Friday 30 December 2016

Birthday :: Christmas

A week ago today Pip celebrated her 8th year around the sun, she had a lovely day and celebrated with two friends, Beth visited from 10:30am until 2:30pm and Daisy-Mae visited 4pm until 7pm. 

 It was interesting watching and listening to the interaction between the girls, Pip knows Beth from school they were and still are best buddies, they both have a whacky sense of humour and creative spirit so it was fun watching them perform a magic show using existing props and then creating some of their own. 

Pip and Daisy Mae are almost birthday twins with 24 hours between them as DM was born around lunchtime on Christmas Eve!  DM just loves pretend play so the girls had fun playing with Shannon Pip's doll from last year and a new addition to the "Our Generation Family" a beautiful white Camarillo horse that Pip has named snowflake :-)





 The usual sit where you were born and "x" marks the spot at 8:39am photo opportunity :-) 



 Playing with the magic set from Beth.



 Waiting to blow out the candle of which they had several attempts!



 It is the first year that I have not made a homemade birthday cake, I was just too exhausted from the crafting and Christmas preparations.  Pip didn't mind as long as there was a cake and candles she was happy :-)  It was also the first year that she forgot to wear the birthday crown and the birthday ring was left in the cupboard!  Those epic bags under my eyes should give a clue that I was not in "the zone" :-)




Benedict has been a real help these past few weeks and Christmas Eve was no exception, he prepped all the veg and tidied around the house.  There was still some last minute wrapping of presents and Dave and I watched midnight mass on the television.  We haven't made church in months, my health has not been good and I have been struggling with ongoing pain which thankfully is now slowly being resolved:

 Pillowcase gifts of pyjamas for Pip and a Christmas jumper for Benedict.


 Every self respecting horse needs an experienced rider so meet Lily Anne, a playmate for both Shannon and Pip.


One epic selfie and ...




... one that would win the silliest selfie award!

 We ate Christmas lunch at 1pm which for us is a world record and the kitchen was completely tidied and sorted by 2pm.  We then played our new Christmas game of Carcassone and I am not really a games person but this game is fab and well worth buying.  Each game usually lasts no more than half an hour and is totally doable even with kids in tow!


 Our Christmas tree organised and decorated by Benedict, that guy sure loves to celebrate!

This past week has been marred by my health problems and so we have been very much confined to barracks.  I did manage to take everyone out on a short journey yesterday to run errands and have a hot chocolate treat.  It did us good to get out of the house.  Dave's mum and dad are hopefully visiting again on New Year's day so that should be good. 

Hope that you have had a blessed Christmas x 

14 comments:

elli said...

Prayers and Christmas love to you San! So sorry to hear your health has been so poorly ... I find that I live best hour by hour! Some hours are good, health- and body-wise, and some are not! Focussing on God and family brings so much joy, despite disability and chronic health woes. Life is so good. {{hugs}} happy birthday to Pip, and a joy filled new year to you all :-)

Sarah said...

Looks like Pip had a lovely day, she shares a birthday with my hubby. Can't believe you had the kitchen tidied by 2pm after Christmas dinner! Praying that your health will improve soon. Happy new year to you all! x

Sandra Ann said...

Yes, I reckon that Christmas meal will go down in history!! Happy New Year to you all x

Sandra Ann said...

Dear Ellie, thank you for your kind and encouraging words, I hope and pray that 2017 is a better year for you x

Sue Elvis said...

San,

I'm sorry to hear your health is preventing you from getting out and about. Midnight Mass is so special whether we are there in person or watching it on TV!

Thank you for sharing your Christmas with us. Happy birthday to Pip! Sending much love and prayers to you and all your family. xxx

dorinalouise said...

Hello San, I'm glad to hear that the pain is resolving itself a bit. Pip's birthday cake is beautiful even if you didn't make it. It's not easy to let go of a yearly tradition, such as baking her cake, but sometimes we have to embrace something new :) I find myself doing that often now . . I've been trying to get used to it. Benedict is looking very grown up these days, and what a comfort to you to have him take on some household and holiday chores. Working together as a family to create Christmas is what makes it special and fun. It's good you were all able to get out for a hot chocolate outing and thanks for posting about the new board game. I love playing games together. Chanda, Morgana and I played "Clue" today and a card game with questions about American History from Revolutionary War days.

I've lost count of the days . . but Twelfth Night is almost upon us . . I think tonight is Ninth Night?

We've been enjoying the Christmas spice tea, the coffee and the fruit cake!

dorinalouise said...

P.S. You're in our prayers to keep getting better xoxoxo

dorinalouise said...

P.P.S. I would love to sit with you over tea or coffee and share birth stories! Morgana and Chanda were both born at home and Korrina at an NYC birthing center. Happy Birthday to dear beautiful Pip :)

Sandra Ann said...

Thanks for the love. Pip and I are enjoying the Angel stories, we are starting from the beginning :-) xx

Sandra Ann said...

Thank you for your sharing, prayers and encouragement. Yes I would dearly love to share coffee and cake with you and chat birth stories and the stuff of life xx

Eva said...

Happy belated birthday, Pip! And Benjamin looks so much like Dave now!

dorinalouise said...

Yes!! I think so too!

Hayley said...

What a wonderful day! Happy belated birthday Pip, you look like you had a wonderful time :)

Kezzie said...

Dear Sandra,
Firstly, I want to say thank you SOOO much for all your kind comments over past weeks. Your comments always mean so much to me because they are so full of heart and care and I really want to let you know how much they mean to me, especially when I know that you have been suffering health wise- I remember particularly your comments on my blog post about not being joyful at Christmas being ok.
I'm glad that your Christmas was successful in terms of a 1pm miracle (HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE!>!>!>>!>!!)
It's so lovely to see Pip and DM interacting together and that picture of you with her is really lovely. You really remind me of my work colleague Lucy!
I love the epic selfie and that game sounds good! I DO love board games so I love learning new ones!!!
Your tree looks marvellous! Benedict is a real blessing!!!
Hugs to you and God bless xx