Thank Goodness for Plastic Baubles

The third of the chocolate advent calendar windows was opened today. The two year old's is already on its last legs where she has ripped frantically at the cardboard trying to get at the treats beneath. I don't think it is going to survive for the whole of December.

Yesterday I turned my attentions to my living room, giving it a good tidy, shampooing the rug that has had all manner of food, drink, and vomit deposited on it over the last few months and putting up the artificial Xmas tree that has lain dormant in my loft for the best part of a year.

Retrieving the Xmas decorations from the rather disorganised and un-naturally dead fly filled (Amityville horror-esque) loft was not a job I wanted to tackle on my own (or rather with the 'assistance' of a little girl that thought climbing the loft ladder was all sorts of fun!). I did manage to grab one set of lights and a big pot of baubles which was enough to get us started.

I let the two year old loose with the task of decorating the tree. She did a surprisingly good job if you ignore the fact that all the baubles were placed in a very concentrated arrangement, located within her easy reach.

I didn't care that the lack of symmetry and unequal distribution of baubles was actually quite offensive to the way my personal OCD manifests. I loved watching her little hands getting to grips with fiddly hanging loops and her excitement at doing something entirely new. I sat back, pointed the video camera in her general direction and enjoyed.

If anyone is feeling lucky, there is a competition to win a Xmas tree (winner announced 11th December, 2010) at Ryan's Garden.

The Count-up To Xmas

I was all ready to post a lovely snow pic for Wordless Wednesday when I realised it was actually Thursday. Time does have a habit of slipping away sometimes, especially when something disasterous happens.

I had told my children that this year we would be celebrating Xmas for the whole of December. Yesterday, when they asked me about their advent calendars, I hadn't even realised it was December.

I feel a bit more with-it now and as soon as the baby is finished feeding and my one handed blogging session is over, I am planning on blitzing the living room and adding a touch of festive decor. Hopefully it will all be looking lovely by the time the kids get home from school and the slow build of excitement can commence.

I leave you with this photograph of my daughter, taken today at the moment she decided that she didn't actually like snow that much.

The Gallery - Week 37 - Celebration

One thing we are definitely not short of in our house is celebration. We celebrate at every opportunity!

Having just returned from a long weekend in Cumbria to celebrate my parents' 55th wedding anniversary, I was reminded of a similar event nearly three years ago. My in-laws rented a large house in Norfolk for our family and their daughter's family to share a short break with them. There was use of an indoor swimming pool which the kids all loved and I braved despite being 7months pregnant and not in possession of maternity swimwear.

I love this photograph of them cutting the celebration cake which we presented them with. Their joy and togetherness is very evident.