At the tippy top of my list for this week is the fact I’m sitting in the corner of my living room typing this post while my peripheral vision is studded with twinkle lights. The view does not get old and I’m so glad we set the tree up extra early this year. I haven’t regretted it for a single second.
It’s magical how the soft glow of a Christmas tree makes everything seem a bit more gentle and calm.
Key word being a bit…
November has felt abnormally full. The math is not mathing: I’ve taken away a job, Honour choir, and drama class. And still I seem to resemble the proverbial chicken running around without a head.
I’m not an unhappy chicken, thankfully, just headless and running around in circles.
I recorded all sorts of Happy Things from the week, so let’s dive in.
INDY’S BIRTHDAY
Our little celebration went remarkably smoothly. Friday happened to be a day off school for elementary and middle school kids. I had originally assumed the high school would also have the day off, so we planned to take two vehicles and bring Belle and a friend. Being the mean mother that I am, I insisted she go to school when I discovered high schoolers did not have the day off.
This made the logistics so much easier from my end. John had a work call that overlapped with our transit time, so I drove and he mostly stayed on mute while the boys got progressively sillier (and louder) in the back seat.
I bought the tickets online (to get a 25% off deal), but that meant it was first come, first served. Thankfully we were among the first people to arrive and the three boys got right into the trampoline park.
While John monitored their play time (and worked), I headed to IKEA to pick up a few odds and ends we needed. I was back in plenty of time to watch them explore all the different trampoline zones. They had a GREAT time. I had purchased the 2-hour jump option and that ended up being the perfect length. They were still having fun, but were also content to leave.
We popped into a used car dealership nearby that specializes in exotic cars. (This was all part of Indy’s planned itinerary for the day.) Free window shopping as a birthday activity? Sold. John asked to make sure it was okay to bring three tweens inside to browse and got an enthusiastic Yes. And then the boys were invited to sit in the fancy cars, including two very snazzy McLarens (the one Indy is sitting in has a price tag of $259,000; the orange car behind them is practically a bargain at $220,837).
Next stop was the food court at a nearby mall for lunch. We were originally going to get sushi, but this way all the boys could pick their own desired meal. In lieu of dessert, the boys played a virtual reality game in the mall.
And that was it! The three of them came to our place to play with Indy’s new toys (a Nerf Frisbee, a Minecraft LEGO Advent Calendar, and a build-your-own tech deck set), before heading home so we could help my parents move in. Yup, about 30 minutes after we got home from Indy’s party in Halifax…my parents arrived!
Everything went smoothly with their move-in. Belle and a friend came directly off the bus. She loves to organize their closets and pantry, and completed that job with a giant smile on her face. We all came back to our place for supper: homemade mac n’ cheese, salad, and peas. Easy.
While at IKEA, I picked up a Daim cake and a new salted caramel cake. I had been dithering about when I was going to get time to bake a cake so I just bought something instead! It ended up being delicious; frozen section at IKEA for the win.
Before supper Indy opened the gifts from us: a Daim bar, a little LEGO Minecraft set, a sketch pad, and a Tech Deck. I bought a LEGO Ferrari set for my parents to give him. He can never have too much LEGO. His main gift was the party at the trampoline park and I think he wasn’t expecting much of anything else, so he was delighted to get two LEGO sets and has been happily building all week.
MY PARENTS
It is such a joy to have them in town. My dad calls me just about every day. He needs something ordered off the internet, or something cancelled, or something printed off. He calls to let me know butter is on a good sale at Giant Tiger. He calls to let me know he’s going to the Bulk Barn and is wondering if I need any raisins (I didn’t, but I did have a coupon about to expire which I gladly passed along). It’s very sweet.
The kids have been loving it, of course. Belle spent most of Saturday there helping them finish getting the house set up. Mom always has cookies on hand and they both enjoy plunking away at the keyboard in the living room.
I went down for coffee Tuesday morning. It was a beautifully sunny day. My parents are close! The weather is delightful! I’m headed toward caffeine!
And on Thursday, Joy and I went for a walk and ended up at my parents’ place for coffee (they adore Joy, as everyone does, and it was very sweet and delightful).
CANDLES, CAROLS, AND COOKIES
Our church had a “launch party” of sorts for our Live Nativity on Sunday evening. We didn’t go last year (I’m trying to remember why; I feel like John might have been away?).
The kids were very keen to attend. Belle made “Christmas Crack” Saltine toffee since it was a potluck sort of thing for sweets. And it is every bit as addictive as they say. I helped a bit with making the toffee, but she handled the rest. Every last piece was gone by the end of the evening.
When my parents learned about the event (they attend a different church), they decided they wanted to come along. It was laid-back and casual… and lovely. There was acoustic carolling, kids dressed in ugly Christmas sweaters (though some of the adult clothing selections were even more impressive), and we ended the evening by singing Silent Night by candlelight.
There is something about singing the old, traditional carols that heightens my enthusiasm for Christmas. Especially while sitting next to my family: John and Indy, Mom and Dad (Belle was off with her friends).
LIVE NATIVITY
It’s time for Live Nativity. Phew! It is a HUGE event at our church. This is the 10th year (minus COVID times) where we’ve hosted it.
Our whole family has different roles. I’m singing in the angel choir (again) which is always lots of fun. It’s a high-energy performance and I know I will be exhausted. We have two shows tonight and two more tomorrow night!
But I’m excited. And also glad it will all be over before December. No more evening practices!!!
BONUS HAPPY THINGS
- This comment from last week’s Happy Things Friday post made my day. It warms my heart to know other people enjoy these weekly roundups. There is so much negativity and darkness in the world right now; while my little posts don’t erase the very harsh realities of life, it can help offset and counterbalance the load. Thank you for leaving such a sweet comment, Phoebe.
- Meeting a friend for coffee. We’ve known each other casually via church for several years, but it was lovely to carve out dedicated time to sit and get to know each other better. She has a fascinating life story and is doing incredible things with her creative talents travelling the world and taking photos of people with stories of resilience and hope.
- A short walk outside. It had been raining and we didn’t have much of a window to walk but we got out there and it put a fresh pep in my step.
- Belle has a babysitting gig! This is her first official (read: paid) childcare job. She is being initiated with perhaps the cushiest opportunity possible. High pay to watch one (incredibly docile) elementary-schooler. Apparently after they decorated gingerbread houses, Belle asked what the girl wanted to do next and she said: Colour. Belle LOVES art, so she was basically getting paid to do what she would have wanted to do at home. Plus, I emptied the dishwasher in her absence.
- New door handles. One of the many jobs we’ve been doing the last week is getting things back to rights after having our master bedroom painted. The handles to many of our bedroom doors were in bad shape. Some have never worked properly since we moved in (over 8 years ago). Lots of things didn’t match. John found a great deal for a set of 10 handles and we are slowly replacing them all and it’s a tiny upgrade that packs a big punch.
- Our basement was looking… pretty sad in terms of festive cheer. I haven’t bothered to switch out the cushion covers yet. I decided to skip putting up the artificial tree in the family room. But I wanted something to make it feel like Christmas. In a stroke of genius (if I do say so myself), I took a thrifted wooden tree I bought last Christmas and wrapped a short strand of twinkle lights around it and then added a little wooden nativity set (also thrifted) in front. I can check off the requisite twinkle lights and it took less than two minutes to set up.
- Ice cubes in my water.
- New-to-me pearl hoops.
- Okay, this one is random, but we have limescale that builds up in our toilet and it has been driving me crazy. No amount of scrubbing seems to do anything and it was a nuisance to use something like CLR to get it clear. On a whim I picked up some Deep Reach Lysol, left it to sit for a while, and the toilet looked LIKE NEW. Many things make me happy, and a toilet bowl cleaner happened to be one of them this week.
- Watching John and Indy play pickleball!
- Our washing machine is still working!
- Overnight curls.
- Slowly crossing items off my holiday shopping list.
And that’s a wrap for me this week.
- Tell me some Happy Things from your week!
- What’s your favourite food item at Thanksgiving?
- What’s your favourite cleaning product?
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Happy things:
* a fixed dryer- last week’s repair didn’t last, but I had ordered the parts on spec anyhow. So husband took care of that before our Thanksgiving meal.
*my sons stepped up to help finish the repair and the meal after I got hurt tripping over a dryer part.
* new dinner roll recipe – absolutely delicious.
*big storm predicted this weekend, but we have no plans , so we can stay snuggled up at home.
Barkeep ‘s friend is my choice for water stains and mineral deposits, though I use vinegar/water mix for most of my everyday cleaning. That Lysol might be a good one for a few tough spots in the bathroom.
The trampoline park looks awesome – the perfect spot for a tween party!
Enjoy the weekend!
Thank goodness for a working dryer!
Hope the storm is cozy and doesn’t cause any major disruption to your life!
The trampoline park (especially since there were only two friends along with Indy) was PERFECT. 10/10 recommend.
It’s nice to have your parents close but in their own place! Everyone gets space, nobody gets on anyone’s nerves, and you still get those steady, everyday touchpoints – the sales, the coupons, the little errands. That stuff adds a lot of texture to life.
And the kids clearly love the setup. Cookies, a keyboard, and grandparents who are fully present… hard to beat.
I like how your week kept looping back to their place, it shows how naturally they’ve become part of your daily rhythm.
Would this set-up be one that would be doable for the future, too?
I love this perspective about “texture” – yes! That’s so true.
My mom is Belle’s favourite person in the whole world, so she is in heaven having her within walking distance.
This is the 5th or 6th time they’ve done this. The person they rent from goes away over the winter so it’s a win-win. It is such a lovely home in a mature neighbourhood. For the forseeable future, it’s where they’ll spend each winter.
What a great collection of happy things! I am glad Indy had such a wonderful birthday. How cool to sit in those fancy cars!! Did John participate, too??
We had a really nice Thanksgiving with my family. The food was so good and everyone got along! I barely saw the boys as they were in the basement with their cousins who are aged 14-20. They did not seem put out by having my boys hang on them. Paul cried when we left even though we are going over there this am for brunch. My favorite dish is probably the stuffing with gravy on it!
John worked while the boys were jumping (he brought his iPad and tethered it to his phone; he didn’t take the day off), but he got to watch and engage with them AND of course he was very enthused by the cars 😉
Yay for a peaceful, delicious Thanksgiving. I know you went into it with some trepidation. So that makes it even more satisfying to have everyone enjoy it.
Indy had a great birthday party! My son turned 31 yesterday and I asked him about his birthday memories and he mentioned his three friend parties (Mexican fiesta w/pinata, going to DQ and then seeing Elf in the movie theatre when it first came out, and going to a hockey game where we had a loge). You are making great memories for your kids!
My fave Thanksgiving food is the candied yams, followed closely by my apple cranberry stuffin, and then my pumpkin pie! Favorite all time cleaner has to be the Magic Eraser.
It was definitely a memorable birthday party and I loved that it was just two other friends; it made it far more affordable AND they could all stay together the whole time which felt very sweet.
Ohhh…I do love Magic Erasers. They really are like magic.
“I’m not an unhappy chicken, thankfully, just headless and running around in circles.”
Happy birthday Indy! What a perfect celebration for him. That made me feel all the warm nostalgia.
So many good things here Elisabeth! Congrats to Belle for getting her first babysitting gig! Colouring – I mean, it doesn’t get cushier than that!
Seriously, friend. I feel like I am headless and running around (often aimlessly, often knocking into things).
I have told her to manage her expectations and that she will probably NEVER have a babysitting job as cushy as this one. The house she works at is immaculate, the girl is happy and incredibly easy to entertain, they have snacks, and apparently yesterday when she arrived they had just gotten a new sofa that reclines, has a warming function, AND massage capabilities. Um, can I babysit, instead??
Indy’s birthday party sounds GREAT. Seems like he had a very happy day overall, and yay for Legos. And, your parents are there! I love that your dad is calling you every day for little things.
i also liked the quote about the “not unhappy” chicken running around with its head cut off- that’s the way I’ve felt for the past couple weeks! It’s all good, but there’s SO MUCH going on.
Thanksgiving is over here, so that means it is FULL ON CHRISTMAS!!! Woohoo!
I can’t wait to read all about your Christmas preparations. We are kindred spirits in loving Christmas. Woot, woot!
My biggest happy thing was a lovely Thanksgiving with my husband, kids and in-laws. I laughed harder than I think I ever had during a game of pictionary. And I appreciate time of sharing things we are thankful for. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.
Looks like Indy and friends had a very memorable time!]
It is so nice to share those memories with family; connecting over a game, laughter and, of course, good food is what makes holiday memories so very special and unique.
It was a wonderful birthday. So simple and yet everything went flawlessly and everyone had fun. Yay!
Indy had the perfect bday outing! Knowing what I know about John’s skill at getting epic used cars, I can’t wait to see what the kids get for their first cars. And of course, bonus points for being able to make a trip to Ikea. I’ve never tried their frozen foods and now I want to. The closest Ikea is 2 hours away.
Christmas Crack is at the top of my holiday baking list! Normally I don’t bake until right before Christmas, but I feel like we might have to have an early batch.
Ha. Well, they will likely have good cars BUT it will most certainly not be a McLaren 😉
I usually have some things baked and in the freezer but I have felt little motivation to do so this year. I’m waiting for the wrapping and baking urge to hit. Maybe because we put up the tree so early, I almost feel like my Christmas prep is done. IT’S NOT!
Happy things:
Pepper is starting to get new feathers coming back in where the hawk was plucking her! 😀
My new solar twinkle lights for outside were just delivered, so my house will be sparkly again soon!
I took a YT recipe for steak & cheese sliders to Thanksgiving yesterday and my dad (notoriously picky) said it’s my new signature dish and I’m expected to bring those + my chocolate cobbler to every event in the future, LOL
Y’all’s live nativity sounds wonderful! When I was little, there used to be a huge drive-through nativity in town. I wonder if there’s something similar now … must investigate. I’m all about cozy little festive dates, haha
Poor Pepper. What a way to round out 2025.
Steak and cheese sliders sounds DELICIOUS. And congrats on getting such high praise from your dad.
We used to do it as a drivethrough! The last few years we have outside stalls to walk through, but the main performance is inside. It’s a lot of fun. Two shows down, two more to go.
Yesssss ice cubes in water!!!! Such a small and amazing thing that improves my day! I love your twinkle lights and I love that your dad calls you daily for help with small tech things — that is so wonderful, to be in proximity, to be able to help, to talk to him every day. LOVE. I am also a HUGE fan of Indy’s party (happy birthday!!!!) especially the trip to the exotic car dealer! How FUN! I love exotic cars and would have loved to join him.
A happy thing around here is SNOW!!!! We got so much snow last night! It is magical!
We also got snow last night. I’ll say it’s magical only because I don’t have to go anywhere this morning! I love looking out at the snow; navigating a car in it…not so much. It’s our first snow of the season. It’s sounding like it may be a white Christmas this year!
I feel like Belle would be SUCH a fun babysitter!!!! I also volunteer to color with her any time 🙂 Super cool she’s doing it – I think A would also love babysitting esp a ‘real gig’!!!!
She is definitely very fun 🙂 On Thursday night the girl wanted to play board games which is basically like Belle’s dream. I almost feel like she should be paying to babysit it’s so enjoyable for her, haha.
This is an impressive good things list- if my folks lived far away but moved closer seasonally- that would top my list of good things.
Having kids home for Thanksgiving is great. Mostly. Getting the first draft done of my Christmas poem this early was a huge good thing in my book.
I’m a mashed potato junkie, so that’s my fav thing on turkey day.
The candle lit Ailent Night singing sounds lovely.
Your Christmas poem sounds like such a big undertaking so gold stars for getting the first draft under your proverbial belt.
Hi Elisabeth, I’m happy to be back online and blogging again. Also, surfing everyone else’s blogs and seeing what I’ve missed these last few months. I love that Indy got all that he wanted for his birthday. The trampoline park looked like great fun for the boys.
Obviously, I have a lot to be thankful for this year, but this week? I am so grateful to find that our washing machine is, in fact, not broken, and only needed some maintenance, which we got done for $25. Score one for the win. Also, after the flood in our bathrooms, the management have finally set a date for us to get someone in to fix the ceilings and walls … for next Spring. I kid you not.
Other than that, we’re Christmas shopping this weekend. Though I’m not so sure about the hordes.
Hi! I have been thinking of you often and hoping you are well <3
Next spring. Eeks. Hopefully that date will get bumped up for you. But that's great news about the washing machine. It's amazing how quickly a malfunctioning appliance can wreak havoc with daily life.
Wow! This was an amazing Happy Things Friday post! I’m smiling after reading it! The birthday party looks like so much fun. Looking at fancy cars was a genius idea, knowing how much he loves them from many of your posts. Your parents, your Christmas church activities, and everything lifted my spirits. I’ll have to see I can find that Lysol cleaner. It sounds magical! And yes, I think a toilet cleaner is very worth mentioning on a Happy Things Friday post!
It felt like a new “low” to be listing bathroom cleaners, but I was amazed at how well it worked (I had zero faith when I bought it; obviously, it was on sale!). I was giddy!
Your Happy Things posts are always uplifting. It pays off to look for the happy things every week.
Happy birthday to Indy… it sounds like he had a wonderful day with his friends. 🙂 And I am so excited for you that your parents are close by now…. this is so precious (and I know you’ll enjoy it to the fullest!).
We put up our Christmas tree (and some decorations) today and I agree, the twinkle lights add a wonderful glow to the room!
Yay for twinkle lights! I hope it brings lots of cozy vibes to your home this Christmas season.
Having your parents in town for the winter sounds fantastic! Enjoy the live nativity – what a cool idea!
We put up our very simple Christmas lights on the front porch this week, which has brought the kids a lot of joy. Another happy thing this week was finishing our 1000 hours outside challenge!
Congrats! What an epic challenge and well done to complete it. Woot, woot!
What a brilliant idea for Indy’s birthday! I love that the boys were welcomed to the dealership and I’m sure the salespeople got a big kick out of seeing how excited they were. I might have to steal that idea for Nick’s *ahem* 40th birthday 😉 And reading through everything that has happened this week, even though you intentionally made it easy on yourself when possible (i.e., storebought cake), it was still just A LOT and no wonder you’ve been feeling like a headless chicken! Glad to hear it’s not an unhappy one though…
I use that same Lysol cleaner and it is a game changer. I also love the Mrs. Meyers spray cleaners for countertops. They all have such a pleasant scent and it’s fun to purchase the limited holiday editions (I just bought one called Snowdrop and am excited to use it!).
I’m right there with you with Christmas carols. We host a New Year’s Eve party most years, and for the past few years we have traditionally sung Christmas carols for a large bulk of the evening since it is solidly still the Christmas season on December 31. Many of our friends are professional church musicians and even those who aren’t still have beautiful voices. It gives me goosebumps every year to be gathered in our living room with all the decorations, candles lit on the mantel, and some of my favourite people creating beautiful music accompanied by both piano and organ (while toddlers and babies scamper around!).
Snowdrop??? Sign me up.
Glad to know I’m not the only one who thinks that Lysol cleaner is some sort of magic. I am so glad I picked it up.
I want to be at your place for that concert, Kate. It sounds positively magical and I can only imagine how it makes God smile to see people that love Him coming together in song <3
I am SO GLAD I read this post- I now know what I’m going to get my nephews for Christmas. Tech deck- brilliant (it’s the skateboard ramp toy thing, right?). I think today I’m going to do Christmas shopping for the family- I’ve certainly done enough for myself. Oops.
It is! And it is a big hit with Indy!
One of the ads for this post was a Lego set that looked kind of old school, meaning just a bunch of legos with no theme. The new themed ones are so fancy compared to what we had!
Indy’s party looks PERFECT, and I love that Belle had such a good time babysitting. As always, I am both delighted and envious that your parents live so close by for part of the year! What a gift.
LEGO is always a big hit in our household.
It is such a gift. They came up for coffee this morning (my mom just had water because she doesn’t like coffee or tea) and it was lovely <3
Aww, thank you for the kind thoughts. And I missed reading everyone’s posts for a while but didn’t have the bandwidth at the time. It’s good to be back.
Oh, I know. Right? The OH wrote them (again) and said we’d like to see the repairs done in January and no later. So, we’ll see how that goes. And yeah, I nearly had heart failure with the washing machine. Thankfully, we got it sorted quickly. White goods are not cheap these days.
We are expecting our washing machine to go…soon. I am dreading it. But fixing white goods is increasingly challenging. They really don’t make things like they used to.
So glad you’re back <3
Happy things! I love these smaller birthday parties. My daughter had a small sleepover, they watched a movie, had popcorn, coloured and she’s still talking about it 3 months later.
Also Belle’s babysitting job sounds like our kids 😂 our babysitter came over Friday, and our youngest made her watch Kpop demon hunters (she hadn’t seen it yet) and when my eldest got home he wanted to tell her all about his new athletics shoes and the difference between the spikes etc.
Other happy things: going for walks and seeing all the lit up houses. Seeing my niece perform (well) at figure skating. Getting to see / talk to my siblings. Party with and getting to know colleagues better.
This comment makes me so happy! I love your list of delightful things.
I have to admit I had pretty easy babysitting jobs, too. And I’m glad Belle gets to ease into this sort of work. Better to start easy and not get scared off forever??? Haha.