Stalking Santa

Every year we go out looking for him. This year Shorty has run into him at the shops and at kindy but I fear there will not be a photo of the whole fivesome with the bearded one this year. Not unless I bribe them all with i-tunes cards. 

We saw his signature in the sky a few days ago like the Bat-signal. The local  Rotary Club has for many years, driven him around in a sleigh for a week before Christmas, a different set of streets every night. We never look up the Santa map. When we hear the Christmas musak on the sleigh speakers we'd go out stalking him, stopping every few streets and listening intently before hunting him down by ear. We missed stalking Santa this year. They were all busy and not as enthusiastic as when they were smaller.

Shorty believed me but there are more sceptics this year than ever before. I felt a pang when I found this.

So we set off in search off Santa to rekindle the Christmas spirit with some city sights as bait.

The City parade had camels and donkeys and tiny acrobats twirling above the crowd and sublimely singing nannas. Shorty liked the little pink princess up on her high throne best.

When the skies opened up we got soaked at the panto in the square under the enormous breathtaking tree. 

There was squealing and dancing and jumping in fluorescent puddles. The children did too.

 Crowds of Dads with crazy hats and mums with flashing earrings ran through the rain away from the dancing elves and helped each other with prams and toddlers and laughed together in the chaos of warm summer rain. It was joyous!

We caught a glimpse of Santa zooming away up the side of the parade on some turbo charged Santa-mobile. So this is the closest we got to the Santa photo for 2012. Que sera.

We conceded to Ho-ho-happy meals and got Starbucks for the first time ever. I know. 

They sell Christmas fare. Who knew?

It was even fun walking home in bare feet through the wet, shiny streets all blingy and fresh and cool. 

Is this a glimpse into the future when they go out together in the city without their mother taking photos from behind?

When you are soaked and excited and it's nearly Christmas even the zombie tunnels to the carpark are fun.

This zombie took a while to get to sleep last night. 

So, Santa, we didn't try hard enough to find you this year as some of us were distracted and some of us were cynical but we still had a ball. Wish you could have been there. We'll see you tonight though. Milk and bikkies on the patio around midnight? It's a date!

May all  your Christmases be merry and bright 

and your families close and tight 

because that's what it is all about.

 Loving each other hard while you can and cherishing being together!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night! x

Oh Christmas Tree: Part 1

Usually this bit of green tat is dragged out like a phoenix in the beginning of December but not this year. The two offspring who are normally responsible were not available until last Tuesday when they and a trio of cousins resurrected it on the patio and hosed it off for me. I swear it gives me hayfever all Christmas otherwise.

It also makes me all nostalgic. This tree was purchased for the princely sum of twenty dollars for the first Christmas of B1 and B2. It was a hasty purchase from the supermarket and has always been a bit bedraggled with a definite tendency to 'dress' to the left. That is, it leans dangerously. Extreme tree!

Then, every year, I spend time perusing the old decorations and reminding the children of the historical significance of each piece of schmaltz until I find myself alone with the untangling.

Even when it is up there is always tweaking to be done and the folded laundry lends a festive edge to our home regardless of the season. That's what I love about laundry. It makes no distinction and will clutter up any special occasion without bias. There are, of course, less domestica decorations to be admired and discussed.

This one is from a set of crystals from the Scottish nanna given when the first two were christened.

This delicious big glass blob was a post Christmas buy that reminded me of the old childhood baubles. The Ikea stripey garland is making its first appearance this year.

When B1 and B2 were in preschool we made clay hands of all the children and fired them for posterity. Since I was the one making them, I got all my (then) four to produce these mementos. This tiny hand belonged to Lala when she was four. They all like to hold them up every year to marvel at how their hands have grown.

This little clay angel came from the main square in Prague in 1996 and was one of our first joint bits of Christmas bling....

but this one was the real first for our family. It was given for our wedding and it has adorned the tree every year since.

The apple- the tree...

There has been a lot of this here lately...

leading to an interest in this.
The apple...
doesn't fall far from the tree.
The apples...


the tree.Apples...

tree.

Apples!

"Oh, deer! It's the Noahs again."

"I told you if you built it they would come!"

A Very Doodly Christmas

It's been getting just a bit crafty here for a wee moment in the still of night.
Here is a gratuitous shot of mother and son studying the complex art of making a cup of coffee for your father. See his new, yellow best friend/ pet. I found photos of it.
It will lie down,
beg,
roll over. But I digress. Back to crafty.
One of the offspring picked up a $3 white tree at the dollar shop much to my disinterest. It had one of those horrible bases.
We replaced it with a pot that was half buried in the garden and some rocks that were half burying it. Still a bit lame really.
Then last night about 10 pm while I was waiting for the forty chicken legs to cook (ah, Christmas!), I espied the cookie cutters from K-mart on the couch. So I started to trace and doodle into the shapes.
Then I thought I'd scan them so they could be water coloured on.
Then I cut them out and thought,"These look quite nice in black and white. I shall leave them so."
Waiting at swimming this morning I threaded some DMC embroidery thread through them.
Then we hung the little lovelies on the tree in the corner with some downloaded Anna Bartlett Christmas present tags.
I think I like it better than the bling tree. My retinas are fried today from tinsel and lights and that's just from a late night trip to the supermarket to buy AAA batteries for Secret Santa toys today. AAARGH! The Yuletide Duracell bunnies, Freddo with Rudolph ears, one metre teddies that will all end up at Ron and Brian's et al....too much.
There's only so much tinsel one can take at Christmas.
A little 'b and w' is quite soothing.