Christmas Day 2011

Christmas morning came around bright and early this year. Oh, that's right we were still up at 5:30am!!
Well due to this fact our family tends to celebrate a little differently on Christmas morning.
We have a 'do not wake Mum and Dad before........ this year it was 9am but our very obliging children waited until 10 am before coming in to wake us up (officially that is, as I had heard them up way before then).

We also do not go into the lounge room to look in the bags until everyone is assembled, with coffee in hand for  mummy, and the little music box is played.

We then open each persons Christmas bag one at a time to give everyone an opportunity to show and share with the rest of the family what they have been gifted. This of course means that it takes quite some time to go through every one and I admit some of the little people get a little grumpy and frustrated with the whole process. However I think it shows courtesy and love to give everyone a turn to enjoy the gifts together.

Corbyn was the first to start and may I say he actually started without waiting for everyone as his bag was in his wheel barrow and so I think he thought that meant he could start as it was already started. Does that make sense?

Arwen was next as we did try to go up from the youngest then. She was so excited as she was finally old enough to understand the concept of  opening Christmas presents.

Myffwyn next and she enjoyed getting out her presents and showing them off.

This year both Moran and Myffwyn got the same things so she kind of worked it out after the first couple of gifts.

Rogan was so excited to get the little black dog as well as the art supplies he had so desperately wanted.

Vellvin was most excited about her Thor DVD - everything else was good but she was thrilled to get her most  wanted gift.

Saxon was so easy to buy gifts for this year, he has some quirky ways that I was able to indulge in this year.

Our younger three girls are keen dress up fans and they LOVE Disney princesses, so this year we indulged and bought dress ups for them.

We all loved Arwen's Rapunzel outfit but she was not so keen on the day.....it becomes more liked as they all dress up together.

Eden has wanted some wedge shoes for soooooooo long and so these were so appreciated, along with her other gifts.

Anna-Lisa was her for Christmas with us and I loved getting her a Picnic Basket and making her table cloth and napkins to go with the other eating utensils I found to fill it with.

Autumn had been telling me for weeks that she wanted this plush bear as her most  'bestest' gift. She has been rarely out of his company since!

Older boys are so hard. However it is so easy to spend their allotted amount easily. Braedon needed some new good clothes to add to his wardrobe.

Kynan also need clothes for his work placement part of his Uni studies and so that was what he was gifted with.

Trahaearn is quite difficult too as he has so many things we have passed down to him and have been made for him, as we just can't resist. So a few sensory toys were on the list for him and he has played with them so much already.

This year my dear husband actually asked me for a list to go shopping with. This meant I did not have to buy my own gifts. So Eden went with him and I was very pleased with my special gifts.

Stephen is hard as well. He never really wants anything but he does complain about the lack of music he likes being played so I bought him some new Cd's and Christian books for him as well as a game for the family to play.

Playing with the bubbles and  dress ups on Christmas day.

After we had opened all the Christmas bags we then went to the Christmas tree where we place all our home made gifts to each other. This year we had even more as both Kynan and Braedon along with their special girls had bought gifts for all.
This took so very long to get through as well, so we had not only tired adults but little ones too.

Our Christmas lunch, afternoon tea, was started by those very early risers who put our vegetables on to start cooking while we opened the gifts.
Thank you so much children!!!!

We had cooked out pork and chicken on Christmas Eve and cut it and put it in the fridge to make life easier on Christmas Day. It really does take a lot of work to cook a baked lunch for us on Christmas Day as we are so late to bed from our Christmas Eve celebrations.

With our extra guests we had the little children on these little tables to make for more room.

After all the gift exchanging and lunch it is on to a very relaxing  afternoon with naps and eating and playing with gifts.

Once again we had a very family orientated celebration as we welcomed into our hearts and home the birth of Jesus.

Blessings to you and your homes,
 

Happy New Year 2012

So soon has a new year arrived once more. I cannot believe time has moved so quickly. It seems that each year seems to pass in record time.
We have had many joys, changes and challenges over the last year and it seems we will see many changes for the new year as well - so far.

This year I do expect great things for our family and I will be hoping to be part of helping our family circle stay close together even as we start the chain of 'family dispersal.'

Life moves on and our choice is to embrace the opportunities we are blessed with or to be fixated on the past and difficult circumstances. I certainly hope to embrace all that is placed within my grasp this year, even looking for the joy in all circumstances whether joyful or a little more confronting.

I am still contemplating my goals,,desires and ambitions for the coming year. I helped some of our children with their own list this evening and so was unable to give mine the thoughts I wanted but I have thought about tow things: relationships and gentleness. So I think these will feature in my immediate future as a major part of my 2012 lifestyle.

Once again we had a beautiful New Year Bonfire with family memories and these are treasured moments that I know will become fond memories.

May this year be filled with many opportunities to grow in love for Our Lord and in His service too. May blessings be upon each one of you and your families as we walk this road together ♥

Thank you for your encouragement, prayers and friendship over the last year. I have been blessed by so many of you and give thanks for the opportunity to share my heart and home with you.

Prayers for the New Year ~


God, thank you for a new year. May everyone in our family be willing to begin anew with a clean slate. We know that you are always ready to forgive us. Help us to be willing to forgive ourselves and to forgive one another.

As we begin a new year, remind us of our truest values and our deepest desires. Help us to live in the goodness that comes from doing what you want us to do. Help us to put aside anxiety about the future and the past, so that we might live in peace with you now, one day at a time.


A New Year’s Prayer~
Another year is dawning
With the chance to start anew.
May I be kinder, wiser, Lord,
In all I say and do.
Not so caught up in selfish gain
That I would fail to see
The things in life that mean the most
Cost not a fancy fee.
The warm, kind word that I can give,
The outstretched hand to help,
The prayers I pray for those in need–
More precious these than wealth.
I know not what may lie ahead
Of laughter or of tears;
I only need to know each day
That You are walking near.
I’m thankful for this brand new year
As now I humbly pray,
My hand secure in Yours, dear Lord,
Each step along the way. 
by Kay Hoffman

 Blessings to you and your homes,
 

ADIEU 2011

ADIEU

French for goodbye, farewell...

You would think we are all French these days lol...

I confess, I love the language... The sound as it rolls off the tongue...

Do I speak the language? No. 

As I bid 2011 adieu I have some thoughts to share...

Ramblings if you will.

I have no resolutions like weight loss or starting an exercise program...

But I do plan to do the following in 2012...

Cultivate my faith... My love of God...

Be a better wife, mother, grandma, mother~in~law, daughter, sister, friend...

Make the most of the gifts I have been given...

Just be grateful for what I have because it is so much...

I'm going to water my own grass and I encourage all of you to do the same...

Happy New Year Friends!!!!

Blessings to all of you in 2012!!!

Gingerbread House Making

For the last several years  we have made a Gingerbread House as part of our Pre-Christmas Baking.
sometimes this can be a stressful time as we tend to do things together and this can mean little children getting over whelmed with the numbers of participants and everyone wanting  a turn.

This year we decided, well Autumn suggested and I agreed with her great idea. that the little children would have this opportunity to have this whole experience for themselves.

So after Autumn made the mixture and cut out the house pattern and baked them we placed the lollies on a plate for each of the children involved - Moran, Myffwyn, Corbyn and Arwen.

Autumn then helped (supervised) the little children as they decorated the Gingerbread House.

Arwen had the first opportunity to decorate while there was still a lot of room for her to put the lollies on.

She had a lovely time putting them on one side of the Gingerbread house and was very content with her work. Arwen must have been the only child who did not eat any lollies off her plateful.

Corbyn was hanging around just waiting for his time to have a turn at decorating. He did the other side of the roof.

Corbyn was more excited about eating the lollies and  had very few left at the end of his time at decorating.

Myffwyn was very precise with her work on the house

While the girls were decorating the house I kept Arwen and Corbyn busy decorating our Yo Yo cookies. We iced them and put on some little candy coated chocolate drops. This was my third packet of these as  Autumn  someone kept nibbling on them.

Myffwyn was very  happy with her work too

Moran was so patient and waited till last. The icing was starting to harden by then though and was finding it hard to keep her lollies on the house.

She found it hard after a while and so gave up after when  they kept falling off

Let me just say that our Gingerbread house was not a standard looking house. There was nothing remotely looking like windows and door really

But I must say our little children had the most fun decorating it. They were very happy to have this activity all to them selves

Of course we had to let little Trahaearn to have a  little touch of this impressive structure and he was most interested in getting the little colourful parts of it.

All in all I think we will do our Gingerbread house like this again - a special part of our baking for the little children. However I am contemplating putting it to together on the feast of Our Lady of Loretto, Dec 10, as I read on a  FB update, can't quite remember who. So if anyone else does please remind me.

Blessings to you and your homes,
 

Christmas Eve 2011

Christmas Eve came upon us very suddenly. We had been preparing for this for so many weeks and the last week of Advent was full of shopping, baking and preparing for this special evening.

Christmas Eve is a very exciting time but still very busy. As we have our Midnight Feast after Mass in the early hours of Christmas morning there still is quite a lot to prepare before Mass, including all the ironing of good clothes that are essential for this particular Mass.

We are celebrating the birth of Our Saviour and Lord, we want to go in our very best clothes, hence the suits that are mandatory for our older boys and beautiful dresses for our girls. M,e well I don't have anything too fancy to wear but I did manage to make myself a new skirt the day before. This is amazing for me as it wasn't done in the last dying breaths of getting ready.

Just before we leave for Mass we set the table for our feast in preparation of our return.

Eggnog is a once a year treat, one which the children especially Vellvin look forward to.

Fresh berries are also a great treat on this most special celebration.

Stone fruit is the other major treat, however we missed buying cherries even though the orchard is just up the road!

Did I mention before we have this feast and getting out of Church clothes that it is essential to have the traditional Family photo (see first picture). Poor little Arwen actually had her photo while asleep as she fell asleep on the way home (she refused to go to bed before  Mass) and so missed all the goodies too. We did save her some. Really there is so much and more in the freezer too.

Our baby Jesus was placed in the manger after coming down the Star Ladder in the arms of a an angel. Mary and Joseph had ridden along the star path and were now in the Bethlehem  stable.

She had a long way to go and sometimes (well often ) we forgot to help her reach her destination  but finally achieved the goal on Christmas morning.

The last thing before going to  bed in the early hours of Christmas morning, after 2am in the morning for the children.

Was to put the bags around the lounge room to be filled by

very enthusiastic  tired parents who did not go to bed until 5:30 am as our little Trahaearn would not settle quickly. He was obviously very excited by his first Christmas.

The very last thing I do is to swaddle a baby doll in a red cloth and place in the manger of straw the children have been filling with good deeds and sacrifices. Well, the manger was a little bare this year. I actually think this was my fault as my focus was else where and I did not encourage them enough so helped soften the bed for Jesus.

Next year I think I will make a baby especially for the manger. In fact like Ginny I thought of it earlier in the season but did not do it either. I know I have plans always greater than  what I can achieve for Advent  but hopefully will fix that next year.
In fact I will share my own struggle with a particular 'tradition' we have that I will attempt to change  next year. So I look forward to 'baring all' so to speak about this soon.

Thank you for allowing us to share our excitement over the joy we have on Christmas Eve!!

Blessings to you and your homes,