Happy Christmas
May you know today the joy of poor shepherds who were met by a host of joyful angels,
May you know today the wonder of wise travellers who followed the star,
May you know today the delight of a young couple at the miracle of new life,
May you know today that the gift of Christmas is for you and you are precious in the eyes of heaven.
Happy Christmas and thank you for being part of my journey.
(this portrait is my gift to The Atlas done by the talented Stella – photo from her blog)
When Christmas All Gets Too Much….
Have a little nap
5 more sleeps to go….
Peace On Earth and Goodwill to All People
Can’t beat the angel’s message!
My Little Christmas Finger Puppets
Have a wonderful Christmas.
Annette's Quilted Nativity
May you know peace, love and joy today
Detail - Annette's House
and always.
On the Way to Bethlehem
We had a little trip to Grandma and Grandad’s church for a carol service with master 4 tonight.
Master 4 wanted to be an angel but we had no costumes so he decided we should try for a sheep.
Maaaa
Aunty Katie and I did an alright job with some string, a needle, cotton, a towel and Grandma’s armchair cover.
When we arrived the children were all practised for their performance but that didn’t stop Master 4 joining in.
My favourite part was watching him walk up the aisle with a cow he didn’t know holding hands. He made lots of new friends.
Baa Baa Fluffy Sheep
Bless him.
Grandma couldn’t believe he would go up the front with such confidence but I reminded her that he is my baby after all. (Takes after his mama!)
Christmas is nearly here!
99/100 complete
Peace Labyrinth
We had a wonderful special evening tonight.
We went to the Peace Labyrinth in Latimer Square and then had ice creams.
I love living in Christchurch there are SO many great things that happen during the year and so much of it is free or at very low-cost.
If you live in Christchurch don’t miss out – 2 more days, 24 hours a day.
Peace
Christmas At Home
Not my home but I can hope one day mine might be like this.
Last night I went to see my friend Annette’s Christmas Open Home in support of the Cancer Societies Relay for Life.
Annette is an amazing sewer, actress, mother – you know the type – not sure whether to love them or feel very resentful of all their talents!
The house was full of amazing Christmas creations that she and her mother had made. Part fundraiser, part tribute to her mum who lost her battle with cancer this year it was a treat to see and be inspired by all the loveliness.
The whole family had done an amazing job at converting their lovely home into a full-on Christmas fest.
Thanks Annette for sharing. Wishing you a VERY special Christmas. xx
99/100 complete
The Things We Do For Love
Last night I made this for my husband.
Back View
A baby hi-vis vest for a baby shower for his work mate – who incidentally hates visi-vests. I made up the pattern and I’m reasonably pleased with it but the fabric was horrid to work with.
Front View
Today I have also officially finished Challenge 97 to grow something from seed. I gave up on my sad effort at coriander and settled for no fail sprouts, thanks sister!
Sprouts
Master 4 had a wonderful time at ‘Santa’s risotto’ (grotto) with Ma (grandma) today.
The Sprout Jar
I also received my final installment in the decoration swap these ADORABLE mittens. Thanks Ange.
Sweet Mittens
The Christmas newsletter is finished, pending approval from he who is not super keen on them. So it starts to feel a lot like Christmas round here.
I finish with this super sweet video I was sent today. It is well worth the watch made by some children from a church in Auckland. The littlest wise man and the star are my favourite. Hopefully it works – my first attempt to upload a video link.
DIY Christmas Wreath
Every year I think about how I am going to go all out and decorate and then I find myself wildly making decorations on the 30th of November.
Each year I make both the boys a Christmas tree decoration and try to take a picture of them hanging it on the tree. That way when they leave home (speaking in faith here!) they will have a whole set of decorations that will hopefully have memories attached to them.
Crafting
At this point I must digress and say yes I am aware they will probably marry (again in faith) one of those girl’s who decorate their tree with only silver bows or some other such thing and won’t want a bar of 18+ years worth of manky homemade decorations!
This year we don’t even have a home for decorating so I have kindly decided that the boys and I will make all sorts of wonderful things to decorate Ma and Pop’s house where we are currently stationed. Lucky them.
Today we made some wreaths.
Colouring Stars
While the boys were asleep and I tried to make a Lentil and Kumara curry I also cut out stars from coloured paper and 2 sort of circular wreath shapes from some old A4 paper.
Preparation
Then we had some fun.
Choosing a Bell
And here are the results. We are very impressed with ourselves.
Master 2 with his Wreath
Don’t you wish we could decorate your place too?
Master 2's Wreath
Master 4 changed into this outfit especially for the photo with his! (He may not appreciate me publishing this in time but I plan to be one of those embarrassing mothers anyway – I might as well start early.)
Master 4's Wreath
92/100 complete
