Gotta lotta ground to cover, try to keep up

The last three days have been abnormally busy, even for us.  (All couples with young kids like to think that there couldn't possibly be anyone else out there busier than they are, and we are no exception to that gross misconception.  We live deeply inside of it, in fact, and sometimes slather ourselves in the smug sense of superiority it engenders.)

Rather than try to recount the details that are already starting to elude me, I thought it best to provide pictorial summaries.  I also (very briefly) thought it might make more sense to those reading here to break it up into a number of posts.  Like, one for each event.  And then I thought, the hell with that!  This weekend didn't slow down for us to pause for a breather, so you don't get one either.

There are no gentle segues here between days and/or events, but I have been good enough to post the pictures chronologically.  Other than that, I'll let them speak (mostly) for themselves.  (Click for bigger ones.)

And.... go.

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SATURDAY

Mere hours before the Saturday adults' Christmas party.  I like the unintentional blue theme going on here.  That's my wife's only tattoo, in case you haven't seen it before.

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After supper, we kicked into the very first part of the entertainment procured for the evening.  I had the big, flashy camera in her face, so I got hauled on stage.  This was her as Janis Joplin.  She did a total of eight celebrity impersonations for her act.  Celine Dion nearly brought the house down.   She closed with Cher.  Good times.

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I don't know why everyone else is so serious in this picture.  It's not like Amy normally needs the help standing out.

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A little YMCA.

You're under arrest for being sexy!

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SUNDAY

"Hey, do you wanna get the boys hopped up on caffeine and sugar just before we go to the kids' Christmas party?"

"Hell yeah!!"

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The coke feels so good on the cheek.

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Even safe on Daddy's lap, Tav shies away from the evil fat man in red.

Y'all remember what happened last year, right?

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Dex, too, is leery.  But greedy.  Ah, the internal struggles begin.

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"Green jello is where it's at, D-man."

"No way Tav.  This red stuff is the shiz-nit!  Came with a strawberry on top and everything."

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Go get your own!

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"Yeah actually... that red looked good."

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SUNDAY (night)

Amy took me on a walking tour of Candy Cane Lane after we got the boys to bed.   It was a great way to spend a long walk with a hot chocolate in hand.  If you click the link, you'll see one of the most outdated websites remaining on the face of the Earth.

We agreed that we're going to buy this house as soon as it goes on the market.  We loved it.  Well... we'd like to buy one like this is what we really meant.

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The shiny sign you can't read is an advertisement for a company that puts lights on trees really high up.  Apropos, no?

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It goes for about 15 blocks.  (Both ways, obviously.)

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"Are you taking my picture, Si?"

"No."

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Some houses go to more effort than others.

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I think their electricity bills are actually subsidized for the month of December. 

Seriously.

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MONDAY

Dex's pre-school Christmas play.  He got to be one of the three wise men and we had to supply a crown and a robe.  The most entertaining spectacle was the hoard of parents snapping pictures and filming with handy-cams.  I counted myself among their numbers, but I still laughed.  It lasted all of about 15 minutes.  Dex seemed rather ambivalent about the whole thing.

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Tavish was just happy to get into the Christmas baking after the show.

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Granny and Grumpy were very proud of their wee grandson.

And now... to bed!!

Comments

[Dave]

*LOL* First post!!! Pretty soon, I'll post before you post the post! (ok, that sounds confusing)

I love the pictures of the kids Simon... so innocent, yet so.... devilish? *chuckling*

Happy Holidays my friend... and come visit me some time!

http://dchamps.blogspot.com

[Dave]

ps, I put a link to here on my blog bud!

Happy Holidays!

[Mark]

When the heck did you post this? Oh well, I have to leave for work, but I'll read it later (on a BREAK!).

Just so you know, though, Benjamin loved the picture of Amy's toes, and I had to speed-scroll down here to the comments to keep him from stopping me on every picture.

[Tal]

Amy is that OPI nail polish? I lOVE the colour! Great pics Simon, very illustrative...

[marian]

That was great! I wish we had something like candy cane lane here--I love Christmas lights. They're as good as fireworks, to me.
Also loved: Amy's toes, the wise men in bathrobes, the doting grandparents... all wonderful.

I don't think I've even seen jello in about ten years, though. It seems to have disappeared around here! Or maybe I'm not moving in the right circles.

[Amy]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIMON!!!!

[Moksha Gren]

Great pictures. Loved the wig and the whole jello sequence. I also dug the last shot of the young prince receiving the pampering befitting his crown.

Also:

There once was a man from Edmonton fair,
Prodigious with words but paltry of hair
He drankn his Scotch Whisky
Then got rather frisky
And blogged to the world of his wife’s lovely pair.

In other words...Happy Birthday Simon!

[Monique & Amy]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIMON! From your two favourite women :)

Amy has been trying to post all morning, but it keeps coming up as comment spam. She's pretty sensitive about it, don't mention it when you get home.

Many happy birthday hugs,
Amy & Monique

[Sarah]

Would it be inappropriate to compliment Amy on her hotness in the purple dress?

[Amy]

Not at all inappropriate, I welcome any comments about me being hot. I am glad I can post again.

[Tasha]

Amy rocked that dress.
You rocked the guitar.
Dex rocked the bathrobe.
Tav is very cute.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIMON!!

I love Xmas lights.

[Émilie B]

They're all cute family pics - I think I like the 3 bath robed little men the most - and that street looks like a lovely place for a walk.

Bon anniversaire! :)

[Mark]

Happy birthday. I'm awfully late to this party.

Great pictorial sum-up. You provided captions -- what the hell else would we want?

As for your stroll -- is it common up in Canada for parents to go on a stroll outside the house after putting the kids to bed? Just curious, because if so, we're moving!

[Mark]

And, yes, Candy Cane Lane's website needs a new design.

I kind of thought Dex was looking at Tav's green dessert thinking, "Dang, I wanted that." But, that's just my interpretation, and any other is wrong.

[Jayson Merryfield]

You two seem to have this awesome sitcom-type family, where wackiness and goodness happens in equal doses with regularity. Wonderful pictures.

And, happy birthday - my wife's facebook tells me it's so. It also tells me I'm a day late, but that's about par for me.

[Jayson Merryfield]

You two seem to have this awesome sitcom-type family, where wackiness and goodness happens in equal doses with regularity. Wonderful pictures.

And, happy birthday - my wife's facebook tells me it's so. It also tells me I'm a day late, but that's about par for me.

[Moksha Gren]

Mark - Now that they've got that child-proofed basement all set up...they don't even have to wait until they put the kids to bed to go a strollin'

Jayson - Sitcom familiness is a truly rare gift...but the laugh track gets really annoying after a while.

[Amy]

my girlfriend Rochelle came to hang out while we went strollin'. We put the kids to bed first so she didn't have to do it. It is not very often we leave the kids to fend for themselves. Only if we are going out drinking and we will be out till wee hours in the morning. It is then babysitters get expensive.

[Simon]

There is no way that I can reply to all the comments here, so I'll just go ahead and say:

Yeah!

Thanks...

Um... OK.

Not on Wednesdays, but twice on the first Sunday of each month.

You rock!

Thanks... again.

Purple.

15 times, that's why it's sore.

Thanks.