The Post of Christmas Eve Past...

Every Christmas Eve we have a day to look forward too...as mentioned a couple of posts back we always do brunch with the Friesens in the morning. In the evening we always to to Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at our church, with the exception of last year when it was cancelled due to the heavy snow. This year was back on track and we went to the service and then over to Rob's Aunt Tina's for our traditional Christmas Eve Dinner. Our family had the honour of being asked to light the advent wreath on Christmas Eve. For four weeks leading up to Christmas a candle is lit on each Sunday. Each candle represents something meaningful as we reflect on the reason we have this season to celebrate. The first candle represents Bethlehem. It reminds us to prepare our hearts for the Saviour. The second candle represents Prophecy. It reminds us of the hope promised by God that a Saviour would be born. The third candle represents the Shepherds. It reminds us of the good news that the shepherds heard from the angels. The fourth candle represents the Angels. It reminds us of the joy of the heavenly choir of angels as they proclaimed that Jesus had indeed been born. The fifth candle was the candle our family lit. The fifth candle is located in the centre of the wreath and it is the candle of Christ. It reminds us that the centre of everything is Jesus Himself and that He is the light of the world. We went up on the stage as a family and Rob, Olivia and I took turns reading as we explained the meaning of the candle and read passages from the book of John. Some of those candles were a little stubborn, but made it through. After the service we headed over to Tina's for a wonderful meal. We didn't do our usual midnight stroll this year, we were too tired! After this we went to my parent's house for our annual Christmas Eve sleepover. Christmas Eve has always been 'magical' to me and I'm glad that our kids seem to feel it too. What could be more magical than a baby coming to save the world?

Starring the Hildebrandt girls...

Well, ok, not just the Hildebrandt girls, but hey, they're OUR stars! This year our church put on a wonderful Children's Christmas program! My good friend Elise was the the creative force behind this and she is to be commended for the job! I don't know how she did it but those kids sang louder than I've EVER heard them sing before..and they looked like they were having a blast to boot! There was some drama, a choir, the cutest little lambs and cows ever, an interpretive dance, and a live orchestra. We got lots on video and a few pics too! Olivia was the arc angel and abby was in the choir. Livi had a little stage fright when push came to shove, but she managed. It was neat to see her in a dance that had been choreographed by two girls in our church who are professional dancers. It made my heart soar to see her look so graceful and beautiful! Grandma and Grandpa were there and my brothers Dave, and (bro in law) Ken came out for the performance. They are both so proud of their little nieces. Afterwards, all the kids received a stocked goodie bag provided from the seniors in our church. Next we headed back to our place and celebrated my brother Dave's birthday. It was a wonderful day..the only one who missed out on the girls' performance was Isaac, who played happily, and obliviously, in the nursery...mabye next year he'll be up there!

In My Top 10...

That is, top 10 all time favorite projects! Now I love all my hobbies (duh) but my heart still beats just a little faster when it's paper creations! I saw a blog with this project years ago and bookmarked it for future possibilities. I absolutely LOVE this project so I did it! Now, when I first looked at it I'll admit my first thoughts were...'piece of cake, walk in the park', despite that one liner that said something about 'time consuming'. I decided to make multiples so I would have some for my sale, one for me, and one for a special friend who's name I drew in a handmade gift exchange this Christmas. (more on that later). When I decide to tackle something it's usually with the attitude 'go big or go home' or 'a job worth doing is worth doing well' (thanks dad) and so I did this project with care and quality. I wanted the recipients of these advent calendars to take them home knowing that they will last a lifetime and be a special part of Christmas' to come. Well people, that takes work and yes, it's VERY time consuming. It's not hard work, mainly cutting, and adhering, but oh, did it take time! It's hard to tell just from looking at the picture, but they are little clear topped watch maker tins that adhere to the squares using velcro. What can I say? I LOVE the outcome! I am so thrilled with how they turned out! So here's a few pics, and the link. Thanks Michelle...i don't know you but thanks for the inspiration behind these calendars. And Sarah, I was pretty sure you would like this, but your reaction was more than I'd hoped for...enjoy! If you have any questions drop me a comment and I'll do my best to help you.

Twas the Season...

Well, I can't exactly say 'tis the season' anymore can I? So, 'twas the season' it is! I missed grabbing photos of some of our traditional activities at Christmas, but I did manage a few here and there. We missed a few events due to last minute cancellations and some health issues with the kids. (among a few, we had our first 'break'...Olivia broke her nose...nope no pics) We did ice skating, lots of visiting, Christmas programs...you get the drift. One of many favourite traditions is Christmas brunch with the Friesen family. We alternate houses each year and do brunch and gifts. This year I had to work on Christmas Eve day so we bumped our brunch to Dec 23 and had dinner instead. It was so nice to take a few minutes and sit down to a meal with good friends. The kids had fun exchanging gifts...as did I:) So here's a few pics of our not-so-brunch supper. As you can see, the Friesen girls loved their aprons, and my kids loved their goodies too!

New Year...New Look...

for my blog that is! Well, I can't say that I'm surprised that it's been so long since I posted, because I feel like I haven't had a moment since the beginning of November to get here. For me, if I'm going to do a post, I have to have the time, the desire, and the right mind frame. Many times I've had one or two out of those three, but today's the day I'm three for three! There is so much I could post on I don't know where to begin. Nothing earth shattering. In fact, now that I've been blogging over a year many things will be repeated events, but important to me nonetheless. So, bear with me as I blog back a few weeks and catch up on what's been happening in the Hildebrandt household!
For Starters...Kim and I had our annual open houses this past fall. That's right about where I left off blogging! Literally every spare minute is spent with a project in hand. One of my main focuses the past couple of years has been aprons. I feel creatively curbed when I make them because they are from a pattern, but they're good sellers and they look so darned cute! So...here's a few pics from Open House season. Enjoy!

Fall Colour....

Yardwork...

This time of year brings a whole new meaning to yardwork around here. Being surrounded by trees is worth the work but it's such a hard time of year to get motivated to go outside. It's blowing and raining lots here but we had a break from it all a couple of Saturdays ago and took advantage of the blue sky. We introduced our Japanese student, Ayano, to leaf raking. She was a good sport and helped here and there with raking the leaves into a pile...but she was tickled when she realized why we were making such a big pile. The girls had a blast running and jumping and even little Isaac seemed pretty happy surrounded by crunchy leaves. We ended the day with a hot dog roast out back....but by then it was coooold!