It seems like it’s been nonstop around here lately, and it’s pretty darn cool. My house is totally being neglected for cleaning and decluttering purposes, but Kiernen and MBD and I have been having a blast with friends lately. Like yesterday we took Kiernen with our neighbour and her two little boys to a museum in nearby Fort Langley and did crafts. Kiernen made some ornaments to hang on the tree, and some beeswax candles. It was pretty fun - I helped a lot with the crafts, but he did do a good portion of them - and most importantly, he got to hang out with his friends while doing it. Then when we got home, they came to our house and played for another hour, too, before Kiernen crashed hard for a 3.5 hour nap.

Because of that late nap, today we got out of bed around 11am. Whoa! everyone else here was having lunch while we were eating breakfast. I heard some of the younger kiddos in the atrium outside our door and peeked to see who it was and if they might want to come in. Instead, we got invited to join them at their house, so we got our breakfast together and joined them. Lunch turned into playing, and that turned into our going for a walk with our friends - one kiddo in each stroller. We got back from all of that around 4:30 - just in time for me to do some Tai Chi practice with three of my neighbours. Whew!

We had dinner, then Kiernen and MBD went out into the commonhouse to play with two of Kiernen’s other friends while I played around in the kitchen doing different food prep for the week. I made some raw cupcakes, too, and they’re setting in the fridge - I’ll let you know how they came out if they’re good . They even have pink icing! I was inspired because Kiernen saw some photos of them on the internet as I was copying down another recipe, and he asked for them, so of course I had to oblige. And of course, mine look nothing like the photos, either - how do they do that?

Note to self: Get some of those silicone mini cupcake holders. The big ones are too big for raw cupcakes.

Anyway, it was a busy day indeed! We decided to skip Kiernen’s nap and just have him go to bed significantly earlier than usual, to see if we cannot adjust his schedule to more closely resemble that of his friends. Since we’ve put the ban on videos all but one day a week, his schedule is more open for playing, and he is happiest when he has company. So getting up at 10am isn’t really the best thing for that, since everyone else around here is up at 8. because by the time we’re ready to go out of the house most days, it’s naptime for all of his cohorts. So we’re trying something different. We’ll see how it works. I’ve gotten pretty used to napping with him, so it will be something for me to change it up, too.

So our first gift-opening day is Solstice this year, which is December 21st. We’re invited to TWO parties that day - one here at Windsong - they’re having a Holiday Pageant. Then one at Els’s place. I’m thinking go to Els’s, because we see them so rarely…maybe we can somehow do both. We’ll see I guess. Anyway, when to do the presents if we’re going to be at parties? The night before, like Solstice Eve? Hmmmm….

And yes, we celebrate Xmas, too! (Not the religious one, just the commercial one). And Xmas eve! So we do three days of presents. I have friends who do the 12 days of Xmas for presents, but then you’ve got to do 12 presents, too…so we just do a sort of advent in which there are many activities leading up to the days of the presents…

I feel as though I’m rambling. So peace out and Happy Holidays!