More turkey than you can shake a stick at. And some presents. Ready?

The official Christmas retrospective post.  It's essentially random holiday photos with a few captions to, you know, explain these difficult, interpretive artistic renderings of Christmas past.  Just past. 

Well, let's get started then, shall we?   Let's begin with my piece de resistance - the 30lb turkey from yesterday's inlaw holiday extravaganza at our home.   This bird took up the entire stove for nearly 7 hours.  7 hours of relentless basting and fussing.  Thank goodness that thing tasted good.

Here's the letter the kids (Suvi) wrote to Santa, accompanying the cookies and milk.

Here's what Santa wrote back the next morning.

The family room that morning.  This perspective does nothing for how many gifts were actually there.

Those bright-eyed Crumbs before the present opening began. Here's what they're thinking:

Finn - "What are we doing again?"

Max - "Can we get started already?"

Suvi - "I love this!!"

And now Finn is thinking "I love this!"

Horses?  Does the girl like horses?  Maybe?

Not to mention they're the perfect size for Barbies!  Santa's so smart...

This was on Max's wish list to Santa.  A wooden rocket ship from Mastermind.  It's really cool.

Here's what it looked like after Daddy set it all up.  We love wooden toys in this house.

Ah yes, two of the items from Suvi's wish list - Brianne (a Maplelea girl doll) and her horse, Chinook.  For those American readers, Maplelea dolls are similar to American Girls except without all the hoopla.

My mom made a bunch of outfits for Suvi's new Brianne doll.  Check it out - along with several other outfits, a Marimekko dress and pants, and a Beatles ensemble, too.  So fun...

These were also fun - all three got these Food Face plates.  Not that I like to encourage playing with food, but hey, if it gets the kids interested in dinner, it's good by me!

Speaking of food, Max's Snack Shop is open for business.

Finn was pleased to get luggage.   Transformer luggage.

I guess luggage is popular around here!

And this - you Finns out there may know what Max is holding, but for the rest of you, this is a character from the Moomins, a wonderful set of stories about totally quirky woodland characters by Tove Janssen.  This particular character (Stinky) was a hit with Max when we visited Moominworld (Muumimaailma) in Finland two years ago. It's one of the coolest places for kids I've ever been. But, I digress...

The kids got lots of other mainstream stuff - Wii games, books, puzzles, etc. but I tend to really enjoy the more unique stuff.  Hopefully the kids do, too.   I'll leave you with a little Santa Finn (not Joulupukki) and here's hoping you all had wonderful, joy-filled holidays.  

I'll see you on the Flip side {smirk} when I make the big draw on January 1st for that Flip!   Remember, you can still enter once per day (twice if you tweet) up until the 31st by going here.

PS: I'm going all NaBloPoMo on you for the new year (January) - get ready!

Who's 300? Oh, yeah, that's me! And someone's getting a CD too.

Woohoo!  Oh, yeah, baby!  Woot woot!

What's all the fuss? Oh, I don't know...just a little celebration of MY 300th POST!!

I didn't think I'd actually make it.  In fact, 300 bits of information about my life exposed on the internet for all to read in perpetuity is...um...okay, it's kind of creepy, actually.  Erm, excuse me while I grab a glass of wine so I can feel a little more comfortable sharing again.

{pause}

Okay, I'm back.

I was going to write a really funny or poignant post about something from this past year but honestly, is anyone really reading anything longer then 200 words this soon after Christmas?  I mean, I'm exhausted and I still have to cook a full turkey dinner for 20 people tomorrow.  Wow, I have to cook a lot of turkey tomorrow.   And clean my house.  And make sure I have some good ambient music that isn't annoying but still interesting...

Geez, I'd better go.  Darn internet always distracting me...  In the meantime, I'll leave you with this:

The big draw!!

No, not for the Flip.  That's coming up on the 31st.  This is the one that most people are ignoring now because I'm giving away the Flip.  ;)

But, as promised, on my 300th post (can I say that one more time?), I'm announcing a special someone who will receive a personalized mixed CD from me.

I'm a bit of a neanderthal when it comes to choosing winners - I don't use random.org.  Instead, I employ child labour.  Yes, one of my children gets forced to do the honours, as always.  This time, Suvi's the lucky kid.   (With Max jumping in just to be seen because, well, you know, he's ridiculous like that.)  Check out the snazzy draw box!   We're all about the professional appearances around here.

Oh, the excitement!  Who will it be?

Ta da!!!   Oh, can't you read that?

Here it is much closer up - On the Curb!   Congratulations!

Thanks to all of you who shared three things about yourselves.  It was pretty interesting to read some of the things you wrote...but, you know,  you can say anything you like here.  Your secrets are safe with me.  And the totally private and confidential internet.  ;)

One last thing - a little reminder that you only have until the 31st to enter the Flip contest.  You'll find all you need to know here.   Good luck and good night, beautiful people.

Lyrics by Max

Holiday post to come shortly (once I wake from the food-induced coma) but had to share this from today.


I often sing as we get our outdoor clothes on, to keep the mood light and everyone moving along.   This is how it went today:

(to the tune of Frere Jacques)

Mom "Snowpants, boots"

Max  "Snowpants, boots"

Mom  "Hat and mitts"

Max  "Hat and tits"

And the song had to end there.  Because I was laughing too hard.  And, for the record, Max doesn't know what "tits" means - he was just making a rhyme. ;)

PS: the next post is my 300th and I'll announce the winner of the personalized CD!   

Your holiday wish from the wee Crumbs

From our house to yours, we wish you a warm and wonderful holiday season filled with love, laughter and...ahem...

Kids?  Could you pay attention, please?

Is it too much to ask for just 10 seconds of cooperation?

Well, I guess this is better than nothing!  This is about as good as it gets.  A few happy faces to wish you the happiest of holiday seasons!

Now go eat and be merry and remember:

"The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear." - Buddy the Elf

Style. I am Style.

'Nuff said.

PS: still two fun contests running here on Crumbs...

1.  Are you Canadian?  Want to win a Flip camcorder?  Go here for details.

2.  Are you a music lover?  (you can live anywhere in the world for this one!)  Want to win a personalized CD made by me just for you?  Click here.

Suvi: Queen of Letting Go of Baggage

I was going about my business, cleaning the house and whatnot, when I came up the stairs and glanced down the hall toward Suvi's room.  Something caught my eye.

Is she moving out?  I mean, she's seven and a half now.  Must be about that time, non?

I call her up to ask "what the heck?" and here's the answer:

"Duh, Mom!  I am too old for these books now so I don't want them anymore.  You can give them to charity or whatever.  They're too young for my bookshelf."  Can I use this quote with my own bookshelves?  Hopefully not since I have a lot of books that are probably totally unsuitable for someone my age.  {snicker}

"And the bags," I ask.  "Are you headed somewhere?"

"Mom, these clothes don't fit me anymore!  I'm growing, you know?"

So, I take a peek into the bags.  "Hmmm...this dress fits you just fine, doesn't it?  And these skirts, you were just wearing them..."

"Mom!  Ugh!  They don't fit me or I DO NOT like them!  Don't you understand?!"   She's exasperated at my ignorance.   I thought this kind of thing didn't start for a few more years?

"Well, there must not be much left in your closet.  There are a lot of clothes here."

"Yeah, well, we really have to go shopping, Mom.  I have nothing to wear at all!"

And this is when I turn around, walk slowly downstairs and pour myself a glass of wine.   Here I thought girls were so much easier than boys.  Sigh...

A little Flippin', A little Disney, A little Suvi

Oh, the Flip!  So many of you would love the Flip!  I wish I could give you each one, it's so much fun.   Still, keep commenting on each post up to the 31st and I'll include an entry each time (one per day, two if you Twitter, too!).  Remember - you must be Canadian to enter.  (sorry, my American friends)  Here are all the details, in case you forget.

I've been loving it so far.  I've been particularly impressed with the quality of the recordings.  Perfect for recording little holiday concerts at school and for grabbing a few bits of Disney on Ice Friday night!

Yes, we finally got to Disney on Ice - Princess Classics.  Everyone enjoyed it (although Finn got a little fidgety in the second half, but hey - he's a 2 year old boy. What could I expect?) and it looked like every other little (and big!) girl I saw there was also enjoying it!

Suvi particularly loved guessing which movie each segment was from.  Max enjoyed the soldiers and swords that came up every now and then but sat surprisingly well for all the other bits, too!  He was groovin' in his seat during The Litttle Mermaid bit, singing along with Sebastian.  Fun!

Here are a few photos from the evening (yes, Finnegan is clearly overtired...and psychotic).

So, if you've got little ones who enjoy Disney and you're in the Toronto area between now and the 27th, you should try to catch this fun show at the Rogers Centre.  And, you can get tickets so cheap with this very special discount:

Visit http://www.ticketmaster.ca/ and enter the code "MCC" in the MC promotion box when you're purchasing.  This deal gets you four tickets for $44 (total!) for any show Monday - Friday (excluding Friday evening) or $4 off tickets for weekend performances. 

Fine print:
• The coupon code for the Toronto shows will be MCC — four tickets for $44 Monday-Friday (excluding Friday evening), and $4 off tickets for all weekend performances.
• Toronto shows are running from December 18th – December 27th at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.
• The tickets can be purchased from http://www.ticketmaster.ca/ and by entering the MCC code in the “MC promotion” box when purchasing tickets.
• Minimum purchase of 4 tickets required; additional tickets above 4 can be purchased at $11 each during the week and $4 off on weekends.
• Offer not valid on Rinkside or VIP seating.
• Cannot be combined with other offers. Service Charges, facility & handling fees will apply.

Thanks to MomCentral for sharing such great stuff with us bloggers!

Oh, yes - remember that little song Suvi recorded last week?  I've been trying to get the whole audio file thing working better so you can hear it.  You Mac users have had no problem getting it but others haven't had any luck.  Try this new link/download - it's really short, like a minute of a song. Let me know if you can get it working!

01 Suvi's Rockin' Christmas.m4a

Oh, one last thing - can someone explain to me why my right column has suddenly shifted way down the right side?  What's up with that?  I don't understand Blogger sometimes...

You'll Flip for this contest!

Alright, you gorgeous, tech-savvy readers, it's time for another really great contest.  Yes, I know, I still have the "win a personalized CD from yours truly" contest running...(which is also fun, non?)

But here's something a little extra.

There's a little gadget out there called the Flip.  You can find out all the details of these cool items here.   And, thanks to MomCentral, I get to give one away to one of you!   It's part of their Flip for the Holidays blog tour.  

Of course, I've had the pleasure of trying one out and let me tell you - they are so very cool.  Timing was perfect.  Today was the school holiday concert for Suvi and Max.  I won't go into detail about just how funny and cute they were, but, throughout the entire show, I was entertaining Finnegan.  I had really wanted to capture the kids' moments on stage not just in still photos but on video.  Now, trying to take video while managing a toddler is bags of fun (many of you will understand) - fish crackers flying everywhere, lots of loud impromptu noises and statements about people on stage, the dumping of a water bottle, flirting with the people behind us... you know, the usual.

But let me tell you - I was able to get some really great footage of those kids because I could manage the Flip one-handed!  It was SO easy.  And, once I downloaded the videos tonight (to my new MacBookPro...happy dance!), they were surprisingly great quality.  I had feared this little piece of technology wasn't going to possibly produce anything decent.

So wrong.  It was great!   Sound quality was fantastic.  Images were very clear (on the computer).  Did I mention hooking the thing up to the computer was easy peasy?   The Flip comes with a little flip-out USB arm that you shove into your USB port and presto!  The ultra-friendly (and non-judgemental) FlipShare software loads on and you're ready to go.

And, let me tell you - I'm somewhat technically challenged, I admit it.  This was even easy for moi.

Anyway, back to the good stuff - the contest!

Because this cool little item (that sells for under $250 - a great price for this product - it's HD, you know!) is so portable and easy to use and, well, just plain fun, it's really the perfect item for so many people on your holiday list, don't you think?   I could buy it for just about anyone in my family, I think.  (Note to family members: you are not all getting Flips for Christmas.  I'll send you videos of stuff I take.)

So how do you enter to win one of these funky new toys?  Simple!  All you have to do is comment here and tell me who you would give the Flip to this holiday season.  (that would be the Flip Ultra HD camcorder, not the hand gesture...)   The contest runs until 11:59 PM EST on December 31st.  (yes, New Year's Eve, people) and on New Year's Day, I'll be giving one of you some fantastic news!

Oh, and so sorry to you beautiful Americans but this one's a Canadian-only contest (18 years and older).

Post your comment here and you're entered.  I will allow one entry per day.  Wait, you can get one extra entry per day if you Tweet the contest, too!   But you need to link back to this post - and you need to mention that you've Tweeted in the comments here so I know you're part of my giveaway (there are a few of these great Flips going on this blog tour right now).   You can find me on Twitter under CynthiaCrumb and ReTweet to your heart's content.

Geez, have I missed anything?  Possibly only saying Good Luck!  And, seriously consider getting the Flip this holiday season.  It's a brilliant little device that will capture Christmas morning (or whichever holiday you celebrate) with ease, charm and you can use the other hand to drink your hot chocolate.  Perfect.

From the mind of Max

"Know what, mom?"

"What, Max?"

"Last night when I was in my bed, I saw someone cut their toes off.  And then cut their leg.  And it was black bear.  (his cuddly)   And an alligator came and tried to get him.   There was water in my bed.  And I was a Jedi so I was safe.  I'm Luke.  No, I'm Annekin.  And my light saver (he calls it that) is blue so that means I'm good.   And the music that is on the radio in my room was Allergies (song from the Barenaked Ladies Snacktime cd) and it's rock 'n' roll.

Dah-na-na-na-na-na...(he's playing air guitar here and adding guitar sound effects)

And then mom, know what?"

"What, Max?"

"There was a party in my room and know who was there?"

"Who?"

"Luke.  And Annekin.  And Dark Vader. (snicker) And monkey and black bear.  And Ruby Gloom and Toopy and Santa and Melman from Madagascar.   They all came and were eating my sheets.  Know what else?"

"What?"

"I have to go pee..."

Thank goodness because I would have had to reach for a drink if I had to keep following that story!

By the way, if you haven't yet entered to win the personalized CD from yours truly (which is kind of fun, don't you think?), click here for the details.  You only need to share a few very personal details about yourself.  {smirk}  A few days left until I hit the 300th post and announce the winner!

Suvi's Rockin' Christmas

This past weekend, in addition to that crazy holiday party we had here for 100 of our nearest and dearest, Suvi had the chance to go into a recording studio and record a holiday song with her piano/voice teacher.

Miss J is a fantastic teacher and Suvi just loves her.  She knows how to keep kids engaged and having fun while they learn to love music.   At holiday time, she books studio time and each of the kids gets to go in and record a song.  It's brilliant.

Suvi, who would be very nervous in front of people, seems to have a great level of confidence in a studio at the mic.  She enjoyed every one of the 7 or so times they recorded the song.  Here is a shot of her at the mic.

Here's one with her beloved teacher, Miss J.

Want to hear how it sounded?  It's pretty cute.  I especially love the vibrato every now and then.  (sorry if this audio clip doesn't work.  I'm trying my darndest to figure out how to embed an mp3 here in Blogger...)

1 Audio Track.aiff

Oh yes, that party...well, here's what it looked like at the end of night downstairs.  Clearly some of us were not as tired as others. (i.e. Suvi had energy to spare!)  Here's Suvi with a few late night party friends, M and J.  (the other J is hiding behind)

More party than we can handle

Phewf!  It's over.  Our annual holiday open house was last evening (Saturday) and boy, what a party it was!  This is our fourth year of hosting this event, which runs from 4pm through 10pm.  People can stop in for a short visit, or they can  hang out with us all night long! 

It's also a family event, so about half of the attendees are children.  We hire a babysitter to manage the "Kidzone" in the basement, which usually turns into a scene from Daddy Daycare or similar.  30 kids in our basement on sugar.  So great. 

Did I mention there are usually around 100 people in attendance?  Yeah, it's crazy.  Our modest surburban home is not really built to handle that kind of party but hey, we don't care.   Our perspective is it's a time to celebrate the season with friends and it doesn't matter how awful our kitchen looks...oh, did I just say that?  I'll leave the kitchen complaining to another time.   ;)

In any event, many hours of cleaning later, and mounds of leftover food in our fridge (can someone please come by and help us eat this?!), it's a great memory and I now feel truly ready for the holidays.   Nothing Father Christmas can throw at me now can match the stress and busy-ness of this party.  I've climbed K2 and I'm now on the "easy" descent. 

Tomorrow I'll be writing my post from my new MacBook Pro (spent today transferring stuff and setting up/getting used to that damned left click thingy).  Hopefully I'll also get my camera hooked up and can post a few shots. 

In the meantime, I'm loving everyone's three interesting things.  You are an amazing bunch!  You can still get in on the draw for a personalized CD, compliments of DJ Mommy Crumb.  See here for the details. 

Here's to a great week ahead!

Who are you exactly? Or roughly?

Hello out there, you cool Crumbs readers.  I was sitting here thinking today (and that doesn't happen often, believe me) that, while a few of you I've gotten to know as "friends" in the blogosphere, there are a number of you who may or may not comment now and then and I'm not sure I know much about you! 

So here's the challenge.   Please make today the day you comment and tell me three interesting (and preferably true) things about you.  Let's keep it PG (email me directly if you want to get R rated...) and let your personality show! 

Come on!  Let's get to know you! 

CynthiaCrumb

PS: and, if you feel so inclined, I've just set up a link to TopMommyBlogs and if you click on the icon below, I'll get a vote!  Would you do me that favour?  I'd love if you would. 



Don't see the icon?  Click on this!  http://www.topmommyblogs.com/blogs/in.php?id=CynthiaK

Oh, and if you need another reason to comment with your three things, here's something: I'm coming up on my 300th post soon and, to help celebrate, I'll be giving away another personalized CD!  Yes, folks, you'll be entered in the draw (which I will do as I post the big 300th) and I will craft a personalized CD mixed to your tastes.  I'll hopefully share with you some music that I think you'll like based on what I know about you.

Sound good?  I think so!  Who doesn't love music?  So please, comment here and keep on watching!

See how much I love you all...  ;)

Good vibrations

I don't know if you can tell, but I'm vibrating with excitement. 

How's that for an intro?  Maybe you thought you arrived at the wrong (yet secretly intriguing) blog!  ;)

Nah, it's still Crumbs.  But why am I vibrating?  Let's just say...

this:

and this:

Yes, all my whining and complaining has resulted in these two beautiful items arriving at my door today.  I won't tell you what I had to do to get these two babies.  Not for public consumption.  ;)

Is it ridiculous that I can get so excited about a few pieces of technology? 

So, here I sit trying to finish up my holiday cards before I get onto the good stuff: cracking open my new 15" Macbook Pro (I'm still waiting on my Gelaskin) and my new Panazonic Lumix ZS1 digital camera. 

Brace yourself, blogosphere.  Crumbs is leaving the old PC world behind and turning to the darkside.  Of course, you'll have to give me a few weeks to get the hang of it all.  I mean, I'm not all that savvy when it comes to figuring out new gadgets.   (I hear I'm going to have a right mouse clicking issue, for starters)

Any comments from the peanut gallery on either of these items are welcome.  Just make sure it's all good.  I don't want to hear any bad stuff!  I've spent too much money on these early Christmas presents to hear anything negative! (please?)

Now that my hand cramp has worked itself out, it's back to holiday cards.  I'll leave you with one of a number of beautiful photos taken by a good friend last week while we were up north...

The nearly Fantastic Mr. Fox

This week we were away.  Up in the north.  Northern Ontario, that is.  We flew up there to surprise my father for his 60th birthday.  I think he was shocked to see us at his doorstep shivering away in our Southern Ontario jackets. 

It was a great week and one that I won't bother blogging about too much because, well, my camera is broken and I took no photos.  Somehow, I've decided that without photos to go along with the story, it just isn't the same.  So, if any of you out there have a direct line to the Big Red Belly (Santa, that is...Joulupukki...Ol' St. Nick...), please put in a good word for me because I'm losing my mind without a digital camera!

Okay, back to today's post. 

During the trip, we went to the theatre with my dad and his wife.  We had two choices: Planet 51 and The Fantastic Mr. Fox.  Of course, the kids were leaning toward Planet 51 because, well, it looks to them like a cool animated film along the lines of their favourite Pixar flicks.  What they don't know is that it isn't Pixar and thus looks about as appealing to me as something like Shark Tale.  (I'm a bit of an animated film snob...)

In the end, we opted for Fantastic Mr. Fox (based on the book by Roald Dahl) because, of course, Mom gets the final word. (as it should be)

I loved the look of this because it was old-style stop motion.  This is why I have relished what companies like Aardman produce (Wallace & Gromit, etc.).  The other major appeal to this film is that it's a Wes Anderson.  I adore Wes Anderson films.  Rushmore, Royal Tenenbaums, Bottle Rocket...they are my kind of comedy.  It's also got a fun soundtrack, as many of Wes Anderson's films do, opening with the classic Wellingtons' hit "The Ballad of Davy Crockett." 

There are some interesting folks doing voices (some are Wes Anderson staples), including: Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, George Clooney (who's got a little Ocean's 11 something something happening with his character at times), Meryl Streep, Owen Wilson...

The dialogue between Ash, Fox's son, and Kristofferson, Ash's cousin, is hilarious.  Over the heads of most kids, I would think, but I was cracking up.  Again, you have to like Wes Anderson's humour...

I think the kids enjoyed the movie almost as much as I did.  I mean, Max stayed awake (it was a 7:20pm showing) and Suvi laughed several times.  We've talked a lot about it since and I thought it was a nice change from the usual.   

But the best part?  There is a moment in the film where Mr. Fox has been outwitting the three nasty farmers and they now have him trapped (sort of) and are starving him out of the hole.   A group of varied individuals await the ambush and, while they wait, Petey (son of that nasty, lean farmer Bean) is strumming his banjo and singing a song about the whole scenario to keep others entertained.  They're all enjoying the little tune (which is actually sung by Jarvis Cocker...remember him?  Lead singer of Pulp?) and suddenly, crotchety Bean storms up and tells him that the song stinks and to stop playing. 

There is complete silence on screen and in the theatre and, just then, Suvi says aloud "well, I liked it!"  Muffled snickers erupt around us in the theatre.  It was perfect.  I've always told her she should never be afraid to like whatever music she wants.  That's my girl.  (I'll regret that in about 5 more years when she's listening to something truly awful...)

Alright, time for bed.  If you don't know what the heck Fantastic Mr. Fox is, here's the trailer for you to enjoy. 



If you can't see the embedded video, go here to check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2igjYFojUo

If you're a mainstream animated film kind of person, I'd suggest you skip this one.  But, if you're interested in something a little different (and quirky), this is your film.  One caveat: they use - no, wait - abuse the word "cuss" throughout the movie and it quickly gets annoying.  Phrases like "what the cuss" and "cuss you" are funny about once and then they could have left it.  I guess nothing's ever perfect, but overall, I'd give Mr. Fox a 7 out of 10 crumbs.  Not bad.