Our Christmas

I know, I know…Christmas already feels like months ago, but better late than never! Come in through the door and see a little glimpse into our Christmas…

The festivities got off to an early start with Tom’s nursery nativity performance. Each year the older children in Reception perform a nativity, with the little nursery children providing some very cute back-up support. Two years ago, Gabriel was a shepherd, and this year it was Tom’s turn to be a sheep. He was excited for weeks beforehand, with much baa-baa-ing to get himself ready for his starring role.

The performance went well and Tom did lots of enthusiastic ‘baa-baas’ – some at good moments, others at rather more amusing intervals. I think the sound effects were his own idea, as he was the only one doing it – which was very cute, and very Tom, so I’ll always remember it and smile.

A week or so later, I took a trip to London on a school day which was pretty exciting. After the boring stuff was over, I headed into nearby Liberty for a spot of Christmas shopping. hadn’t been there for a long time, but after enjoying watching the Channel 4 documentary, I was keen to have a look round again. The Christmas decorations were magical, and it was pretty exciting as the twinkly lights of Ely are pretty lame. I was also excited to spot a few of the faces from the documentary – I am very easily pleased!

After that, I hopped on the tube to Pimlico and had a little wander around the area we used to live in about eight years ago. It was a lovely cold, sunny day and everything was looking at its very best. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.

By this point, I was beginning to feel a little more festive and got on with a few of the homemade presents I wanted to do this year. Here’s the Pear and Fig chutney I made getting some pretty decoration.

Next up was Gabriel’s Christmas performance – not a play this year, but a sort of sing-a-long. Grandma was able to make it along to both boys’ performances this year which made it extra special.

Then it was time to start decorating the house – we did it the week before the boys broke up for the holidays – which was a bit early for us, but I really wanted to make the most of it this year. We went over to Blackthorpe Barn at Rougham (near Bury St Edmunds) for our tree and got a lovely one. It was a great day, apart from Gabriel being sick on the way there!

And before we knew it, it was Christmas Eve and time to put out a few snacks for Father Christmas and Rudolph. Christmas Eve is my favourite day – all that expectation!

The boys didn’t wake up too early on Christmas Day so James and I had time for a peaceful cup of tea in bed opening our stockings to each other. We stayed at home this year so the morning was very relaxed. We also decided to switch things about a bit and eat our big Christmas meal in the evening. This made everything so, so much easier and we were all able to enjoy the morning without one person having to be chained to the oven!

We had a lovely sunny walk round a deserted Ely and then made a start on dinner in a lesiurely fashion when we got back. Everything was much more relaxed this way and the food was delicious. The boys were particularly thrilled to have a proper Yule Log (Nigella’s recipe was fantastic) this year instead of the usual Christmas pudding. We just need to remember to use the bigger plates next year!

We took things fairly easy for the rest of the holidays – seeing family, flicking through our new books and assembling the Lego mountain. We drove over to Castle Acre Priory one day for the a chilly picnic of turkey sandwiches, twiglets and Christmas cake – but otherwise kept things fairly local.