything out. 
My stomach kept getting between me and the tree.

Ian put the star on top and voila: the finished product.

Let there be light!

Our tree is indeed beautiful but it was rivalled by this evening's spectacular sunset.  Mother Nature at her best.

It truly is the season of light both inside and out.

Just the Right Height

The boys have been itching to get a Christmas tree for weeks now.  With the mild temperatures and beautiful sunshine, today was the perfect day to make this happen.

We all had our tree hunting jobs.  Liam was responsible for evaluating "green-ness", Seamus for prickliness, and Mom and Dad for height and fullness.

This is the one!

TIMBER!  Good job with the saw Daddy!

All hands on deck to lug this beast out of the forest.

Waiting for the hay ride to bring us back to the car.

Happy with our choice.

Giving it a good shake.

It turns out that our tree is exactly the right height. 
We will have to trim the tallest branch the tiniest little bit to get the star on but that is totally doable.

Lights and decorations are tomorrow's jobs.  The boys are so excited.

A Bit on the Dry Side

We have been so lucky to have my paternal grandma (GG) come spend the past few Christmases with us here on the farm.  This year she has decided to stay home for the holidays.  While this is disappointing for us, I can completely understand given the veritable cesspool of germs I have been for the past month and a half, not to mention the frequent colds and snuffles the boys will surely continue to come down with and the uncertainty of our pending new arrival.

Every holiday season I do a plethora of Christmas baking which is overshadowed by the delicious goodies that GG brings along.  I love GG's baking as much as the rest of the family so I am not at all put out to devour her squares and tarts and leave mine in the freezer for another day.  This year, however, it seems that with no better options available, my baking will actually make it to the dinner table.

So far we have chocolate chip cookies, ginger molasses cookies, shortbread, turtle brownies, and chocolate brownies ready to go.  Today, Seamus and I whipped up my first ever batch of GG's pineapple cake with cream cheese icing.  This is one item that she always brings and it just would not be the same without it.

Since I have never made this particular cake before, I divided the recipe in two - half to try for dessert tonight (in case it turns out awful) and half for the freezer.  I simply could not add the two cups of sugar that the recipe called for so I cut it down to 1.5 cups (which I still think is a lot).  I also added 1/2 cup of unsweetened coconut flakes - because, why not?

CAKE
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar
3 medium eggs (or 2 large)
1 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple, undrained

CREAM CHEESE ICING
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Bake at 350 F for 45 minutes.

The final product was certainly good and similar to GG's, though I think I over baked it; it was a bit dry.  Luckily there was lots of icing to help wash it down.  That's the thing with baking the family classics like date squares, butter tarts and pineapple cake - I can make them all well, but they never taste as good as GG's.

Everything but the Kitchen Sink

If nothing else, my kombucha trials are facilitating meeting the neighbours. After sterilizing our jars (again) and buying brand new cheese cloth to cover the tops, Seamus and I brewed two new batches of sweet black tea and then headed out to visit Mrs. Christine to obtain, yes, you guessed it, more SCOBYs.  

SCOBY is an acronym for Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast.
It is the home of the bacteria and yeast that transform sweet tea into tangy, fizzy kombucha. 

Upon returning home with our new SCOBYs and some starter kombucha from Mrs. Christine's SCOBY hotel, we combined everything together and placed it all next to the stove (the warmest spot in the kitchen).  Hopefully these batches take. We will know in a few weeks!

Today's second kitchen activity involved cleaning out the fridge to make "Everything but the Kitchen Sink" Soup.  Nothing (except lettuce) was safe from this soup.  Everything from tonight's taco leftovers to last week's venison pot roast to frozen Brussels sprouts to bacon remnants from sausage making night to the last few garden carrots we dug up last weekend went into the pot.

With three jars for the freezer and two for the fridge, we are set for lunches for the next while.  As an added bonus, my fridge is now much emptier than it was this afternoon!

A 6.3 lb Bun

Our bun is still in the oven but today we got another sneak peak at him.  It is hard to believe that we first saw this baby way back in June.  Back then he looked very much like a peanut.

10 weeks (June 18, 2018)

12 weeks (July 6, 2018)

14 weeks (July 19, 2018)

16.5 weeks (August 7, 2018)

20 weeks (September 4, 2018)

34 weeks (December 11, 2018)

Now he is so big that he hardly fits on the screen - you can see his head, nose and chin.  Our baby now weighs an estimated 6.3 lbs and is in the 90th percentile (of course he is).  He is measuring almost a week ahead of our estimated due date of January 19, 2019.   He is positioned cross ways across my stomach with his head on my right side and his bum on my left side.  His arms and legs are dangling down.   The ultrasound confirmed that he is still very much a boy.  All looks to be well, though it seems I have a few weeks to go yet while he gains even more weight (yikes!).  Liam and Seamus were both 10 lb babies so I have feeling I know where all of this is headed.  Hopefully the third time is a charm!

Sunset Salutations

The farm animals were in for an early bedtime this evening so we could head out to the boys' skating lessons.  Cobalt and Charlie pass along their sunset salutations.  They were too cute not to share.

A lamb's smile.

Charlie's happy ears.

The 4:00 pm sunset on the farm.