Snow 2013

We got a few days of good snow in January. Enough to get the children a day off school, and enough for a lot of outdoor play!

Exciting Ice Skating!

It was the last day for the temporary ice rink at our local shopping center today. We went to skate at the rink one last time before they sadly packed away.
Alfie hasn't been on the rink before as I had assumed he would find it difficult to balance and would quickly become fed up of falling over. Today was his first time skating and surprisingly he really enjoyed it. At first it was difficult for him and he fell over lots, but he was undeterred and pulled himself back to his feet smiling all the time and ready to try again.
Well his cheerful determination paid off and within 15 minutes or so he found his balance and began to skate!

Rowanne was a very kind big sister and gave a lot of help initially and she too was very proud of her little brothers progress.
Lily enjoyed skating with her special friend from school and is also becoming more confident each time she goes skating. We will be sad the temporary rink has gone but very much hope to see it again next year. It has been great fun having such a facility available locally.

Baptism Classes

Rowanne, Alfred and I attended the first of two baptism classes at our church with a view to getting them baptised sometime in the near future.
The eldest two have already been baptised. Gabrielle is C of E like me, and Lily is Catholic like Jeremy.
The class was really intended for adults, though Father John had recommended that Rowanne attended herself too to learn more about baptism. Rowanne has been rather aggrieved for quite some time that she had not been baptised as a baby and it was she who approached the priest on Christmas Eve to ask about getting baptised now.
The class was really good, intermingling talk, video and discussion in small bites. There were several older children there who were going to be baptised too, so we aren't the only disorganised parents around who haven't baptised their children yet!
I am very proud to say that by whatever divine miracle, Rowanne and Alfred sat quietly and patiently throughout the whole hour and a half class like little angels (although the plate of biscuits at the front, which they were allowed to help themselves from might have helped a bit)!

Location:St Margaret Mary Church, Park Gate

Homemade Horsey

If you fancy a horsey ride but haven't the means for a real one, why not build your own!

Ingredients list:

3 imaginative children
Footstool
Blankets
Cat scratch post
Hair bobbles
Dishcloths
Earrings
Pins
Elastic bands
Cushions
Sense of fun!

Hide ingredients in various locations about the house.
Leave the children well alone, they will gather and mix the other items.
Allow plenty of time for recipe to prove. Garnish with giggles.

Location:Locks Heath, Southampton

Moonlight Picnic

If you set off mid afternoon with a teatime picnic, then get distracted by a shoe shop sale along the way (www.littlesoleswarsash.co.uk) it might be dark by the time you reach the seafront. If you've brought along a torch (and a Kelly kettle) its good fun. Remember to wrap up warm though because its chilly after dark.

Location:Warsash

New Years Day Walk

We got lovely sunshine on New Year's Day so made the most of it by going for a much needed walk at Stokes Bay.
We passed Fort Gilkicker which is under development and will soon become lovely homes by the beach.







This is Fort Gilkicker:

Location:Stokes Bay

Christmas Day

We had agreed with the children to get up at 7am this year....not before. Due to a clock setting fail the children were up at 6am so next year we will be sure to check all clocks (including those in gadgets like Nintendo DS's) are set correctly!
The children were pleased to see that Santa had been and finished his milk and biscuits, Rudolph and friends had also nibbled the carrot too.
With the evidence checked to verify the reality of Santa's existence we then proceeded to the living room to see if anybody had made it off the "naughty list" in time to receive presents!

Presents all round, Santa is clearly a very forgiving person! Everyone was excited about their presents.


Lily received a mini sewing machine amongst other items.

Jeremy had always wanted a Bodrum apparently.

Alfie was thrilled with his noisy machine gun (thanks Grandma Marie)!

More sweets!

I got some lovely presents myself too...

Rowanne liked her new scrapbook kit.
After a good breakfast of Quality Street sweets and crackers with cheese, we popped the turkey in the oven (with the assistance of a free iPhone app as the instruction label had fallen off) and went to visit Grandma Gloria and Grandad Peter (waves hello)!

We came home in time to prepare the Christmas veg and baste the turkey, and everyone enjoyed a good play with their new toys after a delicious lunch.

Location:Home

Christmas Eve

We managed to get ourselves out of bed and down to the doctors surgery for a routine appointment for one of the children early in the morning. Who knew doctors worked Christmas Eve?! The appointment was brief and went without problems.



Lily was pleased to give the doctor a few of her Christmas tree biscuits as a small festive token, and the doctor seemed very happy to get them (they weren't the anatomically correct ginger people, we made sure to only bring moose, tree and bear shapes)!



This afternoon the girls went ice skating at the temporary rink that has been placed at the local shopping center nearby. Meanwhile I kept warm and enjoyed a salted caramel latte at the overlooking coffee shop.



Shortly after we went to the crib service at Church. A delightful event especially created with children in mind and no incense either (a bonus for the asthmatics amongst us)!



Ten minutes into the service Rowanne decided she probably had nits and was urging me to check her hair there and then. I had to explain that this was probably not the place to start a head inspection! Somewhere nearer the service end Alfie decided to get up and sing "Gangnam Style" including the "sexy lady!" line and a bit of that well known dance in front of the stable scene at the back of the church!



Meanwhile Gabrielle was enjoying building a snowman at Aunty Linda's house! Doesn't he look fantastic by the light of the Christmas tree.

Pepperkake Hus

Christmas beer obviously helps immensely in the construction of the seasonal pepperkake hus!






Love it! ❤

Location:Tysnes, Norway

Meanwhile across the sea...

Across the sea in Norway, preparations for Christmas are well underway too.


Grandma Joy and Gabrielle have clearly been put in charge of decorating the tree...and I see plans for drunken "pepperkake hus" building are afoot. I look forwards to seeing the results very much!



In the meantime enjoy some of the stunning views from Linda's house on the island of Tysnes!

Location:Tysnes, Norway

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

There's only about five minutes between the school term ending and Christmas Eve, therefore we are getting on with some christmas projects as quickly as we can.

The real tree has been brought in from the cold and decorated...in part, it is still awaiting adornment of the gilded pine cones we made today (waiting for the paint to dry so we can thread them to hang on the tree).


We collected the pine cones a few weeks ago and have been drying them on the radiators since.






The children helped to spray the cones...so the inevitable happened....






Oh well, the children had fun, and the cones are a sight to behold in all their gilded glory. I think the tree will look a lot happier when these are added to the other random assortment of decorations!

We have also baked some Christmas tree biscuits using our traditional family recipe, and they are evidently delicious. Alfred's best friend Edward ate several!

Location:Home