6ichthusfish

Happy 19th Anniversary to US!!

Who gets married at Christmas...seriously?  Well, we did.  19 years ago today.  It was pouring with rain.  It was dark when we left the Church in the afternoon.  There is a Christmas tree on nearly all my Wedding photos.  It was the best decision I ever made. When searching for a photo to go on this post I kept coming back to this silly one of the two of us taken on the day early in December when we put up the Christmas tree.  There's always a mini photo opp after the tree is up.  After the kids group shot Husb and I had a few taken.  Sometimes I am too serious about taking photos and the fun can go out of it a bit  like wanting Husb to keep his eyes open (is that too much to ask? seriously?) So... he started to be silly with loud kissy noises and over-the-top affection (yep I was lovin it).... so the photo below is technically one of the 'B' pile photos but has turned out to be my fave.

 

Been together over 20 years.  Been hitched 19 years.  The man is a saint.  Seriously.

Making Christmas Cards with Middle son...

When Roman was a paper-boy he started the tradition of making his own cards for the people on his newspaper delivery round. Now Chef makes Christmas cards for all the people on his round. That's 55 homes to be precise.  We worked together and enjoyed the one-on-one time.

 

 

 Here's the second batch of cards he made...

 

Great to use my Craft Room for crafting together.  Here's a post about him making cards in 2009 and one abot the whole lot of us making cards in 2008.  Suppose it's a bit of a tradition :)

Tiger-girl painted Rudolph again this year for the game 'Stick the Nose on Rudolph' that she organises for the younger girls at the Girls Brigade Christmas Party.

 

It went down really well and one of the Leaders asked if she could keep the poster & foam noses to use with her class of school children.  Yep, T-g was pleased.

Making Christmas Decorations & Bird boxes...

We went to the same place we've been going to for 'Paddle Power' to make Christmas decorations with natural materials.  There was a variety of foliage like ivy, holly, pine branches and other greenery, with baubles and pipe cleaners too.

 

For the table decorations the children covered half a potato with foil and gouged out a hole to hold the candle.  They then spiked the potato with a bradawl and stuck their choice of foliage into the pierced holes...

 

 Smurf made a very bushy table decoration!

 

They also made hanging decorations by threading the foliage through some thick string.  I have one in the hallway and two in the lounge.  After this activity we went outside for a brisk frosty walk...

 

After lunch we made bird boxes and an insect home. 

 

 

Smurf made an insect home...

 

 

T-g made a blue-tit bird box...

 

The children really enjoyed the woodwork and I'd like to organise some more learning in that area if I can.  An action packed day for sure!

It's starting to look very Christmassy around here...

Husb likes to put the tree up in the first week-end of December so we've been living with it for over a week now.  We're back to our old faithful artificial tree again this year, having had a real one last year for the first time in almost 20 years.  When I was a child my Mum always handed-out the tree decorations and now that's my job too...

 

Another tradition when I was growing up was my Dad always putting the Angel on the top of the decorated tree... which of course is Husb's job now.

 
We have started a tradition of our own though.  About 4 Christmasses ago we decided to buy each child a special tree decoration every year which will build up into their own collection of tree ornaments.  It's so that when they leave home and start having their own trees, they'll be able to hang up all the special decorations which they got each year and tell their spouses/partners/children/friends all about getting them from Husb and I  (if that makes sense).  They close their eyes and are handed their special bauble...

 

They like it anyway :)

There's also a bit of posing by the finished tree which goes on (brings out the kissy side of some folks!)...

 

I also used to love to lie on the floor  under the tree and look up at all the lights and decorations.  Now, my chids like to do that too...

 

Since we decorated the tree, Smurf had a few days away in Wales and came home having won a cute raffle prize... 4 little Elves which spell 'N-O-E-L'...

 

There was a lot of knitting went into them and they've been posed in all sorts of strange & wonderful ways!!  Also, notice the Advent Calendar on the wall which I made on a Scrap Revolution scrapbooking weekend away with my sis-in-law last year.  Last year we made our own, large home-school project 'London Landmarks' Advent Calendar which went in the bin in the Summer.  Lovely to look back.

Paddle Power...

Yesterday the home-schooled three started a six week course of canoeing called 'Paddle Power'.  Chef and Tiger-girl in their canoe...

 

 

 

Smurf was there too (less photo opps)...

 

The guy running it had a great way with kids.  Well worth £5 per person.  Looking forward to the next 5 sessions.

 

Yep... lovin the outdoor adventurous side of things.