Hm. Oh yes, back to reality on Thursday… people ordered things on Xmas day so MF was in to parcel. SHe and i (mostly she) wrestled the place back into some sort of order, she parcelled and then we all had lunch with LF, Auntie Sue and the cousins when they arrived. Am always glad of our “no presents between cousins” thing for Xmas on this side of the family – makes it all about the company and much less stressful for the 2 slightly AS girls that the family combo entails. Everyone had a lovely time and by this time we had produced the Wii at the end of a treasure hunt (and after rooms had been tidied!) so much gaming went on (i was not good at bowling at the end of an entire bottle of Baileys!) Auntie Sue gave the girls cinema tickets, sweets and a lunch voucher for us all, which we appreciated and thought was incredibly thoughtful and excellent. Enjoyed the 24 hours very much.

Friday and Saturday are hazy; volcanoes, chemistry, d&d, tidying, parcels, sleeping, shopping for wii games, visiting Nana, eating and reading have loomed large. I’ve got DS Settlers now and i like it very much, so that has taken up some time. Other than that, not sure.

Sunday blitzed the little girls rooms and swapped some furniture about in preparation for decorating and refurnishing the big girls room in the next little while. Lots of Wii, mainly Cooking Mama (argh!) and odds and sods elsewhere. Feeling rather down tonight as the prospect of another year, this year in particular being the last one where i really want to risk having a baby, having no hope of doing so and feeling shockingly broody along with colossal hormones combining to make things feel very dreary. Can’t believe how bad it still is at times.

Wish i was a penguin.

Got up and going fairly early for a day up at my folks, with the added delights of the Nuts and my brother and Nana due to be in attendance. Big Nut, Serious Nut (sorry, did you say that’s not your name?) and Little Nuts all very delightful, brother looking tanned and delicious after several weeks in Australia and San Francisco (being an academic is all toil!) and parents on top form as ever.

Kids absolutely lovely and revelled in the company – i didn’t even hear mention of presents at all which spoke volumes to me about them having a very sensible and sturdy attitude to what it should be about – proud of them. Well, mostly, not quite so proud of Josie, who told Rowan she didn’t like her (!) – must beat her more soundly in future. Josie has it in her to be a royal ratbag at times and the relationship between those two is tricky at best, but gradually beginning to come right, i think (hope!)

Had a delicious buffet lunch (much my favourite type) and loads of chatting before the rather dramatic arrival of my Nana, who managed to arrive, get out of her car, leave the handbrake off without noticing, get half back in the car to retrieve something and set it rolling so that it pitched her to the ground, smacking both legs with the car door and only just missing her head before coming to a stop just shy of the mouth of the drive, which is directly on to a main road. Poor Nana; amazingly, she got into the car, dorve it back up the drive and parked it before hooting for help. Terrible shock for her and worrying to see her so hurt and upset.

As my sister said to her, we’d have given her sherry for the asking, there was no need to go making a scene!

Went over to visit her yesterday and am a) amazed at her bruises and b) amazed at her constitution as frankly i’d have taken to my bed and royally sulked while demanding to be waited on. Get well soon Nana.

Despite that, we had a lovely day, particularly liking the sudden deluge of frozen carrots on to the sofa from Nana’s cold compress… it was a least better than pea-ing on the sofa

Mum and Dad gave the girls science kits; chemistry for Fran (she adores it) a volcano for Maddy (she has loved doing it) and electronics for Amelie – perfect in every way. Josie had a variety of books, jigsaws and things and was delighted. Really appreciated mum and dad taking us at our word and getting stuff like that rather than toys. Uncle Rich and Auntie Greer had provided a veritable heap of Game vouchers (which we have already spent!) and penguin related gifts for Josie as aforementioned.

Highlight of Xmas for us was 4 portraits done by BN the Brushfires wunderkid which we absolutely adore. He’d taken 4 pictures from the blog/flickr that he thought most captured each child and done pencil sketches of each of them and they are just beautiful. I’m most embarrassed that because i saw Amelie’s before Maddy’s i briefly thought the AMelie one was of Moo so hasten to say, BN,that this has absolutely more to do with my kids’ cloniness than your drawing; you captured each of them perfectly and we love the drawings to bits. As soon as the light is decent, i will do photos of them. Thank you, thank you, thank you – i hope our present to you will enable you to get further along on the path to making as much money from your talent as you deserve to.

Came home late, as we felt Maddy needed to get back to normality (although a cuddle from my dad had done much restorative work) and also because we had J&L to visit with their girls the next day.

The little girls fell asleep early, the elder ones didn’t, Maddy in particular being in a state of high dudgeon over everything. But eventually it was all as quiet as it is in the poem (we actually managed to read that from the book this year, we normally misplace it in the preceding days and i have to print it out!)

Father Christmas came. Lucky girls

Josie thrilled by the penguin in her stocking and a variety of other penguiny bits in there too; Maddy overjoyed by DS Pony Friends, Fran enraptured by Colour Me Beanie and horse books and Amelie loved up over a snuggly tiger. FC put fewer, more personalised gifts into stocking this year, which went down well. Several loud thank you’s said to the room at large by the big two

After a family breakfast they opened FC big presents of Lily Dolls stuff for the big girls, Sylvanians for Ams and a Polar Bead Frame for Josie (she adores those, very odd!) and then we went upstairs to find the presents from us. Fortunately, as it turned out, we’d hidden the biggest family present, so we could pace the day a bit and that proved to be a good thing. We gave Maddy her DS first, as she is hopeless at waiting and simply gets herself into a pickle if she’s wondering what else might be under the tree. Unfortunately, i’d pretty much goofed her day up anyway already

A week or so ago i told her that i hadn’t been able to get a DS and they were all sold out; she replied that she was fine with that and actually, could she have some plastic dinosaurs instead and get a DS for her birthday? (Phew) Got the dinos but of course also got her the DS and forgot to re-align her expectations to take this into consideration, so she opened it, panicked and went and hid it in her room so she didn’t have to deal with it. I then made it worse by giving her a DS decorating kit which she stuck on and then broke down over because she didn’t want it on it. *Sigh* It can be so hard sometimes and i hate that it effectively comes across as her being ungrateful, when she completely isn’t being Max and i spent most of the day watching her with bated breath as she just got worse and worse and eventually i just found her sobbing in her bedroom with sheer overload. We managed to rescue her, she hadn’t yet actually retreated under the bed, and she spent the rest of the day pretty much absorbed in the dinosaurs (Could have saved myself £100!) She loves the DS now though and the Mario sticker is decorating the computer

Fran had requested surprises and a variety of things from PlayMerrily (sale now on!)  and Max had gone to great lengths to get some Dungeons and Dragons stuff together for her since she has got very into that type of game playing and creation of board games in general. She was thrilled, her face was a picture and they’ve had loads of play with it already. (Good for maths, lots of reading and writing etc etc ) I also gave her Cordz, which she has loved doing, a crochet set in a case, Cooking Mama and Pokemon, some clothes from Pumpkin Patch (nearly outgrown that shop now!) and heaps of books on horses, Moomins, history and more. She was pleased. Felt very grown up of her not to have a particular “must have thing” and just be happy with surprises.

Amelie had a “year of the trash” with a HSM cheerleader outfit, pink and sparkly princess crowns, shoes and so on and goodness knows what else. At the last moment (given i didn’t manage to get her a DS cos she wanted pink) she begged for one of the dolls i sell and so got Tidoo Bright  which turned out to be a major hit, she loves her. It is a very nice dolly. She also got DS Puzzle League which she and i both really like so she was a very happy girl.

Josie bounced from Sylvanian Penguins, to Penguin DVDs to Penguin lunchbags to Penguin books, to Penguin jigsaws. She did get a couple of non-penguin things, but mostly, it was penguins. She now has a penguin shelf in her bedroom, with them all lined up so she can admire them Happiness was made complete when Auntie Greer gave her a fantastic Penguin Backpack and book. She was in heaven. Thank You Auntie Greer, BN and girls

Max and i decided about 2pm that Xmas dinner seemed like so much bother, so we had ham, egg and chips instead!!!! Perfect and timed to perfection to get us back upstairs for Doctor Who. Amelie howled like a babe at the end. Sensitive girl.

I was delighted with ipod transmitter, pjs (Josie repeatedly told me for the week beforehand that i was getting these but that it was a secret and she couldn’t tell me!), cd of The Beautiful South and enormous box of Lush, themed in blue by Maddy

Max was equally delighted with a haul of books by 2 favourite authors – should have given him them later as i think they contributed to the lack of Xmas dinner!

Finally tucked up the kids and we went not much later!

Christmas started for us after last posting date, it would have been impossible for it to have started any earlier really. However, by Friday we were down to a dribble of parcels and the last few got sent off on Saturday morning.

It’s amazing how late some people will leave things. (Says the woman who was still shopping on Sunday, but at least i didn’t try to have the nerve to do it online!)

So Friday we mostly spent tidying up this and that and wrapping the various bits we’d got on Thursday night when we’d all gone late night shopping together. That was nice in itself, the kids were lovely, we did the obligatory carousel ride and Josie’s face was just a joy (Amelie sat on a horse who was called Buttercup’s real name, so her cup overflowed with happiness… makes it sound slightly as if she wet her knickers ) The staff in the M&S cafe complimented me on my children, which i was slightly incredulous about, given they were just being fairly normal; apparently not many groups of 4 children can be trusted to go and pick a table to sit at without adult supervision? What is the world coming to….?
Over the last few weeks of mayhem, one of the things i have managed to make time for has been story reading and trying to do a few assorted activities around them. We’ve made time for “While the Bear Sleeps” every night, done Christingles with the Beans, talked about various icons of alternate solstice related festivals and generally tried to inject a feeling of something both spiritual and celebratory into the season. I think i have finally come to the crashing conclusion this year that i cannot align myself with the Christian faith, i simply cannot reconcile myself to some of the horrendous decimations of culture that have been performed in its name and in a sense, that feeling has set me free a bit. I don’t think i am ever going to find a path that is for me, but what suits me is to hold in honour and respect the traditions and faiths and stories of the world as a whole. It felt much better this year to read the Christmas story and discuss “the green man” as a pagan figure and talk about light and regeneration and God and glory and worthiness. I thoroughly enjoyed setting up a Nativity alongside a Santa Claus in claret and brown fur holding a bough of yew. It felt much more “right”. We filled the house with holly and lights, berries and candles and talked about improving life for us and for others and honouring the world around us. We sung songs and carols and generally made merry, so to speak. Perhaps it isn’t the true spirit of it, or perhaps it is, i don’t know, but it felt right.

Friday morning i had to dash into Stamford to pick up a DS Lite for Maddy i had managed to reserve at the last minute after Amazon told me they couldn’t deliver ours, after all, until February. Soon discovered why Stamford’s Argos had the most wanted toy in the Kingdom: it’s situated in the parallel universe that Sir Beanalot often visits when you send him over the road. I had directions, which abandoned me 3 miles from where it turned out to be and i followed two other lots to no avail before eventually going into Morrisons petrol station and filling the car up with £80 worth of diesel which i said i wouldn’t pay for till they told me where to go! Fortunately it was made worthwhile by Morrisons having all 5 of the DVDs i needed on display in the petrol station and knowing where Argos was, and i finally got home with 2 minutes to spare to book a last minute courier.

Never did get round to cancelling the Amazon DS, which arrived yesterday

Saturday morning is a blur, i must still have been parcelling, but in the afternoon Anna came over to cut everyone’s hair and colour mine. Did a round of lovely cuts but did mine too bright for me, which i didn’t decide till after the 3rd child had asked me when it would change back, so she came back Sunday to lowlight it. Looks great now (for me). While Anna was here the first time, Max went and got a (huge) tree and we set it up and the kids decorated it all on their own and did a fabulous job. Looked lovely, still looks lovely, but i do think it’s funny how a tree in your living room seems perfectly normal before Boxing Day and then seems utterly bizarre immediately after. Maddy has already asked if we can take it down; she’s had a tough Xmas this year

Max did us a variety of lovely meals over the few days before Xmas Day; one of which was a spectacularly lovely 3 course one on the Sunday night, after we came back from another stint of Xmas shopping (the one with the red knickers.) Also visited my favourite cafe which is run by a chap i sold his first ever mobile phone to, when he brought his little boy in in his pushchair. Little boy now 12, we of course have our 4 and he always looks amazed by them as we don’t go in often and tend to produce a new one for each visit. (Although last time i went in was the day before i stopped being pregnant and he asked me if i was having more… but anyway.) It’s a lovely, odd little friendship, one of those sort of “nod to the greengrocer” type ones that seem to belong the the past now; i’ve always really valued the friendliness of those occasional “hello, how are you?”‘ moments.

Christmas Eve mostly consisted of i can’t remember what, aside from the trip to see Kate, Summer and Madison but towards tea time i took the girls to the local church for an Xmas children’s service. Oldeworldy church with very chirpy young vicar (was a cross between our friend Jez and Ben Elton!) who played Pass the Bomb, Monopoly, Hangman and various other games with the congregation’s children, all with a theological point. It was based around this book and the references to Jesus being the likeness of God in the Bible. Liked it a lot, might even go from time to time although towards the end i did begin to suspect them of the guitar, clapping and hands in the air variety of churchgoers, something that leaves me cold (if i’m anything, i’m a natural Methodist without the teetotalling!) Either way, it pretty much entertained the girls, even if it lacked the gravity of the very ‘high’ crib service we’ve been to in previous years. (Still didn’t really feel up to that this year.)

Came home to a lovely tea followed by Track Santa at Norad, snacks out for Santa (hmmm….. i have suspicions of my elder daughters this year!) and stocking hanging. Had adorable conversation with Josie when i asked her if she knew what was going to happen, realised she didn’t and explained about presents etc. Her face was an absolute picture. With a face full of glee she whispered… “Do you think he might bring me penguins?”

Oh yes, i think he might

Yesterday we all went into town for a last minute shop around town; i needed some bits and bobs and Max took the girls off while i tried to do that. Within 10 minutes he arrived, faintly frazzled, as the younger 2 were playing up, so i kept Josie with me in M&S while her took the others off and we organised to meet for cake and chocolates in our favourite cafe afterwards (conveniently near as it was to my next trip, which needed to be sans children!)

I needed to go for M&S for new bras and knickers so Josie, given her obsession with breasts, was the perfect partner. She helped me pick some out, gave me her (high volume) opinion of them as i tried them on and laughed hysterically while i did the “shake test” – any essential workout for anyone with wobbly boobs. I think i heard snorts of laughter from the cubicles on either side, but i’m not proud, i walked out knowing my size and knowing i could stay in them!

So then we went to find our favourites in my size; Josie was a bit of a gem and fathomed the difference between padded (wobbly boob no-no) and non-padded and was ably picking out my size knickers by using the coloured tickets. She picked me some lovely sets. After that, she started picking out her favourites and saying things like “when i have got big milks, i want to have this one to wear” and so on; by this time she’d drawn the attention of a number assistants who were loading shelves around us. Finally, she turned to me very seriously…

“Mummy,” she said, in the normal volume of a Puddle girl, “We need to get daddy a present. I think he would like these red flowery knickers and this red milks bag. Can you get them for him?”

We left hastily.

I got a Christmas card in the post from Google!!!!!

ROFL!