Christmas Day

I was really exited for the kids to see their presents...they came into my room at about 7.30 to show me what they had got in their stockings.

We then went downstairs to start the opening of presents. Glen was there so that was nice for the kids. Kaitlyn's first present to open was her new doll - a baby Millie, it cries, laughs etc....but most importantly it has a dummy....Kaitlyn loves dummies, whether it belongs to a doll or another child, they always end up in Kaitlyn's mouth.

James opened his hot wheels racing track....it's a dad job to put that together so me and the kids moved on to more presents.

Mum, Dad, Craig and Stacey arrived to see the kids and for Christmas breakfast. We had the full works...sausage, bacon, eggs, beans, tomatoes, toast...yum. I very rarely have a cooked breakfast...but you really can't beat it. The kids didn't think so though...they swiftly asked for cereal....more sausages for me then!

It took most of the morning to open the presents and get ready and then we all went over to Mum and Dad's for Christmas Dinner.

Dean, Anne and the kids were already there. Mum had just had her living room and dining room wall knocked down so there was plenty of room for the table to be set out. I love Christmas dinner - and mum always does a good one.

Carly, Paul and the kids had gone out to the Harvester for their dinner as the in laws were visiting - but they arrived at mums for about 2 ish and not long after we started opening more presents...ones for the kids just kept coming & coming....I couldn't keep track after a while.

Later we played some Abba singstar and rockband world tour (or whatever it's called)....I just want to sing SOS. James was a bit unwell so ended up falling asleep on the sofa...dressed in his new power rangers outfit (courtesy of Auntie Julie). Kaitlyn was hyped up on 15 hours sleep and half a tin of Celebrations so was happy to stay up slightly later than usual.

All in all it was a very fun day!

Christmas Eve Party

We had some friends over for a Christmas Eve Party. Kathy came her girls - Kaitlyn and Kassidy, Emma came with her girls - Leah and Ruby, Shelly came with Wellie, Reuben and her nephew Jacob and Carly came with Josh and Dylan. With me and the kids it was pretty crowded in our small house.

We had party food, played a few games like musical bumps etc and played some favorite party songs - the hokey cokey, the music man and superman to name but a few.

Later we exchanged gifts for the kids and everyone went home. The kids and I sat down to watch the Santa clause Movie - when I looked round Kaitlyn had fallen asleep - it was only 4 o'clock but she was exhausted so I put her straight to bed, hoping she would sleep through the night....as luck would have it I didn't hear from her again until 7.30 am the next day....the best Christmas gift ever!

True Christmas

I think it's nice to spend some time during the Christmas season focusing of the true meaning of Christmas. Christmas day itself tends to be about presents and eating, so I like to have a day set aside to focus on the saviour and his birth.

I invited mum and Stacey over and we had lunch together. Carly and the boys also came over. The kids helped to act out the nativity using wooden spoon puppets that I made a few years ago. We then sang Christmas carols and songs and later we watched a DVD of the Nativity story.

In the evening Stacey and I went to the Carol service at Church. It was such a nice day, and I'm so glad that the Children understand and appreciate the true meaning of Christmas.

Wicked!

For my birthday, my parents very kindly got tickets to see Wicked in London. Originally, mum, Carly, Stacey and I were going to go - but mum was ill so dad took her place, and Dylan was ill so Carly stayed to look after him and Anne came instead.

I didn't really know a lot about the show - except that it was the story of the witches in the Wizard of Oz. The show was at 2.30, we caught the train to Victoria where we met Anne, had a quick look around and then headed into the theatre which is just across the road from the station.

We had really good seats, row E - just 5 from the front - and more of less centre. The show was amazing - the set, the singing, the dancing...everything truly amazing.

After the show we got a bite to eat them headed home. Mum was looking after the kids and I was keen to get back to see them as Kaitlyn was not well. However as we left Gilllingham station some chav threw a stone at the train window and we had to get off and wait for the next train.

Finally got back to mums at about 9ish - very tiring but enjoyable day.

He's behind you ..... again!

The Ducklings playgroup had tickets to see ' Dick Wittington and His Magical Cat' at the Granville Theatre in Ramsgate. These tickets were provided by Cllr Alan Marsh (KCC) who has helped support the playgroup over the years.

I took James out of school for the afternoon so he could come with us and I also invited Josh to come. There must have been about 15 kids, plus parents and playgroup staff. We were allocated the front two rows. The kids and I sat in the front row.

Compared to the production at the Marlowe...this panto was pretty lame, but the kids all enjoyed it. The acting was dodgy, the dancing was even dodgier, and as for the jokes....if I say the funniest it got was 'knock knock'...'who's there?'.... 'boo'...'boo who?'...'well there's no need to cry', you'll understand...yes the jokes were really that bad!

James got picked to go up onto the stage near the end of the show...he was asked his name and age and got to join in a song. The kids that went on stage were given a bag of sweets for helping and they went back to their seats for the final minutes of the show.

At the end of the show James very kindly shared his sweets, however Josh got a huge boiled sweet stuck in his throat and I had to stick my fingers down to get it out...he was fine but is scary when things like that happen.

Kaitlyn's Christmas Concert

Kaitlyn and her friends from Ducklings Playgroup performed their Christmas Concert today. We were treated to renditions of 'when Santa got stuck up the chimney', 'Christmas pudding' and ' Jingle bells' amongst others...it was very sweet.

Kaitlyn's favorite part is the 'hey' part of jingle bells.

Tinsel & Baubles

I'd been promising the kids all week that we would put the Christmas decorations up this weekend. James was so exited, but unfortunately Kaitlyn fell asleep whilst the fun was happening.

Now we can get into the Christmas spirit.