Muffin's Merry Christmas

I feel I have been neglecting my blog time recently, so I apologise, but with being up to my ears in pastry, pavlova, prawns and Christmas Puds to name but a few, then its not surprising.

So to help me out Muffin has stepped in with a little Christmas Greeting....

"Wishing you all a Sensational Christmas, Health, Wealth and Happiness with Family and Friends and Every Best Wish for the New Year".

I'll be back as and when I can or when inspiration strikes....

Boys and their toys....

Don't you just love friends dropping by....well Muffin certainly does, especially when its her boyfriend Zac. I had to laugh when he made a determined beeline for her toy basket the other day. It reminded me of when my own children were young and friends would come over to play. If they hadn't been before they would go through the whole playroom/bedroom like a minesweeper to check everything within minutes of arriving. Well, you have to make sure you get the best toy that's on offer.

The small ball on the left by the way is Muffin's favourite and its called 'Wilson' (as in the Tom Hanks movie - 'Castaway'). As you can see its been well loved over the years and seen a lot of action. Others have come and gone but Wilson is just about hanging in there. Muffin just stood and watched Zac's search progress. She was making little noises enquiring if she could help in the search if only he'd tell her what he was after, but Zac was on a mission and hearing none of it.

Suddenly out popped his head - sorted. Over to a comfy spot....

I didn't even know that this chewy bone was in the basket...heaven knows how long its been there but Zac didn't seem to mind.

Yum yum....its enough to make you close your eyes.....

Find the Magic Christmas Elf

So how stressed are you with all the holiday preparations? I know me too, although I do feel that I'm finally making some progress. Whilst I'm trying to get organised, I thought I'd carry on with the Christmas Elf theme and show you some of the places that he's appeared so far.

Snuggled up with the Gingerbread Man
Getting cosy in the stocking

Sitting on Santa's knee...well not quite

Where did he go?

This hiding place took us quite some time to find....

Hanging precariously in the holly decoration

He's even visited the crib....

My mother knitted these figures quick a few years back now and I remember commenting when I saw the empty crib that she'd forgotten to knit the Baby Jesus. She opened a drawer near by with a wink to show me that she hadn't forgotten, he just hadn't arrived yet and wouldn't until Christmas morning. I've been carrying on the tradition ever since.

I'm away now to carry on with my preparations. This afternoon baking Mince Pies.

Hopefully some will last past the weekend!

Our Magic Christmas Elf

Well, once again we've been lucky to have our annual visit from our magic Christmas Elf.
Yet again, he's managed to find us, in fact over the years he's found us no matter where we are in the world. Even when we've been travelling - he's so clever he just knows where we are.
He normally appears on the 1st of December and there's always an excited buzz when he's discovered.

Christmas is coming....

My children over the years have loved him visiting because he doesn't just sit where he lands. Each night whilst we're all sleeping he moves to a new position. Normally somewhere where he can see everything and to make sure that we are all behaving. That way on Christmas Eve he can tell Santa if we've been good or bad! Once his job is done he then vanishes - puff!
When my son was a wee toot, first thing in the morning he would dash to find out where the Elf was hiding and on occasions we would see him standing very close to the Elf having a very private conversation.....so cute. I would have loved to have been privy to those conversations.
Thankfully, the Elf doesn't live with our Christmas decorations because upon setting up for this years celebrations, I found that we are missing quite a few items, garlands, wreaths, table candle displays etc. I think one large box appears to have been 'lost' in transit shall we say....

Just to make it perfectly clear, my son no longer talks to the Elf and certainly doesn't rush to get up in the morning to check his location - well I don't think so anyway?

A Book Christmas Tree

Well I now know that I have a problem.....yes I'm an addict - to my laptop! It became apparent to me when my son accidentally sat on it and all the lights went out. I cannot describe how traumatic it felt. The following morning I rushed to intensive care and they hit it full on with the paddles and whoosh it thankfully came back to life. Ahhhh....

So that's the reason for the delay in my postings and here we are in December already.

How can that be? Surely its only about April? Going by today's rain showers here in Melbourne it could well be. The calender tells me its December, so it must be true.

So with that in mind, I thought I'd send out my first Christmas card today.

This is for all the book lovers of the world.

A Christmas Book Tree

I have to confess I saw one similar in the Sunday Age Magazine and just had have a go.
Happy Reading