Presents, vol. 2

Buttons came back home today and opened his presents.

Santa clearly knows he's homeschooled, as he got plenty of science kits, games and magnets.

And Lego. Always Lego.

He was a happy young man, as you can see.

Merry Christmas

I am full of food, and very happy.

I was up before anyone else this morning, cleaning and lighting the stove. I just couldn't wait to see Captain's little face when she saw the presents under the tree.

She was so excited, and delighted with every little gift.

I got to feed people, look at games and books with Captain, listen to Hubby play guitar and enjoy my little home.

I even had a nap after dinner was eaten and guests were gone.

It has been a perfect Christmas.

And tomorrow we get to see Buttons and all the excitement will start all over again.

Hope you all had a lovely day!

Christmas party

...or December breastfeeding support group meeting was last night. I love the atmosphere of the group any day, but the Christmas meeting is just magical! Babies dressed in Santa suits, a twinkling tree in the corner and lots of love in the room. It's one of my favourite dates in the calendar.

I came home with so many beautiful, thoughtful gifts. Little babakins got a gorgeous hand-knitted cardigan from Little Scallywags, which caused instant tears. I can't believe I'll soon have a tiny person to fill the teensy, warm cocoon!

The kids got a fantastic (and homeschool-perfect) gift; a rock painting kit! It was opened first thing this morning and both set to work before we could leave the house. I also got a super cute Frugi night gown for the newest arrival. I feel so lucky that my baby is loved so much already.

The icing on the cake was getting an exercise ball. I'm sitting on it as I type, and I haven't been this comfortable in weeks... I forgot how essential they are in the final weeks; silly me! Thank goodness for the bubble of supportive moms, who think of the things your baby brain forgets to.

Today we went into town to finish the Christmas shopping, and to enjoy the specially set up chill out room in our library. The kids took full advantage of it, colouring every kind of colouring sheet available (Buttons) and laying down on the sofa under my cardigan (Captain), while I had a cup of herbal tea and read some stories. It was so calming, and hopefully something that they will do again some time. I also finally got myself a block card, which made the homeschool mom in me incredibly happy. More books, less stress? Yes please!

Some of the winter, Christmas, or snow themed books we read last week

Mr. Snow was a hit all around.

Christmas carols one nearly drove Buttons crazy, because the CD didn't match the book.

Day to be thankful

 Today is the fourth anniversary of my mother's death.

I marked the occasion with my little pals.

They ran around shooting each other with a Batman cannon from Captain's Duplo set, being noisy and funny. We listened to music loudly, made magic snow and baked some more.

I also wrapped a few little gifts to some great people in my life and reflected on how thankful I am for them while writing cards.

Christmas crack -recipe from i heart naptime

Little gifts to some fabulous mamas, who have made my life amazing with their kindness

Making "magic snow", Captain supervising big bro

Do you want to build a snowman?

Hiding pom poms in the snow

Baking day

Captain woke me up this morning with her usual morning greeting:

"Will you bring me to the toilet? Then will you make me breakfast?"

But as soon as she had fully woken up, it was all business.

"Today will we make the CHRISTMAS COOKIES? I WILL WAKE UP MY (BUTTONS) and tell him it's time to MAKE CHRISTMAS COOKIES!"

I managed to convince her not to wake up her brother before seven to bake, for the sake of Christmas peace. We played Go Fish in the bedroom instead, and read some stories.

After that I got a message from Nana asking if we were home.

This was great motivation for a bit of a cleaning session.

And then, finally, we made the long-awaited gingerbread cookies while waiting for our visitors!

This kept the kids busy for well over an hour, and our guests had some freshly baked cookies with their tea. I ended up baking the rest of the gingerbread dough this evening, and Captain joined me for round two of baking. I also made two 'Tiger cakes' to give to some lovely people, who have been very good to us in the last year. The name is misleadingly exciting, but the cakes themselves aren't disappointing either, I hope.

Buttons, trying to use every cookie cutter. He even made an enormous one in the shape of Finland.

"I'm a baker!"

Moomin characters and hearts are my favourites to make

One of my "Tiger cakes"

("But does it have a nose and a tail and some ears?" asked Captain, and lost interest when it didn't...)

Building a model house Nana brought after bedtime

I don't know where he gets the energy to keep doing stuff all day long.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

The postman brought two exciting parcels this morning. I'm trying to tell myself I'm a grown-up and can wait for a week or so easily. I'm not convincing...

Today Buttons started teaching Captain how to play various games.

They had so much fun, pyjamas stayed on until it was time to head out the door.

Apparently she won Scrabble. I think Buttons might not be the most competitive player, but definitely winning the big brothering game! 

I was actually shedding a few tears over this in the morning. I could hear him making up an epic Spider Man story, and she was really enjoying it, as you can see.

Also, it's good to know there is someone who has even less regard for folding clothes than I do... ;)

Fabulous Felt

Look what I got today!

I entered a competition on the Facebook page of HeartFelt and won a gorgeous prize I'm madly in love with.

I did my wrapping appreciation thing, which drives Hubby crazy.

You have to admit this is particularly pretty though, right?

                                                        

 I love little touches like this...

No, I didn't wait for my little one to wake up.

I just had to unwrap it and decorate our new Christmas tree by myself.

I feel no shame!

I look forward to putting it up on the wall tomorrow, and letting the kids play too.

Such a lovely idea, isn't it?

Sleep, glorious sleep...

Today was a battery charging one.

Hubby gave Captain breakfast number one, which gave her enough energy to potter around for a while, make her jigsaws and do some artwork. She then came into the bedroom, and asked me for more breakfast. I got up, fed her, cleaned the ashes and re-lit the stove. We went to bed to snuggle, read some stories and wait for the house to warm up a bit. I love opening the curtains first thing in the morning and staying in bed for a while just enjoying the view. Today we looked out and chatted about her new favourite topic; snow.

She snuggled into the crook of my arm and warmed her hands on my bump. Next time I opened my eyes, the light was different and the house was completely silent. My little pal was still exactly where she had been, fast asleep on my arm, which was now completely numb. Captain woke up soon after me, complaining about a dream in which her dad had dropped her food at the market. (Her nightmares are definitely inherited from me…)

We got up, went into the kitchen and realised it was officially afternoon. Oops! I can’t remember the last time we napped together, but it was a most welcome surprise!

We headed into town to have another look around the Christmas market. I stocked up on sugar-free salt liquorice (you can take the girl out of Finland, but not the part of Finland out of the girl that loves weird treats deemed inedible by the rest of the family). Captain and Hubby had a bite to eat, and nobody’s food was dropped, thankfully.

One of Captain's gifts

Hubby found some beautiful wooden toys for the kids at the stalls. I will post photo evidence on a night, when kids go to sleep at a more reasonable hour and I get to play elf. I managed to do my Christmas shopping for the littlest lady while Hubby kept her busy at the toy store, which means my shopping duties for this year are complete!

We had a lovely dinner at a burrito bar, did our grocery shopping and picked up Buttons. Captain is always so excited to see her brother after he’s been gone for a weekend, and does her best to do enough talking to make up for lost time. This time she made up the longest story in the history of storytelling, and had us laughing so much I had tears rolling down my face. I don’t know whether Buttons was laughing more at her story, or the way I went into fits of giggles. Either way, this was a great way to spend the very slow journey home. This is day three of snow in Ireland, where we’re not really all that prepared for icy roads, so we were crawling along carefully.

Because of the late start, I even had the energy to start practising ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’ on ukulele after bedtime. Give a mother the chance to nap, and she can do anything!

Looking forward to another homeschooling week after the lovely weekend!

Christmas market

Today we checked out the first Christmas market of the year.

The fact that it was held in the grounds of a gorgeous castle was a bonus...

We did not see any of the famous ghosts, but Hubby and Captain ate enough burgers to give me nightmares.

I found lots of gorgeous handmade gifts for some very special people and enjoyed all the colourful stalls. I also brought home the only kind of gingerbread girl my GD allows. She is particularly sweet - just see for yourself in the pictures below!

Tullynally castle

Gingerbread girl

Christmas shopping off to a good start...

Winter wonderland