Rocks in the bag!

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On the fourteenth day of advent my kiddiewinks brought to me

14 rocks in a rucksack

13 is unlucky for daddy 

12 days of Christmas 

11 Christmas carols

10 moments of peace

9 Christmas cuddles

8 Christmas smiles

7 advent calendars

6 ways to Christmas calm

5 Christmas lists
4 early mornings

3 spectacled reindeer
2 toilet decorations
And a tantrum about the Christmas tree.

I emptied little man’s school rucksack tonight, and he has been carrying 14 rocks around with him. When asked why? He explained he loved them as they were part of his collection! I have no words! 

 

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Unlucky daddy

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On the thirteenth day of advent my kiddiewinks brought to me

13 is unlucky for daddy

12 days of Christmas

11 christmas carols

10 moments peace
9 Christmas cuddles

8 Christmas smiles

7 advent calendars

6 ways to Christmas calm

5 Christmas lists
4 early mornings

3 spectacled reindeer
2 toilet decorations

And a tantrum about the Christmas tree.

Well, the kiddiewinks were sent money to school to buy me and daddy Christmas presents, eldest was on mummy duty, little man was on daddy duty… He ran out of school proudly telling me he had got daddy two presents, peeking in the back I could see three. He replied, I bought myself one too, look! Such a character, it had me roaring! His sister was pretty incensed and felt daddy was unlucky to have got little man in charge of buying his presents!

 

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On the twelfth day of advent my kiddiewinks brought to me

12 days of Christmas

11 christmas carols
10 moments peace
9 Christmas cuddles
8 Christmas smiles

7 advent calendars
6 ways to Christmas calm
5 Christmas lists
4 early mornings
3 spectacled reindeer
2 toilet decorations

And a tantrum about a Christmas tree.

Quite simply the kiddiewinks love the twelve days of Christmas song, trying to remember the order and speeding up the pace. Drives daddy bonkers!

Kiddiewinks Christmas Singing

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On the eleventh day of advent my kiddiewinks brought to me

11 christmas carols

10 moments peace

9 Christmas cuddles
8 Christmas smiles
7 advent calendars
6 ways to Christmas calm
5 Christmas lists
4 early mornings
3 spectacled reindeer
2 toilet decorations
And a tantrum about the Christmas tree.

Christmas fever has begun in our house, not least because of Christmas nativities, christingle and carol concerts, kiddiewinks are constantly singing (with me joining them), much to the hubby’s annoyance! For me, Christmas songs have memories, so many memories

Here is little man singing a few of his favourites to get you in the Christmas mood…

1) when a child is born- wonderfully sung by a talented group of 7-11 year olds several  years ago, and a solo for the first verse was absolutely beautiful.

2) hallelujah-totally amazeballs and powerful when sung by little voices

3) we wish you a merry Christmas-has to be mentioned, one of our funny decorations plays this in silly chipmunk style voices.

4) silent night-like the German version stile nacht, the English always reminds me of a year group many moons ago who were not the keenest (singing)

5) holly and the ivy-this song has never been a favourite of mine, it has always grated on me, a bit like mistletoe and wine. At the moment, eldest kiddiewink is  is humming and singing this on repeat at the moment, as its part of the Carol concert! She is even annoying herself!

 6) Il est ne le divine enfant- A French carol I taught to the juniors and they nailed it, a truly beautiful song

7) jingle bells- eldest kiddiewink is learning this on the ukulele and recorder, not to mention the various rude and silly versions there are (my kiddiewinks particularly like ‘uncle bills lost his silly on the motorway, hey!)

8)Rudolph the red nose reindeer- I love the extra bits you can add in, kiddiewink 2 has several very amusing takes on it.

9) when Santa got stuck up the chimney-my kiddiewinks love it!

10) o come all ye faithful – this always makes me smile and I automatically go to sing it in an ‘opera voice’, and am always really tempted to sing in the twiddly soprano parts

Ten minutes peace

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On the tenth daydream advent my kiddiewinks brought to me…

10 moments of peace 

9 Christmas cuddles
8 Christmas smiles
7 advent calendars
6 ways to Christmas calm
5 Christmas lists
4 early mornings
3 spectacled reindeer
2 toilet decorations
And a tantrum about the Christmas tree.
We had my nephew over and he happily kept my bit two playing junior monopoly while littlest sleep. Cue ten whole minutes of peace….

Advent calendar crazy…

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On the seventh day of advent my kiddiewinks brought to me

7 advent calendars

6 ways to Christmas calm

5 Christmas lists

4 early mornings

3 spectacled reindeer

2 toilet decorations

And a tantrum about the Christmas tree.

Yes, this year we have seven advent calendars in our house. Do I think this excessive? Of course I do, but it just sort of happened…

1 )We have had a cloth advent calendar for years and years, granny always buys the chocolates for it.

2) a gorgeous wooden calendar (again courtesy of granny)

3, 4 and 5) thorntons chocolate calendars courtesy of Grandma (apparently little man told her to remember to buy them one)

6 and 7) playmobile advent calendars .As the kiddiewinks finally have their own rooms I treated them both to one (bought when on offer for £9.99). Poor littlest kiddiewink didn’t get a WOW one as they were extortionate!

  

Christmas smiles

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On the eighth day of advent my kiddiewinks brought to me

8 smiles of Christmas

7 advent calendars

6 ways to Christmas calm

5 Christmas lists

4 early mornings

3 spectacled reindeer

2 toilet decorations

And a tantrum about the Christmas tree


8 smiles of Christmas

1) Little kiddiewinks in a nativity- so much to smile about! It was little man’s first school nativity today and it really did make you smile; such a lot of lovely little characters all performing in their own little ways, priceless!image

2) twinkly Christmas trees- whether you bling it up; tinsel it up; lametta it up(just discovered what this is); carefully colour co-ordinate or have Christmas chaos on a tree, they all look totally awesome with their twinkly lights. IMG_2322-0

3) singing decorations- as much as these annoy the hell out of me, and really grate on the hubby. They also make us both smile, brilliant when little kiddiewinks dance along to their favourite ornamentimage

4)booze, booze and more booze-baileys hot chocolate, calypso coffees, glue wein… All allowed too because it’s December.image

5) food- pate, cheese, turkey and stuffing butties, cauliflower cheese, cold roast potatoes, chocolate orange, selection boxes. I love it all! I also love the fact there is so much more choice, not to mention Christmas calories don’t count, they are allowed. (The other big plus is plenty of treats to bribe he kiddiewinks with).image

6)family and friends-chance for the kiddiewinks to cause carnage with friends, chance to visit people, chance to socialise! (We don’t ‘go out’ very often but so many reasons to go out over the Christmas period)image

7) sparkly houses and gardens- journeys are so much prettier at the moment, lots of sparkly lights to look at. The kiddiewinks love it, kiddiewink 3 has discovered the word ‘cool’, and every decorated house is treated to the word.image

8) walks in the crisp, fresh winter air. Woolly hats, scarves and gloves(if we can find a pair), beautiful scenery. ( we never of course have deep mud, rain and moaning kiddiewinks in this ideal).image

 

 

Christmas tree up and the return of Elf on the Shelf

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On the first day of advent my kiddiewinks brought to me…

…A tantrum about the Christmas tree. 

 
As well as opening the advent calendars, the kiddiewinks got chance to decorate the tree. It was up as a surprise when they got home from school, just an asda fake cheapie, but with moving we can’t justify a real one this year. Our little tree looks very tiny in our new house! Little man couldn’t get over the fact it was the same tree. To be fair, they got on happily decorating together, until littlest kiddiewink decided to start table climbing, taking off what they were putting on,and throwing the baubles on with great glee. They always cope very well with anything and gently persuade her otherwise, making avert sweet fussed her. Instead they save their annoyance and ‘crossness’ for each other. And as predicted, shortly after this, a shouting argument ensued over tinsel.

The other 1st December tradition is the visit of a little elf; for the last three years Sam had visited our house, last year when he left, he wrote to the family saying we were welcome to change his name this Christmas. (More on the Elf later, he deserves his own post).

And so we welcome Tink to the family for the next 24 days. Cue lots of middle of the night waking panicking whether we had moved him.  

 

Family Christmas Wish list

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On the fifth day of advent my kiddiewinks brought to me 

5 Christmas lists,

4 early mornings

3 spectacled reindeer

2 Santa decorations

And a tantrum round the Christmas tree

This year I thought I would share our Christmas wish list, top five things for our family of five. We tend to make gifts with the kiddiewinks for auntie and uncles, and in turn they just buy gifts for the children, it all gets crazy otherwise and our family make Christmas about the kiddiewinks. So mummy and daddy’s wish lists are more pipe dreams than anything else…

Mummy

1) sleep- a lovely lie in with breakfast on bed please!

2) a relaxing spa break and pamper- hair and nails done would be great to make me feel less like a scummy mummy 

 

3) s’no queen sexy thermals- these are totally awesome and after reading Sadie’s review at Fit for parenting, these are definitely on my wish list! Despite, never having never been skiing, these are just fab, even for the school run ;  ) but for those skiers among you, these are a must. At over £100 for the set, it is definitely something I can’t just treat myself to, so on my wish list it goes.

   
4) pandora charm- my mum and sister treated me to a long awaited pandora when the littlest was born. I still only have 4 charms, so would love a few more to bling it up

5) a family escape to London- I would love to take the family to London for a weekend; see a show, meal out, hotel and explore but money won’t stretch to it at the  moment . So this is definitely on my Christmas wish list( pretty please Santa) 

 

Daddy

1) sleep and a long lie in

2) a tidy house all the time (haha, he can dream)

3)x box 360- he would absolutely love one! Again, he can dream

4) Victotinox Swiss army watch– hubby currently doesn’t have a watch, and he took a particular shine to this one the other day. This looks a bit like the one he broke, but it is on a whole other level of watch! Lots of choice on the precision time website all authentic, brilliant sale on at the minute too. If you have a spare couple of thousand, there are some amazing ones to be had.

 

5) a pressure washer- couldn’t believe this was high on his list but apparantly he wants one for the patio and cars!

Kiddiewink 1(seven)

1)password secret diary 

 

2)Blu blu dolphin- as much as she would like it. Call me a cruel mummy, but she is not having it, she will play with it for a few days tops! I have told her I sent a message to Santa with the elf, saying it was too babyish for her. 

 3) family trip to London- she wants to be the know it all to her brother, as she’s already been.

4)Lego City- we discovered on little mans birthday, that she is desperate for some of the Lego city range, cue lots and lots and lots of tears when  he got a space rocket and a police helicopter. 

 5)a pet rat- she has wanted a little pet for ages. Luckily, pets at home persuaded her against hamsters so she is now eagerly anticipating a cheeky rat, or two(they are better in pairs)  

Kiddiewink 2 (five)

1) Lego City swamp

2) a gold power ranger costume – unfortunately these do not exist. However, when I explained this to little man, his reponse was that Father Christmas was magic, so he could make on(hmmmmm, wish us luck with that one) 

 

3) performing arts classes-a born performer who would love some fun lessons; confident is one word that could be used to describe him.

4)a new light on his bedroom ceiling; we recently moved and the light is not exactly to his taste.

5) The next book in ‘The Faraway Tree, Endi Blyton’ series; given we have read the three books in the series already, he could be waiting a long time. 

 


Kiddiewink 3 (22 months )

1) a spare of the bunny she takes everywhere -typically she adopted it after next stopped doing them, their newer version just doesn’t put cut it and we are totally screwed if she loses it.

 

2) a power ranger of her own ( sheis always nicking her brothers) what’s the betting she still wants theirs?

3)a pet of her own (she wouldn’t be fussy: a dog, sheep, horse…) 

 4) chocolate and lots of it (again she wouldn’t be picky, anything chocolate will do)

5) paw patrol on DVD (although daddy also loves it dearly, I am pretty sure this will be vetoed)!