The hot Christmas...

Christmas day this year was a scorcher...37 degrees. Very few photos were taken, we were busy staying cool in Big Sister's pool in between courses. I am grateful that we can spend time together as a family at Christmas, enjoying each others company.

from Hayley's instagram

Each year it changes a little bit, the children are now all young adults and are entertaining us instead of the other way around.
And all too soon the day is over, the decorations get packed away and we look forward to the approaching year.

50 Parkruns...

I managed to squeeze in this milestone this morning on Christmas Eve. Luckily parkrun starts at 8am so we were done by 9 to fit in last minute preparations for Christmas.

I first attended parkrun back in February 2014 when Toolern Creek parkrun was launched and it has taken me nearly 2 years to rack them up. 46 of them were at this home base, 2 at Maribyrnong, 1 at You Yangs launch and 1 at Toowoomba while we were visiting family in Qld. There has been both hot and cold mornings, and some rain but every Saturday parkrun goes ahead.
I also have volunteered 12 times and enjoy being part of the parkrun community.

This morning 6 of us reached this milestone including a family of 4 and when the photos are posted I will attach them here. Lots of the group of 60 odd got into the spirit and celebrated Christmas and running at the same time on this hot morning. Thunder rumbled a Happy Christmas before we started and we were pleased some lightning was moving away to the East.

thanks Damo for the snap

Running Buddy was able to attend also and I was grateful that she was able to squeeze that in her busy day with family duties, to run with me. Poor old Mel had to work (but then let us know there were no patients in the ward to look after anyway - better that people stay out of hospital at Christmas).
I wore a sequinned skirt that was very festive but very scratchy so will be kept for very special runs in the future. A few commented that whilst festive hats and headbands are fun they aren't that comfortable!

I'm glad I was able to have this run this morning. With us being so busy and the weather heating up finally, running is on the back burner.








Now off to prepare for Christmas dinner with Hayley and Ben.

2014 is nearly done...

The year is drawing to an end.

There has been so much build up to Christmas and holidays. Lots of work had to be finished off before leave could commence.

Work Christmas party number 1

We entertained homesick English visitors and tried to make the season as Christmassy as possible. I pulled together a Christmas Eve dinner and we wore paper hats and had a great time. I think they appreciated the effort and perhaps it eased the pangs slightly. The hot weather has really thrown them off balance, it doesn't seem like Christmas to them at all and it has been interesting to hear how things are different and some are the same. A cruise around looking at the Christmas lights was a highlight as well.

We enjoyed our family Christmas celebration today after a less frenetic gift exchange than we are used to, having grown up children changes the dynamic somewhat. It was lovely to have Hayley back in the fold.

long time since there were 3 kids in the back seat

 Hayley withstood the barrage of questions about her time away and entertained us all with her witty ways.

Hayley is dismayed she is officially the shortest cousin

Everyone gathered for their family shot and the big group photo taken with the timer

Where's Callum?

Add caption

And behind the scenes...

It was lovely to spend time with these goof balls.

Christmas cheer...

It has been a wonderful Christmas Day.

We've had gifts, family, wine, food, sweets, laughs and of course photos

 Erin misses her sister & was getting anxious to get into the presents when Hayley was a bit late this morning.

 Who knew that a $2 box of bon bons could elicit so much fun & competition

 ambushed again

 

 

So from our motley crew to yours...

One week countdown...

One week to go...

One shift to work....

A few gifts still to buy... mostly other people asking me 'what can I get for ...?'

And I heard this today and thought it was the most true thing I had heard in a while.

"The bigger the child the smaller the boxes under the tree get."

Winding up...

I have had a lovely day off today pottering around while Erin was at the movies with her friends. I was able to finish another layout towards my 50 goal and oil the timber outdoor furniture . I also made some mini baked cheesecakes for tonights tennis breakup.

I think I have finished my Christmas baking and now have the challenge of balancing the different containers in the pantry and fridge. Amongst the treasures are my panetonne, rum balls, white rocky road, ginger shortbread, christmas cake, peppermint truffles, almond/pistachio bread, chocolate fudge, cranberry/cashew bites and macadamia/apricot balls. The apricot macaroons got finished off at work and Erin's vanilla stars are nearly all gone. I think we will have enough sweet treats somehow. During the week I will think about what vegies & salads will go with our roast meats on Christmas Day. Part of the fun is browsing through the books looking for new treats.

I finished this layout and it is number 46 for the year.

no: 46

These photos were taken on Christmas Day last year when we were hit with a tremendous storm & flooding rain. Luckily on that day we did not sustain any damage. It makes me wonder what weather will come this Christmas.

Fabulous...

Erin was so keen to get the Christmas tree up yesterday she did most of the work herself. We have gone again with the blue/silver theme and it looks really pretty. Of course Mum had to pack away the empty boxes and finish the bits that were boring but that is usually the way. Our white bud lights have been twinking already and Chris in his bah-humbug way keeps saying they are going to give him an epileptic fit. I will have to get him up the ladder today to check/install/replace the house lights outside so the neighbours can tell we have the Christmas spirit.

As Christmas Day celebrations have made their way back around to us this year I have a list of other jobs to complete before the family get here. The major one being the pergola roof. I am happy to say it will be able to be ticked off once the remainder of the flashing is done. During the storm yesterday we stood under the colourbond sheets and checked for leaks. There is a couple of areas to address but we will be dry and shaded from here on in.

While I was searching for the decoration boxes in the garage I found a Meritorious Service Award for Significant Achievement that I received in 2000 when I set up the Pre Admission Clinic for the Health Service. I'd forgotten about that one but I could look pretty impressive if I had an office to display them in!

The pool room is looking fuller by the day.

Jib Jab fun...

Our Christmas fun

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

The tree's down...

A bit warmer today thank goodness, and time to take down the Christmas tree. It's all packed away for another year. All the decorations did not quite fit into the original boxes, might have something to do with the extras I purchased.

Colette's story was finally on tonights 'A Current Affair'. Have a look if you missed it. We have been watching a Harry Potter marathon, one each night for the last 5 days so I missed it also. Tomorrow I will get the 'Half Blood Prince' and then I will be up to date to see the latest HP at the pictures

Merry Christmas...

from our family

to yours

Twas the night...

the night that finally everything is done.

Cooking - done
Baking - done
Pork ready, prawns marinading, salads ready to go
Shopping - done
Presents wrapped with even distribution in number and size for everyone
House - clean
Cards - posted
Lights - twinkling
Work - complete, holidays now for 2 weeks

Let the cheer begin!

Merry Christmas to everyone, hope you all have a lovely time with family and friends.

Friday roundup...

It is time for reflection on the past week. A week in which I worked 4 days, treated a friend, attended yoga, cruised the neighbourhood admiring the Christmas lights, did some Christmas baking and felt guilty that Erin's first week of school holidays was very low key.

The girls made these strawberry cones today, the recipe came from the Christmas Better Homes & Gardens mag and really appealed to me. They turned out fantastically well and I will be making more this weekend, along with rumballs, pistachio/almond bread and the panetone.

Heres a random fact I learnt from watching 'Landline' last night:
Almond trees can't self pollinate, they are dependant on bees to pollinate to set the nut. The growers bring in the hives & bees to produce the crop. The honey that comes from almond tree pollen is very dark & not very good. Without the bees - no nuts. And because the trees aren't native the native bees don't pollinate those trees and there isn't enough of them anyway.

I'm glad there are enough bees to keep us almonds, especially at this time of year.

Do you know how hard it is to photograph Christmas lights with a point & shoot camera? very unsatisfying for me. Some of the houses were spectacular, Clark Griswald would be proud. I'm glad our lights are up & going and our Christmas tree is very pretty (even if the pic doesn't do it justice and Hayley thinks blue is not a Christmas colour)

Next week look out for Chris' sisters' dispute with her local council and the manikins outside her shop. The whole scandal will be on 'A Current Affair'.

I'm posting this without pics as the camera has been telling me to wait 'one moment' for about 2 hours, I think its battery like me is tired, I'll try again tomorrow, night all, Jo

Edited: photos added, a full battery is a marvelous thing

I'm packing my sombrero & I'm off

Aah the school holidays have begun...

13 days til Christmas...

I had a pretty productive day after yesterdays funk. Maybe I was just tired from a day of shopping with a dirty house mocking me.

So today I cleaned and redecorated the Christmas tree with its new decos.

We now have a white/silver/blue tree! The angel on the top doesn't really fit in but she'll do this time.

Chris put the outdoor lights up but before it got dark the strong winds snapped the wire to the transformer so no twinkling is happening tonight, maybe after he works some magic it will be pretty tomorrow night.

And I have just pulled the Christmas cake out of the oven...the house smells good.

Preparations...

My countdown to Christmas has begun.

I took myself off to the shops today looking for inspiration and ideas. I came up with a few for the children and picked up this little beauty for myself.

Picture this in orange, and at 30% off today it was a bargain as well.

I will be very surprised on Christmas morning!










I also got a kick start from Coles yesterday. They have released their Christmas ideas book and it was quite inspiring for me to look through the yummy recipes and imagine what I will cook. Here's a link if you cant get to Coles for your copy.
The Australian Good Food magazine Christmas edition also had some yummy looking things to try. I thought I would try out an appetiser before I took it along to a party. It involves wrapping a strip of prosciutto around a grissini bread stick and an asparagus spear. Sounds simple & delish but it didn't wrap nicely and didn't taste good, the verdict was a thumbs down. But it wont put me off trying some of the others.

I was able to pick up the glace fruit so will be able to start the baking once the temperature drops below 30 degrees.

The gifts...

Among the many gifts the kids received there was several standouts.

Our budding artist Erin wanted the Pictionary Man game & has had us in hysterics with her very entertaining & surprisingly accurate depictions of things like 'gravity'.

We gave Hayley a tripod & she then went on to take approximately 500 photos on Christmas Day, mostly of others & a few of herself!

Coolest of the cool Cal got what he wanted ... cold hard cash

And everyone was very happy.

Christmas Day...

turned out to be a wonderful day with my family.


Kids under the tree...

Kids being silly...
And all of us squished into the smallest space in the house...

MIA...

Wow... it has been so busy in the lead up to Christmas I haven't had a chance to blog or post any photos, so here is a catch-up.



Break-ups, Christmas parties, end of year wind ups, & swimming on scorching hot days consumed my time. Shopping & working filled in lots of hours also, I barely posted out the few cards I'd made, in time. And a rearrange of the house moved the computer into Cal's room & I couldn't find the time or energy at the end of the day to fight for some blogging time.

Erin begged for a gingerbread house & all the kids helped to decorate it.

One year when I have total control the house of ginger will be pristine!

I love Christmas time... the decorating, the cooking, the planning & the celebrating. With Christmas Day being held at our place this year I made some new deco's & sweated over the weather report each day. A cyclone in the North west was threatening to dampen our celebrations under the leaky pergola roof, so I had my fingers crossed for a fine day.

I hope your Christmas Day was filled with joy & feasting, ours was & even though the lead up is hectic that's what makes it so special.