Most wonderful time of the year.......

Lovely days whirling by, filled with fun and family.

On Christmas Eve the Elves filled the final pocket on the advent calendar, the last card simply said "thank you for all your hard work over the past 23 days, and all the special things you made - now we have a gift for you".

Under the tree they  found that most favourite of things - brown paper parcels all tied up with string:

 Inside were new pyjamas for each littlie to wear for bed on a special night. Hidden in the branches of the tree were three little stockings each containing a little bar of chocolate which Dad reported were enjoyed greatly throughout the day. Mama worked all day whilst the little people cleaned and tidied, and of course enjoyed a Christmas movie together. Home from work, a simple meal and baths all round before these little people all trooped off upstairs and were in their beds by 8pm. Not to sleep, oh no, far too excited for that, but not once did they pop back downstairs for a drink, or a cuddle, or a bit too eat, or to tell tales, or any of the hundreds of reasons they usually troop up and down. No, they stayed in their beds whispering excitedly until almost midnight, just missing Santa who sneaked into their rooms minutes later with stockings filled with goodies. Funny how we haven't once mentioned Santa actually bringing gifts, but the children believe. We don't agree with the tale, or hide from it, but the children want to believe and so they shall.

Christmas morning started early with Heather waking first, noticing a gift at the end of the bed. She jumped excitedly up and down and ran to her brothers' room squealing. Whilst they made toilet trips and tried to wake up older siblings I sneaked down and lit candles, turned up Christmas songs and placed Owens gift in an appropriate place - I couldn't leave it under the tree overnight as Saffi sleeps in the living room.....

Owen was oh so excited by his gift, all the more so by finding not one, but two teeny hamsters waiting for him! Such inquisitive little creatures - Hammy is perfectly happy to be cuddled and handled, Cheezy a little more shy but by Boxing day happy to sit with Owen alone:

A lucky find on Ebay meant that this was the first thing Heather spotted in the room - a beautiful wooden pram to proudly push her new mama made baby around in:

The rest of the morning spent playing games, building jigsaws, and chasing each other around with the other much requested gift - NERF guns! Yes, I know, not in keeping with the whole green, caring, conscious parenting approach, but those boys hoped and hoped for these toys and know full well that real weapons are cruel and intolerable and should never be compared to toys, which these NERF guns are. Also not in keeping was the LeapPad explorer learning tablet that Cain had seen and coveted so, but play can be restricted merely by the fact that it runs on batteries which means that after a couple of hours play between all three littlies the batteries need removing and recharging ready for the next day. A good mix too of wooden puzzles, playdough, puppets, knitted gifts, new clothe, wooden easel and an Etch-a-Sketch meant that all the gifts were loved and played with all day long and still so for days after.

The afternoon meant family feasts and more games, this mama popping upstairs and returning to the dining room for one of those sudden flash moments, looking around the table at all eight of her children smiling and chatting and enjoying a feast, the most wonderful gift of all. Of course this mama would be lying if she didn't admit to being also very pleased with her new Kindle, and a lovely cover with a built in light for bedtime reading, and the new River Cottage book ;) And I know the man was equally thrilled with his collection of Coast DVD's and his 18 year oak matured Whisky......

Boxing day was much the same as the previous day with fun, games, plentiful food, albeit with much longer spent in the kitchen by this mama, preparing a buffet fit for a king, quiches and salads and tarts and breads and scones and pies and cheeses and biscuits and cakes and trifle, Boxing day has to have trifle, all in all all enough food to last through the following few days so that  no more time need be wasted in the kitchen, instead spent enjoying a slowed down time with family. And the only photo of a large part of the family together - after being reminded by Cain that I hadn't taken any yet!

Oh yes - Beer and Pringles too, it must be Christmas ;)

So yes, another wonderful Christmas has flown by, and promises of many more lie in our dreams.

With love and best wishes to all of you and hoping your days have been filled with the same joy as ours.

-x-