December 21st. Kirsten's first Christmas concert.

Special Christmnas Emmy was the guest of honour at K's first school Carol concert.

She sang so proudly , all the words to " I was there on the night when Jesus came"

And we were so proud.

To end the show the whole school gathered to sing a christmas message.

I still get a lump in my throat watching this wee film.

You can just see our girl in between the heads of some of the audience.

December 18th. Happy Birthday Fraser.

A day filled with celebrations, wishes made as candles were blown out and family all around us.

Dear Fraser,

Our boy is 13!

Our beautiful baby boy with the endless brown eyes and a quick smile for everyone. You were trully everyone's baby.

We laughed and sang and danced our way through your early childhood. You were always ready to entertain us with a song and performance. Our all singing, all dancing wizard and our extra special santa. We finally had to hide that suit when you were sleeping. Santa in February, is a little tougher to explain.

Your years can be marked by the characters you have played, James Bond being the most notable.

I can't believe you are beginning your teenage years.

We love you so very very much and are very proud of you. You are working so hard in school and we enjoy seeing you star in all of your extra curricular activities.

We are most proud of how you are always true to your own self. You stand up for what you believe in and have such a strong sense of self. Your confidence is inspiring.

We look forward to sharing this next year with you, where you make some big decisions at school and continue on your own journey.

With love from Mum, Murray, Kirsten and Meatball xxx

December 17th. Birthday treat.

Every year, our kids get the choice of a birthday party , or a birthday treat. For the last 5 or so years, Fraser has chosen a birthday treat. Some dinner, maybe some bowling or a movie and he gets to bring a friend.

This year he chose for us to go to an all you can eat chinese buffet and then to the cinema to see Arthur Christmas. We had such a blast! Beebs and Lor Lor came with us and made it even more fun.


First up was lunch at Jimmy Chung's.

Sigh.

Here are the boys, attempting to eat their body weight in jelly.

K with her new friend, Petal.

Next time Granny C wants something collected, I'm volounteering! Apparently you get to buy toys with the change.....

Sorry ladies, I know I said I wouldn't put it in but well......

and Peaty was there too, he was just sitting next to me and somehow evaded the lens! Hmm must keep an eye out for that in the future.

Special Christmas Emmy came to enjiy the fun (of course.) She even gets her own little seat in the cinema.

I found one! See he was there, well I think it's him!

The boys got their own special seats, as far away form us as they could get! LOL. Just kidding, but 13 year old boys do like popcorn, juice and then left alone.

Wehad a quick stop at Tesco, not to stock up on food (we could still hardly move after lunch) , but to get a few essentials for the big day.

I totally started pointing and shrieking could hardly contain my excitement when we pulled up and saw Santa outside. We had had such a fantastic day, just watched a magical Christmas film and then it was finished off by a quick visit with the big cheese.

It could only have been bettered if it snowed.

It didn't.

But the day was still awesome.

December catch up. December 16th.

December 16th, K's very first School Christmas party. She was , of course, super excited to dress for this most special event. 

She had a wonderful time and even got a very sweet little pencil case from a VERY special visitor.

Boxing day

I love boxing day. I love it for the direct contrast to Christmas day , that it is. Calm, lazy, quiet and slow.  We always go to Granny C and Laym Laym's house for dinner on boxing day and we love that traditon. It is so nice to enjoy another Christmas dinner after a calmer day (and I don't have to cook it!!)

Yesterday was no exception, I got a delicious lie in, we played barbies and board games and wii games. Then dressed in our new clothes, hats, scarves and coats that we had received as gifts. I love getting new clothes for Christmas and getting all spruced up in them for our boxing day walk.

No snow this year, I am ok with it really, although I am still hoping we will get a heap of snow this winter. It would have been nice if it had presented itself in blankets of deliciousness for the festive period, but I will accept any snow we get from here on out!

K and Beebs have been waiting for a long time to have a very special playdate. K loves Beebs' Barbie campervan and has played with it . at Beebs' house, for a very long time.  But this Christmas K asked for her very own Hawaii campervan and she and Beebs have been eagerly awaiting it's arrival so they could take all of their barbies on a special camping trip.  They had a ton of fun.

mmmm I could eat this right now, I am finally hungry after being so stuffed for 3 full days! lol.

I don't have too many pics this year , most of our memories are in our memories are in our memories. A mixture of no light, too much busy and just too much fun have all conspired against me and my picture taking.

But that's ok, sometimes the pictures are just as good in our memory banks.

K and I hit the sales today and she got 4 pairs of shoes at £1 each! Saving around £60. It was great, we are now away to Granny Mary's to continue our tour of family meals. I love this time of year.

I'll be back soon with a December catch up, from days where I actually managed to take photos. xx

ps - if sarah and Joe boy are reading this , we love you and miss you and are looking forward to a decent skype so we can actually chat and see what everyone got for Christmas xxx

Merry merry Christmas.

Yesterday we had a crazy, busy, excited, fun, family stuffed, too much food, happy happy happy day.

I hope you all had the same.

I am sitting here on boxing day, still full from our lovely dinner at the Peat family home, contemplating  a turkey and stuffing sandwich. Just because.

K went to bed without a peep.

Murray , Fraser and I are settling down to watch a new episode of Poirot.

In about 5 mins I will have my pjs on and will be snuggled under a quilt, looking forward to a good evening, followed by a good sleep and the rest of my week long holiday.

I feel fulfilled, happy and so utterly content.

This is what it is all about.

Merry Christmas everyone xx