We Spend Most of Our Day Doing This ........

...... just hanging by the pool.






Don't be too jealous.

Hehehe.......

And so that was Christmas....

...it passed in a whirlwind, which it always seems to do. It's always over way too fast.

This Christmas was filled with happy moments, laughter and not a little drama occasionally.

Christmas eve Del's parent's came up from Bunbury to stay with us, along with his sister and two nephews who were over from the UK. The day was spent mainly in preparing for the big day, my planning and preparation of the food and home went smoothly but I can't say the same for Del. In getting the bbq ready he discovered that it no longer worked, so desperate last minute repairs were undertaken, knowing that the very next day we were hosting a BBQ Christmas lunch for 15 people. To say there was a little bit of stress would be an understatement! Luckily, positive thoughts prevailed and the bbq was hobbled into some semblance of working order.

I must say it was lovely to have family around on Christmas eve and an evening walk to look at the Christmas lights really added to the merriment. Charlie was so excited about Christmas but thankfully was so tired out by evening he went to sleep straight away.

Pity the same couldn't be said for the older boys, who were sleeping outside in tents (due to lack of room in the house!). Mark my words, teenagers still get excited and silly on Christmas eve! Finally sometime after midnight 'Santa' was able to drop off a whole sleigh's worth of presents.

Not too many hours later we were all woken by Charlie, followed by some tired teenagers (not so clever staying up half the night being silly, was it now?) and the mammoth though much relished task of unwrapping began.

By lunchtime we had a house full of people, having fun and eating well, though some of the desserts didn't cope too well in the extreme heat. It was a joyful, fun day surrounded by loving family, and I tried desperately to close my eyes to the mess my house had become. Which was hard for me as I find I can't relax when the house is a mess, and boy was it a mess that day. I restrained myself from cleaning away every scrap of wrapping paper, packaging, plates and glasses and went for a swim in the pool instead.

A much wiser decision given the 40 degree heat.

Boxing Day and today were spent relaxing in the pool some more and slowly getting my house back in order (of course!). I have till the 10th January off work, and I have nothing more pressing on my time than ensuring my little vegetable garden is watered each morning.

Bliss.

Though at the moment I'm not too sure how to fill my days, I want to just laze around and do nothing, but that is so unlike me it's hard to actually do nothing. Maybe I'll just read some of the books Del gave me for Christmas and spend lots of time in the pool.

Sounds like a good plan to me.

A Summertime Christmas

Last weekend, in the middle of a heatwave, we put up our Christmas Tree.

It was 38oC that day.

And our air conditioning was broken.

The pool was not fit to swim in either.

Needless to say we were hot.

Hence the nearly naked photos of Charlie.



Listening to Christmas songs such as "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" while putting up the tree in the heat, was the ultimate irony.



Why, hello there Santa, so nice of you to drop by.



Charlie was eager to get started with the decorating.

Surveying the tree.....







For some reason Charlie insisted in putting the decorations as far into the tree as he could reach.

It obviously makes sense in his mind to do so.





The finishing touch.... affixing the star atop the tree.... with a little help from Kaiden.







And the finished product...


It's definitely starting to feel like Christmas around here.

I can tell by that little bead of sweat, slowly trickling down my back.

And so it begins.

It's 12.21pm.

We've survived the first morning of the autumn school holidays.

Kaiden and Corey have been holed up in Kaiden's room all morning, killing zombies or aliens or something equally as testosterone filled and disturbing. I just peeked in a while ago and the wave of heat and boy smell that hit me, made me retreat quick smart.

They did emerge briefly earlier this morning for Hot Cross Buns. Being soldiers of fortune is obviously hungry work.

Soon I'll have to become the horrible mum who spoils all their fun, and kick them out of that room and get them to do something a little more physical or constructive. Such as mowing the lawn or cleaning the pool, I think.

Gosh I love having my slaves boys home all day.

Charlie is currently fast asleep in his cot, tightly clutching Iggle Piggle and Upsy Daisy.

As an aside; until a few weeks ago I didn't have a clue who these characters were either. But since Charlie has fallen deeply and completely in love with the program In The Night Garden, I have become a bit of an expert. Out of sheer necessity. An 18mth old insistently asking "who's dat?" over and over can become quite wearing.

"Who's dat?"

"That's the Ninky Nonk."

"Who's dat?"

"That's the Pinky Ponk."

"And that strange looking alien creature there is Makka Pakka. Just be careful your older brothers don't catch sight of him or that will be the end of Makka Pakka."

But back to the school holidays.

I have a list (of course I have a list!!!) of things for us all to do over the holidays, so although I still have to work during this time, I do plan on making this 2 weeks as fun as possible. But I'm sure some of the things on the list will make the older boys groan and roll their eyes at the thought of going to some uncool place like a park or the zoo. WITH THEIR PARENTS. Oh the cruelty!

Wish me luck.