Christmas!

M went to the children’s midnight mass (at 5pm) with our Catholic friends, who then brought him back here for us and stayed for cups of tea and nibbles, with Carols from King’s playing in the background :tree: Oh and we quickly ran up some stockings from fleece in the fabric stash, having discovered that we only had one of the ones we made a few years ago left – we left that one for Big Alice and made new ones, each one different, for all the children, which they then proudly put in their rooms 🙂
Mince pie, card, drink of milk and small packet of sweets were left for Father Christmas, and a bowl of salad and carrot for the reindeer and we had a quick look at Norad tracking Santa to see where he was up to, then children went to bed, and eventually to sleep…

Christmas Day began slightly too early, given that Christmas Eve had ended a little too late (J couldn’t get to sleep) so children were told to unpack their stockings whenever they liked, do what they liked with the contents but not try to show us until rather later 😉 Leisurely breakfast, whilst admiring stocking contents and then looking at presents from us to children (mostly clothes, thanks to the SusuMama sale, and some white baseball boots to decorate) which were then donned ready to be shown off at church. It was a nice service, then we came back, ate mince pies and opened one more present before getting Christmas dinner going. M had chicken (deliberately left over from Christmas Eve meal with outlaws) and we had a Quorn roast, plus all the usual Christmas trimmings (except bread sauce – what is the point of it? Bleurgh!). We even watched the Queen’s Speech while we served up – how traditional can you get? Everyone was too full for pudding then, so we watched a film and opened more presents, then flamed and ate the pudding for supper. Various relatives were spoken to at various points in the day – M’s parents phoned in the morning, we phoned inlaws to sing “We wish you a merry Christmas” and to say thank you for presents and so on and apart from that it was just us and all was quiet and family and rather nice actually

Boxing Day is usually when we see Auntie Norma and Uncle John, but this year they were celebrating their Ruby wedding anniversary on the 27th. We had thought of going to see Grandad, but my Dad said he had been unwell on Christmas Eve and was waiting for antibiotics to take effect, which meant he was confused and would possibly not even know we were there, so with that and a warning of very bad roads near to his nursing home we decided that 26th was better spent quietly at home, with presents and films to enjoy and not-quite-enough leftovers to eat (A had eaten all the roasties so I had to cook more potatoes to make bubble and squeak!) then on the Sunday the boys had their first morning of Holiday Orchestra. M was to have a sleepover with Gina and co, so that he could do the first New to Gamelan session rather than meet a bewildering number of random relatives at my aunt and uncle’s, so we dropped them all off at 9:30 for their first session then picked J and K up at 12 (missing choir) but left M there. Despite bad weather we made it in time to pop into the house before going to the church for the blessing service they had arranged to have, at which both J and I were to read. J coped well with a long reading (Matt. 2:1-12) and the children all sat nicely through a service which tbh had little for them until we got to the end and the blessing itself. K and L took the collection and their second cousin (I think!) J did a blessing at the end so family were well represented. My little sister Polly was expected but not there, which had us slightly worried until she appeared a few minutes into the post-service party, having had a nightmare journey (from Wales to Norfolk) including a puncture. It was so nice to see her again 😀

Since the boys had HO again the next morning we could not stay too late, but had to make our way back through snow and ice. Gina assured me that M was having a good time (and a late night) so all was well 🙂 Having taken the whole week off, Bob did the Monday morning HO run, so that I could sleep in (ha! A had other ideas!) then the girls and I picked them up, so that we could go for a play/chat date with Morag and family, since R and R had also been HO-ing. I was so tired I wasn’t sure I could face driving across town through bank holiday sales traffic, but it was such a pleasant afternoon that it was well worth it in the end, for lovely soup, great company and a chance to set the world to rights – or nearly, at least 😉

On Tuesday and Wednesday Bob did both HO runs, in his small car, and on Wednesday L, A and I went to Michelle’s for an extra small Latinetc which turned out to be mostly Music Theory, with a little French, no Latin but lots of chat and playing. We were late getting there, which was probably not a bad thing as it meant E and C were already playing well together and L just joined them, rather than E and L arriving at the same time and trying to fit C into a game. We stayed a little longer than Gina, so L and C played together too – it all worked out nicely really (and thank you for having us, Michelle, and Gina for doing so much Music stuff). Meanwhile Bob had three different Gamelan performances to go to, as the boys were each in different sessions, and then a quick dash home for rest and food before the evening concert – pics and videos on flickr.

Thursday, New Year’s Eve, was a flurry of hoovering and tidying, especially children’s rooms as we had two families to fit in overnight and another just for the evenings. The Rainedrops arrived at about 3:15, within 15 minutes of predicted time – very impressive 😉 – and were soon followed by Em and co. then Goddards at 6 o’clock (which sounds oddly like a film title!). We did potatoes and pizzas and similarly easy food so that people could eat as and when they wanted to, along with cheese and biscuits and similar goodies, including a huge box of baklava Barbara had found at Costco (I must get to a Costco some time!). LED balloons, glow-sticks, sparklers and indoor (cake) fireworks kept the children busy whenever they weren’t DS-ing, while the adults relaxed and enjoyed the peace! We tucked our children up at about 10, being mean parents who could see they were over-tired already, but all the others stayed up until the countdown and then watched the fireworks on the TV at midnight (in black and white, to the astonishment of some of our younger visitors 😆 ) before departing either for home or for beds. Oh, and I had a couple of unexpected birthday presents – some yummy fudge from Nic and a fleecy throw from Barbara (which she promptly annexed to snuggle under on the settee!) – thank you both 🙂 I think the last adults drifted to bed at about 3… and the first surfaced at about 8 (and that would be me, both times – whoops!) to put out massive quantities of brioche and pastries (good old Costco, did I say I really want to go there some time?) and fruit salad for breakfast.