Christmas in the Jones household has been celebrated on Christmas Eve for as long as I remember. I must admit I love getting into the celebrations early and I LOVE having a purely lazy day on Christmas Day. No preparing giant feasts, just relaxing with family and enjoying a lie in as no-one gets up at the crack of dawn...though I think Will may start doing this the older he gets. Of course Santa did leave a present for Will on Christmas morning!
For years my Dad had to work on Christmas Day so the Christmas Eve celebration became a necessity. Dad always told us "Germans celebrate on Christmas Eve, so that's what we're doing!" We do have German ancestors (my Great Grandparents on mum's side of the family) so I guess we could claim that tradition :-)
It was so wonderful to have my immediate family, good ol' nana and also be joined by my Aunt and Uncle, Pat and Klaus who live way up in Innisfail. Will was really excited about Christmas this year. He really seemed to have a good understanding about it. "It's Jesus' Birthday he kept saying." Then he would add, "make a cake mummy." Ha ha. I think we'll have to make a cake for Jesus next year maybe ;-)
When we were little my mum would make edible decorations every year. I don't know where she got the idea but she would use Allens lollies and licorice allsorts and wrap the pieces in gladwrap and join them with pipecleaners to make little creatures. We would hang them on the tree and eat them in the build up to Christmas. She would also hang treat sized cherry ripes on the tree. I loved that tradition. She hasn't done the insect lollies for years but still hangs up the cherry ripes. They were pretty much devoured before Christmas Day and I was really impressed that Will asked if he could have them only every now and then, and he didn't once nick one and eat it in secret like so many children would!
If you know my mum you'd know she is not one for holding back and just cannot help herself from spoiling everyone. Whilst I appreciate her generosity I am really adament that Christmas and birthdays remain relaxed and not over the top with presents and junk food. I want my children to really appreciate the gifts they receive and not be overwhelmed with toys etc. For the most part mum was restrained this year. Well done mum!! However, there were tones of presents under the tree and Will was so excited. The temptation would have been great but he only once started opening a gift. We had a talk with him about needing to wait until Christmas and he was really good from then on.
We all helped out with dinner preparations and tidying up. Mum still did the majority of the cooking but it was good to be able to do lots to help her out.We enjoyed a prawn cocktail followed by yummy roast pork and chicken with all the trimmings. I was most excited about Christmas pudding with custard though. I forgot how good those Lion Christmas Cakes were!
Usually Simeon plays Santa's helper but he wasn't keen this year so Will took on that role. He did a great job at handing out the presents and loved helping everyone open their presents. It is so much fun with a child around at Christmas. My family is pretty small and Christmas has been pretty low key, if not a little boring in the past so I'm loving this stage of parenthood.
Will got some fantastic presents - nothing too gimmicky or things that would break in 10 mins and what I'm particularly happy about is that no-one (aka, mum) went overboard! ;-)
We have been playing with his Thomas the Tank Engine flip chart and learning his letters and numbers most days since Christmas.
Will was very happy to say thank you with big cuddles for everyone.
Opening a present for Grandad
Will takes a bit of convincing to pose for photos these days!
Here he is opening one of his favourite presents of the day...
His look of excitement and realisation at what it was is beautiful!
"It's lego mummy!"
Henry of course had no idea what was going on but seemed stimulated by the wrapping paper
He had a good attempt of using his soft jingley ball though.
Henry was happy to be nursed by each of the family during the evening
Sim tucking into that yummy Christmas Pudding
And Reub too!
Henry loving his time with Great Aunt Pat and Great Nana
Pete is longing for the time Will graduates from Duplo to lego but they have fun playing it together!
We attempted some family shots and managed to get a couple where Will looked at the camera :-)
It was a nice relaxed Christmas and I loved thinking about how much my own little family is growing and changing every year. Next year I'll have 2 kids well and truly on the move!
1 comment:
We've always celebrated on Christmas eve too - Estonian tradition. I think most of Europe do it this way?
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