Better late than never.

One weekend, probably a month before Christmas, I asked my family to do something for me.

I wanted one hour, free of complaints and whining, at our old train station to take some family portraits.  I don't think we've had a photo of the four of us together since the spring.  Oddly enough, they all agreed.  

The day that we scheduled our small window of time together turned out to be ridiculously foggy so we didn't go.  Then, as the story always goes, we got busy.  As silly as it sounds, there never seemed to be a time when we were home, happy, showered, AND with good weather, all at the same time.

Which is why, on the day we picked out our tree, when we ran into a friend, we had her take a photo so that we could at least send out Christmas cards.

So here, better late than never, I am sharing our family's wishes for a beautiful Christmas for everyone.  

xo

A tree grew in the forest.

The day we were supposed to go get our tree, it rained.  We kept our fingers crossed that it would turn to snow but we had no luck.  So, the next day, with the rain gone, we headed to the tree farm.  It always takes longer than you think it will and our children, no matter their ages, will always find a reason to argue about something :)  

But we did it.  We found our tree - just tall enough and just wide enough to make it the perfect tree for us.

12 on 12.

December  :  Wednesday

01.  While getting ready for work this morning, I was tempted to ditch the nice pants and keep my warm, fuzzy pyjamas on...
02.  Guess who cleared out the garage for me?  Starting the car without having to scrape the windshield saves me precious minutes in my morning - precious minutes that I would rather use for sleep. :)
03.  I'm completely loving this new find and have been listening to it non-stop for the last week or so.
04.  Today was a day for lotsa' coffee...
05.  I was at an office Christmas lunch today and there were little treat bags on the table.  I broke into mine on the train ride home.
06.  Peter was home today so this was the scene when I walked through the door.
07.  It's Wednesday - dance night.  Which means eggs and toast for dinner.  But since Daddy was cooking - it was upscale eggs and toast.
08.  Out to the car for her Jazz Class.
09.  It's Open House night at the dance school so Grandma joined Peter and I to watch.
10.  Juliana takes dance at the Music Hall in town.  It's a gorgeous old building and they recently improved the front entrance.  While not truly my photo, Peter snapped this of me enjoying 12 on 12.
11.  The Music Hall's chandelier.
12.  We stopped on the way home to get a few snaps of our downtown - it is so pretty with all the white lights and decorations for Christmas. Plus, I've been dying to sit in this sleigh!

Well, that's it.  The last 12 on 12 for 2012.  It's been a fun project with some days more challenging than others.  I'm not sure if I will continue it again for 2013 or not.  I feel a little like Peter - I'm not hungry right now so don't ask me if I want to go for dinner next Saturday night because I'll likely say no.  I think I'll wait until January 12th and revisit the idea again then....

Once again: it's a good job he's cute.

Tonight, while Peter was at work, my mom joined the kids and me for dinner.  We had roast chicken with vegetables.  Before dinner, Juliana and I made salted caramel chocolate bark.

Fast forward four hours when Peter walks through the door and says:

"Mmmm.  Somebody's been cooking....it smells like burnt hot dogs in here...."

Seriously?  That's my reputation?