Joy, Peace, Love

I feel utterly refreshed and renewed. What a beautiful FULL week we have had here! I hope you have all had just as blissful a festival season. :)

Christmas Eve gets its special something, for us, by also being the birthday of my beautiful firey soul-sister, Emma. She was celebrated and fed (my instinct is always to show love by feeding people!) and also, there was fire, as is necessary at such times.





Home to find that our last advent pocket directed us on a treasure trail of paper clues to find out first gift - new Christmas PJs and a board game.


Then to bed!


And... on awakening...


This is Rowan's favourite favourite present. A small painted pill tin with ducks.

Stockings contained a wooden figure, a turned wooden mushroom, a painted tin, a notebook, pencil, and colouring pencils or crayons (just a pencil for Rowan, she can share!), socks, clementine, packet of raisins, a couple of chocolate coins, fruit leather, tinti tablet, toothbrush, and a knitted item for each of their special dollies. For Jenna, a lucet also, because hers is missing and she loved it so much. :)

Downstairs, new Christmas clothes and a book each (wouldn't fit in the new smaller stockings!) and a covered treasure chest with gifts from other people in it, to be investigated later. To my amazement, they did not ONCE ask to open more presents.

The morning involved a short abortive attempt to attend Church (Morgan cried because she was cold from feeding the birds) and a lot of games and stories and music. Jenna decorated and set the table, and I enjoyed my spell in the kitchen making enough food to feed us for a week (it is, in fact, still feeding us - which is my aim for the main Christmas meal)!


Here is Rowan with the gift Jenna made for her. Sisterly sweetness wore off slightly in the course of yesterday, but somehow Christmas cast a spell on my children this year and I was torn between being grateful that we had kept it a quiet family time and feeling frustrated that nobody actually WITNESSED how impeccably co-operative and sweet they were all being. ;)

And presents from other people. Uno cards and a wooden apple bowl from us, also. We actually removed two presents from the chest in the end, deciding that they had enough and that some things would be better cared for in a few months or so. Even last year, our Christmas involved a lot of stuff. This year so much more joy has come from so much less.

More play pictures.

I have to point out here that this is what the rug currently looks like when CLEAN. *sigh* I think after six years it might be at the end of its life with us. :S Sorry, where were we? Yes, Christmassing.



"CONNOR! CONNOR!" :)


Boxing Day pictures, more of the pleasant same really!




And that is our Christmas. I can report that it has been a pleasure and a blessing to us and ours, and that life is still mostly in that happy groove. :)