A hint of christmas chaos

The Higginson Clan celebrated Christmas on Boxing Day this year. As always, it was a truly lovely, noisy, chaotic, hilarious, and wonderful gathering. And, between Great Granny and Jack, we spanned a good 4 generations and 91 years!

Evy loves her cousins SO much, and had a great time with the house-full of family. And it was really great to see Lee, Chris & the boys, who made the drive from Ottawa through freezing rain and crummy weather. We're so glad to have them back in Ontario, and I was working overtime trying to sell them on Millbrook's charms. (Yes, am still hoping they'll move here!).

I was too unorganized to take many pictures, but luckily, Alice captured quite a few:

Miss Evy sporting her new feather boa. Just the thing for an 18-month old, non?

Lee and two scampy boys look outside at the snow

Yes, this is what a table set for 16 looks like (Baby Jack didn't get his own seat... maybe next year)

Evy is delighted with her new 'Charley' toy, har har

A beautiful New Brunswick rock for my garden. Thanks Al & Jimmy!

Evy is not impressed with the friendly rat

Ben pulls out a blade because he senses Iggle Piggle sneaking up on him

Auntie Mary and Jack have a nice visit

All I want for Christmas is a big cardboard box!

Sometimes, when you're one and a half years old, all you really want for Christmas is a giant cardboard box to play in! Thanks Granny and Poppa!

Jack attack!

Evy got to meet her new little cousin Jack today, and she was pretty impressed. He's such a cute little man, and I think she thought we had bought her a new very lifelike doll to play with - she was so excited when she saw him.

And, she only tried to smother him once (with love, I'm sure) so I'd say it was a pretty good first visit!

Ben & Kristin are doing well - they were surprisingly coherent, clothed, and couth, considering they are the proud but sleep-deprived parents of a 2-week old!

Here are some photos - enjoy!

How do you do?

Hee hee, I love my new cousin!

Proud parents show off their wee man

Uncle Rob gets to meet Jack for the first time too!

Unfortunate smothering incident!

I think it's cousinly-love at first sight!

Vintage photo?

Millbrook hosted it's 2nd annual 'Christmas in the Village' night a couple of weeks ago, complete with carollers, tree lighting, horse-drawn carriage rides, and old-fashioned candy shop. It was a lovely night.

The hightlight was, of course, the pictures with Santa at the local funeral home. (Only in Millbrook does the funeral home open up its heavy doors, and invite people into the overly upholstered interior, complete with extra tassels, extra jesus paintings, and extra creepiness factor).

Evy didn't mind, and indeed liked visiting with this Santa much more than the mall Santa. The pictures were taken for free, and Rob picked it up today. Behold!:


It's hilarious because it could be straight from 1972! I don't know where they got the pictures printed, but, they are crazy vintagey looking! Now, I'm not an expert on these things, but I can only assume that all of the ghosts in the funeral home somehow affected the photo. Ha ha ha. (Or at least that's what I'll tell Evy when she's older and scared of ghosts, moo haw haw haw!).

To see another scary vintage photo, you can visit Lee's blog. Just ignore her cruel comments about eye spacing. Some people consider wide-set eyes a sign of beauty.

Happy last Friday before Xmas, everyone!

Ho Ho Ho!

Or should I say boo hoo hoo?

We were at the mall today (shudder) and, continuing the tradition I started last year, I buy the cheapest possible photo of Evy with Santa.

She was NOT impressed. Which is weird, because she couldn't wait to run up to him, but once she got there, she wasn't sure. Maybe it was the authentic (yellowing) beard? (Ok, which is creepier? A fake beard or a real one? Hard to say).

It's pretty hilarious to compare it with last year's picture! Hee hee!




And I guess I'm cruel, because I find the pictures where they are crying are much more entertaining than when they are smiling!

And as the sign at the mall said today, only 11 more days until xmas. Double shudder! Hope you're all in the 'ho ho' spirit too (or are at least into the spirits! Make mine a gin & tonic!)

Bubble-wrap baby

This occupied Evy for a good 45 minutes yesterday! Pretty hilarious. So, if anyone asks what she needs for Christmas (the real answer being nothing - our house is already overflowing with toys and clothes) I will tell them to get her some bubble wrap!

Introducing: Baby Jack

Ben and Kristin had a beautiful baby boy tonight! Jack Bennett Higginson, born at 7:09 pm and weighing 8lb 15oz!

Here are a few photos of the new wee man!

Ben announces, "I'm a dad!" (And sisters sob!)

Little Jack shows off his muscles!

Granny Al introduces herself

Jack and daddy have a snuggle

Beautiful baby Jack (holding his hands in the patented Monty Burns pose)

I'm so happy for Ben and Kristin - she was such a rockstar during the labour and delivery. They are amazing parents already, and I can't wait to watch Jack grow into a fabulous little man!

Happy December!

I'm probably not the only person who woke up yesterday morning and was surprised that it was December! Wasn't it just summer two minutes ago? Then, I looked outside and was extra-surprised:


Snowy! A perfect introduction to December, and it was all melted by noon, so actually a perfect 'gentle' introduction. (I still can't BELIEVE it's freakin' DECEMBER!)

And, yesterday was Evy's 17-month 'birthday'. Holy crow! She's almost 1.5 years old!

As I mentioned in my previous post, she's actually growing a bit, but is still small enough to get herself into all sorts of mischief, as documented below:

"Hmm. I think I'll help mummy do laundry"

"Now to do a quick survey of the internal workings of the washing machine"

"Yes, I know I'm extremely naughty!"

Otherwise, all is well. I've resigned myself to our new reality of 'all snot - all the time'. I guess this is what happen when your kid goes to daycare. We're on our 3rd cold since September. Sigh. Poor Evy. She also go her H1N1 vaccine (finally) and has about 3 new teeth coming in, she she has NOT been a happy girl. As for me, I'm doping up on Cold FX, Oregano Oil, Vitamin C, Zinc, and every other quack and ridiculous remedy I can think of, topped off with a thick layer of Vicks. But like Lee says, maybe this will build our our immunity and we won't have another cold all winter.

So, that's the update from germ-infested Millbrook, where babies go for rides in washing machines and certain people are in denial that it's WINTER! Happy December, everyone!