Petits Haricots

we have had a lovely christmas. family trickled in christmas eve after we had done more crafting and baking. we had had a fab time. we played games, ate [but not to excess, so have loads left!] drank – but not alot! and generally had a great time.
the kids were all happy with their presents, and some kits and crafts to get going with.
Chris’s family came over boxing day – particularly good that we had made all the food in advance as it made it much easier. i haven’t seen his nephews for a while, and they were lovely. all went really well.
bB slightly chippy as emily got a ds for xmas and can’t read, so i think it is a ds for her next birthday!
but she was really ecstatic with her bike! [when i flickr i will add the fab bike pic] we found that all that like-a-biking paid off, as she doesn’t need stabilisers [which is good because we haven't bought any]
having 10 on christmas day seemed v relaxed though, and no-one being ill and breaking arms really helped.
i wasn’t in work much on boxing day – also helped
the kids played really beautifully with each other
we enjoyed playing settlers and nordic ticket to ride, and a number of games from my mum.
and i loved having time with my happy girls.

yep, a merry christmas!

it was nice getting up, knowing we were all done [pretty much] and could just relax into the day. lots of games playing. even dad had a go at castle keep. girls both happy. SB did piano practice and started new book [sugar and spice!]
we did some crafts – tissue paper stained glass stars. we looked at NORAD a fair bit – bb most excited. SB not so enthusiastic.
cooked sausage rolls, and made a yummy veg stew with dumplings [not too disimilar to nic camp stew]
welcomed sis and family.
and relaxed after the veggie readying with mulled wine. lovely.
hoping everyone likes their presents, and that all is well with the world tomorrow.

IMG_4822, originally uploaded by Scrumbledelicious.

Not convinced i will have a ‘puter moment this evening. SO I would like to say Happy Christmas to everyone who reads this blog. May all the christmasses go smoothly with happy children and happy parents!

Maybe because the lurgy is mostly gone, and the pre-migraine brought on by the artificial citron perfume to the soaps appears to have been chased by plenty of food, carbs and ibuprofen = phew!!

today was mostly a baking day, AND we used up 2[!!!!] packets of icing sugar – and i stayed resolutely calm! We started off with lots of game playing and having fun with nanny and grandad as well, and then we decided to bake. SB wanted to make a fruity wreath like last year, and BB wanted to make mr tumbles face! luckilly i flickred the page of the wreath making last year [as it was a library book] all apart from how long in the oven. the mr tumble thing was from cbeebies, and on talking to BB, she wanted to do exactly that face,, but make it round instead of square, have chocolate instead of plain, and make it a snowman instead of mr tumble!! i printed off her recipe [a sponge cake with added pictures of mr tumble] she wrote on it the changes we needed to make [in BB code] and i reconfirmed her desires and hoped i was going to get it write [as she doesn't make any allowances for stupidity of grown ps not actually being able to read minds]

SB was nearly entirely self sufficient, so i got BB going with making the sponge, and apart from our usual within 2 SD’s of mean quantities we were fine and in oven, so she went off to play with Nanny, whilst SB and i did some of her wreath together, just because we enjoyed doing it together rather than being strictly necessary. SB’s needed a warm place [as it contains yeast] and BB’s was in oven whilst we had lunch.

Actually, i will gloss over lunch as BB and I on own in kitchen for most of it, and i completed several episode worth of guardian quiz things whilst she ate 2 sausages [prob eating all the lickings!].

SB’s cake then went in the oven, BB’s came out, rested and then was iced. I cannot believe the amount of icing! in the end, for the full snowman effect as determined by BB, I have made a 6″ and 8″ round chocolate cake – so a fair amount of cakeage to cover anyway. but def covered! SHe v carefully put a proper snowman face on. she is a girl of details, so even put the black stripes on the carrot nose. I am not sure, however, how many snowmen are liberally covered in sprinklies…

SB as fairly green with envy at all the icing, so i went and bought some more icing sugar [i had 3 across road trips today for baking ingredients ] and so when i just caught her wreath in time before brown became burnt [only just mind - for next year, check at 10 minutes!] and it had cooled, she used copious quantities of icing sugar on hers. could only get the expensive fondant icing sugar as well. then also decorated. SO both girls v happy with their days baking. it only took 4 hours all told!

More games playing. SB then recreated the tower of london in bricks – pretty well actually, and I had no idea she knew what it looked like! BB got a bit tired, so we had a book break, and I read a number of the Just So Stories
stories. I find they always help both my girls settle down, and i love the edition i have linked too. Somewhere in the day, SB found time to practice carols on the piano and do some music theory.

BB nearly fell asleep, but got going enough to do some more rampaging around and playing before dinner. she fell asleep pretty quickly at bedtime. however, i am hoping it is not related to her near electrocution. an argh moment as we were playing chase before bedtime [i am not really one for settling down!] and she switched on my bedside light and it didn’t come on, and pointed her finger in it saying no bulb as i realised what she was doing and said no. i think there must have been an arcing current, so raced her to bathroom tap as she sobbed that the light was trying to grab her. chris had taken bulb out as blown, but not put anything in its place. now remedied, but bB and i both a bit shaken. TBH, i supposed that there would be some safety feature or other.

SInce the girls bedtime, I have made 2 lots of cheese scones. the first lot accidently with strong white bread flour so they are cheesy biscuits – my dad did a taste test and liked them! and the second were made properly. mum made mince pies with me – nice to spend the day baking first with children and then with mum.

anything i haven’t done in advance now can be done on the day. i have done ENOUGH! [actually, this excludes any baking i do with the girls, as that is classified into the fun section]

SO today we tidied the girls bedroom – something of a mammoth task. chris has made less headway in our bedroom. then the girls fancied baking, so SB and I made muffins [choc cheesecake!], and mum and BB made ‘jam hearts’. we also did some decorating our christmas baubles, and hama beading. following this we did some more soap making, this time adding glitter and bits to the soaps. v much fun!

the girls have also decorated the staircase with mum, and i did a bit more xmas food prep and made some yummy mincemeat muffins – our breakfast staple for xmas day. i will also make some mocha ones. then lots of games and playing. in some gaps, sb has done piano practice 2ce and spelling. BB has done recorder and writing. both have poisson rouged and watched a prog on planet earth.

As i was putting BB to bed, sb was fiddling with the decs on the childrens tree and knocked it over. mostly fixable, but the angel has lost a wing. i am not taking this as a sign…

so today we got a bit stuck into tidying, such that we could bear to go into the playroom. The girls played a lot of sylvanians v happily with each other – always lovely! so that by the time mum and dad came, the lasagne was waiting to go into the freezer, there had been a bit of a tidy in the kitchen, and the other downstairs rooms, apart from hall, weren’t looking too bad [ok, apart from pantry and official room of doom!] we had even managed to get up the curtain, and I had ‘hemmed’ it with safety pins – woohoo!! [and looks lovely]

the girls did some home ed stuff as well, SB and I did a piano practice together, and she has finished the gpdf and ace book. she also did some maths and music theory. BB and i did reading together and french [and SB joined in]. we read about yule and christingles in the while the bear sleeps, and then made some. they looked lovely, and the girls didn’t manage to set each other alight this year – result!

for our craft today we did melt and pour soaps. these were surprisingly easy, as SB quite independent, but i like to also do with her, and BB not to mad! they are darker and more perfumed than they need to be, so we will use a pipelle in future! Also the scents with them have a fake citron which is overpowering, so next time [? tomorrow] will use some essential oils i have. anyway, we were all most impressed and pleased, including my mum, who hates crafts! anyway, that ticks all our present boxes, so for that we are ready!

we didn’t manage to do any baking, so have that on the list for tomorrow, but lots of playing games and socialising with grand parents. the girls had a v long and drawn out bath, as our plumbing is not playing the game [and i am not going to think that it might go wrong completely, as plumbers over xmas?] and the hot water came through like a man with prostatism wees. anyway, finally enough to wash children with, so all done!

when the girls went to bed, i made the dahl and the brandy butter. but feeling decidely behind! chris is going shopping for the veggies tomorrow, so we should have a chance to make the casserole. but i must make the muffins and cheese scones tomorrow!