Back to our usual programming

We've returned home, after a very busy Christmas. My sister, her husband and their two boys have returned to England, and we're all exhausted.

The highlights; a Wiggles concert;



Camping at Coolendel



Digging in Santa sacks;




Elves at the door;




Of course, the best highlight was getting to spend plenty of time with my family.

Lowlights;

3 HIGHLY infectious diseases while we were all together - viral croup, conjunctivitis and impetigo. Accompanying highlight - these were not passed on to any other kids, despite the 6 of them rolling around together pretty much non stop for 5 weeks.

A persistent lowlight; every time I played with my newest nephew, I thought of our lost daughter Nalani, who should be 6 months old now.

A brief visit home

before shooting off down the coast again.

Last week, the children and I spent the week at my parents place, along with my parents, both of my sisters, and their children. We're going again tomorrow. It's fun, but does have limited time for Christmas shopping, or quiet reflection.



During the week, Lucas woke up again with a limp. We spent the day at the hospital getting him checked out. Nothing conclusive (after 7 hours!), but we know the leg is not broken. If it happens again, further investigation will be needed, starting with blood tests. This is a worry at the back of my mind.

7 hours at the hospital did provide lots of knitting time, and my second pair of socks are nearly done (just the grafting to go.)



Saturday was DH's family Christmas event. We had lunch together, and then loitered in the afternoon. Again, lots of time for the socks. We also gave away one knitted wahcloth per adult, along with a bar of hand made soap. No raves, but then I didn't expect any. They were a gift to make DH happy.



This has meant my washcloth stockpile is sadly depleted, and I need to make 2 more before Christmas, which shouldn't be a problem.

In other, more exciting news, I have received my Holidays Traditions Swap from Jo. How exciting - lovely hand made decorations, and an extensive description (with recipes!) of her holiday traditions. Lovely! Thanks, Jo.

And another thing...

This year we're excited about solar powered Christmas lights. I bought them last year (but forgot all about them) from Ezibuy, who I see are still selling them.



It's been raining a fair time today, but I'm certain come tonight, they'll be festively flashing away. DH was also given a set of solar powered bud lights for his birthday, but they're still in the box.

Advent has begun

I'm so glad when December starts - I feel like permission has been officially granted (by the calendar) to spend all my spare time thinking about Christmas.



We attended my niece's 5th birthday party on Saturday. It was a dress-up party, with the options being princess, fairy, pirate or superhero. I finally managed to dissuade Lucas from being a princess and instead he attended as a wizard (magic! sparkles!) Annabelle dressed as a fairy.



This has complicated our readings of the Christmas Story a little though, with many discussions on the difference between fairies and angels. So far, we've gone with idea that when people die they go to heaven and become angels. (Complicated by our dear departed chook - "Is Blackie an angel, Mummy?")

We had a short visit from my English sister and her 2 children. While she was here, my other sister had arranged for a photographer to come and take a group photo of our 6 children. Oh, the chaos. The ages involved; 4, 3, 2, 15 months, 15 months and 7 months. I'm not expecting much.

I'm still knitting away on Lucas' jumper (not knitting for Christmas, so it's deadline free) which is coming along nicely.