Festive Countdown Day 5 and 6

Before I write about our festive activities, one turned out to be very special, I wanted to show a present idea I had for one of my teenage cousins.

The idea came to me way back in April when I saw a pack of tissues (4) which were decorated just like the packaging on the Love Heart sweets (1). One a theme had been established I kept my eye out for things wherever I went. I saw the address book next(3) and then during the summer I was in Wilkinsons chekcing out their stationery and picked up a set of mini erasers (6). I really wanted to get some kind of cosmetic/smellies set with the same packaging and although they are available they didn't fit into my budget. That may sound mean as they were only £5.00 but the agreed present budget between me and my aunt is £5.00, otherwise costs just spiral.

I was able to find a set of nail varnish in Love Heart shades which was labelled as Nail Candy (2) and a set of 3 lip gloss flavours in a box (5) labelled as Sweet Crush, so they were along the same kind of lines.

Now to Day 5. This was a great day in our festive countdown.
In the morning we left a box of cards on the table so when S came home from school she could sit down and write out all the cards she wanted to send to friends and teachers.
When I came home from work I asked her to write out a couple like the one below.

I had to go shopping that evening and the plan was that whilst we were having our shopping scanned through we would ask our cashier what their favourite bar of chocolate was, S would pop off to the confectionery aisle and get it, then once we had paid for it hand it over and wish the person serving us a Merry Christmas. S was excited about this Random Act of Kindness.
We struck up a conversation with our cashier and S asked her (she was called Melissa) 'what's your favourite chocolate bar?' only to be told she didn't eat chocolate as she didn't like it!
So I asked what she liked as a treat instead and she said her most favourite thing was a bag of Roast Beef flavour Monster Munch. S went off to find it. The cashier looked at me and asked what was happening, I said just wait and see and she asked with a big smile 'Is it Christmas?' When S came back with the crisps the cashier sent her off again to find some sweets she would like.
We paid for the shopping, S handed over the card and crisps and then the cashier asked us to wait whilst she paid for the sweets and then handed them over to S and wished her a Happy Christmas.
The grin on S's face as we left was so huge. Not only had she enjoyed carrying out a random act of kindness and in doing so made the cashier happy, she was genuinely surprised and delighted when she was given something in return. I thanked the cashier as well and said it hadn't been necessary as we were doing this to teach the children the importance and pleasure in giving but she said she wanted to return the gesture.
We plan on doing it again somewhere else before the countdown ends.

Day 6 being Friday we needed something relaxing so it was decided we would watch a Christmas movie we had never seen before and Arthur Christmas was chosen.
It's a really lovely movie, Bill Nighy as the voice of Grand Santa was outstanding, it certainly made me look forward to Christmas eve all the more.

Festive Countdown Day 4

With S's help a handful of presents have been wrapped and tagged.
One for the neighbours, some destined for friends much further afield.
Exciting!

Festive Countdown Day 2 & 3 and the Weekend

One photo to represent day 2 and 3.

S went to a friend's house after school on Monday so Day 2 had to be something quick and simple. When she came home finding and putting up her pink Christmas tree in her bedroom seemed the most likely thing to fit the bill.

For Day 3 we popped popcorn and then strung it on thread to make garlands. Some were used for decorating the tree and some are destined for the back garden for the birds.

Now for a very condensed version of the weekend.
T doesn't feature in this very much because he was away in London. He and Grandma went and stayed with Auntie D and all three of them went to see War Horse. He said it was very good.
S had her friend L come to tea on Friday and she ended up staying over too. In the morning they asked if they could do a taste test.
I blindfolded the pair of them and gave them little samples of the items below. It was G who dipped the tip of ice cream cones into sweet chilli sauce!

After lunch we took L back home and made our way to a local pub which was holding a craft fair and although it was only small we bought another 3 presents and so a few more things were ticked from the list.
The pub is next door to a park which we haven't been to for a while so it was an ideal place to go and stretch our legs for an hour.

Then come the evening G's god-daughter came round to sit babysit whilst we went to the theatre. 
We went to see the Welsh National Opera's production of Tosca. 
G suggested a while back we should try and get out together a bit more and as I had never been to an opera before we thought not only would a night out be good fun, doing something different would be good too.
I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I was blown away by the power of their voices and how they can be belting out one note and then in a second change to something so much more subtle.
We've booked to go again next year and see La Traviata.

Sunday was another craft fair and another park.
This fair was far less successful but the walk was pretty and we got to see this very friendly robin who quite happily posed for photos.

Someone else quite happily posing!

Love the way this photo makes S look like she has a leaf beard!

Sunday afternoon was when we started our festive countdown with the making of the non edible dough gift tags but we also made something which was hightly edible. Mars bar crispies courtesy of Gillian at Tales from a Happy House and very popular they were too.

Festive Countdown Day 1

Our festive activity countdown has begun.
Whilst listening to the fabulous Puppini Sisters S and I made gift tags with a dough made from cornflour and baking soda.
Apparently they can either be dried in the oven or left to air dry which is the method we are going for.

First Week

Although it's early Friday morning I have already finished the first week in my new job. 

Today is an inset day and we are going in for staff training so it won't be a normal day.

But just what is a normal work day for me now?

 Incredibly busy for a start!

My head has been spinning all week and even though I am tired I haven't been sleeping well. There is so much to take in, as there always is with a new job.

It's very different to my old job, although that was busy too, this is a different kind of busy.

If I'm being honest I have to admit I'm not coping well with being the new person who knows nothing. In my last job I was the one people asked when they needed help. 

G says I am a bit of a control freak (tell me something I didn't know!) and I need to try and relax over the not knowing and just accept I will make mistakes and I can't learn a whole new job in one week.

I haven't been near my camera since Sunday and so the only photos I have to share whist I update my week are from our little walk around the park after we had been to a craft fair in search of Christmas presents.

I'm so glad G came with me as he was able to choose the gifts we are giving his mum and sister this year.

The park looked beautiful, lots of browns and golds.

As well as busy afternoons at work most evenings have had something happening too.

Monday was my sister's birthday so there was a visit to her for chatting, cake and presents.

Tuesday G and I went to see Russell Brand.

He does like to roam around the audience and I was only four people away from him at one point.

He is completely outrageous at times.

 He is incredibly articulate at times.

He is utterly mesmerising all the time.

Wednesday was quieter and a bit of this months book club book was read.

Last night G was at T's school for parents evening whilst I went to S's school for a meeting about a residential school trip she is going on early next year.

G heard the same things about T as we have heard before, if he pushed himself a bit more he could accomplish so much more. They all say he is polite (and quick to apologise if he isn't!) but with his options coming up he needs to step it up a bit.

S's trip sounds like it's going to be huge fun. A three day WW2 evacuee themed trip away in the middle of the Dorset countryside, exciting stuff.

Even though I love the golden tones of the autumn trees I do like the stark look of the bird and the sky in this photo.

Happy days.

There was also an extra nice surprise in the middle of the week when I had a visit from Clare. It was so lovely to see her again. 
And look what she bought with her. 
A present for me.
Made by her own fair hand.
The prettiest star garland to adorn the dresser in the dining room.
Clare makes the most gorgeous quilts and if you haven't discovered her blog then pop over and prepare for a feast for the eyes.
Thank you for my garland Clare, you are a star and I love it.

Bottom Half

One day last week I loaded up my shopping trolley with another batch of items from our home we no longer needed and trundled off to the charity shop.

I very nearly got out without making a purchase but the colours in this Marks and Spencer skirt caught my attention as I cast my eye over the clothes racks as I was leaving.

I liked it even more when I looked at the price tag and saw that it had been reduced to £2.00.

When I was little we always had a new outfit to wear Christmas day and it's still something I like to do.

I particularly like the velvet green ribbon and would love to find a top this shade to go with it.

I've been lucky enough to have a couple of little jaunts out Christmas shopping during my time off and am very nearly finished with my gift buying. I am planning on sharing a couple of my favourite present ideas soon, but now I'm off to have a cuppa and enjoy my first festive bakewell tart. 

Lately

It's time for another one of those catch up posts.

 All the things we've been doing recently, big and small, in a round up to bring this online diary up to date, starting with S.

During the first week back after half term S went to a Halloween disco at school. Fancy dress was optional and S decided to combine her spider web head dress with her favourite black and white party dress. Best of all she loved her star patterned tights.

S was nominated as Super Star of the week on Friday. Her teacher wrote this about her.
S has been a wonderfully kind, thoughtful and grown up member of 4HM since day one. She always works hard and is often finishing quickly, ready to challenge herself with the next task. She listens to every instruction and carries it out without a fuss to the best of her ability. Sge tries her best to include everything that has been taught in her work, even when it is a little bit tricky. S is an example to all and a lovely person to have around. Well done S for being wonderful:)
We are so very proud of her.

The same day S had her disco T had an off timetable day at school and the activities included baking cakes which he shared with us and were quite delish.

He was invited round to a friend's house to watch a Halloween light display, five or six songs were linked to a light show featuring singing skulls. Apparently the family do this each day to raise money for charity. 

It's not often T finds anything with his name on, so when he spotted this on a recent shopping trip I bought it for him. It was such a happy coincidence his birth family chose the same name as my dad, I love that they share that.
The biggest event for T is his recent two day school trip to Ypres.
The coach left at 5.30 on Thursday morning and they arrived home again at 7.30 Friday evening. It was a full on two days with visits to two cemeteries, museums, the Menin Gate and a chocolate shop. He was so tired but when he said to me in the car on the way home 'mum, it was really, really good' I could hear how much he had enjoyed it in those few words.

Last week flew by for me. I met friends in town for coffee and a catch up, I did some Christmas shopping, G and I had a day off together and I went into the school where I'll be working for a tour around the building and an introduction to the staff.

On Thursday evening me, G  and S went into town as the Christmas lights in one of the shopping centres were being switched on. In a very happy coincidence we bumped into friends of ours who have recently become adoptive parents and whilst we sat and chatted with tea and mince pies the girls sat together watching a Punch and Judy show.

It was lovely watching their faces when the lights went on and thousands of pieces of foil paper was released to shower down on us.

Saturday S and I went to a Christmas fair held at the City College. It's situated right next door to St. Mary's church, which is where our City's football team got it's name from.

There was a lovely festive feeling at the fair as we shopped to a local music society singing I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas. I will show what I bought another time.

And last but by no means least, here we have G's mum on Sunday opening her birthday card from G and finding out he is taking her to the Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace and then on for afternoon tea at the Hilton. Well it had to be a special present as it was her 80th birthday.
Grandma was wonderfully generous and took 17 close family and friends out for a delicious 4 course meal at the Grasmere Hotel. She wanted to celebrate her day with those important to her and those who have helped her through a very hard year since she Grandad passed away last December.It was truly a day to remember with good food and very good company.