a family pre-christmas christmas!

we seem to be having multiple christmasses this year. after all, we had one with friends at the beginning of the month at sussex camp, and then this last weekend we went to parents for a pre christmas christmas as my sis and family are on a well deserved once in a lifetime holiday to florida and the disney resorts for a fortnight [i so hope they are having a fabulous time]. We went down fri eve, and had the standard rather stressful journey down! however, the girls plugged into their dvd’s and we had our carols, so the fog, roadworks etc couldn’t get us down!

saturday was not-quite-christmas day! my sis and family came round early, we unwrapped presents for each other, b-I-L amd M certainly v happy with theirs, not sure about sis and E, but i tried hard. SB and BB were happy with theirs too, as got one of those ds thingies to download to and bb also a sylvanians bakery and watermill – which i found rather cool! i got a dsi – which was a surprise, and a downloadable thingy too, so have the prof laytons to start when i get a chance, as michelle has raved about number 1! we all played games – i felt particularly travel sick after prolonged mario karting! yummy lunch, playing other games, kids all had a ball etc etc! sis and B-I-L left and left the children behind for crazy high jinks! finally all settled.

Sunday SB and M had a clarinet session with mum, which was great to here, more playing games. we bought m

and all 4 kids loved playing it! grandad played it too. so def a good present! well recommended from here! after a quick lunch we went off to the panto – oh no you didn’t – oh yes we did! it was expensive, there were car parking traumas, but it was fabulous! we all laughed, the children really really enjoyed it. the 3d bit was ace rather than just being a poor gimick! do you know, i would recommend it to anyone not that distant! since chris and dad were left parking cars still when it started, we never got a programme [or any tat] so hadn’t realised they were shane ritchies sons. he was *very* funny, and although we missed a lot of the ‘popular references’ i loved the policeman pong – particularly his faultless john cleese impression! i wish my sis and bil had come too, but it was his 40th birthday, and i think they were going out instead! unfortunately they went to pick kids up from my parents house way before we all got back… had a snack tea, gave my sister loads of hugs and love, as will miss her so very much this christmas, but think she is doing the right thing to have this holiday. [emoticon for big sigh, and put on outward face!]

so a lovely weekend with family, and hard as well. losing little nanny this year, and the storms that are ahead of us next year makes all this time so much more precious. feels sometimes as if we are counting grains of sand through a timer, and hard to be spontaneously joyous. something perhaps i am going to put on my new years resolution list. we really can only live for the day, honour the past, hope for the future, but live in the day.