Day: December 25, 2009

CHristmas 2009

it was a great day.

charles had arranged it so that that kids took care of themselves this morning. he did this by laying out pop tarts and preloading the dvd with THE SANTA CLAUSE. he put sticky notes on the plates with each child's name on it, and by leaving instructions (PRESS RED BUTTON) by the one remote control.

sebastian woke up around 6am and raced into our room. charles told him his mission instructions were in the sitting room. sebastian ate his pop tart and waited. then his siblings followed. actually, sela had to be woken by me at 7.30.

and then the gifting commenced. we started wtih stockings and kept going. it was fantastic. the kids loved their presents from auntie pammie and auntie mandy, but most of all, they loved their DS from mum and daddy.

they ate cursory breakfasts, and then played with their ds' until it was time to get dressed. we were out the door by 12.30 and at terri's by 1pm.

i was responsible for one ham, a macaroni cheese, a happy birthday Jesus cake and garlic mashed potatoes for about 20 people. there were two hams and two turkeys. and it was divine. the food was heavenly, the weather perfect, company excellent and the kids, really great.(left: sela and carys help make the mash potatoes)

i dont know if it is the kids getting older, but this was just a fantastic Christmas. we pulled out a puzzle and they were still working on it when i left, if you can believe it. and, we left at 10.30. after arriving at 1pm. can you believe it. that's how old the kids are getting. we can be doing these things now.

it was such a great day.

only downside, carys isn't feeling well. she started weeping towards the end of the night and that is the only reason i walked away from the puzzle while it was still unfinished.

a wonderful, wonderful CHristmas. thank you all.

xo xo xo tess

Jesus is born in Bethlehem!

it is just past midnight.

we have had a remarkably relaxing day.

today jasper and i had some one on one time that didn't involve makeshift surgery. he wanted to go to park n shop and on a few last minute errands with me. he asked if we could take the bus and of course the answer was yes. once in central he asked if he could get a sausage bun and of course the answer was yes. ditto the apple juice. we had a very nice, very companionable time. even better, when i asked him what the best breakfast possible would be for tomorrow, instead of answering waffles or dollar pancakes or sausages and eggs….he chose CAPTAIN CRUNCH. now, i know that i kiboshed the captain until i knew what he was the captain of, but apparently he is the captain of CRUNCH, which is the equivalent of being the sultan of swing. so the cereal is now allowed back in the flat.

the others played downstairs, iced cookies at another flat, and at 4.15pm, we left, dressed for church.

we went to st john's cathedral, for the 5pm christingle service. it was beautiful. the rector explained the symbolism of the christingle orange.

Christingle,
which means 'Christ Light', is a symbol of the Christian faith. During
the service each child is presented with a Christingle – an orange
decorated with a candle, red ribbon, fruit and sweets. The orange
represents the world, the red ribbon around it the blood of Christ through which our redemption has come, the
fruit symbolises God's creation and the candle Jesus, the Light of the
World. four toothpicks are adorned with sweeties. the toothpicks symbolise each season, a reminder of Christ's eternal presence. The wood is part of God's created order. 

in previous years when we have attended the service, we have sat in the very very back, farthest from the toilets which all our kids have had to use. so this year, charles arrived at 4pm (one hour before the service) and got very good seats for the pheasants and for us. 11 in total.

the church started filling up quickly and by 4.25 he was calling me and asking, "will you be here soon?" and i could hear people asking him, "are these seats taken?"

we ended up giving up three of our seats to a mother with a young child and two visiting grandmothers. as you would!

it was a lovely time, and we were home to pizza dinner with the phezzies, and conversation with the kiddies. they left around 8pm, and then all six caldwells decided we would watch rudolph the red nosed reindeer. so drowsy now, the kids snuggled close, and it was lovely and wonderful. a fantastic family time.

off to bed.

charles and i hopped into action, filling stockings and santa sacks (because presents cannot be wrapped this year thanks to the edict of eco man sebastian) we have purchased santa sacks from which charles will put the gifts into bags before handing them over to the kids…it's what sebastian suggested.

20 minutes later that was organised, and then boom, my boy headed off to union church for the 11 pm candlelight service, leaving me to do a few last minute items.

silent night,

holy night

all is calm

all is quiet