Bring on 2012!

I wish my camera made it a bit easier to post pictures as I would probably be posting more often...I also just really don't have a whole lot to say! Well, maybe just a bit...
It was great to just relax over the school break and not rush every morning-the kids enjoyed it too! Since the 22nd of December and until Jan 9th we had not done a whole lot but fussing around the house and the kids have been as per usual immersed in their "electronics". And as per usual I have been intent on getting us the heck out of here (on vacation)! Chris is finally on the same page as me as he sees the light at the end of the tunnel as far as the never ending house renos go. No surprise he has done ALL the finishing work himself and focuses all his attention on this every moment he is not at Autotown. He took Christmas day off and that was hard for him! So it's nice to have him home alot but he is wearing out and thus in need of a vacation. In the last month or so he has done all the baseboards, casings and crown molding in our house as well as many other projects like our powder room (new tap, sink, granite, toilet, lighting and mirror). This requires a lot of painting, staining and general "finishing" work that is very tedious and time consuming. I try to help by either staying out of his way or just passing him stuff or cleaning up so that's why we have been home so much. But hard work pays off and we are definitely seeing the results of our house transformation. Soon Chris will start on fixing up the boys rooms the way they want them and by then it should be lake time! LOL Carson wants a Jets themed room so we need to order a border and such and it should be fairly easy considering that you can find Jets gear just about anywhere in Winnipeg. I am sure even 7/11 has plenty of stuff. Anyways, enough about our house...although that truly is what we spend most of our time and energy on. We also enjoy our hottub, watching movies and generally just snuggling the winter away.
So leading up to Christmas was busy busy. I called myself a gong show mother as I ran around doing "motherly" things. I used all of Caleb's preschool time to scoot around and shop. Those are a couple of crazy hours! We enjoyed my sister in law's company from Vancouver and it was so nice of her to make it to all the boys concerts. As a family we had a great time at the arena for a Santa breakfast and skating on the Jets ice just before Christmas. All of Carson's lessons paid off and it was a real treat to watch (and participate!) as our whole Dyck family skated around. Our weather was more than any Winnipeger could have ever hoped for, especially during the Christmas season, and we had no trouble scooting around and enjoying the unique time of year and what comes with it. But we were also happy to move on and I took the tree down in record time this year! For New Years we just chilled with my mom and watched the Jets game. Heaven forbid Carson misses even a second of any game on TV. He's been lucky enough to go to several games with Chris including the one 2 days before Christmas.
So we are now into the second week back to school and the temps have dropped dramatically. Last week tues we were still enjoying plus temperatures and I took Carson to the duck pond to skate and then boom -30. It is a shock and changes the way you go about things but you still need to go to school and eat etc so there is no hibernating. A lot of days Carson's recess gets cancelled which I am grateful for. Hopefully we will get a break from it soon but as of yet I have not booked anything (trip) as we have some rental property issues that need to be resolved first. It is fun to go last minute and believe me I can pack my bikini fast but it would be nice to know when and where at this point and have something to look forward to!
In the meantime...
I have sold and made about 1000 dollars on Kijiji and the house and garage are emptying out!
My baby turns 5 soon so I am thinking about parties and such
Carson has homework, skating and piano to practice (and chasing him to do these things takes a long time!)
I am trying to work on projects like cleaning out closets
I am hoping to work on some picture type projects like albums and such
I try and have playdates with friends and go to the Y
So that's whats going on with us in somewhat of a nutshell! Here's some pics! (Decorating tree, Santa pic, Chris and Carson on the Jets ice, Carson at his school concert playing xylophone, Caleb at his concert at preschool amongst all the girls, the boys on Christmas morning with their new hats, Caleb in his knight in shining armour costume, Carson enjoying his new net with Daddy, and Stacey and Dan and Leo at Christmas.) I always post my pics backwards...oh well!