Monday, December 27, 2010

The Holiday's!

So it has been some time since I last blogged - there has been so much going on that I just never seemed to get a moment - or sleep was more enticing!

To begin with, two weeks before Christmas Alan and I had more or less finished our shopping because he was leaving for a week to Finland for business - his other job, not A Gym Tale. His trip went very smoothly until he was ready to come home. That is when all of the terrible weather hit Europe and he ended up stranded in Switzerland. At first for only a few extra hours and then he was told it may be for more than a week and he would miss Christmas! Obviously this was terrible news and I really didn't know what we would do. Luckily, some how a spot became available to get to New York City and Alan was in the right place at the right time and he ended up on the flight and then found another to get him back to Ottawa - and only one day later than his original plan. We were very lucky and have appreciated spending time together over the holidays that much more.

During the time that Alan was away, A Gym Tale had the Nursery School holiday concert. I was a little afraid of having Ewan with me as Alan was originally supposed to be there as extra support. But Ewan did just fine and simply sat in my lap. The children, however, both morning and afternoon - blew me away. The sang their little hearts out through 15 minutes of our favourite songs that we have learned so far this year. They sang better than I had ever heard them and it was wonderful seeing how proud of themselves they were. What a success!

On a personal side, the holiday's are a great time to get back in touch with friends and family and we definitely took advantage of it this year. To try and make up for not seeing our friends and family as much as we would have liked to over the past year, Alan and I decided to host three Christmas parties - this sounded like a great idea in November. Although a little overwhelmed when I thought that I would be hosting these parties alone - since Alan made it back we were able to relax and really enjoy ourselves. It really was wonderful getting to spend an evening with friends, an evening with all of our staff and then a fantastic Christmas eve dinner with family. Ewan and the dog both did great with all of the commotion and people that threw our routines out the window over the past week. It really was so nice getting to see everyone and catch up and simply talk all night long over great food.

Christmas day was also brilliant. Alan surprised me with having a king sized bed delivered the day before as my big surprise (side note - we have more or less given up on night weaning Ewan and simply made more room so we can all sleep more comfortably - I'm sure he won't still be nursing when he goes to school, right? Someone, please tell me I am right!). I have been longing for a king size bed for some time now - so that was a great surprise. But the morning of Christmas, Alan also surprised me with a digital scrapbook that he had made and printed about how Ewan loves his Mama - it was a fantastic collection of pictures taken over the past 18 months and a story of the many reasons why Ewan loves me - it was a perfect gift!

I had decided for Christmas that I would get Alan tickets to a Sens game - with seats as close to the glass as possible. We went to the game on Boxing Day and we had a great evening out together - first out to dinner and then to see the game in the 6th row centre ice, behind the Pittsburgh bench.

Alan and I decided that for Ewan's big surprise from Santa we were going to start a Thomas train collection along with the train table. We had a great time on Christmas eve wrapping the individual trains and then setting up the table and tracks. We covered the table with a blanket and on Christmas morning Ewan unwrapped the trains with a huge grin on his face, saying 'choo choo', 'choo choo'!!! And then when we lifted up the blanket we nearly blew his mind! It was so exciting to see his reaction, he absolutely loved it -  you can watch the video to see for yourself.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday week and has been able to spend some time relaxing. The next big night is New Year's Eve - if you are still looking for child care so you can enjoy a night on the town or simply a child free night at home - don't forget Alan and I will be hosting the annual New Year's Eve Sleepover Party at A Gym Tale! We have had great success the past 3 years and we are sure this year will be no exception!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Last minute vacation..

So it has been awhile since I have written! I was very fortunate to be able to jet off with Alan and Ewan for a last minute vacation to Punta Cana. Our schedule come January will be kinda crazy for awhile, and we thought it might be our last opportunity to travel for awhile. And I just so happened to have a friend getting married there last week. So off we went to the beach!

It was a fantastic week spent relaxing by the beach, reading, swimming and eating - with no worries at all. Ewan had a great time on the beach and was quite content to play in the sand while we lounged in our chairs. When he was tired he would nap on a chair next to us. We would then spend each afternoon by the pool. In the evenings once Ewan was asleep - Alan and I put on the first season of 'Dexter' and finished the whole season over that week.
And if you can believe it, when we arrived back A Gym Tale was still standing with no issues over the week at all!!!