Christmas #2 ~ Annual Friends Dinner

Our annual friends Christmas dinner is always a blast. 

Over the years the guest list has changed a bit. Friends have moved away for work and others have become new regulars. It doesn't matter who the group is or how many of us there are... we always have a great time. As usual, I made way too much food and we all ate until we couldn't anymore. It is always great to celebrate with friends.

Mrs. E

One Cold Winter Eve

Christmas is nothing without traditions. 

We are working to establish our own set of holiday traditions for us and the kids. One of the new traditions that we are hoping will last for years to come is an evening full of hot drinks and Christmas lights. So we packed up the kids, picked up some hot chocolates (steamed milk for Sydney) and headed down to candy cane lane. 

For those of you not familiar with Edmonton I will let you in on the awesomeness that is candy cane lane. For years one street in the west end of the city has been celebrating Christmas by decorating their houses with the most incredible light displays. Over the years business' have helped sponsor the event and families now come from all over the city to walk or drive along the street and enjoy the music, lights, hot chocolate and company. At one point a city bus taking people on a tour of the street stopped and it's driver, who was dressed as Santa, rolled down his window and said Merry Christmas to Sydney and asked her what she wanted as a gift. She was so thrilled to see Santa driving a bus and couldn't stop talking about it. 

Next up was a drive along some of the most beautiful streets in the city overlooking the river valley to see their light displays. We finished with a trip to the legislature where we ran into Santa again,  had more hot chocolate and listened to a local choir. It was so beautiful and such a great experience for Sydney. She was so excited to see Santa and the lights and couldn't stop talking about how beautiful everything was. 

We are really looking forward to doing it all again next year... hopefully Henry will have a better idea of what is going on by then!

Mrs. E

Christmas #1 ~ The Campbell Side

We have been mega swamped with some pretty serious changes in our house.

Over the holidays we made a few decisions about the future of our family and it has set in motion a series of things that need to happen over the next four months.... more on that later.... All of this craziness has kept me from blogging so prepare for an onslaught of posts!

Our Christmas is always so much fun and usually lasts all month. With the size of our family we usually end up having multiple turkey dinners and what feels like a million gift opening marathons. It's all super fun and exhausting at the same time. Our first Christmas this year was with my side of the family here in Edmonton. I whipped up a turkey dinner and managed to get the house in order while Dave worked a half day. He got home just in time to help me finish up before everyone arrived and the festivities began. We opened gifts, played with some of Sydney's new toys, ate dinner and enjoyed each others company. It was so nice to be together on a cold snowy day and celebrate the holidays. 

Mrs. E

Henry ~ 8 Months

This little guy is still little.... big he sure is growing up!

I am a little late on this post because of Christmas, but Henry turned 8 months old on Christmas Eve! For some reason 8 months just seems so much older than 7. He is still a teeny peanut weighing in at 16lbs 4oz and 71.5cm tall. That officially puts him under the tenth percentile for weight. It's a stark contrast to who sister who was consistently in the 90+ percentiles! Just because he is small does not mean he is falling behind. He has mastered an army crawl that gets him around the house efficiently. We have been on baby proof high alert lately trying to keep him out of things he should not be getting into. He still only says "dadadadada" and "bababababa". I have reeeeeally been pushing for a little "mamamama" action. Henry still adores his sister and looks up to her so much. They are playing together a lot more and I often catch glimpses of what the future will hold for their relationship. He can sit on his own and two solid meals a day as well as breastfeeding every three hours (like a champ!). We have started working on baby sign language with him and he is beginning to make the milk sign when I show him how to do it. So exciting!

Before we know it our little guy will be three quarters of the way through his first year!

Mrs. E

Foodie Love ~ Turkey & Sweet Potato Shepherds Pie

I'm not going to go into much detail on this post since it is sooooo easy, healthy and delicious!!

The Necessities:

~ 1 package of ground turkey cooked

~ 1 Tbs corn starch

~ 1/2 Cup vegetable broth

~ 3/4 Cup peas

~ 3 Medium/Large sweet potatoes boiled and mashed

~ 1/4 Cup of marble cheese

The Process:

~ Put turkey in an ungreased baking dish

~ Sprinkle with corn starch

~ Pour vegetable broth over turkey

~ Layer peas on top

~ Layer and smooth out the sweet potatoes

~ Sprinkle top with cheese, salt and pepper

~ Bake in the over at 350C for 30 minutes

~ Enjoy!

Mrs. E

ATCO Kids Christmas Party

We are so lucky to work for a company that puts on massive kids Christmas parties every year. 

Every child under the age of twelve is invited to this kids party in hall D at the Shaw. They have a buffet of favorite kid foods (think macaroni and cheese, chicken fingers, pizza, hot dogs and ice cream), there is an endless supply of pop, juice, milk and water, each kid gets a gift and Santa comes for  visit. 

The room was filled with activities for little ones. There was a cookie decorating station, face painting, balloon animals, bouncy castles, games for winning prizes and a coloring contest. We managed to check out all of the activities and still keep Henry happy. One of my favorite parts of the day was when Sydney was rocking out on the dance floor and in the middle of everything dropped on the ground and started doing sit ups.... that's our kid! 

Can't wait for next year!

Mrs. E

Big Man ~ Little Man

Henry and David are definitely cut from the same cloth. 

They both love lazing around in their comfy clothes. They both like to watch sports on TV. They both like to chill out on the couch and let's be honest... they look the same. Check out these cute pre-Christmas moments from the two men in my life. Love them both!

Mrs. E