A Late Start To Advent

Unfortunately I missed the start of Advent because I was away.  But the children were very understanding and I made sure that I was home on time to write their letters to St. Nicholas.

It is wonderful how traditions evolve from when you were a child yourself to when you have your own little family.  As a child we always celebrated St. Nicholas' day on 6th December.  We would  always wake up to plates of colourful foil wrapped chocolate Santas or coins.  Now with my children, on the night of 5th we write to St. Nicholas with their wish list for Christmas morning and leave them out with a glass of milk, some cookies and an apple or two for Rudolf.  As soon as they are finished getting the table ready, the kids rush up to bed so that they are asleep before the big man himself appears in the house and rings the Christmas bell on the landing.  This year they woke up to a sewing kit each and a small plate of treats.  This for our family marks the beginning of Christmas.

We did not finish the wreath until the second Sunday of Advent.  Growing up there was always a wreath for Advent and I loved the smell of the candles burning.  People always differ on the candle colours but my German father always said that there should be three red and one purple one for the fourth Sunday.  Hence the mismatched shapes.

 Just before Advent each year my father travelled to Germany and in his case when he returned there was always an Advent calendar for each of us.  The little cardboard ones and I would hang it up on my bedroom wall and open a window each day.
But now with my children we have our Advent calendar on the stairs.  We spend a long afternoon decorating it with holly, pine cones, cinnamon, lights and ribbons.  Patrick and Lucy each hang their own little red bag from the side. Two of Santa's Elves sit in the evergreen trees in front of our house and watch to see if they go to bed on time and behave well during the day.  If the have, then when they awake the next morning they will find that the Elves have come in and left a little chocolate sweet in each of their bags.
Christmas with the kids is so magical.  I just love it!

Things That I've Learned From My Kids

The other morning when the kids and I were staying in my mothers house, my son and Mum were sitting in the kitchen while I was watching some kids telly in the next room....  It just happened to be on. Honest!  They could hear me laughing uncontrollably at the program that was on.  My mother, giggling, said, "I really don't know who is the biggest kid in this family?  Your mother is just a great big baby".  My son looked at her smiling and said, "but Nanny that's what I love most about her.  She is just like us".

This absolutely melted my heart when my Mum told me later and it got me thinking a lot about how my kids have changed my life completely. " Well doh obviously!", I hear you say.  Well no not really.

My own childhood was marred by bullying at a young age and this left it very difficult for me to form friendships or even talk to people at times.  But when I had my own kids it felt like I had a chance to relive my childhood.  Not through them but with them as my best friends.  Like the ones that I always wished I had growing up.

My kids have taught me how to laugh and by that I mean real laughing.  The type that comes from right down in the pit of your stomach and leaves you breathless and with a pain in your side.

They have shown how to be fearless.  They don't worry about what other people think of them.  They just enjoy being who they are and living in the moment.  I realise now that I've wasted far too much of my life caring about others opinion of me.  So now I've been known to skip happily down the main street in town or sing (very badly I must admit) at the top of my voice while pushing the trolly around the supermarket.  Singing songs that we have changed the words of so that they make us laugh.  Even though Patrick’s favourite songs all involve poo and bottoms!

I found that the kids really bring out my creative side. I love sitting on the floor with them building things out of Lego or play dough.  And it is amazing how many really great things that can be made from these if you take the time to do it.  The kids may say to me that maybe I should try making a certain design out of material and they may even tweak it just a little so that I can see what they mean.  For me hearing “Mammy will you knit me this” or “Mammy will you sew that for me”.  Is music to my ears because they often come up with ideas that I've never even thought of.  I may love to feed their imagination but they also feed mine.

Patrick and Lucy have shown me how kind and understanding people can be.  Through my worst days they make me laugh or just make a bed out of blankets for me on the sofa.

I love to sit and watch cartoons with them when I can or go for an adventure in the forest with them.  Their words paint images to help me to see the world through their eyes.  And I love it!  My Mum might think I’m a big baby but I’m one happy big baby.

Sorry about the soppy post today but this has been on my mind the last few days.  AND tomorrow I'm off to Germany for a week.  So I know I'm going to miss them lots.  

Hopefully I'll get some nice piccies for you at the Christmas markets in Salzburg and Munich.

Rosie xx

PS I hope that this makes a bit of sense and not like some mad ramblings.  What have your kids taught you?

All A Little Topsy Turvy

The last two weeks has seen our house turned upside down.  We had to have the chimney rebuilt before the really bad weather set in.  They told us that it would only take two or three days but when they started they discovered that is was going to be a much bigger job than expected.  So I had to evacuate the kids and myself down to my mothers house.  I was lost without my laptop and internet connection.  I couldn't keep up with all of the bloggers.
Then days after the work started I could start cleaning the house.  When i walked in I felt like crying my eyes out.  The dust covered every surface and got into every press and wardrobe.  Four days of cleaning and laundry and finally I think that I'm finished.  The kids moved back home yesterday and they were delighted to get settled back in their beds with their teddies.

But we did manage to have some fun at halloween.  We all dressed up and went trick or treating (I dressed up as a cat and Lucy drew whiskers on my face.  What a wally I looked!)  The hubbie did a fantastic firework display which we watched while a bonfire kept us warm on a very frosty night. There was of course the usual pumpkins at the door which the kids cut out themselves.

 And of course the face painting ....

And essential party party games like the flour dunking game where you have to make a pyramid of flour and put a raisin on the top.  They each have a turn in cutting away a slice of the pyramid and the one who makes the raisin fall has to dunk their face into the flour.....

The Gruffalo Forrest

As we approach the forest that we visit every Sunday afternoon for a walk, Molly the dog sits like a meerkat  in the back of the car and strains her neck to see out of the front window.  Here is a place where she knows that she can run wild and sniff every tree to her hearts content.

As children my parents brought us around this forest in buggies and pottered alongside of us when we were toddlers.  The Sunday walk carried right on through to our teens and as soon as my kids could walk I started up the tradition once more.  Every turn brings back another memory and each special place has a story to tell.  This I love sharing these with my kids and making memories of our own.

This place is teeming with wildlife and it is so beautiful to see it in it's natural environment.  We have seen deers wandering lazily across our path without a care but to Lucy's constant disappointment are always well hidden from view when we get to where they were standing.  Pine martins run along the river hunting for food.  There are squirrels gathering up their acorns for the winter months and in the spring the little pond is so full of frog spawn that the water almost looks like jelly.

But there are two main reasons why my kids love visiting here so much.  Two elusive creatures that we have never seen but found plenty of evidence that they do live here.

The first is the Easter Bunny.  In the centre of the forest there is a clearing under the tree canopy and it is full of rabbit burrows.This is where the Easter Bunny and all his helpers have their egg factory.  Making, wrapping and painting the eggs.  Each Easter Sunday we visit this secret place with our little empty baskets and a great felling of excitement.  It is always a wonderful sight to see the bright multicoloured eggs hanging from branches or lying snugly at the feet of trees.  The kids are always in seventh heaven, running around filling their baskets as fast as they can so that they can sit on the forest floor feasting on chocolate until their bellies are full and swollen.

Also in this magical place is where the Gruffalo and his child live.  They sleep in the deep, dark forest and only come out at night.  But we can see things that they have done when they get up to mischief at night when they come out to play.  Like this tree has to have been knocked down by something strong.  And my kids decided that the Gruffalo when he was chasing some poor woodland creature.  There also was two chairs and a table carved out of tree trunks that we have found hidden away in the forest.

Patrick and Lucy also think that these wild clematis vines would make a great climbing frame for the Gruffalo's child.

Here are some more pictures from this wonderful place.

The trees have toes here and late at night when nobody can see them, they move around.

 The veins are on the outside of the tree.  It'S life force visible to all.

There is a multitude of fungi growing here of all sizes, shapes and colour.  Wonderful to see.

I believe that a childs imagination is like its body.  It needs to be feed and nurtured in order to grow.  And what is a childhood without imagination.

Thanks for calling in and looking around the Gruffalo's Forest with me.  Have you got a magical place to go to, to let your imagination run wild?

Rosie xx