Category Archives: Christmas

Sainsburys Scavenger Hunt

Friday is here and upon finishing my last client for the day at the Salon, I ran to the rail station to catch the next train home. I got out a little late and so I made the train it by literally seconds. Getting off the train I walked straight over to my kids’ school to pick them up. I got there just in time to see Ronan returning from the pool for swimming day. He had a fun day at the new pool and was excited to tell me all about his adventure. With a bag full of supplies for the kids’ nativity costumes, their school bags, and the PE kit we started our walk home. Unfortunately as we reached our front door I realized that my keys were hanging safely on my jacket hook in our entry way and not in my bag. With the sun setting earlier and the weather getting colder, going to the park or waiting in the stairwell would both be out of the question. I texted my partner who was still meeting with his class at Uni in Brighton. With two different trains to get back home, it could be an hour before we could inside our home. So what to do? I took my kids to the Sainsburys grocery store down the street and browse. We did okay but the store was quite cold. Solution? A scavenger hunt brought to you by a friend of mine over text messages. The boys found something and they got rewarded with a photo of something Batman related. Moods got uplifted and soon it was time to head back home.

Christmas Tree lit up in our town.

Maddox looking at the Christmas Decorations

Scavenger Hunt at Sainsbury’s to pass the time and cure boredom.

Found a fruit that does not start with a vowel, and Ronan is beaming with excitement.

Reindeer Max

Found a little Charlie Brown tree. Might put it on our Holiday list.

Christmas Socks

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‘Christmas Socks’ – Mr. Bean quote to label my post because my boys are avid fans of childish baffoon character and he is often brought up in discussions. Since these stockings are quite cute, why not pay a little tribute to someone who brings a smile and laughter to my kids lives.

The boys received two packages from their Mimi and Papa in Illinois, USA. They were filled with all kinds of crafts for the boys to do. I had to stop them tonight from doing them all in one night, which just shows how excited and appreciative they were for all the crafts. We decided to one craft tonight and the consensus was to do the stockings. Each boy chose one of the Elf stockings and I divided up some of the stickers, making sure to keep plenty more for upcoming craft projects. We labeled each one with the boys’ names and the year for prosperity. Right now they are sitting up on top of our mock ‘Fireplace’, and hopefully we can find something to hang them from soon. Being that we use the Fireplace heater quite a bit, did not need a fire starter.

Maddox with his decorated stocking for Christmas.

Ronan with his decorated stocking for Christmas.

Have you started decorating for Christmas yet or are you waiting for next week?

Signs of Christmas

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Signs of the Christmas holidays are now popping up in the store fronts of the shops on the high streets in England. There is a cute botique of bespoke interior design pieces for the home on our walk to school. They have recently redone their window with many Christmas elements, including two vintage wooden rocking horses that the boys like to look at when we pass by. I cannot help but be drawn into the window myself, looking for any ideas we can use at home for our own holiday decor. There is something about the dark overcast skies, that causes the holiday fairylights to grab you like a magnet. Ronan was also really impressed by the Christmas tree at the grocery store with all its holiday decorations. He has already been bitten by the holiday bug and has started writing Christmas poetry too. Maddox has been talking about what cookies he wants to make with Ronan. So far Monster cookies are on our list as well as homemade marshmellows. I will need to trade in our gingerhouse this year and teach the boys the deliciousness that is Christmas pudding. I so look forward to celebrating our first holiday here in England.

Ronan & Maddox gazing into the shop’s Christmas window display.

Holiday Forecast calls for Snow!

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I love the winter holiday season, though I usually wait until after the American holiday of Thanksgiving in November to start ‘Decking the Halls’. It is no wonder when every department store and other businesses start celebrating earlier and earlier each year. Even here in England, before Halloween has arrived, there are Christmas decorations and goodies for sale in the shops on the high streets. This year I feel a little bit different about the whole affair. Part of it is because the usual marker of when to officially start preparing for Christmas, is not a celebration here in England obviously. There is also the reasoning that because Thanksgiving falls on my birthday this year, I am not all together to keen to go out of my way to celebrate it. My partner’s birthday is coming up this week for his big Three 0 and my birthday will follow it an exact week later. Having just moved to the country we are not really going to be going all out with celebration parties. So with Bonfire night behind us, the next holidays are Hanukah, Christmas, and New Years and I am definitely looking forward to bringing some holiday cheer to our house. I have been on Pinterest, Etsy, and a few other websites looking for some creative and fun ideas that the boys and I can do this year. The easiest and most affordable was to start making snowflakes, and I really want to make quite a lot to put up around the house and from the windows. We started tonight with me teaching the boys as they learn how to make

snowflakes from cutting up pieces of paper. I let the boys fold the paper and draw their design, while I cut them out with the scissors. We had quite a bit of fun as we talked about other things we could to decorate our house. I look forward to the further posts I can share with you all about how we are getting ready for the Holiday season ahead.