Big Brother

The matching Christmas PJ's have arrived! This may be my favourite new holiday tradition.

I've been so busy writing about all of the amazing things little brother can do these days, I almost forgot to write about Caleb's wonderful recent achievements. Caleb is loving school and is thriving in the classroom setting. He is one of those kids who can sit still all day while trying to apply everything he has to his work. Thankfully, the teachers do their best to keep the kids moving and as active as possible throughout the day. One tool they use is a great website called 'Go Noodle' where kids get to select silly videos that encourages them to dance, jump, try yoga positions and even practice meditative breathing. They also choose a cute character that grows bigger and stronger as they complete the videos. We now do this at home, too and we love it.

Cale recently brought home his wonderful first ever report card, and I had a great meeting with his teacher in my first ever parent-teacher interview. (It was a real 'I am officially an adult' moment for me!) His teacher confirmed everything I already knew - he is bright, thoughtful, polite, keen, kind and loves to play by the rules, of course! His teacher even used the word 'spectacular' when describing him and said she wished she could clone him! He is now diligently practicing for his upcoming Christmas concert which I can't wait to attend and take videos of to share with everyone.

Right now at home we are all wrapped  up in Christmas spirit! It is so much fun (and so easy) to create magic in the house at this time of year for a 5 year old. Alan and I put the gifts under the tree last night and when Caleb woke up, he spent 20 minutes oohing and awwing over every package. We have also started up our advent calendar again and I've added in a few new fun activities for us this year. The 'Build an Elf Village' day was a huge success. I left out a bag of mini marshmallows and a box of toothpicks and let Caleb's imagination run wild. He loved it. Today, Caleb is home sick and his activity is to write a Christmas song with his dad. Next week I'm going to let Caleb do some grocery shopping for the local food bank, bake some holiday treats to share with neighbours, take the boys to have Breakfast with Santa at the legion and build a gingerbread house. So much to look forward to!

Rooms for 2000 elves! 

Odin now prefers to feed himself breakfast and he doesn't care which end of the spoon he uses! This new step towards independence leads to another indication that you have a toddler in your home - the uncontrollable messes that seem to follow you everywhere! These messes are often lead to an extra load of laundry.