Christmas

Time for a catch up on Christmas, New Year, my birthday and all the related activities. We packed in a visit to Granny and Granddad, as well as Grandma and Granddad, and various other family and friends. Yes, there is loads to get through...

My phone's status on Christmas eve. A truly happy agenda for the coming week.

Naomi gets into the spirit of things with a "tinsel dance". No music required.

Christmas fete at Naomi's school, with the making of decorations.

The finished decorations, which were an excellent addition to out tree. Well done girls!

Now it's time to decorate. Pile in!

Good helping...

  

The finished article.

Noah's Ark (church toddler group) Christmas party, with the making of wreathes. This is Lydia's effort.

The church Christmas party, with party food and fancy dresses...

...and a happy mummy...

...as well as some ceilidh dancing.

We had a really hard frost one morning in December, and it was quite pleasing to see the wonderment that Naomi and Miriam has for the crunchy grass and crystal covered outside. Proper childhood stuff! We didn't get a picture of Naomi's walk around the garden, but here they are at the park.

An afternoon's craft activity yielded some nice miniature Christmas trees

Naomi was an innkeeper in her school's "McTivity". One of the nice things about my job is that I got to have a late start and saw her too (it was on mid-morning). She was great!

Possibly a slightly bigger role in the church nativity though - Naomi was Mary. As she told an older girl, "she's the one that had the baby"

Miriam also had an important part as one of the angels.

The church Santa visits, Miriam was up first.

Naomi was so quick in on the action that I nearly missed her. Lydia got a present too.

More play dough. Can it get any better?

Clearly not.

Naomi made an advent-themed calendar.

A very grown up girl waiting to get to Granny's house.

Two grown up girls who have been working hard at holiday playing.

Lydia learns the joy of swinging her legs on a chair.

This year we had four bags of reindeer dust (that is, oats with glitter), so Naomi took to Granny's garden to scatter it about.

A trip to the cafe in Inverurie on Christmas Eve with Granny and Granddad, where we also met our dear friend Bob, a retired minister.

Proud Grandparents! 

Now we get to Christmas, and it's present time.

Did I mention the presents?

There were lots of presents.

Lydia is getting the hand of this too.

as well as having a good time in general. 

The puddings are seasonal as well as tasty.

Onwards to Grandma and Granddad's house and some nice new gloves.

as well as many more presents. 

Naomi and Miriam showing off some new bracelets. 

Lydia really enjoyed her new toy phone.

And magic wands which make a noise are great fun!

They also never get annoying! 

Small person in party hat - very cute indeed.

Sometimes it gets a bit much though.

Calories for breakfast. A return to the north east means butteries, and lots of them. Yum!

The one dry day in the whole two week holiday, we made a trip to the park. Here are Naomi and Miriam having lots of fun with their grandma and Granddad.

Lots of adults to help also means lots of activities like craft. Miriam used her bunting kit, and Naomi made her angel.

An aquadoodle for Lydia, so she can draw by herself.

I did quite enjoy how much time the girls played with my old toys though.

"Daddy, let's build a car". Well, it almost looks like one. 

Lots of time for fun family games too.

This is what greeted me on the morning of my birthday. Thanks girls, it's good to feel loved!

Birthday lunch. Hurray!

We quite enjoyed Lydia doing exactly what Miriam used to do, putting her feet on the table.

More games!

Then more tiredness!

Naomi is, of course, very good at the Wii. Her first bowl was a strike. 

Grandma helping Naomi with some sewing, which we rarely would have the time to do at home.

This is part of a three piece mobile - the promise of completion lies in a future visit.

Yes, there really is a game called Bibleopoly, which for licensing reasons is just a tiny bit different to a popular property-trading board game. Fun for all, and we learned something too. 

Grandma was looking after John Watson, a hamster belonging to the girls' cousin Kirsty. This could be one the first animals ever that Naomi was remotely positive about.

The end of the holidays, the decorations come down.

Of course, the whole period passed by very quickly and we're already back in the school/nursery/work etc routine. Thanks to everyone for presents and hospitality, and happy new year to you all.