Christmas begins. . . .

Since we've moved to Australia, Christmas time is usually the hardest, it's the time we miss family and all our family traditions the most. I miss the cold, and well, it just doesn't quite feel like Christmas when it's 90+ degrees and your swimming and having BBQ's, but hey we've decided to embrace the differences.

This year, since Tilly is now old enough to really start enjoying it, we have decided to do an advent calendar and spend the whole month celebrating and doing special things as a family.  We want Christmas to be fore than just gifts, we wanted it to be more about family and doing things together and with and for other people.
I made this one, it's a bit wonky so don't look to closely. I still have to sew button ornaments on, and do the numbers, but at least I had the main part done before December started which is good for me.

Today was Day 1 and we put up the Christmas tree and added the lights, the ornaments come tomorrow.

Here are some of our ideas in no particular order.  Hope you enjoy :)


Decorate Christmas tree

Make cinnamon ornaments for the tree

Open a special present

Go to the beach

Unwrap a book to read

Go to get picture with Santa

Make Jammie and Papa and Nana and Grandad Presents

Make Christmas cards

Make gumdrop Christmas tree

Go to the Christmas party at church

Go see Christmas lights

Make ornaments

Have a family Christmas movie night with treats

Choose a special treat

Open Christmas Eve gift (for our family this is always p.j's and read Night before Christmas

Bake cookies and decorate them with friends then take to neighbours

Have lunch at a special restaurant with our family

Go for a picnic  at the park

Make rice crispy trees to take to kids at church

Read a Christmas story together

Open presents and Call grandparents on Skype

Write Santa a letter

Prepare treats for Santa and reindeer

Go to Carols by candlelight

What kind of things do you do as a family?  What traditions do you have?  

Just now figuring out this video thing :)

A Brand New Year. . .

I honestly can't believe it is already 2011, where has the time gone. I completely understand now where people are coming from when they say "it feels like just yesterday". It's so strange because a year feels like FOREVER when you are young, but now they seem to fly by in the blink of an eye and I feel I've barely felt the year begun and now it's over.

Matilda is just getting cuter and cuter, it's like each and every stage she hits I can't imagine her getting more awesome but she does. She totally cracks us up each and every day and has the funniest little personality. She is so cute, talks SO much, has the craziest imagination, and is completely bossy.
Adorable things she is saying/doing:
-she come up to you and in her adorable little voice goes: "I love you SO much" it's so sweet
-she's obsessed with her baby (named honey) and is constantly putting her to bed and getting her up, making her pat the dog, and do just about anything.
-she loves playing in our bed. . . she likes to pretend she's asleep then we have to wake her up, then we pretend (I know strange game).
-she says "Everybody" all the time, so it's always "come on everybody" or "let's go everybody" even when it's only Ed and I
-She LOVES swimming and now that we have a pool she is a little water baby, she is getting so brown.
-She likes to tell you what to ask her when you are playing like "mommy say, 'what am i doing'" then she'll keep saying it until you ask.
-She got a tea set for Christmas which she loves and wants us to sit and play with her all the time, but sometimes we aren't allowed to have tea, she will look at us and tell us to leave it on the plate because we aren't thirsty (like I said bossy)
This is our friends wedding that Tilly and I were both in then pics from a picnic at the beach we took.:
We've had a wonderful Christmas, though I have to admit that Christmas just never feels the same here, it's just strange to have a 100 degree day on Christmas and everyone to be where shorts and singlets and going for a swim, but it was still nice. Tilly LOVED Christmas this year and that made it all the more special for us. We had so much fun decorating the tree and she had to show it to everyone. She got so excited about presents and we had a lot of fun with that. Still doesn't really like Santa, at least not getting her picture with him, she screamed like he was killing her and wouldn't turn and face him at all, made for a great photo :). Maybe next year.


Tilly recovering after the chaos of Christmas:

2011 promises to be a full year already. . . . Baby boy Legg joins us in February which I know will bring new adjustments, many sleepless nights, but lots of love to this household. Matilda is getting excited about getting a baby brother, especially since it means that Jammie and Papa are coming for a visit, she is already setting their itinerary. The church here is getting a new worker, which will be exciting but mean some adjustments as well. We are planning a trip home sometime mid-year (30 hours of travel time with 2 little ones. . . . sounds like fun to me). Plus, I am sure the year will hold lots of unexpected joys and trials.

I'm one of those people who likes to set New Years resolutions, though I am not one of those people who is very good about keeping them the whole year. . . maybe this year :) Ed and I were talking about what they were going to be earlier and kiddingly I said "Surviving this year" but not so joking I know that especially at the beginning with a new baby joining us it's probably good to not set some really high goals, but still I do have a few things I would like to work on.