Lovely autumness and Christmas preparation

Well I'm going to be very British and talk about the weather which has fluctuated between beautiful clear Autumn days and pretty foul days full of freezing cold heavy rain. 

Last weekend saw us experience more of the latter. We were pleased to find there was a bonfire and firework display just 10 minutes walk from our house which was free to get in to. Sorted. 

So we headed out, it was cold so we wrapped up the children in so many layers that particularly Pebble looked like a marshmallow. It's quite miraculous she could actually walk. 

They had an amazing bonfire which even from some 20 meters away you could not face straight at it. 

Then just before the fireworks started it started to rain. At first it wasn't too bad but it got progressively worse and worse. By the time the fireworks started you could not actually look up to see the fireworks as the rain pelted into your eyes. 

These photos don't do it justice but we were soaked through. 

An unimpressed Nemo sat soaking wet in the pram! 

 

After braving the rain for about 20-30 minutes we had to admit defeat and leave. Nemo and Pebble both cried all the way home not able to decide if they were more upset at being very cold and wet or leaving before the fireworks had finished.

This weekend saw more of the beautiful cold and clear Autumn weather. We went for a really lovely walk yesterday at Ford Moss. 

I bought Pebbles coat sized 2-3 years so that it lasts and sure it will last because it drowns her! (Note the lack of hands coming out the end of the sleves!)

Nemo loves playing hide and seek at the moment. Below is Daddy and Pebble hiding but Poppy is giving their location away a little! 

Nemo naturally decided that he wanted to roll on the floor!?!?

Met these beautiful ladies (I actually have no idea if they are male or female but they seemed like ladies!) 

Of course every outing with toddlers seems to end the same way, tears and tiredness! 

Note the grumpy children! 

Children are the most cute asleep I think! 

Church this morning was entertaining / embarrassing. 

Nemo likes to sing along with the songs, however he likes to sing a song of his own choice. This led to Nemo's cries of "EE-I-EE-I-O" being heard between verses of the song. Quite hilarious! Nemo is obviously of an age where he understands he needs to be quiet for certain parts of the service however Pebble is still a bit young. The quieter the church seems to be the more talkative Pebble gets. Today there was a time of quiet reflection followed by a 2 minute of silence being Rememberance Sunday.

This is my worse nightmare. 

We managed pretty well on the whole but at one point during the silence  Pebble did rather loudly exclaim "Hello!". 

 As we sat afterwards having our tea and biscuits we got an invite for lunch simultanously to Nemo weeing himself, Pebble using the distraction to take Nemo's toy and Nemo and Pebble erupting into a loud fight which made the whole room turn and stare. 

Had to turn down the offer of the lunch.... :( 

They have however of course been pretty angelic ever since, of course now because there are no people are here to see them! 

This weekend has marked the beginning of Christmas preparation. This Christmas is the first time me and Hubby are hosting my side of the family who usually invade my parents house. This does mean 3 days post Christmas of feeding a total of 15 people. Christmas and the 2 days prior to this my Mother-in-law is coming so this totals 6 days of Christmas hosting.

I have, no doubt, been driving my family mad as I try and pin them all down to get their movements and run by a few things I am doing differently past them. However they should spare a thought for my poor husband who has been subject to hours and hours of discussion and planning. To give you an idea these 10 pages of notes are my plans for food, presents, sleeping arrangements etc. 

My husband will be making these into some epic spreadsheets at some point! 

I am pre-making 7 different food items in the run up to Christmas and with only 4 weekends at home until the big day this weekend I had to make a start. I am unashamed to say that we got the Christmas CDs out and the Christmas aprons on to bake these! 

Here are 36 Christmas muffins. Of course Nemo wanted to help. He's actually got to the point where his help doesn't prove too disruptive. 

Then naturally Pebble who wants to do whatever her big brother does also wanted to 'help' (her 'help' is more distracting!) 

I have been feeling really rather smug as I have completed all of my Christmas shopping (Thank you God for Amazon when you have small children and live over an hour drive away from any major shopping centres!) 

However yesterday a cheque arrived for the children from a relative who didn't know what to get the children so asked us to buy something using the money. Smug bubble burst... 

This weekend has seen me finish my 6th attic24 wreath - the winter one! 

http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/2015/03/winter-wreath-ta-dah-1.html

Strictly speaking I haven't actually completed the wreath as I'm awaiting a couple of cute sparkly bits of but on (I bought these very cheaply on Amazon but pay the price as they aren't due to arrive for weeks!) 

For our home we now have a set of 4, the Easter, the Autumn, the winter and the Christmas wreath. 

 I have also made a summer one and an Autumn one for my mum and sister which means in the past 12 months I have done 6. 

I am now going to try and balance all my blogs with the part of my life I have neglected in order to complete my crafting/ baking. As my friends keep asking how I do it- I do it by ignoring the house and leaving my husband to keep the children alive. I have a rather messy house and I haven't done any washing for the whole weekend so I better get on with some housework! 

Just how I like to spend my Sunday evenings.... :-D