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Our Christmas and New Year

January 6, 2017 by Bel Leave a Comment

January is flying past and it feels a little late to be updating about Christmas. However we had such a great holiday period, that I don’t want to let it pass by without a mention. Also, with not doing a November or December round-up, I wanted to make sure I at least briefly covered that period of time.

For some people, Christmas begins with the Coca Cola truck advert, but for me Christmas begins with Starbucks Red Cups. Sadly this is getting earlier and earlier every year (as are many Christmas things) which often results on the christmasy things being few and far between, instead of compact into a few weeks of December. Anyway, I won’t rant about that! So in November, Starbucks released their red cups and as a family we took a trip to get one (12th), each trying a different flavour (as is the tradition). Next came the Christmas Light switch on, November 18th, which has become tradition as a family too. We walk into town, look around the market and get food, then sometimes coffee too and then watch the light switch on and firework display made by fireworks airlie beach. It started to rain this year which almost sent us home early but we stuck it out and actually really enjoyed ourselves.

This was really all the excitement for November and next came December. On literally the 1st, I started attending Lincoln Christmas Market. Usually we attend to visit, once during the four days its there, but this year I was actually selling there with Closet Geek. It was such a great experience, but very tiring and the preparation before hand was insane. I don’t regret it at all, but I won’t be doing it in 2017, partly because it falls too close to Megan’s birthday.

The following weekend was Megan’s birthday, which despite not being a Christmas event, often feels like it’s part of the celebration. On Saturday (the day before her birthday) the Coca Cola Christmas truck was in Lincoln so we traveled over to see that and get a mini coke can. The next day, Megan’s birthday, we took her and some of her friends, to Pizza Hut and then family joined us too, for a family lunch to celebrate.

After such a busy start to December (which Christmas Market, lots of school events – including a school disco that Megan got a date for! – and of course Megan’s birthday) we didn’t get time to put up the tree till 17th. Strangely enough this didn’t actually bother me as much as I thought it would, making me feel more Christmasy than when we put it up early.

As always, we put on the Christmas music cds, wear silly hats and glasses and put up the tree. Megan made us hot chocolate too and it was actually a lovely family event. Afterwards we sat and went through the TV pages to pick which movies we wanted to set to record.

The kids had two more days of school after the weekend we put the tree up and while this was a shame, as we were all ready to be on a break, it went fast and we celebrated as always, with a trip to Pizza Hut after school on the last day of term. This one in December always seems silly as we’re only there for Megan’s birthday a week or so before but we do it anyway! Later that week, the girls and I had to go to Doncaster for some last minute Christmas bits and pieces, so I treated them to a wash, cut and blowdry from Supercuts. I won’t tell you the exact price, but just for the two of them, it was over £50 (!!) which definitely surprised me but it was part of their Christmas treat so I didn’t let it bother me too much.

As part of the trip to Doncaster, we finished sorting out Christmas Outfits for the girls, as I already had my sorted from Simply Be. Their tops had come from Boohoo.com, we picked up their trousers at H&M, then I popped to ShoeZone on the way home and grabbed the boots. The following day we also picked up our Christmas Hamper from the girls grandparents (as is their tradition) so coming home and unpacking that was fun too.

Soon it was Christmas Eve and that holds a whole host of traditions for us. First is, my mum and sister come around and we do Christmas Eve presents. That was edited a little this year as now both kids know about Santa and we don’t have to play it so young. We used to exchange Christmas PJs, Christmas Lush and a book to read for a bedtime story. However this year it was decided we wouldn’t wrap anything (as the kids know we do it as a tradition now and its just waste of paper) and instead of a book we would get a board game. When mum and Pippa arrived, we had hot chocolate, Baileys, a glass of sherry etc and as the girls were already having their traditional Christmas Eve bath, they got dressed into their new pjs. Afterwards, once Chris had arrived too, we played a board game and then finally mum and Pippa went home. After they were gone, Chris and I had baths, the girls did their reindeer food (some traditions don’t always need giving up!) and hung up their stockings.

Christmas Day was spent in the same way as always. The girls woke and came into our room, bringing their stockings with them. They took it in turns to open their gifts, before Chris and I did our stockings. Next we all got dressed and headed downstairs. We had crumpets and muffins for breakfast, plus tea and coffee for Chris and I. Next we opened the gifts under the tree, taking it in turns to each open one. Once all were opened, the girls played and opened some of their boxes/toys/gifts, while Chris and I sorted out rubbish, had another cuppa etc. Mum and Pippa turned up a little while later and we opened gifts between us all. Then we got in the car and headed to Chris’ Gran’s house, to see her and his dad. Again we exchanged gifts. We then headed to my brother’s house, where we would be having lunch. We exchanged gifts for the kids (as we had agreed not to do them for adults) and then had lunch. It was lovely and very relaxed. My mum then drove us home, but kept the girls with her as she later drops them off with their dad for the afternoon and evening. Chris played on his new Xbox game while I snoozed on the sofa, then in the evening we watched some TV. That was pretty much our Christmas Day.

Boxing Day was a nice quiet day, with the girls arriving home and everyone just spending time with their new presents and relaxing. The day after, we had another family day but at my Auntie’s house and this was wonderful as I got to see my cousins for the first time in ages and I’m hoping it becomes another tradition. In the few days between Christmas and New Year, we didn’t really do an awful lot. We ate cheese, drank wine, watched movies, played board games and basically just hung out as a family. It was pretty fantastic.

On New Year’s Eve, Chris was working till 6pm but then we had family time planned. We ate a huge cheese based dinner, drank wine (the girls had a little strawberry and lime cider) and spent time together. We opened our New Year resolutions from last year (and laughed because we failed most of them) then watched the music channel until midnight as there was nothing much on. At midnight we popped some fizz, had a toast, stayed up just a little longer and then finally headed to bed.

On New Year’s Day, my mum, sister, brother, his partner and her son, all came around for lunch. I made lasagne with garlic bread and salad, then served profiteroles with cream and ice cream. Afterwards we all played a great game on the Xbox called Jackbox.tv and had another lovely family day. That was basically our whole Christmas and New Year, both fantastic and hectic at times. The girls only had two more days off school after that, before they went back to school and then it felt like it was all a blur and Christmas was long forgotten! I’m looking forward to 2017 however and I hope that everyone enjoyed their Christmas period and is looking forward to the New Year too.

Life Lately – an update (Dec)

December 8, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

So I was going to do my November monthly round up but the truth is I don’t really remember much of it as it went past in a blur! I genuinely don’t remember the last time I felt like I had some spare time to sit down and just blog about life and how things were going. Anyway, today I do and so here I am to give you a little update! November was hectic and the look on Tink’s face (see mug) was pretty much my face for the whole month (and still now really). Since September and October were crazy busy with Halloween, I didn’t start my Christmas Market prep till November and this proved to be pretty stressful. That said, I managed okay and Christmas Market has now been and gone and I can breath a sigh of relief. Orders and CG are still busy but somehow by comparison, life feels quite calm right now.

Aside from the above mentioned preparation, not a whole lot happened in November but there are a couple of things worth noting. First and foremost, things started to get a little Christmasy! We attended Gainsborough’s Christmas Light Switch on, got Christmas coffee from both Starbucks and Costa, plus I had a little Christmas Lush (I hope to have more!). Second, we were lucky enough to see two fantastic movies this month – one being Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them, the other being Moana. Both were really amazing in completely different ways but it really was great to have another Harry Potter movie to look forward to and of course a dose of Disney (especially one I hadn’t known much about and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it).

Other than that, there hasn’t been a whole lot of new going on. We did all have a family get together on November 20th as that would have been my mum and dad’s 40th Wedding Anniversary, had he still been around, so that was nice but a little sad too. As I mentioned, life has been pretty hectic but it finally seems to be settling down now. The girls have a fair bit going on at school so I’m coming and going a lot right now but hopefully I will be finding time to blog again now, in between making orders, opening advent calendars and picking the girls up from school discos. This month has Megan’s birthday and Christmas in it, so I’m definitely hoping to make the most of December.

October Round-up

November 9, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

Watching: I honestly don’t remember much of what I’ve watched this month. Here’s the list; Luke Cage (Series 1), Big Bang Theory (Seasons 1-10), Designated Survivor, New OUAT eps, Captain America – Civil War, Knights of Badassdom, X-Men First Class, Walking Dead (first ep, new season), Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.
Reading: A Frozen Heart, Cinder.
Sewing & Making (for Closet Geek): As of the 19th October, I’d had 214 orders since the beginning of September and 41 were dresses. This compares to 56 for the same period of time last year, 35 of which were dresses. So mostly, I’ve been really really bloody busy! Mostly I sewed Wendy dresses but clearly there were another 150 or so orders on top of that too. I also made a Jane Porter cosplay for someone to wear to Disneyland Paris Halloween party and I was SO pleased with it.

And in other news…
– Adam came to visit for a week, after not seeing him since February.
– X-Factor Live shows started… (yeah sad, but I like it).
– Chris and I celebrated 4 years together. We had a night together by ourselves while the girls were with their dad but our actual anniversary was spent as a family.
– Insanely busy with Closet Geek as I mentioned above but finally it died off in the last week of October and it was actual heaven to have time to breathe again.
– Megan went back to school a day before Lily after half term and so Lil and I enjoyed a rare day together, just us. Sadly we both ended up ill the following day and Lily was off school for two more days!
– My new ear stand arrived. Chris bought me a Minnie Mouse Disney Tradition. We got a new coffee machine. Chip and Dale in Christmas form Tsum Tsums are now on our mantelpiece and I’ve really enjoyed some Lush baths!

Looking forward to in November:
– Being calmer to some extent, because Halloween is well out of the way and the drop in orders has been significant. However since I’m getting ready for Christmas market, I still feel a lot of pressure to work and build stock.
– Honestly there’s not much else to look forward to I don’t think. More Lush baths. The new “Harry Potter” movie. Celebrating mum and dad’s wedding anniversary. Nat’s birthday. Okay so I guess that’s more than I thought…

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Making the most of your spare time

November 4, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

We all know that running a family home can leave us with very little in the way of spare time. So that’s why it’s a good idea to try and make the most of whatever time we have left after the meals have been eaten and the kids have gone to bed.

In the summertime, it was nice to take long evening walks. But now that the darker days have drawn in, we have to be a little more creative about how we choose to spend our time.

But thankfully tablet technology means that we can still do anything from planning parties and holidays to playing online games so that we never need to rely on those boring TV schedules anymore! If you want to try PC gaming as a hobby, you can easily get a gaming pc build that costs less than $400 that can run any video game at high settings.

Online window-shopping is something that is not only endlessly engrossing, but it can also lead to some bargains later on. Whether you’re looking for the ultimate Christmas party dress, or some Disney gifts for the kids, there’s nothing like a bit of a bargain hunt on an evening!

There’s a great range of online fashion retailers that have sprung up in recent years, with the likes of Asos and Boohoo being amongst my favourites. And Pinterest is a great way to find things that you wouldn’t normally come across. By creating a virtual pinboard of fashion, recipes and pretty pictures, it’s helped millions of people to organise their wishlists and spend an evening in a vaguely productive way.

Even something as simple as video games can be made a little more useful. Although Fitocracy is a workout app, it cleverly uses gaming elements to help you stay in shape without noticing. And the live casino and slots games that you can find at Red8s are so engrossing that it’s easy to forget that they can provide a little extra money on the side!

Although it’s probably unlikely that most of us would become professional slots players from these online casino sites, the winnings can be used to make a future holiday fund. Thanks to travel sites like Skyscanner it’s really easy to search around to see what flight destinations are cheapest at particular times of the year.

So whether you’re planning a quick Christmas getaway to beat the winter blues, or are daydreaming about a dream trip to the casinos of Las Vegas or Disneyworld in Los Angeles, it all shows that we can all use our spare time in a productive way!

Avoiding Debt this Christmas

October 28, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

At the beginning of the year, in my Goodbye 2015, Hello 2016 post, I spoke a little about the debt I was in and how I hoped to get out of it during the year. I am pleased to say, that with almost ten months of the year passed, I definitely have less debt now than I did at the beginning but it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. At around June-July, my money problems hit an all-time low, with phone calls from my bank and the worry of losing my account altogether. It really helped me pull myself together but it was a mess I could have avoided. While too much spending and not enough earning was the main route of the problem, transferring money backwards and forwards between Paypal accounts was what really caused the red flag on my account. Using a short term loan company would have avoided all the hassle I had, as that could have bridged the gap when I needed money and didn’t have it coming in till later. Instead I had money coming in and going out every few days as my Paypal transactions cleared, meaning a lot of unusual activity in my account which ultimately lead to it being put under scrutiny and all my transactions monitored.

Having worked really hard, to get myself out of the mess I caused, it made me realise how much I didn’t want to get back into it, with Christmas around the corner. I have to admit that Christmas is actually my biggest weak spot, especially with the kids. I always want to give them the world and I know that sometimes I spend more than I have. Over the last few months I’ve found that one of the best ways to not spend, is to actually not look. Sites like Hot Topic and Disney Store, my two biggest weaknesses, are best to just avoid altogether and therefore not be tempted to spend. However at Christmas time, its all about browsing the shops – whether online or in person. To avoid getting into a mess, I’ve set my mind to a few certain things.

Making a list in advance and adding up the total, even before buying.
It’s hard to decide how much to spend on a person at Christmas, especially a child. I always see so many things for my best friends, my partner and my kids – making it hard to pick just one or two things to get and not go completely over budget. However this year as neither of the girls have much they want, I’m setting myself on gift vouchers and the odd gift as I think about it. I’ve started to make a list of ideas and eventually I will palm off ideas to relatives and keep some for myself. I’m going to set myself a budget and not go over it – meaning I will need to swap things in and out of the list, instead of just adding things on.

Adding to a cart (or real life shopping basket) and then taking time to think about it.
It’s not as easy when you’re shopping in person, but I have been known to put the whole contents of my basket back on the shelves. I’ve definitely abandoned online carts without checking out too. Sometimes its good to go through and browse, adding the things you like but then walk away and think on it. Often I’ve come back and taken half the items out, realising I don’t really need them. Other times I’ve realised I need none of it and haven’t checked out at all.

Just because there is a voucher for it in an email, doesn’t mean you have to buy something.
Recently I’ve had a few discount codes and I know coming up to Christmas there will be plenty more, especially with Black Friday and Cyber Monday, not to mention last minute sales. I always open up the sites and see what bargains I can grab, especially with 20% off or whatever the discount might be. Just remember that if you didn’t intend to buy it in the first place, do you really need it now – just because it has discount? Also does the discount really outweigh whatever the postage costs will be, or if you could find it elsewhere for cheaper.

Buy as and when you can afford it.
This is really the biggest one for me this year. As much as I love the idea of shopping early and getting everything organised, if I can’t afford it then I shouldn’t try to attempt it all at once. While spreading the cost is a great idea – I’ve definitely started picking up the odd bit here and there – it’s not worth getting everything in October just so you can say you’re done, if it makes you hard up for November and December (possibly even having a worse knock on effect). With my work, I have a lot of stock to build up for a Christmas Market doing. At the moment, all my spare cashflow goes on that. While I do want to get gift buying and not leave it all to the last minute, I also know I will probably be better off, after the Christmas Market has passed.

I’m sure if you were to google “avoiding debt this Christmas”, you would have loads of sites giving you some great ideas but these are just the ones that I’m aiming for. I’m hoping that by being open and accountable here on my blog, it will help me not to get all crazy and blow what little money I have and not make increase my debt back to where it was at the beginning of 2016.

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Dare I mention the C word yet?

September 16, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are mine.

Okay so it’s mid- September now… is that too early to mention the C word? By that I of course mean Christmas. While on the one hand, it seems crazily early to be thinking about it (we only just moved past Summer right?) but on the other, its nice to start saving and planning – making sure you have everything you need and of course the cashflow to get it!

As a single mum (or at least the person singularly responsible for buying the girls gifts), its important that I at least start to think about it early, even if no purchasing goes on yet. Here are my top tips for planning out the perfect Christmas present purchasing!

Get organised

Grab a pen and paper, start making notes on a pad. Or open up that notepad app on your phone and start a page there. It doesn’t really matter where you do it, but start a list and add to it every time you think of something. When the kids say “I really wish I had….” or when they’re watching tv and the adverts come on with “oooh I’d love one of those…”. Jot it down and that way you’ll remember it when the time comes to purchasing. You can of course think about the things you want them to have – that will save you money in the long run if you get them for Christmas. A new school bag, clothes, pajamas etc.

Make a Wishlist

There are loads of great sites for making a wishlist. Amazon has a very simple one to use, as does My Greedy Book. There are other sites like Polyvore, Giftster etc. that all do the same thing. Do some searching of the internet in your free time and add the items you like to the wishlists – you can even set up a list per person. It doesn’t really matter if you plan to shop online or in person, its still a good way to keep track of the actual brand you’ve found and the prices you’ve found it at. The lists are also really easy to edit if you find something different – swap, edit, delete etc.

Keep an eye out for vouchers and sales

As soon as you’re ready to think about actually buying (and preferably once you have some spare money), start to keep an eye out for bargain opportunities. There are many sites like Vouchercode or Groupon Coupons that will offer you good discount options for your shopping. Keeping an eye on these sites will help you to get your items at a lower price than you would have regularly and may even offer you options like free shopping – which then makes shopping online both easier and cheaper. You can also look at https://www.raise.com/coupons/target and get more coupons.

Sites often have sales in the run up to Christmas – think Black Friday weekend and Cyber Monday, both of which are great times to grab bargains both in store and online. If you’re brave enough to leave your shopping right up till Christmas Eve (which I’m definitely not) I believe you can grab several bargains then too.

Shop Secondhand

Finally, if you have any flexibility and can get away with secondhand or refurbished, places like Ebay or CEX are a great idea to check out as well. Most kids won’t even notice that it’s not in a box or proper packaging, as they’ll be too pleased to have the gift. This is a great idea for electricals especially as you can really drop the prices for yourself.

I’ve already started my lists and will be soon starting to buy the odd thing here and there. Despite the fact it’s only September I hate not being organised and I would hate even more for the kids not to get something they’d like, all because I didn’t plan well. Good luck with your Christmas planning and even more good luck if you attempt to tackle sales like Black Friday!!

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Our post-Christmas break – Disneyland Paris

January 28, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

It occurred to me today that it’s been a month since we went to Disneyland Paris and I still haven’t posted about it! As such, I’m putting that right – starting now.

On Christmas Day I surprised the girls by announcing we would be heading off to Disneyland Paris the following day! As neither of them had much on a wishlist for Christmas, this was my gift to them (any myself) even though it would be a very brief visit! On Boxing Day we drove down to Birmingham and parked at the train station there. We caught a coach at 6pm, that would head for Dover and catch a ferry over to France.

Normally the coach would have made stops all along the way, picking up other people. However by some miracle everyone got on at Birmingham, so there were no set stops to be taken. Instead the coach driver called at several services along the way and we eventually reached Dover by about midnight. Sadly when we got there, we realised the ferry over to France wasn’t till about 2am so this was a bit of a pain. The girls and I hadn’t slept at all by this point so we headed into Costa to grab some coffee and waste some time, before waiting patiently again on the coach. By the time we got on the ferry (and it was rammed) we were so tired and there was no way to sit. In the end we lay our coats on the floor and just slept there for an hour or so while the ferry crossed over.

When we finally arrived in France it was back on the coach and this time a real attempt to sleep. Megan ended up sleeping in the footwell of hers and Lily’s seats, while Lily spread out over both seats. Luckily for me, I can sleep upright so I just slept in my seat, glad for my ear plugs!

We arrived just outside of Disneyland Paris at about 9am. We stopped at services to freshen up and get some breakfast before finally heading to the park. We seemed to have caught enough sleep not to feel to rough, though a whole day in the park was bound to take its toll. Wrapped up warm we headed in, to enjoy our 12 hours of Disney magic!

The first thing we did was head into Disney Studios. We knew we would ultimately want to spend less time here so it was best to get it out of the way before heading into the main Disney Park. We had a wander around but Megan wasn’t keen to go on much – we did manage the Studio Tram Tour (as it was closed last time we came), the Slinky Dog ride and of course we grabbed FPs for the new Ratatouille ride (but not till 7pm that night!).

After that we headed to Disney Park, where everything was beautifully decorated for Christmas. It was lovely to have gone so close to Christmas and actually feel that bit more festive because we were there. After not long arriving in the park, there was a parade, so we decided to wait and catch this first. Being Christmas it was one we hadn’t seen before and of course it’s also been a few years since we went to DLP anyway. Next up came a trip to the castle and of course obligatory pictures. It was pretty sunny and it was in our eyes, so sadly the pictures weren’t great! After that I was determined to visit Maleficent in dragon form as on previous visits I hadn’t known she was there. I think both the girls were a bit nervous as we headed into the dark but it was really funny when the dragon moved and made everyone jump.

Next we took a wander, looking for somewhere to eat. We bumped into both Jafar and the Genie and we got some pretty great pictures. We stopped for lunch at Restaurant Hakuna Matata. Each of us had something different and luckily we enjoyed it all. Though the price was fairly expensive, we actually didn’t even manage it all so I won’t grumble about the cost. We tucked away drinks for later and then set off around the park again. We headed for rides that had low queue times (30 minutes or less) and also rides we hadn’t done before. We started with Snow White and then Pinocchio, before heading to Phantom Manor (and seeing Jack Skellington as Sandy Claws on the way).

By the time we came out, it was going dark. It was almost time for the next parade and so we found a spot for that and waited. During this time it became properly night time and also cold! After the parade we headed back to the Studios and used our fastpass for Ratatouille. The ride was fantastic and it was definitely worth going back for.

With nothing else to do at the Studios we crossed back over to the Disney Park and to be honest the tired and cold was beginning to wear on us. We stocked up on popcorn, crepes and coffee before heading off to It’s a Small World and finally riding that. With nothing else we wanted to do and with the fireworks an hour away, we wandered in a few shops before we settled down with our coats tightly wrapped around us and waited. To be honest it was a little boring but our feet ached and we were tired, plus we wanted a good view for the ending show. Finally the time came and we thoroughly enjoyed Dreams, followed by the Fireworks. We headed straight back to the coach at this point though, as our journey home would begin.

Once everyone was on the coach, we headed off. I settled the girls in their usual places and we all attempted to sleep. Luckily the girls managed plenty, right up until the ferry. Here I had to wake them for passport control checks but then we were almost straight on to the ferry and it wasn’t so bad. While we were tired still, we didn’t think we’d sleep so we headed for the dining area, getting food and drink. We spent most of the time chatting but at points we did just close our eyes and enjoy the peace, before finally heading back to the coach as the ferry docked.

It was still dark outside and so the girls were encouraged to go back to sleep. I managed a little more sleep too, until it got lighter and I gave up. Instead of stopping several times on the way this time, the coach driver just headed straight back to Birmingham – another advantage to having no one else to drop off. We got back to Birmingham massively ahead of schedule, even with one stop for toilet and breakfast. I had worked out we would be back around 1pm and instead it was about 9am. This was fantastic for us as we headed straight home and were back well before midday. The kids coped extremely well with the tiredness and managed all day without a problem. We did treat ourselves to take away and an early night though but it was such a fun few days that I would definitely consider doing it again!

51/52

December 24, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

This week’s pictures are from a Cross Country/Fun Run at school. The girls both took part in the fun run, rather than the competitive cross country and I think they enjoyed it much more because of that. I went along to support them but didn’t run myself (it was only the kids!)

Christmas Eve

December 24, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

So Christmas is upon us and I feel a little sad that I haven’t been able to update my blog much recently. Sure there has been content but it’s not been especially personal! Christmas Eve is really the first day that I usually start to feel Christmasy and sadly so far, not so good. Alright so it’s only midday so there’s time for that to change, but as yet I’m still not feeling it!

However I wanted to share with you some of our Christmas Eve traditions and obviously that will explain why its the first time I get in the Christmas mood. Until yesterday, I hadn’t wrapped a single present (bar the one person I needed to give their gift to at the weekend) and I hadn’t really done much Christmas prep (bar shopping). But with my orders at Closet Geek finally coming to an end, I took the time to get myself organised and wrap all the presents to go under the tree and then stocking gifts for 7 stockings!!! Other than putting up the tree at the beginning of December and the girls writing their letters to Santa, only this week, there’s nothing much else we do I suppose in the run up to Christmas Day.

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But tonight the traditions truly begin! They start around 7pm (or at least they will this year) with a Christmas Eve gift. This is a tradition started by my own parents and continued by me as I think it’s a great idea. Many people have Christmas Eve boxes these days, but we just have a gift – that one present that gets picked out from under the tree and given to you early. Okay, so it’s pre-picked, but as kids we didn’t realise that and we just thought we were being allowed to open one before Christmas Day!

The Christmas Eve gift in our house is ALWAYS pyjamas. I remember as a child occasionally getting other things like bath toys, a hot water bottle, board games etc. but in this household it’s always pjs. There is also a Christmas book and some bath stuff (usually the one time I allow the kids to have Lush!). My mum and sister come around as we open these gifts, they have pjs too and so do Chris and I. We all open our gifts and then I read the Christmas book to the girls, then we all have a glass of Baileys, or sherry or even a glass of wine. After a little while, I run a bath for the girls with their Christmas Lush and they get themselves clean, ready for the big day! Afterwards they put on their clean pjs and we make the final preparations.

My mum and sister are usually gone by this point and so the rest of the traditions are just ours. The girls put out milk and cookies for Santa, carrots for the reindeer and then sprinkle their reindeer food outside the front door. They hang the “magic key” on the front door, that allows Santa to come in and then finally they hang their empty stockings. It’s usually bed time by this point and so they head off to sleep, giving me a little time to myself. Chris and I then have baths too and change into our new pyjamas, before spending a little time together and then heading to bed. At dead on midnight, we exchange an early Christmas gift. This is a tradition that comes from Chris’ family and we have only done for the few years we’ve been together. It’s never anything specific, no reason for it being the early one, just a gift to exchange when it’s just us and technically just turned Christmas Day.

What Christmas Eve traditions do you have?