Christmas morning

We are so blessed to have an entire brood of children who still believe in Santa and enjoy their Christmas stockings! The littlies were up and active at 6.15am (we know because their attic bedroom is directly above our bedroom!) but restrained themselves until we were all up and around at 8.30am.

Can you spot the baby? The Little Prince is still such an absolute joy and so perfect a baby that I still touch wood several times a day! He takes the love, laughter and loudness of a large family in his stride.

First Christmas

We got into the Christmas spirit a couple of days early this year with an early Christmas celebration while Grandma E was visiting with us.

We enjoyed a Christmas concert, with musical direction by Briar Rose. Possum revisited his Little Drummer Boy after a little coaxing, and I believe our singing was quite melodious - at least it lulled some of the audience to sleep.

Grandma E played Santa and we all enjoyed some wonderful presents!
Overall, a very merry start to Christmas, with a particular thank you to Grandma E for not only taking care of all the catering for her stay, but also giving us a very very generous Christmas present!

Thumbs down to our local shopping centre

I've been feeling bemused at the notion of a Christmas Spirit this year, since I discovered that Borders bookstore didn't have a single children's nativity story book amongst the very large collection of Santa-based Christmas stories.

But to me, our local Big W Gungahlin Marketplace's Christmas display really symbolised all that's wrong with the seasonal festivities.

Exhibit A: A nativity scene padlocked in a box sitting un-noticed behind the Santa stage. Naturally, there are no animals or humble shepherds, but there's room for the three kings bearing their expensive gifts.

Exhibit B: Jolly St Nicholas aka Santa Claus spreading good cheer, but not to all. Santa's knee is reserved for those cherubs whose parents are prepared to pay for the privilege.

These are not the values I want for myself or my children.

Grandma's here

Snuggles all around! :)

Where's the safety cut-off?

You'd think a $200+ kitchen appliance would have a safety switch, wouldn't you? Who knew that it was possible to accidentally lift the beaters while beating? And how fortunate it was my mistake rather than that of one of my multitude of helpers and that chocolate cake mix tastes just as good licked from the bench tops as it does licked from the bowl!

Definitely an un-goddess-like moment!

How does your baby grow?

11 1/2 weeks and counting - but he still fits the wonderful Canadian longies! They've been so wonderful!

The Little Prince usually joins us for dinner - it's one of his more interactive times. It's a rare night that he doesn't wake just as dinner is being served (tonight he was exhausted by the Wiggles event!).

An angel for the tree

An angel who likes to sample the Christmas baking - what a sweetie!

Briar Rose had her favourite friend over for a sleepover - Ginger Rose was in 7th heaven with all the sleepover girl fun!

The Wiggles are in town!

As a pre-Christmas treat I took Ginger Rose and The Little Prince to the Wiggles live in concert! It was great value because we were able to take three of us for the price of two!

It was wonderful being so close to the action, and the energy was brilliant. I was worried that Ginger Rose might not have watched enough Wiggles DVDs to really enjoy the show, but she loved it! She was able to sing along and dance and call out to her friends on stage.

We had a sudden fall in energy midway through the performance, but Ginger Rose was happy to sit and eat some rice crackers.

We were SO close to the front that we were covered in sparkles and coloured paper - The Little Prince took the indignity very well! I had a fantastic time, and think Sam makes a fantastic Wiggle. The Wiggles have come a long way since I took the Ginger Ninja and a baby Possum to see them in a church hall in a small country town!

Baking day

We made three types of cookies as presents for teachers on the last day of school:
Cowboy cookies
Little BT's cookies, and
Gingerbread cookies.

Decorating the gingerbread was great fun - though Ginger Rose was a constant menace, circling the bench in search of loose bits of chocolate.

We sent tins full of cookies for the main teachers, and plates of cookies for teachers who we didn't see as much of.

Of course, we ate far too many cookies ourselves...

Santa 2007

Some families go to the mall and spend up big on Santa photos. Not this family. We prefer the budget option.

Grandad B and Nana R treated us to a meal at their club, and there just happened to be a Santa in the function room...

We crept up on him. First Ginger Rose. Then Briar Rose carrying the Little Prince.

Briar Rose really is brilliant with the Little Prince - competant and caring!

Is it just me, or did Santa look a little overwhelmed by the time Possum snuck into the scene? Unfortunately, the Ginger Ninja felt it beneath his dignity to join the rest of the children.

But perhaps there'll be another Santa before Christmas and I can convince them all to pose nicely at the one time...

Last concert of the year...

We arrived an hour before the performance and hung back under the trees in the shade. The area directly in front of the stage is deserted not only because of the sun, but because of the industrial strength sprinklers that periodically popped up and drenched their neighbours.

Possum is visibly relaxed on stage.

By concert time, some hardy souls had ventured onto the grassed areas, but as the ground was still soggy and there was a gentle breeze under the trees, we (and most of our neighbours) remained at a distance.

4 concerts in 24 hours...

What a life - this was The Little Prince's fourth concert within 24 hours - a flute concert, two carol services then the Canberra Youth Music end of year concert.

As you can see, he takes audience participation seriously.

So do I.

This was the view from under my tree. A little haven of relaxation while Briar Rose amused herself with the camera.

The Ten Week photo

The Little Prince is a whole ten weeks old already! He's starting to really appreciate his toys and loves Grandma E's ladybug with its crinkly legs and mirror almost as much as he loves his moose with the big eyes and soft nose.

So - who does he look like? Opinions, please!

Carols at Jerrabomborah

Carols at Jerrabomborah were much bigger! We were very grateful for the reserved parking because the streets were full for blocks in all directions.

Briar Rose is the third checked uniform from the left, and Possum is up behind the girls in red. The orchestra and massed choir were very impressive, and it must have been a real thrill for the younger ones to have been looking out over such a crowd, with all the lovely flickering candles.

They finished the carols with some very impressive fireworks that helped wake up Ginger Rose and the Little Prince for the drive home. It was a very sleepy carful that finally pulled into the drive at 10.30pm, but a cheerful fast food dinner at 10.40pm with all participants (except moi) asleep by 11pm.

Asleep and dreaming of two lots of carols to come tomorrow, no doubt.