Christmas 2010

All the big build up to Christmas and......i get sick!! Can you believe that?! Nothing too bad, just a cold but it really wiped me out. It started coming on on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day i was in bed by 9pm (and had had 2 naps during the day as well) and last night i was early to bed too (then wide awake at 5.30am). So, that was really annoying.

However, we still had fun. We had a lovely meal Christmas Eve. Here are the highlights in photos of Christmas Day.

Yes, Caleb got a kids Mini Cooper S from my parents and it does actually drive like a real car!! He even spent about half an hour cleaning it, is this a sign of things to come?!

Boxing Day we were in Ayr and Caleb got to meet his little friend Charlie who is my sister's nephew on the other side of her family. Good times.

What a great few days. Caleb has been on top form and enjoyed all the festivities very much! We're looking forward to a quiet-ish couple of days now before Matthew goes back to work on Wednesday.

Christmas Star and DeBloAdMo complete!

My final Christmas stitching finish. I was hoping to get it made into an ornament before Christmas but that is definitely not going to happen now! Its JBW's Star from this years JCS Christmas edition.

Im off work today so i got up when Caleb got up 6.30am and got him ready for nursery and Matthew took him on his way to work. Then i went back to bed **BLISS** Now its 9.30am and im just up. Lovely! I am feeling slightly guilty thinking of all the things i could have done in that time but nevermind, it's Christmas. The 2 of them wont be back til 1.30pm so ive got time to make it look like i've been busy LOL

This morning i need to wrap presents and bake cookies. Im going to bake gingerbread men for the family (i always do that for them) and shortbread for my neighbours. Then i need to tidy up a bit more because we have our annual Christmas eve tradition of having a Chinese meal tonight with my family. We're not going to a restaurant this year, mum and dad, my sis and her hubby are coming here and we'll get takeaway.

Tomorrow we'll be at my parents all day. Sunday we'll go to church and then we are off down to Ayr to my brother-in-laws parent's house for the day. Looking forward to the busy-ness and excitement of the next few days! I love this time of year.

So in conclusion to DeBloAdMo here is how we filled each day of advent with advent activities

Day 1 - Hang up advent calendar

Day 2 - Message from Santa Video

Day 3 - Make paper snowflakes for bedroom window

Day 4 - Decorate Christmas tree

Day 5 - Decorate the house

Day 6 - Make Christmas cards

Day 7 - Make paperchains

Day 8 - Christmas display at the Garden Centre with Gran and Pappa

Day 9 - Wintery walk to get holly and pine cones

Day 10 - Make an Elf e-card

Day 11 - Make Star Shortbread

Day 12 - Wrap presents

Day 13 - Have a special friend round to play

Day 14 - Finish Salt dough tree ornaments

Day 15 - Christmas display at the Garden Centre with Gran and Pappa

Day 16 - Make Robins

Day 17 - Visit the library to get Christmas books

Day 18 - Go to Isla's 2nd birthday party

Day 19 - Go to Christmas Service at Church

Day 20 - Go buy and eat cakes

Day 21 - Wrap the door

Day 22 - Christmas display at the Garden Centre with Gran and Pappa

Day 23 - Watch Baby Einstein Santa DVD and deliver presents to friends

Day 24 - Have family round for Chinese food and Christmas Eve fun!

Yeeaaahh!!! We did it!! There were a few days i didn't manage to blog but on the whole, i did pretty well. I enjoyed thinking of activities we could do everyday (with help from Lori and Rebekkahs's blog) and enjoyed writing my blog again too. Great idea Lori!!

Now all that's left to say is Happy Christmas to everyone who reads my blog!! I hope you have a lovely day!

Christmas Quilting

Like it? My Christmas table runner. I checked back on my blog to see when i started this. 3 years ago I took a quilting class with my mum over at the community centre. We were both beginners. My mum fell in love with quilting and has made some amazing quilts/tablerunners/pram covers etc etc since. She really got into it. I enjoyed the class but never really got into it....im not so keen on all the measuring and cutting of fabric, the concentration thats required and the endless sitting at the sewing machine. Anyway, i found this in a bag of fabric and all that it needed was the binding put on around the edge. I'd done everything else. So i gave it to my mum to do and within a few hours....voila! I really like it and am pleased with the fabric i picked for it even if it was 3 years ago! I couldn't get a good picture as the light is bad from like, 3pm.

On to our advent activities. Yesterday (day 20) we went to Sainsburys, bought nice cakes and came back and ate them sitting on the rug in the living

room. I made the mistake of leaving my half eaten cake whilst i went to put the kettle on and when i came back Caleb had scoffed it. It made me laugh anyway.

Today (day 21) we wrapped the door (an idea i stole from Rebekkah's blog)! We basically covered one of the doors in the hallway with Christmas paper. Caleb loved it! Here he is taking a bow

Christmas stitching

Day 19 (yesterday) was the Christmas service at church and that was our family advent activity for the day. I dont really have any good pictures but boy, that service sure made me laugh. All the usual kiddie things....kids crying on stage, kids picking their nose, kids getting shy and refusing to speak, kids refusing to go on stage at all, kids speaking so quietly even the mic couldn't pick them up, kids that are born performers....it was hilarious. Caleb just stood near the stage and watched, he wouldn't wear the shepherds costume, he's a bit too young for it all yet. It was so funny though, i enjoyed it a lot!

We are back to winter-wonderland again. The snow arrived thick and fast on Saturday morning. I do like the snow but i hate the way the council never seems prepared for it and the roads are left in such a bad state. It makes me very hesitant to travel. My Canadian husband describes this as a "proper winter at last." He's been over here for 8 years now and is disappointed with Scottish winters (and summers and autumn and spring hahahahaha)

I finished Caleb's Christmas ornament last night and i'm really pleased with it.

Front:

Back:

We're hanging out at my parents house today. I had my chicken casserole prepared and in my new slow cooker by 8am this morning! Go me!

I need to decide what our Christmas advent activity today will be. I think me might wrap a door - an idea i stole from Rebekkah's blog. We will of course spend a lot of the day out playing in the snow, Caleb loves the sledge!

Christmas Gift for Rowyn

Rowyn and i did a Christmas gift exchange this year. What i stitched ended up too big to be a tree ornament so i made it into a pillow instead.

I have to admit, i really didn't want to give this away LOL In fact, on those snowy days when i couldn't get to the post office i had it displayed on my couch and was very tempted to keep it and stitch something else for Rowyn (sorry Rowyn).I really like the design and found the prefect fabric to go with it. I cant remember the designer but it was in JCS 2009 Christmas edition.

Half way through stitching it it dawned on me that it isn't chilly in New Zealand, being their summer and all, whoops! Rowyn assures me she doesnt mind though!

Advent day 18. Todays activity....go to Isla's 2nd birthday party. I cant believe these kids are now 2. Caleb's 2nd birthday is a month today.

Advent day 17

Christmas reminds us we are not alone. We are not unrelated atoms, bouncing and ricocheting amid aliens, but are a part of something, which holds and sustains us. As we struggle with shopping lists and invitations, compounded by December's bad weather, it is good to be reminded that there are people in our lives who are worth this aggravation, and people to whom we are worth the same. Christmas shows us the ties that bind us together, threads of love and caring, woven in the simplest and strongest way within the family.
Donald E. Westlake

Advent day 17. Our Christmas activity today was to go the library and pick out some Christmas books. So we are home with "Maisys Christmas Eve" and "Happy Christmas Boris." We read one before bed tonight.

We have a busy weekend ahead which is good because it means I don't have to think up any Christmas activities ;-) Tomorrow is Isla's 2nd birthday party and Sunday is the Christmas service at Church.

I may have blogged more this month than i have all year LOL. I'm enjoying DeBloAdMo!

Robins and prizes

So glad tomorrow's Friday. We have a merger looming at work and lets just say all is not great. The interviews took place for the CEO yesterday and we are so disappointed with who they appointed. Its a bad time to be working in the voluntary sector. Its all about politics and who knows who and who is friends with whom. Unfair and unjust. Anyway, rant over....

Advent day 16 (nearly there)....todays advent activity was to make some robins! LOL. I seen this in the Tesco baby and toddler Christmas magazine. We (or I) only made one, it was tedious and Caleb wasn't too interested. He did like flying it round the room and crashing it into the walls once it was complete though.

I won a giveaway recently on Maggie O's blog. Everything arrived today and it's fab! Thank-you so much Maggie. There's so many lovely designs in this years JCS Christmas Edition. I never buy this magazine over here because its too pricey so it was great to win it!! I really want to stitch that JBW Star.

Off to sit on my butt for the rest of the evening.....after ive wrapped my work secret santa gifts and written my cards for everyone at the office.

Christmas Stitching

Here is what will be my 2010 Christmas ornament for Caleb. A Prairie Schooler design. I took the picture with my phone so it's not the best. Now i need to stitch what will be the back of the ornament with a personalised message. Hopefully i can get that done before Christmas!

At last, some stitching for all you who thought this was supposed to primarily be a stitching blog eh ;-)

I had a really tough day at work which has left be drained. Off to bed......

Salt Dough decorations

I failed in my quest to blog every day of advent. Bummer. I was doing so well but I was just too busy yesterday! I'm going to say that yesterdays advent activity was "to have a special friend round to play." It so wasn't but we had no time for anything else and he did have his friend Eve here so that was advent day 13. I was working yesterday morning whilst Caleb was with his Gran and Pappa, then Becky and Eve were here in the afternoon and at night we had our annual ladies Christmas meal at Church; which was a really nice night.

Advent day 14, we made Salt Dough tree ornaments. Actually, thats not entirely accurate. We made the Dough ornaments and painted them back at the end of November when we were snowed in here. Today we just added the ribbon and hung them on the tree (the good ones) and round the house (the not so good ones).

Its a nice three day activity!! Make the dough and cut out the shapes as one activity. To make the dough i used 2 cups of plain flour,1/2 cup of table salt and 1/2 cup of water. We used cookie cutters to make angel shapes and then baked them for 45mins.

Day 2 was painting them which Caleb really enjoyed.

Day 3 was threading the ribbon and hanging them. Voila!

Wrapping gifts tonight

"Christmas wont be Christmas without any presents." Louisa May Alcott

Havent been home all day and have about an hour before i'm out again. I'm tired. Tonight my friend Lori is having a "Christmas Gift Wrapping Party" though and this quote sprung to mind. So im off to wrap some gifts and write my cards.....tiredness is for wimps LOL

Homebaking

Advent day 11. We made Star Shortbread. Its an easy peasy kids recipe i got from the Cbeebies website that simply requires plain flour, butter, half a teaspoon of vanilla extract and caster sugar. Caleb rolled out the dough and helped to cut the shapes.

I didnt make too many, i wanted to make sure they tasted good before i made a big batch (they did and are all gone). I think i'll make more tomorrow and decorate them with the icing pen.

Check out this tray of goodies i got from my friend Sherri today. Rocky Road, Kris Kringle, Brownies, Butter Toffee, Kiflings, Peppermint Creams, Sugar Cookie, Chocolate and Pistachio Biscotti. Aaaamazing!! And they're all for us. Yum yum yum yum yum. The Butter Toffee and Peppermint creams have gone already and were absolutely divine.

Busy day today. Have been out for my sisters birthday this afternoon and im out again tonight. Still cant shift this cold :-(

We got Elfed

On Advent day 10, we became Elves. I had a productive morning at work and made an Elf video of the 3 of us. It makes me laugh everytime i watch it. You can see our family Elf Christmas card by clicking here

After work i met my sister for lunch and we took Caleb to see the Christmas decorations at the shopping centre.

Slow cookers and winter walks

Today i did something i've been meaning to do for a long time.....i bought a slow cooker. Boy, does that make me feel old. I've wanted one for ages but sometimes i'm in denial about my age and think i'm just too young to be wanting one of those therefore i will not buy it. But it was £12 in Tesco so i couldn't resist. I gave myself a massive papercut holding the box (and trying to manoeuvre the pram at the same time) in the queue at the till though and felt like crying for the second time that day. The first time being when i actually fell over on the ice outside my house and hurt my hands and my hip. I held it together until i got in the car and then i cried. Falling over is so embarrassing, more so when you're on your own because you have noone to laugh with. I pulled Caleb over with me so he was crying too. Oh im sore tonight! I AM getting old! Anyway...i bought a slow cooker and i'm excited about finding some recipes and trying it out!

Advent day 9. Our activity today was to go on a wintery walk to collect pine cones and holly. We walked all through the woods and didn't find a single a pine cone! Wrong type of trees obviously. We did get some holly branches though. We'll go a different route tomorrow and see if we can find pine cones there. I'm all ready to spray them silver!

My boy likes nothing better than to be outside

The reason for the season

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Luke 2:9-12

Christmas gift from NZ

Gosh it been a long day. We're having crazy cold weather at the moment. I heard its to be -12 tonight. I cant remember temperatures ever being that low here. So, we had another day at home to avoid travelling in the snow and ice. I haven't seen some of my friends for weeks. Thankfully my friend Bev has a little boy the same age as Caleb and lives nearby so we spent the morning at her house. The afternoon has dragged by though and Caleb had a really late nap (as did i) which means he'll be up late tonight booooo. Plus we both have colds. Moan moan moan.

On a less moan-full note, i got a gift all the way from Rowyn in New Zealand today. A lovely reindeer ornament, a chart, linen, fabric and floss. My sister is expecting a baby (boy) in January and i think i'll stitch the chart for her. Rowyn, i love everything! Thank-you so much! The reindeer is hanging up already.

Caleb and I made paperchains as our advent activity today. I didnt take a picture, you know what paperchains look like! All i can say is YAH for Tescos pre-cut self-adhesive paperchains. No cutting/sellotaping/gluing etc etc. We also made 2 more Christmas cards for family and Caleb drew pictures (aka scribbles) in them all.

I very much doubt i'll get into work tomorrow, the weather there is even worse apparently. I can work from home though which is good although never as productive!

Stay safe and warm all! x

Christmas card making

Advent day 6. Im quite enjoying coming up with one special Christmassy thing to do everyday. Especially seeing as the weather (more snow) is confining us to our village which has one tiny grocery store and nothing else.

Today Caleb made cards to send to his cousins in Canada. These foams stickers were perfect for him to use and he enjoyed doing it. He proudly showed Daddy tonight saying they were for "Luke in Canada." Bless him.

Elf

"The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear"

"First we'll make snow angels for two hours, then we'll go ice skating, then we'll eat a whole roll of Tollhouse Cookiedough as fast as we can, and then we'll snuggle."

"Us elves like to stick to the four main food groups. Candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup"

Elf. My favourite Christmas movie. I cant wait to watch it this year, it makes me laugh...a lot!

We finished decorating the house today. Thats about all. Too tired to blog.

Decorated tree

Advent day 4. The Christmas tree was decorated by the 3 of us today. Its Matthews job to do the lights then Caleb and I decorated. We bought a small tree this year as our other one is just too big now Caleb has so many toys around the place. We need a new house!! This place is getting cramped.

I love getting all the decorations out! I forget what we have. We've a few lovely things with nice memories attached...a silver heart we got the first year we were married, an ornament i stitched for Caleb's first Christmas and so on. I love it. Im stitching Caleb an ornament every year with a personal message on the back. You can see last years here. This years is still a work in progress.

One of my favourite things to open is my snowman tin which has all my handmade stitchy gifts inside. I have made some lovely friends through blogging. I have a lovely santa Donna stitched for me which i made into a pillow sitting on the couch, the tin itself is under the tree and was actually a gift from Michele as well as a snowman figurine i display every year, the little pillow under my tree was made by Karen, a beautiful little santa ornament Clare stitched with the most immaculate stitching is hanging on the wall alongside a little set of mitts Kathy stitched for me last year. And Hazel, the gift you made when Caleb was born has been hung across one of the windows in our living room since the day it arrived (nearly 2 years ago!) I love handmade gifts, they mean so much as i appreciate the time and effort that goes into even the smallest item. So thank-you all, for your kindness, friendship and comments on my blog :-)

Snowflakes

Advent day 3. Aaaah, the weekend is here. Mulled wine on the cooker as i type. Christmas decorations will go up tomorrow i think.

It was a yucky day today and i work a half day on a Friday whilst Caleb's at nursery. This afternoon we stayed home and watched The Muppet Christmas Carol and made snowflakes for Caleb's bedroom window. Caleb preferred playing with his scissors than doing any actual cutting but he did enjoy sticking them to the window!

We have listened to yesterdays message from Santa about a million more times today. I remember wondering a few years back if we would do the whole Santa thing with our children. I guess we definitely are haha

Visiting the North Pole

Day 2 of advent. Today we visited the Portable North Pole and Caleb got his very own message from Santa. This website is amazing, you must check it out. Santa will do a message for anyone of any age! We have watched his message over and over again. He keeps asking for it and loves it everytime Santa says Caleb.

We had another fun afternoon sledging!

DeBloAdMo

December Blog Advent Month. "Post every day in the month of December until Christmas one special idea you can do as a family, a couple or a group of friends. Of if you're really clever, post a wee thought each day about Christmas or something." I gonna do this! Feel free to join in :-) Let me know so i can follow your posts though! My friend Lori's idea. Im so rubbish at posting here im hoping this will inspire me to enjoy blogging again. Blogging for me. A record of our life.

1st December. Wow. Its a shame it's a Wednesday because i work all day on a Wednesday so no amazing special Christmas related thing we did as a family today. Is that a bad start? LOL. Let me just say however, Caleb and i have had the best few days together. We haven't been out of the village where we live because of the snow but have had so much fun and he's been so content. Maybe thats a lesson, maybe i need to do less running around going here, there and everywhere with him but chill more at home! The snow has been so much fun and my little outdoorsy boy loves it! Seriously loves it. We've built snowmen, made snow angels, been for walks and our ultimate favourite, sledging! Even when he fell off with his face right under the snow he still came up laughing so hard. We've had a blast!

As i've been at work, he's been with my parents today. Our Christmas advent activity for December 1st ....hanging his advent calendar...and eating his chocolate. This kiddo loves chocolate, i'm hanging the calendar high otherwise he will scoff the lot! Lets just say, the opening of the advent calendar wasnt a magical Christmas moment. Look at this photo...he was totally unimpressed at the size of the chocolate and then got mad that he could only open one door. Boy i cant wait to do this everyday LOL

Happy 1st December everyone. Let the countdown to Christmas commence :-)