Day 364 - December 30th

In her Christmas stocking Lara found a friendship bracelet kit. She started on her first bracelet today. Its a very slow process though and I think it will take her a long time to make one for all the friends she has said she wants to.

Day 363 - December 29th

The last of the Christmas crackers have been pulled. We did laugh. My parents and I both bought the same pack of crackers in fact my parents bought two packs which they used on Christmas Day and also on our early Christmas on 20th December. Between us we now have three sets of mini screwdrivers, three mini staplers, three mystery calculators, three mini clothes brushes .............

Day 362 - December 28th

Each year our American friend Kay, who lives nearby, makes the children a Christmas gift of homemade goodies. They are always so beautifully presented in Christmas boxes or jars or tins. This year a few days before Christmas a huge box arrived containing bags of iced gingerbread, chocolate fudge and 'snowballs' (no exactly sure what these are made of but they melt in your mouth). The children love receiving their gift from Kay and nibble on the treats throughout the holiday season.

Day 361 - December 27th

We have decided to smarten up our kitchen a bit. It was one of the jobs that slipped off this years 'To Do' list! LOL. So, we popped out to a DIY centre today to get some new laminate flooring and some paints, etc. Unsurprisingly everywhere has sales on.

Day 360 - December 26th (Boxing Day)

Boxing Day - We had a quiet day relaxing and watching TV before going to Wayne's sisters late afternoon.

At lunch time we had what is the traditional Boxing Day lunch in our house and I think it's my favourite meal of the whole festive season - Cold Turkey, Cold home cooked ham, Baked Potatoes and Salad.

Day 359 - December 25th (Christmas Day)

Christmas Day - We were awake by 7.30am and after opening stockings (sacks) in bed we went downstairs to find Santa had been. As usual he had left his magical snowy footprints all over the lounge carpet.



The children were pleased with their gifts. Lara was one of the lucky children to get a much sought after Go Go Pets Hamster.



But she was equally enthralled with the smaller things she received like this Kinetic Wheel (gyroscope?) that was in her stocking .



Christopher had parts to build new PC and a DAB clock radio.



Steven received a much awaited iPod touch which he proudly showed his Granddad when we went to my parents late morning.



My Mum received a Nintendo DS and brain training game!



My Dad who is a Sudoku fan was interested to see that the brain training game included Sudoku so after lunch he and Lara had a go.



The afternoon and evening was spent playing games ... and eating .... and drinking ... and doing what one usually does at Christmas.

I received some nice presents too.

A Laptop cushion ........

Some lovely books of aeriel photos of Norfolk ............

Several DVDs ...........

Some CDs to listen to in the car ........

My much needed family calendar from Lakeland. One of the very few I've seen that have room for 5 family members plus another column for birthdays, etc as well as room for additional notes and a pocket for invitations, etc. Without this calendar I wouldn't have a clue what everyone was supposed to be doing!

And a microwaveable scarf! It's quite heavy because it contains wheat grains but after heating the microwave for 2 minutes its lovely and cosy and will be great for walks to and from the school each day.

Day 358 - December 24th (Christmas Eve)

Christmas Eve. Lara helped me make some mince pies this afternoon. I'm the only one in the house who eats them though so I've got quite few to eat.

When it got dark we went outside to sprinkle magic reindeer food on the lawn to help guide Santa's reindeer to our house.

In our house we don't have Christmas stockings to hang up - we have three reindeer sacks so these have now been hung on the three bedroom doors by the children.

And snacks have been left for Santa - and a carrot of course for Rodolph.

"HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE"

Day 357 - December 23rd

Still lots of snow about. Snowman by Steven (with a little help from Lara).

Day 356 - December 22nd

At this time of year I usually find some books with a festive theme to read.



Skipping Christmas by John Grisham is one of my favorites. . I bought this copy whilst I was pregnant with Lara. She was due to be born on December 22nd and anticipating that I might end up in hospital over Christmas I thought it would be a good read whilst I was there. As it happened she was born on December 16th and I didn't get to read the book that year. I have read it several times since though and also love the film 'Christmas with the Kranks' which is based on this book.

A Wayne in a Manger by Gervase Phinn was a book I meant to buy last year but never got around to it. I love Gervase Phinn's books about his time as a school inspector and was really pleased to get this copy on Read It Swap It.

Carol by Bob Hartman is a new purchase this year and is a contemporary retelling of Charles Dickens' classic story "A Christmas Carol".

Day 355 - December 21st

Couldn't resist them any longer. Today I opened the tin of Quality Street. Which are your favourites? Orange Creams and Green Triangles for me.

Day 354 - December 20th

This weekend my brother and sister-in-law and niece and her fiancé came to stay with my parents. As we won't see them next weekend today we had an early Christmas with them.

There were presents to open and Steven and Lara were Santa's Little Helpers.







We played silly games. This one is a favourite that someone came up with several years ago - eating a bar of chocolate whilst wearing a silly hat, gloves and a blindfold!



"Are you smarter than a ten year old?" game.



And "Who said that?".

I got a rare photo of my three playing happily together on the DS.

Lara posed for some photos by the tree.

This toothless photo makes me laugh!

And I even got a nice festive shot of Steven and Lara together.

All good photography practice for next weekend.

Day 353 - December 19th

As predicted the snow is still on the ground so this morning we went sledging.