Anissa's preschool Christmas party was on Friday. It was a big bash: 60 kids from all 4 classes, plus their families, were invited to celebrate together. The decorations were fabulous, there was plenty of food and family photos and crafts were on the agenda: I know because I was on the planning committee. The students performed songs they've been practicing for weeks. Anissa's class did Vive Le Vent. I'm sure it was adorable. I wish I could give you the details, but I wasn't there. I was at home in bed with the flu.


I was bummed that I couldn't be there, but Anissa, thankfully, was pretty accepting of it. Mehdi took both girls in their pretty red dresses, plus a car load of party stuff (huge beanbag toss cutouts, craft and decorating supplies, a toy donation for charity, Elianne's lunch, Christmas CD's, etc etc). A few hours later, they all clamoured back into the house and Mehdi collapsed onto the living room floor, exclaiming, "I don't know how you do it. I'm exhausted!"


The flu was not fun, but, hey, at least I got a long nap and some recognition out of it!


(And of course, considering all he had to juggle, the camera came back with only a distant video of Anissa's class performance and no photos of the girls...but thanks to a friend, Asuka, I've got these to share. Too bad Elianne had just woken up and has a plug in her mouth, but I'll take what I can get!)

Anissa and two of her school buddies, Holly and Erika.

Elianne with two of her buddies, Holly and Erika's siblings, Carson and Sahara.

So far, Calgary winter hasn't been as bad as I expected. This weekend, though, things got chilly, but the timing was fine since we had invited some of Anissa's pals over for a Christmas Craft-making Party. Of course, I failed to take a single photo. I was too busy handing out glue, googly eyes, feeding the hungry artists...and, well, sipping on Bailey's and coffee with the chaperones. After everyone left, the girls and I hung out most of the afternoon in front of a crackling fire while Mehdi prepped his class for tomorrow. Sometimes a cold day is a wonderful excuse to cocoon at home.

Since I know certain people may be disappointed that there's no photo, here's one from a nicer day last week when Anissa and I took Elianne for her first spin in a sled out on our deck.