sisters

During the looooong month of December when Friday was home from school and the girls and I were spending an inordinate amount of time together, I started taking a picture a day of the two of them. Very quick and silly snaps, just trying to capture random moments in their relationship, little snippets of their play.
I think Sunday so enjoyed having her big sister around so much and they're of an age now where they regard each other as viable play-mates, friends, accomplices.

Here's some of my favourites ...

My preciousness's.

Now to decide what to do with them all? Print a book, an album? A massive framed collage? For now I'll burn them all to CD and label it clearly ... it's a start.

24 Dec

Patchy internet access the last couple of days has left this space very quiet, but done wonders for my Christmas preparations.

I downloaded a bunch of pics this morning, here's a smattering of what we've been up to.

 Christmas Trees inspired by Love & Lollipops

 Brining the turkey in the camping fridge. Innovative no?

 Who knew she'd love mince pies so much? Little bit of sherry never hurt anyone right?

 

I finished Sunday's stocking just in time! She'll get her name on it next year, Maybe.

This was a great success.

 It's all been so ... jolly.
Christmas really, really is more fun once you have kids.

Have a lovely few days everyone, I'm taking a blog break 'til the New Year - see you then.

zen christmas

I could bang on and on about how utterly sublime Cape Town has been these last few days. Windless, warm (but not too warm), clear, blue and gold.
But that could get you hating, and I wouldn't want that.

So I'll just bang on about how relaxed and ready I'm feeling about Christmas, and you can be hating on me for that instead.
But really, I'm as surprised as anyone. I'm genuinely calm, prepared and feeling totally zen about this silly season: Christmas, school holidays, endless empty days to fill  - bring it on.

Molly's SmugFace Guide to Christmas Preparedness:

1. Schedule 3+ weeks of family sickness for November. This enables you all to get really used to spending lots of time at home together. And gives you some time for holiday crafting to distract you from killing your children, or yourself.

2. Do one 2h trip to Osman's sometime far away from pay day (way too busy then) to sort out all stocking fillers, extra tinsel and tree bling, and the necessary couple of small friend gifts. Yeah, I know we should all be buying handmade but frankly, I can't always afford that.

3. Agree with your friends not to buy each others kids presents. We give and receive generously for our children's birthdays, and with all the family gifts they receive at Christmastime I don't think they need all that extra loot too. Sometimes we bake for our friends around Christmas time, sometimes we don't - there's no pressure and no one should be keeping score.

4. Order one kid's main gift from Kalahari (or similar online outlet), source other kid's gift on the web and go straight to the source to buy it in one easy excursion. Visit Reader's Warehouse or similar for a couple of books.
(Our girls get stockings from 'Father Christmas', and one or two presents from us. I'm loving the 3 gift concept too - something to wear, something to read, something to play - but if summer thus far is anything to go by they'll be stark naked until February, so I'm skipping the 'wear' one.)

5. Luck out on finding one source for all family gifts (us adults all buy one small gift per couple) - and earn bonus smug points for a) buying them all in under 30 mins and b) supporting a local industry.
Oh and, persuade your siblings not to breed - it really helps when you don't have nieces and nephews to buy for.

6. Wrap as you buy. I'm new to this (and I'm not joking when I say I'm as freaked out by this newfound efficiency as anyone) but what a winning concept. Buy a gift, wrap it when you get home/ that evening/ while they're in the bath / while talking on the phone. It only takes a minute and it's easier to stash a wrapped gift than an unwrapped one.

7. Start making a list in October of what your kids need or want so when you get the inevitable queries from relatives you've some answers at the ready. I've yet to meet an aunt or granny who's not appreciative and it means I have some control over the kind of kak, I mean, presents which come into the house.

8. Pledge, and stick to it, not to go into any malls after end November. So far I've managed this and my god it's making a difference to my sanity levels. The Garden Centre doesn't count okay!
[Ack, went into Cavendish yesterday - but took the lift straight down to Woolies, bought shoes for both girls and got the hell out. Relatively unscathed.]

9. WALK AWAY. What can't be done, won't be done. Don't promise nothing to nobody but yourself - I've had years of practise letting myself down, it stopped hurting long time ago.

10. Throw candy, not money, at any problems which come your way. Or alternatively, your own face. Frequently.

Ah the smugness. Annoying hey?

Yeah, I'm too zen to let that bug me. And too busy frantically finishing a handmade stocking for Sunday.

What is it about this time of year?!

16 Dec

A couple of weeks back I had a fun evening listening to Nine Inch Nails and making a string of paper matryoshkas.
As one does.

It was one of those sanity-saving exercises when I just needed a little all about me-ness. Friday was tres impressed when she saw them up but also indignant that I'd made them without her.
So today we remedied that, and she and some buddies made their own.

I'm loathe to admit it, but hers are way cooler. They have beards!

1 Dec

The girls opened their first advent matchbox this evening. Two little white chocolate buttons happily consumed.
3 packets of match boxes, lots of scraps from the pretty paper stash, one tube of chocolate buttons from Clicks.
We're keeping Christmas simple this year.

And we're excited.

PS I was interviewed over on Becoming You this week - such fun.