Christmas Holidays

Friday was the last day of "term" for our family, with a typical end of term week, where a lot of things started to slack as we are all getting into the festive mood.

This week we went into the HE Group to make lots of different Christmas decorations, and the weather was very mild so we spent a lot of the time outside in the park enjoying the sunshine.

J has been occupying himself with plain paper and felt tips.  He drew a great picture of a Doctor Who scene, with Dr Who himself, the Tardis and  Slavenes

He also made Cookie decorations for the tree, whilst wearing his Rudolph glasses

Also had fun climbing trees

We have now reached day 16 of our Book Advent Countdown, this week we have read:-

As we are currently watching The Polar Express, this book will be next on the list to be opened.

On Saturday we went into our nearest City to get the remaining presents.  It did get  bit hectic towards lunchtime, and M ended up going back to the car with J as it got a bit too much, but in the end we got all the presents sorted, bar one  (my Mother of course).  So one more to get!

On Sunday it was up early for an extra early KO for an away game, where it rained continuously, and our team won.

We met up in the evening with the other players and their families for a Christmas Meal which was very enjoyable and all the kids looked like they had a great time.

Today - bit of a stay at home and wash a load of muddy clothes type of day.  J hasn't even changed out of his PJ's.  We did manage to get the food cupboards ready for our Christmas food shop which will be arriving on Thursday.

Tomorrow, present wrapping, card posting and Christmas baking.

Christmas Decorating and Craft

So we didn't put the decorations up today as planned, we were a bit impatient and went out and got the tree on Monday

We haven't  put the ceiling decorations up yet, and of course the fake snow, but hopefully we will be doing that tomorrow afternoon.

The Christmas Art and Craft table was set up during the week, and consequently there is glitter everywhere!

J has been painting winter scenes from his Usborne 100 Christmas things to do 

We went to the HE Group this week too, more Christmas crafts going on, followed by a visit to the Scrapstore to get more materials for the craft table.

He has also made a start on the Christmas packs I printed out, which includes colouring, counting, writing, sequencing and puzzles.

We are now on Day 7 of our Advent book Surprise. today it was

J had never heard about Charlie Brown before, so it took him a while to get into this book, but he did like the little props that went with it - the blanket, tree and bauble.  Afterwards I played him a Christmas special on You tube, which he enjoyed, and both M and I had forgotten just how funny the series used to be.

He is really enjoying the Advent book surprise, more than the chocolate calendar and the treats.

So far this week he has opened:-

So here at our house, we are definitely getting into the Festive Season :-)

Advent

We usually put our decorations up on the first weekend of Advent, but as we were away all day on Saturday, and rugby dominated yesterday, we will be decorating our house next weekend.

So this week I will be making all sorts of decorations with J, using the Usborne 100 Christmas Things to Make and Do book.

J has started on his Advent treats.   He has a Chocolate Advent Calander which is based on the true meaning of Christmas, an advent countdown, which starts from number 24 so he knows how many days are left until Christmas Eve and also he opens a Christmas book each day (just about managed to get  24 books from the Charity Shops and Amazon, plus had a few from last year).  He started with Lego City - Save This Christmas.  It was a bit of a naff story, but he liked it because the story is about lego figures.

We got the idea for our Advent Countdown treats from Glittering Muffins (we turned ours around the other way so he cant see the treats inside).

So business as usual this week, study for the older two, but as we are in the Christmassy groove, am scaling their study time to mornings only.

Have a few activities to print out for J

The Twelve Days of Christmas Pack  which will go alongside the book he will open this week
The Nativity Pack

The Polar Express Pack as this is also included in his Advent book collection, and we will also watch the film as he hasn't seen it before.

The Reindeer Pack

The Christmas Pack which is to go alongside the book - "There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Bell" which he will be opening today.

All of the above is from the 3 Dinosaurs Blog on the Printables tab.


Today I  attempt to make a start on deep cleaning the house before the decorations go up, starting as soon as I get up and everyone is awake, fed, washed and dressed, as I have a friend coming round for coffee this morning.

This evening I will be writing out my Christmas Cards, whilst sipping a small glass of Baileys. x

Waves Ta Ta to November

The last couple of weeks of November seemed to have whizzed past.

My oldest child turned 15

I know I am biased but she is just so pretty.


The Christmas lights in our nearest city got switched on, and what chaos that was.  We got stuck in a mass crowd, and quite frankly, I feared of a stampede.  J was on his Dads shoulders and was getting distressed as I was getting farther away from him.  So he did the coolest of things which immediately cheered him up - he crowd surfed.  It was the only way M could get him to me.  Very funny.  J did get to see Santa and after the big switch on we managed to get back to a smaller gathering, where there was fake snow - and great fun was had by all.

The two photos below are more or less the same, but the first one you can see a big fake snow flake falling down towards M's head...

 LOL - now it is over his eye  (I really dont know why I find this so funny)

Our next switch on was our little towns Christmas Parade last Thursday.  Quite a few people turned out for the event, but I am not quite sure what happened to the children in the parade, and the promise of snowflakes and elves and Santa himself.  We all stood on the side of the pavement looking down the High Street for the Parade to begin, I could hear singing, then all of a sudden we realised that the Parade was on the pavement, and I think we may of ended up in it as we couldn't get out of the way in time.  Anyway, it kind of consisted of older people, as in older than me, dressed in Chirstmassy clothes, playing instruments and dancing.  Also there was a man with just a scary wolf mask, what was that all about.

Anyway, onto the switch on of the big tree in the square, and after three attempts the lights came on.

Then Santa appeared, giving out very hard boiled sweets to all the children.

Onto the late night shopping, which although only a few shops were open, it was very festive, with most shops offering sweets, and my nearest Charity shop servicing non alcoholic mulled wine, which was really nice and even the carpet shop were giving away cakes.

Yesterday it was the Mulled Wine and Mince Pie evening at the Rugby Club, and it looked really festive and cosy.  I didn't have any of the mulled wine as I already had one glass and we had to be up early for the Coach trip to Twickenham.  J did have several Brownie bites, smothered in Clotted Cream, and the spoon in the clotted cream only had to get changed once after he spooned  a big dollop into his mouth!

Twickenham  Barbarians v Fiji

Not to early a start, had to be at the Club for 8.15am.  It was a fun journey up, and managed to keep J occupied, despite leaving his DS in the car!

Had great seats with  a brilliant  view as we bought our tickets earlier on in the year

Journey home was fun, lots of singing, drinking and with a lot of teenage boys on the bus, farting too!

And that concludes November x

Remembrance Sunday

Lest We Forget

A poem for Remembrance Day 

“Please wear a poppy”, the old lady said 

And held one forth, but I shook my head 

Then I stopped and watched, to see how shed fare 

Her face was old, and lined with care, 

Yet beneath the scars, the years had made 

There remained a smile that refused to fade. 

A boy came whistling down the street 

Bounding along on his carefree feet 

His smile was full of joy and fun 

“Lady” he said, “can I have one? 

As she pinned it on I heard him say 

“Why do we wear the poppy today?” 

The lady smiled in her wistful way 

And answered “this is remembrance day” 

“The poppy is the symbol for the, The gallant men and women who 

died in the war”. 

“And because they did we are free, that’s why we wear the poppy 

you see” 

“I had a boy about your size, with golden hair and big blue 

eyes, 

He loved to play and jump and shout, free as a bird he would 

race about” 

As the years went by he learnt and grew, and became a man as you 

will to”, 

He was fine and strong with a boyish smile, 

But he seemed to be with us a such a short while 

When the War broke out he went away 

I can still remember his face that day 

When he smiled at me and said goodbye 

“I will be back soon, so please don’t cry” 

But the War went on and he had to stay 

All I could do was wait and pray 

His letters told of an awful fight 

I can see it still in my dreams at night 

With the tanks and guns and the cruel barb wire 

And the mines and bullets, the bombs and the fire

Until at last the War was won 

And that is why we wear the poppy son 

The small boy turned as if to go 

Then stopped and said “Thank you lady, I’m glad I know” 

That sure did sound like an awful fight 

“But your son, did he come home all right”? 

A tear rolled down each faded cheek, she shook her head 

But didn't speak. I slunk away, head bowed in shame, 

And if you were me, you’d have done the same, 

For our thanks in giving is often delayed 

Though our freedom was bought by the legions who paid. 

And so, when you see a poppy worn 

Let us reflect on the burden borne 

By those who gave their precious all 

When asked to answer their countries call 

That we at home, in peace may live 

Then wear a poppy, remember, and give. 

Bonfire night and walks in the rain

Despite the rain this week, we have managed to get out and about, including going to an organised Firework Display, something the children have never done before, as we have always had a big enough garden for a bonfire.  Was quite good though

M and I took J for a walk and a scooter along the sea front, and it was very wet and windy, certainly blew all the cobwebs away as they say

This coming  week is the build up (there is always so much build up) for my Daughters Birthday, she will be 15 years old (and of course is going on 18).

Tomorrow  -  off to the Rugby Club the first round of the Cup - thinking it will be a difficult game in very muddy conditions.   KO is at 11.02am, after we have all observed the two minute silence.

Halloween and Christmas Planning

Halloween has now been and gone, and I have to say it was such fun preparing for it with J, much more fun than the actual day itself in fact.

I bought in lots of sweets for trick-or-treaters, and J dressed up as Frankenstein.  We decorated the house, with cheapy decs from tesco and poundland and made a few ourselves.    We went out in the evening expecting there to be lots of other T-O-T ers, but there were hardly any, and most of the houses, in fact, all of the houses in our little area had their lights off - which means DO NOT KNOCK!

We had to venture a little further and found a few houses that were decorated, they too were wondering where everyone was.  This is our first Halloween at our present address, and I expected to see a few more children out and about, as in our previous house we were quite secluded.

Anyway, we did get a few callers, and my parents popped over for wine, beer and worm slime jelly.

Apple bobbing was top of the list:

D also had County rugby trials yesterday, which was very muddy.  Seemed to go well, but none of the lads will know if they have been selected until February.

We are actually rugby free this weekend, and this is also the only free weekend we will have free now until the 22nd of December, with B's 15th birthday being in between.  So I thought it would be a good idea to have a weekend of Christmas planning and organizing. 

 I have bought some presents already, so will get them wrapped, and maybe get a few stocking fillers this weekend. This gives us an excuse to watch Christmas films and have a bit of a Special Roast on Sunday. Also will be making our Christmas Cake.

I may even write my  Christmas cards!   Only 54 days to go :-)