my escapism

So this is what I have been doing while the kids have been vegging, coughing, fighting and being generally unpleasant. I've been locking myself away and working on this quilt I started for Ella before Christmas. I can only do so much at the moment as my foggy head doesn't quite want to keep up with all those triangles, and once I have made 3 mistakes I know it's time to stop for a while.

I am very pleased with it as I designed it myself. Ella's middle name is Rainbow, so this is her rainbow quilt. At first I was only going to make it a single quilt, but there is so much effort going into it (and I cut so many triangles) that I might make it a double. I had a weird dream last night where she (played by Jennifer Anniston) was getting married and I was desperate to finish this quilt as her wedding present. But then I did have to take myself out and sleep on the landing last night as I was being wracked by great spasms of coughing fits...you know the ones that you just can't control but you dread them starting, because once they do you know you won't stop until your ribs are bruised. Well that was me last night. And I could hear more coughing from most of the kids' rooms too. Needless to say today will be another slow day with it 1pm and we're all still in our Jammies (except dear Matt who has had to go into work -on a Saturday!)

Anyway, as I was downloading the quilt photos, I found the few "Christmas photos" we took. Actually they are all Christmas Eve photos, but some are quite amusing:
Here is the lit landing strip so Santa can find our house from the air. And Ella sprinkling rain deer food (oats and coloured sugar) on the lawn. Honey thought this was a special treat for her when I took her out for a walk later.

Usually on Christmas Eve we read the kids "'t was the night before Christmas", but this year I decided to narrate the story of the nativity and get the kids to act it out.

First we had a couple of silly shepards mucking around in the fields...or maybe this was the bit with Herod???
Then Mary and Joseph.

Mary was having a few baby problems and went into premature labour before they even found Bethlehem.


But at last they were able to wrap baby Jesus in swaddling clothes and lay him in the manger (dog bed).

The Angel of the Lord appeared on High...

And the shepards were fearful...

But the shepards eventually got the message (through many giggles) and went to pay homage to baby Jesus. I'm not sure why the sheepdog is attacking Joseph.

It was all very silly, but the kids loved it. Matt made me then get up and do the whole thing on my own in mime. I'm not sure what was funnier; me or the stunned looks on the kids' faces. Matt was under strict instructions not to take any photos during that performance.

And while I'm on the subject...

Christmas morning started in the traditional way. The kids have to come into our bed when they wake up so that no one can start opening anything without the others. This used to work very well when they were little and were waking up early...it bought us some extra time and who doesn't love a family snuggle. But now they are bigger and it is physically difficult to fit a large 13 year old, 11 year old, 8 year old, 6 year old and an over excitable licky puppy in the bed all at once. We called Grandma and Grandad from the bed and no one was allowed to leave until the phone call was finished. It was all a bit squishy.

Our traditional Christmas breakfast is fruit and chocolates. Growing up in Aus it was always the summer fruits like cherries and mangoes and peaches and nectarines. It's a little harder to do that in a winter clim, but I did get some lovely cherries from south America and my hands were stained purple all day.

We take turns opening our stocking presents. Everyone has to watch while one person opens one thing at a time until their stocking is empty. This slows down the mayhem a bit. Santa always brings the majority of presents in this house, so the stockings are a big thing and he comes to the WHOLE family. And the rule is if you don't believe in Santa you still have to play along. Then we have a break before giving the presents under the tree.

There were very few toys this year as both Santa and myself thought it was time we moved out of that phase. So there were books and art kits and hair kits and board games and sleds and clothes and stuff like that. But the kids all seemed really happy. They particularly loved the Nintendo DS (Not the kind of thing I would usually get for them, but Grandma bought them the games). And it is a very fun little thing. The reason we don't have much in the way of computer games in this house is that Remi in particular becomes totally addicted to them. So that has been put under lock and key and they have to earn points to be able to use it by being good...no one has yet.

We had a big lunch which hardly got eaten as the kids had been drinking egg nog all morning. We've paid the price by living off Turkey and Ham for the last few days. I'm not a huge turkey fan to begin with, but I love the ham. Last night it was ham and turkey quesadillas. And we had summer berry pudding as we didn't have a real pud. By that time I had a nap and the kids played computer games...I did get Oscar a snow boarding game that plugs into the TV where they have to stand on a "snowboard" and do the moves to get down the slope. Anything to try and get him active. It was all very low key, and by 9.30 I was ready for bed. And since then it's been very quiet around here. Oh and my washing machine broke and I won't be able to get anyone out to fix it until after New year...fortunately I'm looking after my friend's house while she's away so I'm doing my washing there. Another good reason to stay in our Jammies all day!

Right! Back to my sewing!