Category: Events and Outings

Boxing Day 2012 (by )

Boxing Day in our house hold is the second day of stockings and the opening of all those presents that there just was not time to open on Christmas Day!

This particular Boxing Day it was discovered by Jean that everybody's stocking was full to bulging except... Mummy's :/ So I wouldn't be sad she sneaked in some chocs but didn't want to lie to me so told me. She reckons Santa must have forgotten as there was no coal which is what you get if you're naughty apparently. This made me cry because it was so sweet and I am hoping that Santa will perhaps drop off some late stuff say on my birthday!

Alaric cheered me up by presenting me with purple candles which I set out on the table as a centre piece - we put out our favourite table cloth to go with the candles 🙂

Purple Candles, purple table cloth

Purple candles purple glow Liquid purple

Jean got even more books which she was exstatic about along with reindeer earmuffs which she insisted on wearing out shopping today 🙂

Mary finally managed to open her presents - she had been so excited Christmas Day that she'd managed two! One of them was a bouncy reindeer toy which she loves very much and which resulted in a beached Mummy - for some reason I thought that it would be a good idea to try and sit on the thing, Alaric had to come and rescue me and my pelvis has been a bit mobile since but it was halarious at the same time 🙂

Mary and her Reindeer stealing Mummy's glittery shoes!

And of course Mummy's glittery red shoes were kid napped!

Baby Mary has stolen Mummy's shiny shoes

First by Mary then by Jean

Jean in Mummy's sparkly shoes

Mary then disappeared with them - when we tracked her down she had gifted the cat who was not entirely happy with it though just lay there like the fat lump he is accepting snugs from her :/

Tom the cat has now stolen Mummy's glittery shoes Mary petting poor tom after she presumably dumped my shoes on him What do you mean the cat doesn't like shiny shoes?

Mary seemed most put out with the idea that the cat wouldn't like the shoes!

We gave the neighbours some home made chocs and then settled down to a dinner of left overs 🙂 Jean declared it was the best dinner she could have - brussel sprouts, peas and one of her new books to read - Alaric is now wondering if she is actually a human child!

Jeany eating sprouts and peas whilst reading on Boxing Day

The book is The Worst Witch All At Sea which Jeany is emotionally engaged with as there is a catnapping and the cat and owner are sad! Her first statement on reading the book was, 'This is like old style Harry Potter only with just girls.'

Alaric played games with Jean on the computer and I wrote story ideas in my new lego note books! We are all alas a bit virally and the baby ended up calpoled and in bed with a mild temperature.

But it was a good Boxing Day even if I ended up having to nap!

Christmas Day 2012 (by )

Christmas Morning the Fire Place

Christmas Morning and the stockings were bulging at the seams, two dresses lay draped across the fire guard. Jean was almost bursting with excitement and Mary had picked up on this - they had woken us up at like 4:30 am - we sent them back to bed and then I couldn't sleep for excitement and so went and woke them up at first light!

Jean emptying her stocking Mary trying to put stuff back in her stocking Daddy helping Mary with her stocking

Jean was ecstatic to find the things she had asked for in the stocking and Mary got a little confused and kept trying to put her things back into the stocking! Jean then entertained us with jokes from her Angry Bird book.

Jean and her angry bird joke book

Whilst Mary played plinky music on her little plinky guitar 🙂

Mary and the plinky toy guitar

I was impressed that Santa realised I needed a pencil sharpener and rubbers and pencils and a calligraphy set!

Mummy's stocking innards

Mary finally got the idea with the stockings... just in time to help Daddy.

Mary helping Daddy with his stocking

The girls were sleepy but perked up once breakfast and more present opening was mentioned!

Daddy and the sleepy children

Jean sniffing the presents to see if she can guess what is in them! Jean and Daddy festive hug Jean master of the presents Mary opening a present that is nearly the same size as her!

There was a lot of presents!

Tree, presents, kids not yet dawn

Most of them were from our friends and we could not believe their generocity, there were lots and lots of lovely things for the girls but also things for me and Al. My presents ranged from a lovely pocket dragon broach which I wore at dinner, to butterfly necklaces - one of which Jean had chosen specially for me. Then there was a Clangers craft book and so many other things - all I could say was 'Oh wow!' and then it came time to open the package that had turned up on the door step Christmas Eve.

The tag read 'The Snell-Pym Family From Santa' it was a complete mystery and it contained an X-Box Connect! Jean did little happy jumps and Daddy stood there frozen and then started trying to work out if he had a cable to connect it to one of the monitors we have kicking about the place etc... and I cried. I'd tried to make a video Christmas Eve to thank everybody for being so lovely but I had gotten too choked up. Father Christmas had delivered what was wanted but not what had actually been asked for as Jean was worried it was too big a present and I had said on Facebook that such a present would have to be a whole family present.

Stickle Bricks! Jean and Mary with the presents from South Africa Jean and her mirrored pen Mary coming to help Daddy open presents Snuggly Bear and Cloths! Mary in her new outfit

Jean loves Angry Birds and so the umbrella had to instantly be tried out!

tsk tsk it looks like rain Mary and Jean exploring the outdoors on Christmas Morning with new Angry Birds umbrella

As did the Ju Jistu mitts that she had asked Santa about specially.

Ju jistu Jean and her mitts from Santa

Butterflies! I received lots of butterflies as necklaces and wall hangings - Alaric says he is neither for nor against butterflies in the house but that they make me so happy that he wants to just cover the house in them now 🙂

Two butterfly necklaces Beautiful Butterflies

Jean was over the moon at the stack of books she received and we knew that there was just as many to come on Boxing Day too!

Jean's tower of books

She chose a Worst Witch book to start with and was just finishing chapter two when it came to bed time 🙂

Jean loves books

Science It's a Kid Thing

So does Mary 🙂

Mary the baby Book Worm

Mary also loved her little Hedgehog that Jeany had gotten her.

Oooo Daddy is that a little hedgehog? Yep I have a hedgehog I love my hedghog

The girls both wanted to put on their new cloths - Jean chose the blue dress which had been mine at the same age - though it had been made longer for me when I was about 10 so is long enough for Jean!

Jean Style Christmas Day

The hat is one of Nanny's which she then put on Mary, a process I don't think Mary appreciated!

Jean putting a too large hat on Mary

But then Mary was really happy with the hat and wondered around with it on for ages!

Mary Loving the Too Large Hat

Mary loves the little Minni Mouse outfit so much that there was a cross tantrum when it had to be removed due to a nappy breach - but this was solved by the fact she saw her new pj's (sent by the same person! Helen her god mother!).

We left the kids watching their new film whilst we went to cook the dinner. Well when I say 'we' I mean Al the elf!

Legolas preparing Christmas dinner a.k.a. Alaric in elf hat

I was busy decorating the Christmas cake 🙂

Sarah decorating the cake

The Snowflake Cake! It didn't quiet come out the way I invisioned - the two techniques didn't work well together - most of the slump in the wonky cake stand rather than the cake itself though!

Christmas Cake 2012

I was very happy with how the glittery snowflakes came out though! More on this will appear on our cooking bog at some point!

Icing Glittery Snowflake

It was then Dinner time and Jean rushed to the table - anyone would think she was hungry!

Jean wondering where dinner is

We went with a standard fruity starter 🙂 Melon and strawberries 🙂

Fruit starter

then onto the leopard pie which I had made little vent tubes for, these represent polyp tubes in colonial organisms 🙂

Leopard pie

It worked really well this year and I really enjoyed dinner 🙂

Alaric cutting the leopard pie Food glorious food

Jean of course was very hungry and couldn't even wait for the crackers to be pulled - she got shouted at! (ok so this is a posed shot taken after the event!).

JEAN!

Yummy yummy for my tummy!

Veggi Christmas Dinner

I then made pud as Alaric was exhausted!

Binary pud

See very tired - one Alaric!

A very tired chief

Mary never quiet got the hang of the crackers!

Waiter! Mary with a cracker So you pull these things and a toy comes out?

We then all went off to read our books whilst Mary napped - apparently I was snoring away on the sofa! :/

Then me and Jean played an epic game of Scrabble where I found the new challenge was to to try and make the board as open as possible and to only use words I could explain the meaning of to her - I am hopeful that in about three years I will have a proper opponent for the game!

Merry Christmas On And All (by )

Merry Christmas on this dreary Christmas Eve!

Here at the Snell-Pym Household we are recovering from mulled wine and minced pies with friends and are about to under take some lovely craft activities followed by christmas food prep!

Until then here is the outline of the Cathedral I have drawn for Percival's Christmas Wish. I have only so far managed two complete drawings both in outline but will attempt some more later on! I have a confession - I'm not very good at drawing buildings - I've never really done it to be honest and it took a lot longer than expected and I'm not entirely happy with it but it will none the less be going up on Wiggly Pets with the story a little later today!

Cathedral Outline

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The Dawn of a New Age (by )

The Dawn of a New Age marked by Solstice Light - the Singularity is coming.

Solstice Light, The Dawn of a New Age

On this the darkest day of the year - sunlight is streaming in through the windows and through my garden crystals as seen above. I am steaming forward with my projects whilst welding rods are baked in the oven instead of Christmas Cake but then I have made chocolate christmas trees and finished the most complicated out line sketch of Percival's Christmas Wish. Life is odd but good and with the production of the DOOMSDAY COLLECTION it led me to think that yes this is a dawn of an age one in which I hope our species comes into it's own and stops killing and hurting one and other.

Technology and a greater understanding of the world and universe we live in, more minds coming on line via cheap tech who can interact and learn, and talk and solve problems. Give a person a loaf and you feed them for a day, give them farming tools and they feed themselves until the next drought, give them a cheap knock off i-pad and watch them find their own solutions.

It is already happening, even when the tech is in different languages and given to kids who can't read, within weeks they are making their own improvements to the tech. With such tools they can find the info they need to drag themselves and those around them out of poverty.

I am... Hopeful.

DoomsDay 21/12/12 (by )

Here is my DoomsDay Collection - an e-book (downloadable PDF) of stories and poems about worlds ending, changing and beginning. The collection does handle some dark topics and so is only for grown ups!

It is free at the moment especially for the Mayan prediction of a change of the ages 🙂 Just click the title below. It is dedicated to friends that left this world too soon.

The Doomsday Collection

I hope you enjoy it.

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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 UK: England & Wales