Christmas Day

This was our first Christmas experience away from both sides of our family. I have to admit that it was nice to be able to take the day at our own pace and allow the children to play with their new goodies without the rush to be somewhere else.

The kids woke up early and bust in excitedly! We sat with them and as they opened their stockings and unwrapped the gifts under the tree we took the time to talk about what Christmas really means, We talked about our Saviour and the greatest gifts He gives to us. Once we had finished with the majority of gift opening Kent and I gave the kids their gift from us. It was a small box each that they opened to find a series of home made gift certificates. Each certificate was something they could redeem on their surprise trip to Perth! We told them we would be leaving very early the next day to drive down and spend a week with family and friends. They could not contain their excitement. The hardest part about living in a remote town is being so far away from the ones we love so much, our children miss their special people and talk about them all the time. It was exciting to anticiapte our road trip. We then took some family photos in our new jammies and our mugs of hot choc or eggnog.

We enjoyed a sit down breakfast with muesli cups, coco pops, and croissants. We spent the day playing with new puzzle, reading new books, practicing on my new ukelele and the kids wheelie shoes. India helped me set the table and was very particular about what should go where. Turns out i was too but again, im trying to let go of the stuff that really doesn't matter. Indi continued to help me in the kitchen while we prepared, chicken & salads, and a pavlova. Once all the food preparations were over we really took the time to relax and enjoy each others company.The kids had received a PS3 game from Grandma and Grandpa Baker called Just Dance. It was so much fun to watch each other attempt to keep in time with the music and perfect dance steps. Even though the kids took turns to cry from defeat it was a fun game and one that will get a lot of use in our house.

Kent gave me a few books, a Polaroid camera, and a ukelele. I was so happy with all the gifts and in return i surprised Kent with a trip away to the Hilton without he children once we got to Perth. I also gave Kent a Zombie Apocalypse Survival Kit. My amazing friend Erana had made survival kits for the men in her family and i fell in love with them. I asked her if she would make me one and then i added a few extra things myself. Erana did an amazing job! the kits were made from old tobacco tins. Inside each tin were a number of useful items from fold away knives to water purification tablets. Other items like waterproof paper, a stock cube, a condom, and metal ropes. Kent enjoyed checking out his new gizmos. I hope he liked the Walking Dead theme.

We went to bed early for our early start the following morning. It was truly a beautiful day, despite the heat (45*c) and i drifted off the sleep feeling overwhelmed by my many, many blessings. Next year we go to Adelaide.

 before

 after

 my gifts

 table setting 

 India taking orders

 Reeve covered in tattoo stickers from his stocking

 India trying out my Uke

 India using her colouring pack from her stocking

 The Kit

 inside the kit

Christmas Eve and the Elf Box

One of our most loved traditions occurs on Christmas Eve. The children place the empty "Elf Box" on the front doorstep in the morning and await a knock at any time of the day. They enjoying running out to try and catch the elves and eagerly anticipate the arrival of the goodies. The elves fill the box with a new pair of pyjamas, a Christmas book to read before bedtime, a movie to watch together - with accompanying popcorn and hot choc mix, and a new mug. There is always a sqeual of delight when they find the box full. This Christmas was no exception.
Once the kids were bathed, popcorn popped, and hot chocolate prepared, we snuggled down to watch Free Birds. the kids loved this movie and so we did Kent and I. Afterwards we helped the kids set out cookies and eggnog for Santa, and carrots and water for Rudolph. It usually takes us FOREVER to get the kids to sleep, but they settled really fast and awaited Santa's imminent arrival. Kent and I also drifted off the sleep quickly once we had ensured the presents were delivered safely, excited for our first Christmas alone as our own little family.

Preparing for the Fat Man

We have a few traditions in our own little family each Christmas season. Kent and i have taken a few from each of our families and combined the best of both worlds. We decorate the Tree, put out our precious Nativity sets, hang lights, decorate gingerbread cookies (my friend Chelsea Robinson gave me the best recipe for soft delicious gingerbread!), decorate Gingerbread houses for their school classes, a photo with Santa, opening and constructing their Lego Advent calender each morning, as well as opening our homemade advent calender each evening, which has a joke, scripture, activity and chocolate to share, and waiting for the elf to fill the elf box on Christmas Eve.The kids look forward to these traditions each year and so do I. This year we decided to try making a Fireplace/mantle out of left over packing boxes to decorate and hang our stockings. first we stuck the boxes together, then we covered it in paper with papermache glue, then we painstakingly traced outlines for each individual brick, and lastly we mixed the paints to get the colour we wanted and applied it (next time i will use a piece of sponge cut to size.... thanks to Romney Granger for the tip!). I learnt a lot about myself during this process, the most enlightening was that i need to lighten up and not be such a control freak! Once i realized it didn't have to be perfect to be beautiful or to be something we could look at and feel pride it was a more relaxing experience. We were happy with the result and the kids loved showing it off to people who visited.
We went to Kmart as a family to pick the lights to hang out in our trees. the kids liked the blue ones so we let them decide. I also bought supplies for the gingerbread creations and we spent the following week ticking off our list of holiday traditions.
Out trip to visit "Santa" was an interesting one this year. We went to the local Harvey Norman on a Saturday morning and the kids visited with Santa. He was kind and attentive. He offered the kids a candy cane after hearing their request (wheelie shoes) and it wasn't until we got the photos back that we noticed he was missing a hat and some glasses But we live in Karratha so i'm not going to complain. I had to return a week later to collect the photo and then the kids and i framed it along side their previous years and added it to the mantle for decoration.
Here are a few pics from our traditions that we captured...

 making a fairy garden (one of their activities from the advent calender)

Dampier Christmas by Glowlight

Up here in the Pilbara at Christmas time, Dampier put on a community Christmas Carol night. We decided to go with the Snows and have a picnic dinner. The towns people and select choirs from all the local schools put on the items and lead the audience in a sing along. It was a really nice evening. The Children loved running a muck on the oval and enjoyed the glow sticks and wands Clinton had brought along for them when the sun went down. It was nice to have a laugh the Sarah and Clinton and to watch our kids make memories together. Even little Alissa and I had some bonding time and enjoyed a game of hide and seek with her crackers. She is a divine girl and i just love that we are here sharing all these experiences with our beautiful friends.

The church who ran the service had an interesting way of expressing their faith and devotion. They read from the Aussie bible which was amusing, if not a little irreverant, but it put a smile on our faces. it was nice to be with a greater community that was diversified in their beliefs. It was refreshing to see the gospel from the eyes of others and to hear how they interpret this time of great meaning. The spirit of Christ is Christmas and no matter how the message was delivered it was simply that Christ is the gift.

We left on the earlier side of the night in order to miss the traffic and for the kids to get some rest before their last week of school but i think it will be one of our traditions while we are here.

photos courtesy of Sarah Snow

Santa on the Fire Truck

Up here in the gorgeous Pilbara, the city council provide some great Christmas activities for the families of Karratha and neighbouring towns. One is that Santa visits the children in the week preceding Christmas Day. He takes turns visiting each suburb on specific days (the free weekly local newspaper provides all the details) on the back of a bright red fire engine. Along with helpers, Santa throws lolly-bags to the kids as they line the streets and call out thanks. Kent was home early enough to take the kids around the local streets, following the sirens. eventually they parked across the road from our house and sat in the back of the truck to get a better view. It was a nice touch to Christmas in the Pilbara and our little ones loved making those memories.

(photos courtesy of Sarah Snow - thanks again Sare!)

End of Term

Christmas is fast approaching! It is by far my favourite time of year and i often tell people that i live for Christmas. With the festivities comes the end of school and extra curricular activities. this means sleep ins and lazy days. YES!!

India successfully completed Pre-Primary with a glowing report to show for her efforts. She cried on her last day, the anxiety of never seeing her teachers Ms Elmer & Mrs Cunningham again was all too much for her. I went to school with reeve that day and helped out for a few hours to clean the classroom. India left early with me but struggled to say goodbye. I will be interested and nervous to see how she approaches next year but have been proud of her achievements this year. Her class not only opened the end of year school concert with a song and dance ("Happy" by Pharrel) but they also ran the last school assembly for the year. India and her friend Josh Chapman read the names of the students leaving the school. both of them did an amazing job remembering the names and speaking in front of the school! I was so nervous for them but they were so brave and articulate! The class also prepared and performed a song and dance to the Lego Movie theme song "everything is awesome". The children were asked to come dressed as a character from the film. I was impressed that India thought outside the box and was not interested in going as Wild Style (the main girl), rather she insisted on going as the crazy old cat lady... hilarious! that's our girl, an individual come what may! India has finished with keyboard lessons with Mikey, we're still undecided whether or not she will continue next year or if we will look at a different activity. I would like to find her a Piano teacher and maybe put her into dance or a sport. India also finished up swimming classes and will go up a swimming level next year. she is proving to be a confident swimmer and has mastered a somersault in the water. It took a lot of practice but her persistence paid off and she is over the moon to be able to do them. All in all it has been a massive year for our sweet girl and we are so excited to have her home for 6 whole weeks! let the good times, and emotionally stressful times, roll!

Reeve "graduated" Ready Set School and is as ready as he'll ever be for Kindy next year.  He has a great pen grip but is yet to master the flow of his movement. Reeve loves to make big messy strokes, fast and furious. He will learn in his own time and in his own way, until then i will help him and encourage his learning. He mastered mat time and has improved his crafting. He learnt his ABCs in song but still makes up some of the letters he doesn't know how to get his tongue around quite yet. He was very excited on his last day to get his certificate and bag of goodies. It was cute to watch him in a cap standing up an shaking Mrs Darts hand. i thought on how far he had come and how far he has yet to go.. i believe he is a divine package sent to teach me and others how to see the world differently.
Reeve will repeat his swimming class in Dolphin 1 again next year. He has made a lot of progress in his abilities and in his free time has mastered back flips and bombies but needs to work on his finer skills. That's our boy, like a bull out of the gate. i believe patience in the finer, more delicate motions and details of life will be his Achilles heel. His biggest achievement to me this term was giving up his bedtime bottle. This is massive for him! and i am so proud of him... He can do hard things! All in all he has made fantastic progress and we are optimistic for next year when he starts kindy and hopefully gymnastics.

 sienna with The kids teachers.