Christmas Day at Little Beach

 

 His little fingers gouge the sand as he fills up his tiny fists. Then he goes down to the waters edge and throws it in. I lost count of how many times he did this.

 We took our new shade tent for a test run before our holiday. We broke it before we could use it so we found the only shade on the beach.

We ate our leftovers lunch sitting on the edge of the rocks. It was a bit tricky for the boys to eat their food without making it sandy.

We enjoyed the gorgeous surroundings. T had a little nap. We snuck away giggling but it wasn't too long before he noticed.This heart shaped was a cool find.

 E, J and I explored the rock pools. The kids had no fear as they played with seaweed and touched little animals in the water.

It was a glorious Christmas Day. The sun shone, the kids frolicked, the food was ready. Everyone enjoyed the peaceful afternoon retreat.

Christmas Elf

Every year we put the Christmas tree up on the first Monday evening of December. This year was no different. It was perfect timing with T coming home on the first Sunday after a week away overseas.

This year we had a new participant. Once C understood what you do with those shiny balls there was no stopping him. 

The bottom of our tree is weighed down because C was such an enthusiastic tree decorator. 

This branch is about to collapse under the weight of all the baubles C put on there.

Our tree turned out lovely with a nice mix of homemade and store bought decorations. 

 

Long after everyone else was satisfied that the tree was finished C was still going.

Naughty or Nice?

Today when we got home from Church there were 2 emails from Santa. One for Emma and one for Jack. There was a link from that email to a video message that Santa had made for them.

There is a part in the video message where their names are put through a machine to determine whether they were nice enough to get presents this year.

It looks like Jack is thinking about whether Santa could possibly know what naughty things he has done this year

And then happy when the result came in

Emma looks a little nervous

Relief

And then Santa said he was on the good GIRL list. Santa had been calling him Jackie the whole time (Our affectionate name for him) so I suppose the program assumed he was a girl! He was even muttering about it half an hour later while getting ready for bed. I didn't try to justify it so I wonder what he thinks happened. 

It was so fun and funny. Thanks, Meg

He is my Sunshine

I can't watch this and not smile. J is the very back left.

You may notice he doesn't look to the front. This was intentional. It was his strategy for dealing with nerves. 

My Lovely Genius

J sat himself down the other  morning to do some work for his school teacher, Mrs C. He wrote some math sentences and then a message on the back. It was so cute I had to share it. 

E was a bit upset at how much he loves his teacher. Especially when compared to their Mum. When she queried him about it he said he loved me just as much! He also wrote a love-filled card to his primary teacher to thank her for a gift. It seems one of J's strengths is his ability to love.

Halloween

There was no Trunk or Treat this year at Church but a few families got together and organized a party. Dress up was compulsory. They said if you don't dress yourself up we will dress you.

C was the only kid that had completely grown out of his costume from last year. So the other 2 reused theirs. E had a couple of changes. She has grown quite a bit over the year so she needed some leggings. Then we sprayed her hair pink. She looked cute.

C was a pirate. I put PlaySchool on so he would sit still while I painted his facial hair on.

T was a greedy stockbroker. (He came from straight from work)



I was a witch CIA agent. I was going to be a witch with green hair but when I went to get all my black clothes on I looked more like a spy so I tried brushing all the green out of my hair and slicking it back. The green didn't come out completely so I was kind of a weird combo of the 2.

It was a fun night. They had great food, great company and a cool outdoor movie theatre.












They showed this which started J dancing. Other kids followed suit not too long after. It was pretty cute to see him feeling free in front of a crowd.

C going to bed

When any of the kids go to bed I usually read them a story. After their story they climb or get put into bed with a couple of extra stories to peruse while preparing for sleep.

 C has taken this to a whole new level. He packs his cot like he is never going to get out.

There have been a few nights when he has not been able to get to sleep because there has been no space to lie down. After I clear the area and tuck him, his toy cat and dog in, they can all go to sleep.