Friday, December 16, 2011

Christmas Books and Movies

One of the best parts for me about getting out the Christmas storage boxes, would have to be the books!
I am a book lover, always have been and it seems my kids have inherited the gene!
It helps that we have always read to them, but they certainly have an interest of their own and are more often than not, found sitting under their new Bookshelves (will share a photo soon) flicking through and reading to themselves.

This year, I also picked up some Christmas movies on sale in Target. I know that they air them on TV, but it never seems to be at a convenient time as our kids go to bed between 6 -6:30pm.

I thought I might do a brief run through of each book/movie, for those interested in expanding their collection and not knowing what to buy.

Below we have ;
All Dogs Christmas Carol- a cartoon , and only goes for 20 mins, a few parts were a little scary (so Stella said) but nothing major, no tears. Reminds me of Lady and the Tramp!!
Ice Age; A Mammoth Christmas- funny, short and a little different than the traditional story
Santa Claus1, 2, and 3 - I am sure everyone has seen them, they have been hammered on TV, but I love them all the same .
Our purchase for next year will be The Polar Express.


Now for our books, this collection has definately expanded over the last few years. We started out with just a few, half being ones that were already on our bookshelf, however over the past 2 years, we have added quite a few, with the help of a few Christmas parties where the present I had to take for each child was a book . ( I love this idea for Christmas parties!! Better than a toy, useless plastic stuff the kids don't need, so I try to buy our kids Christmas books , and its great as kids don't know the value of books, the difference between a $2 one and a $20 one!!)

This year I was organised enough to place an order through Book Depository. Free shipping worldwide and VERY cheap prices and an extensive range too!

The books below are as follows;
Santas Aussie Holiday- Beautiful illustrations, a bit of a long book (for the likes or 18 month olds) but great to incorporate more of an Australian element
Twenty Five December Lane- a Little whimsical, and again a bit longer (have seen this in Target just this week)
Christmas in the Mouse House (we received this through a Secret Santa Swap for my bookclub, we chose to do kids books this year and it was great) -  An amazing Lift the Flap book, where the little mice search for 12 gold stars for the Christmas tree, Stella's favourite and fantastic for counting practise aswell!
Santa's Reindeer - Not a story book, more of a informative book on Reindeers, what they eat , the Santa workshop etc. Great for older kids or for ours to look through for an insight into Santa's world!! (Bought from Book Depository last year)



Books below as follows;
The Night Before Christmas-  The traditonal verses and story, but with embossed pages and gorgeous Illustrations (bought for $9 at local IGA store)
Dear Santa- A lift the flap book, about gifts, very short and good for tired nights! ha
That's Not my Santa- A board book, textured elements on each page and Twins favourite! (Book Depository this year)
The Night Before Christmas Golden Book- Same Story but with my childish Illustrations (Local Target for a few dollars)
Santa Down Under- Short story, about how he gets around etc, (Found at book sale for 50c!)


Books below as follows;
Father Christmas Needs a Wee -  Really funny, and a counting book! (Book Depository this year)
The Night Before Christmas - Board Book, great for littlies (Crazy Clarkes)
Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer- Golden book, great for 2-3 year olds (Target few dollars)
I Love Christmas- Simple, Classic Anne Walker
Wombat Devine - Part of our Regular book reading and a beautiful tale
Mr Men 12 Days of Christmas- Counting, Christmas and typical Mr Men ( Woolworths a few years back)
Santa- Board glitter book , good for littles, short story, texture and glitter ($2 shop)


                                And a few cheap Christmas CD's, much to Noels disgust


Our book Basket, getting fuller each year! We also have our colouring in and activity books here too!


And a favourite little Christmas corner with our new little cushion from Pottery Barn Kids, Babys First Christmas, I did think it was going to be bigger, but its not, cute all the same!



                                                            I hope this has helped!!
                                                            What is your favourite?
                           Oh and "The Jolly Postman " is on its way from Grandma and Poppy for Christmas!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Some Festive Fun

So I have finally managed to find some time (away from the Christmas baking, crafting, shopping, organising) to do a post all about the latter, but also found a time when Blogger wasn't being difficult!
Must be male, ooooops, did I say that? :)

Incase you hadn't noticed , its December, Christmas time, and my favourite time of the year!!
This year is particularly special for us, we have a new addition , making our little Morrison family complete ( I could keep having kids forever , but I wont) and also because our biggest poppet is a fantastic age and is really getting into the spirit, its so beautiful.

As previously shown, our house is decorated, and now the tree is up. What a mission!!
We have 2 little toddlers, who like to play with "Balls" hmmmm, but finally they have stopped touching and playing!! ThankGOD, the novelty wore off!

The kids and the tree (this is where the photos start!)


Stella and her beloved Daddy putting the star on the tree top.

And our 4 beautiful children! Hmm this was the best one of the 4 of them! Nice hey ;)

 

We have been crafting, with a little potato stamping.......



We have had Christmas parties galore, this one is for our Suberb, put on by the development company in a park on our street and it was great! Mini put, lawn bowls, tug of war, treasure hunts, jukebox, SANTA!!

And the kids opening their presents! Such fun and excitement! So beautiful to be a part of the magic for them!

He's a boy alright!

 

My little bubba is growing too quickly!! Such a sweet, happy and content little man.
Pictured here at nearly 6 weeks.

 

Loved and adored much?!

 


More Christmas party fun, this time Playgroup!!
And facepainting!
Unfortunately Max and Lacey missed out on this, they were struck by the dreaded Gastro bug, aswell as hubby.
Awful awful, but at least it didnt; last for long!

 

    And capturing the look on her little face when Santa turned up on the back of a Fire truck = Priceless!!




A happy beautiful little girl and my little friend! (Mummy will miss her next year when she is at Kindy!!)

OMG!! Santa sent me an email? With my photo on it?! Watching her video from Santa! If you haven't done one for you kids, do it now!! Portable North Pole HERE



Snapped reading our nightly book, a Christmas favourite!

 

And Stella and I had a girly night (with Grandma too!) to go to Carols by Candlelight. She was so excited!

                                                     Some Christmas nibbles to sweeten the deal

                                                                          Me and my big girl!

                                                                   Christmas crafting!

The cutest Chairbackers know to man!! From Pottery Barn Kids
We have been using these like Letterboxes to Santa, Stella has been drawing pictures etc and posting them, and sometimes she receives a surprise in return! 


                                                           Hand print trees and Reindeers!






 
Thats not all!! Still to come is some sweet Christmas baking!!

Oooww I told you I love this time of the year!!

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Sorting the washing,

Seriously..... thats what this blog post is all about! ha ha
But after some talk recently on Facebook, and THIS blog post from the lovely Clare at The HOME She Made about how we each make our washing schedules easier to maintain and complete each day/week, I thought I would share what we do in our home.
Now with 4 kids, a husband who plays football in winter,Waterpolo in summer and wears High Vis clothing and gets dirty at work, our washing piles up quickly.
Not only that , but our kids have a new set of PJ's every night, silly I know, but thats just what we do.
Hence the reason why I wash a few loads a day. Its never scheduled, say whites on Mondays etc, but when there is a decent sized pile, it gets washed.
I guess the advantage of kids that way at 5:30 EVERY. MORNING, is that a few loads can be done by mid morning and hung out to dry.
Every day they are bought in, and folded and most of the time put away.

In our home, each family member has a white basket, these live in the Laundry but are bought out to fold each day, or every other day. As the items are folded, they get placed in the owners basket.
I find this easier to put the clothes away, you are going ot one room, its all contained and if you don't have time to put them away that day, the basket is neat enough to sit on a chest of drawers and not look offensive.
The baskets may be small, but they are the right size when you are washing regularly, and they are only little peoples clothes ;) ( its also alot less daunting to put away a little basket of clothes than a big one!)



Shown here, was my washing from yesterday. The pile at the back is Noel and my clothes, the kids all have one, and there is a spare that is for the miscellaneous that are washing ie: you do a load of towels that day, its for towels, you do a load of baby muslins and rugs (as it was yesterday), its for them etc.
And hanging over the chair in front , are the clothes for the ironing basket and delightful ironing lady ( I have mentioned before that this is my luxury, I HATE ironing, can't find the time with the kids and prefer not to do it when they are around, too dangerous! )


Simple but easy to follow and keep up. It works for us, and at the moment, if you haven't noticed, I am all about the simple things!

Its beginning to look alot like Christmas....

On Sunday, while our darling little man was napping, I managed to convince hubby that it was time the Christmas boxes came out of storage. Much to his disgust of course, as its not December yet, but I am no better than a wee child when it comes to this time of year!
So here are a few snippets of our home, and the festive cheer!



The child friendly table, its copped a hammering but I think the novelty is wearing off, maybe.....






Yummo!! What a lesson we are learning on self control, not good for someone who is breastfeeding a baby having a growth spurt, hmmmmm.


And some activity books I have picked up from our local discount shops, ready for December 1st!





      And this year we are keeping them in the back of the book basket! And this is filling fast every year!



The tree is not up yet, the reason a mixed one.Timing- The baby woke and we like to do it as a family.  Its less time for 2 little cherubs/devils to destroy it and me having to yell at them, and because we need new lights , now that the kids (Stella) is into the full spirit this year!

                                More to come, its only the beginning, and I love Christmas!

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Simple things

Are often the best.
And the sweetest, most sugar filled, but hey, they had fun!

Since having little Angus, my attention and time has been a little stretched.
I have felt the dreaded "Mothers Guilt" on more occasions than I would have liked to.
One crying, 2 crying or all 4 crying, who do you choose? How do you prioritise?
Just today, Max put his teeth through his top lip, and there was blood. So I tried to console him the best I could whilst B/F Angus. No sooner was he settled and Max and Lacey had a tif at the little toy kitchen and it resulted in Lacey's finger getting caught in a door, tearing a big chunk of skin and squashing it. More tears, More blood, more stretching myself to console and feed.
Not easy, but I am learning and so are they.

So. seeing as though I cannot give them the attention they are used to for the whole day, when I have had the time, I have tried little activities to show them that Mum is still here.
The other day , it was simple is best.
Decorating the beloved Milk Arrowroot. Sugar filled, high colourings and messy, but such a simple and loved activity, and its not like they do it, eat it all the time!
Not to mention the fact its great for co ordination!!







Lacey's biccies, all seemed to be this shape, within seconds of receiving them. Hmmm just quality controlling!


                      And my Project Life POTD, priceless, simple and edible fun, and they had a ball!!



                                                             And the finished product;