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After christmas bIL and Z left early boxing day, but his dad A stayed until the saturday. He is turning 80, so another son came and picked him up to take him to a party. We were v happy to host him for a few extra days as he is lonely on his own. the kids went with the grandparents to the park, and dad took them skating again [and again no photos!] and a fair number of games were played as well as some vegging watching tv – we all enjoyed megamind. kids did lots of scootering and heelying on their xmas gifts, and destroyed a sleeping bag by using it to surf the stairs – but listening to their giggling and shrieking with laughter was worth it.

on the saturday, as well as A’s other son, we had dad’s brother visit too – lovely to see uncle D and Aunty J, as we don’t see them often enough

mum and dad took E and M home on the sunday and suddenly the house seemed very empty!

Had a lovely Xmas, there are always a few moments to gloss over when so much family of 3 different branches congregates but they were very few. Thankyou to all my lovely family for the hugs, laughter and just being there

we had a wonderful christmas day. lots of laughter, plenty to eat, games to play and happy children and adults. M and BB scored their presents 10/10, and i have done a swap for ems, so now she is happy too. had wrongly thought she would like a karaoke, but now have swapped for some ds games. At christmas I remember the wonderful christmases I had as a child with grandparents and family, and miss those that are no longer here. I also aim to make christmas lovely for all, to set lovely memories for the children we have, and also for me as i get older.

It worked out as a beautiful day so here are some photos

and we even got to skype SB, which was fab

blogging from the future – 2014 – and depressed to see where I stopped! clearly I stopped then because we were in full rush for xmas mode and mum and dad and my niece and nephew arrived that weekend – which is always lovely but being nearly 2 weeks away does make the memory a bit on the hazy side! I know mum and i did lots of tidying that weekend, DH and dad did lots of DIY to try and get bathroom ready. the kids played together and tidied the bedroom for me – very nicely!

ems, BB and i tried to make DH turkish delight for xmas. we didn;t really get it to set not sure if he ate any!

dad took the kids iceskating for a treat, but didn’t take any photos but they loved it. we wrappe pressies, and then DH mum and dad arrived and my BIL with Z and his dad A. A houseful! we hadn’t quite got the bathroom ready, unfortunately but all was neat and tidy anyway Christmas was ON.

Lovely phone call with SB. she seems happy and balanced with her French family. She is excited about christmas, excited by the preparations and the going skiing afterwards. Lovely to hear . She says v has squirrelled away the xmas pressies, just like i would do , but they loved getting the festive period cupcake kit . she happily chatted with M and E as well as Nanny and Grandad and was full of happiness. They are having loads and loads of people over for xmas – 20 – so sounds like a fun houseful. After xmas they will be going skiing in Bramans, which sounds lovely too

here are photos that V has taken [thankyou] from their last sledging in the alps

it has been a hard week working against their clock. really disappointed that it isnt going to be ready for xmas, just hoping for as much function as possible. DH is working very very hard. trying to cover all the other bases meant i was given the ocado login and ordered lots of stuff i just haven’t got round to making . kept the house going, and in fact have done a fab 40 days tidy on conservatory and dining room. so now should go round tomorrow taking photos! [of the downstairs] AM v proud of how hard DH is working x x

bb did prob 15 things, mostly reading, crafts and piano. however nanna titied up and threw away the ticksheet so no photo! next week will be games, craft and laughter. some reading may happen but it is christmas!!!!

this probably should be called minecraft and skating wednesday, as that is mostly what happened! i had worked too much the night before but was raring to go ok so i drank lots of cups of tea. jax couldnt make it due to illness and kfish was in london. so we had a chilled time minecrafting and chatting, and went skating, where we met up with theB and co. kids had a great time. bb was twiling and jumping.

bb had made a minecraft christmas extravaganza world, and there was lots of giggling and laughing. the rest of us tried a complicared game of settlers with both knights and seafarers expansion

thursday bb managed to skate again with cubs, and we had nanna over to help make the house reasonable for xmas

still snowing in france! this weekend SB had a religious cultural experience, as the scouts took part in a special service for the last sunday before xmas [yep, its that xmas word - panic panic panic] . I think she enjoyed it. She was enthusing over the gifts she and frb have planned for each other they do appear to be getting on really well . still no photos for me tho – sigh! i think her french family are getting a bit bored of vegetarianism tho! they have been wonderful accommodating her diet, and i said this to sb, but she said she realises why jfish stopped being veggie on the exchange, as it is harder. i reminded her that it was her choice whilst she was there, but if she stays veggie, to appreciate the effort the family has made to give her good healthy veggie food. she agreed, and then asked why she could eat hens eggs and not fish eggs! explained… i think christmas approaching is making her feel more homesick again, and certainly isn’t easy, but accentuate the positives. I think this exchange has been really good for her, and i think she is and will continue to be glad and proud she did it.

bb on the phone to big sis, in lieu of any other pics

the shower is tiled and grouted. unfortunately we have had to do another stud wall as the window wall was so far out of true, and the lime plaster not good in places. yes, we should perhaps have stripped all the plaster and started from scratch, but then we might never have finished the job! at least we are progressing. I have closed my mind to the fact christmas guests come next weekend. argh! i let the thought in for a second!!! aaaarrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. deep breathe, deep breathe, deep breathe! oh, and we have insulated the bath, for a nice long warm soak!

Bb evinced huge disappointment on tues eve that it wasn’t a weds4ed the next day. So a txt to theB -knowing her house germ free- and we went across for lunch time. Had a great afternoon. I brought a fimo craft – glass jar tea lights – we all enjoyed it and B did a partic fab one for a school secret Santa. Swimming happened, bb did some home ed, some games happened and lots of chatting. Lovely day. Managed to make it back for last judo