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Hey there!

It's just about time for our Elf on the Shelf to show up and bring this year's advent calendars. Not gonna lie, I'm feeling very unprepared for this holiday season!

It's been a crazy couple months here. To give you an idea, the "less complicated" child has had a tooth abscess, growth plate problems, and a sprained ligament. The family is averaging close to a medical appointment a day for the month of November, and October was about every other day.

Fingers crossed, we seem to be turning a corner (at least the less complicated child has), and it's time to start enjoying the holidays!

✨ What's Happening at Alberta Mamas

Lots of holiday posts have been updated for 2025!

Advent Calendars Over 80 non-chocolate Advent calendars to count down until Christmas with. Read article Also check out these Crafty Advent Calendars. Read article

Free Holiday Lights There's nothing like grabbing hot chocolate and driving around to see the lights! Edmonton & Area Lights Calgary & Area Lights

🛍 Find of the Week

It's Black Friday tomorrow - everything is a great find right now!

I'm eyeing up the Elf on the Shelf kits to help get through this month - this one in particular has caught my eye with daily activities or jokes and will still arrive before the elf does!

What steals have you found?

🏠 At Home Activity

December arrives on Monday! Print off this free colouring page to visually count down the days until Christmas. It also has an undated calendar you can write plans on, and a bucket list the kids can track their activity (or gift) wish list!

Free "Countdown to Christmas" 11x17 poster! Get it now!

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📅 Events Around Alberta

Find out what's happening wherever you are through a local event calendar! This list covers spots across the province.

Hit reply and let me know if a spot you're interested in is missing, and I'll do my best to find a local calendar for you!

📚 What I'm Reading

How many books does your family go through in a year? Between four of us, we are easily into triple digits. We make regular trips to the library, but I've been spending a bit of time in used book stores lately, and have found some entertaining old books about Alberta!

DYK: As of March, 1986, Alberta had: 123 public hospitals, 2 federal general hospitals, 2 mental health hospitals, 44 auxiliary hospitals, and 87 nursing homes. (Now I'm curious how much those numbers have changed in 40 years!)

See my full list of Alberta-themed books you can buy on Amazon. Unfortunately, the only place I've been able to locate these two is now on my bookcase, but there are plenty of unique ideas in there 😉. I've read many of them, or they're sitting in my 3-foot tall TBR pile!

👨‍🍳 Recipe to Try

Nuts & Bolts

This is an old family recipe (likely take from the side of cereal box 60+ years ago) - I make multiple batches every year. It's simple enough your toddler can do most of the work! My eldest has been helping me make it since she was 2.

Dry Ingredients

• 2.5 cups pretzels (sticks preferred, but take what you can get at this time of the year)
• 1.5 cups peanuts (or sub an extra half cup of each cereal for a school-safe, nut free version)
• 2 cups Shreddies, Chex, or Life cereal
• 2 cups Cheerios

Sauce

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1.5 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 3/4 tsp celery salt
• 3/4 tsp garlic salt (for less salty, sub 1/2 tsp garlic powder)

Combine sauce ingredients in a microwave safe bowl (I typically use my 1 cup glass measuring cup). Pour sauce over dry ingredients in a 9x13 pan and mix until well combined. Bake for 30 minutes at 250F, stirring about half way.

Share Your Thoughts

With elves about to arrive, I'm curious - is your elf well behaved, or a total mischief maker? And do you know where he's been hiding since last Christmas???

Hit reply and let me know!

Can't wait to hear from you!

Jen

P.S. I'll have some photos to share next week, but if you're gabbing tickets ASAP, you can save 10% at GLOW Edmonton using the code ENCHANTEDALBERTAMAMA.