52 Weeks of Happiness - Week 41

I've been wanting to get Ethan a trampoline for months.

MONTHS!!!

I just can't find one.

Everytime I mention to someone I want one,

they tell me to go to Game

(shop here).

But Game never has any.

Anytime I see a moving sale, 

I check for trampolines.

I'm always too late.

Some may say I'm obsessed,

I prefer determined.

On Friday I was told by a mate

that Game would have trampolines on the weekend,

and they would be on sale.

Saturday I woke up feeling sick.

But determined.

I dragged my sick butt out and over to the mall.

And guess what?

We got a trampoline!

Yipee!!!

Net to come in a couple weeks.

Happiness is finally getting a trampoline!

Arthur Christmas

  We took Ethan to see Arthur Christmas.

We had no idea who Arthur was or what the movie was about,

other than it had to do with Christmas,

but we loved it.

The movie begins by explaining how Santa is able to deliver all those presents to all the boys and girls, 

all over the world. 

These days,

Santa has gone high-tech,

It's no longer a simple sleigh

pulled by mere reindeers.

There's a space ship type contraption,

GPS,

and a whole lot of elves.

Arthur is the son of the current Santa.

He works in the mailroom.

On Christmas Eve,

Santa has returned from delivering all the presents

and Arthur discovers one child had been forgotten.

Arthur sets out to ensure that every child knows

that Santa cares.

Ethan and I loved this movie.

There were 3 very distinct features

that made this movie so perfect for us.

While attempting to deliver the gift,

Arthur hits:

1. Toronto

2. Serengeti in Tanzania.

Oh, and there was a letter to Santa

from a boy named

Alessandro.

Ethan was chuffed to have his mate

in the movie!

That's Not Santa

We have a wonderful PTA at our school.
They put on all kinds of events for the children.
This past Friday was Santa's Grotto.
It was an opportunity for the kids
to shop for gifts for their
mums, dads, brothers, sisters,
and anyone else they want.
We sent Ethan with 60,000 kwa
and told him to buy a gift for mom and dad.
Each gift was 30pin ($6).
There were mums there to help the children choose a gift,
and mums to wrap gifts.
Ethan is very excited about his choices.
He keeps asking if we want to know what he bought us.

Later in the afternoon,
Santa came to visit the Grotto.
The problem was,
Ethan didn't believe it was Santa.
For one,
his mate told him last year Santa took off his beard.
And secondly,
he was a tad skinny for Santa.
I think I've convinced Ethan that it was
Santa's helper.

Christmas in the Hood

I think I need to make a whole

Hood series!

Friday was Christmas in the Hood.

It's official name is the

Progressive Lunch, 

but I prefer Christmas in the Hood.

It was a time for all staff at AISL

to get together,

share some good food

with good friends

and sing some Christmas songs.

The idea for the lunch

was that everyone would bring a dish.

You could choose a starter,

main,

or dessert.

Not being the cook that I am,

I opted for dessert.

Years ago I had a pumpkin cheesecake

and it was divine.

Only I couldn't find the recipe.

But then I came across a recipe

for Pumpkin Chocolate Cheesecake,

and OMG

it's great!

So if you're looking for a new dessert

this Christmas, 

you've got to give these a try.

You can find the recipe here.

Letter to Santa

Today Ethan wrote a letter to Santa.

It was his very first letter he's written.

We sent Santa an email last year,

but I seem to recall it being some template.

Ethan wrote the letter on his own.

I was hoping he'd be more chatting,

rather than start with what he wants,

but he wrote it,

so I can't complain.

I helped him sound some words out

otherwise it's all his own.

Dear Santa

Please can I have a Zurg and Lotso.

I have good

From

Ethan.

52 Weeks of Happiness - Week 40

This Sunday was

Cookie Exchange in the Hood.

This is not to be confused with

Halloween in the Hood

or even 

Thanksgiving in the Hood.

Our lovely hostesses,

Jenn and Kate,

organised a cookie exchange party.

Check out the amount of cookies we had.

We also had gingerbread house decorating.

Kate was fabulous.

She had all the houses assembled,

and set up in an assembling line

with treats galore for decorating.

 Ethan had a blast decorating his house.

We were thinking of having a

gingerbread house competition,

but how does one choose the best of all these houses?

It wouldn't be an African Christmas

without a dip in the pool.

Our afternoon ended with the choosing

of delicious cookies

to bring home.

Happiness is starting the Christmas season with mates.

The Return of Chef Ethan

Chef Ethan is back!

We have a Christmas Cookie Exchange party

this afternoon,

so yesterday evening

Chef Ethan got to work.

Check out his new apron.

We're not sure what kinds of cookies

people will bring,

but didn't want to make the usual

chocolate chips, 

or even shortbread,

in case they were many of those.

So we opted for 

pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

Now, I just need to explain to Ethan

that the party is not now

but in a few hours. 

Every morning,

Ethan runs to see where Jake is

(his Elf),

then heads for his Lego calendar,

then his Advent calendar.

What will our routine be like once the season is over?

Today's treat in the calendar,

was making Swedish pancakes for breakfast.

Thank you Darlene for the recipe.

Scott was utterly impressed that I made breakfast.

And there are so many left over

guess what Ethan will have for lunch tomorrow?

But the best part of today,

so far,

is the conversation Scott and I had.

Scott: What's the date today?

Me: The 4th.

Scott: Are you sure?

Me: Yes.

Ethan: Mommy's a teacher, she knows what she's talking about, don't argue with her.

Gotta love my boy!