In which Minty sews a Christmas skirt for her kris kringle...

In which I attempt to plan a Christmas menu and sound vaguely passive aggressive...

Christmas is really quite strange when you think about it.  On any other day of the year, if I asked you around for cocktails, fancy salads and a range of homemade ice creams you'd probably be stoked.  But when I suggest that as a Christmas menu I am met with an uncomfortable pregnant silence that you might expect had I proposed that we kill the neighbour's cat and spit roast it for lunch.  If you are one of my family members reading this and you're heading to mine for Christmas, relax and breathe.  I'm totes going to cook a dead bird… or maybe glaze a pig leg and stud it with cloves (I've always thought they look rather pretty even though I don't actually like ham very much).  And there will be a pudding.  I've accepted that I am alone in wanting to radicalise Christmas, so I'll resist the urge to serve you up guacamole and a christmas taco!  But just be warned that I'm not an experienced roaster of meat so be kind if you arrive to find me wearing the turkey on my head like Mr. Bean.  Oh and there will be plenty of homemade ice-cream because… ice-cream. Enough said.

We went berry picking with friends this weekend.  No prizes for guessing what went into my first batch of ice-cream!

Merry 'Faux' Christmas!

So it's christmas eve.  As a child this was by far the most exciting night of the year.  Nowadays there's always a risk that the weight of holding everyone's christmas expectations, the quest for a picture perfect celebration, the bone crunching fatigue from all that baking, holiday crafting, shopping, wrapping and driving everyone to endless celebrations will catch up with me and I'll have an epic christmas meltdown.    So my christmas wish for all the grownups out there is that you slow down, embrace imperfection and have a calm, jolly and snuggly christmas with your peeps… because after a few days everyone will have forgotten about the food and the gifts but everyone is going to remember you losing your shit.  Merry christmas lovlies!

My christmas anthem this year...

School's out for summer...

Last day of school today!  Minty made these necklaces for her teachers using felt and wooden beads.  I love her colour combinations!

After school we headed to the beach with friends for fish and chips.  There was plenty of seagull chasing, crab catching and general hilarity.  We even got to watch a pelican being released back into the wild.  A great start to the holidays!

In which we search for the perfect gift...

It must be close to Christmas because this morning the Mr. announced that we should probably start our Christmas shopping.  We entered the first shop and he gestured at an item on the display table nearest the entrance.  

"How about that for my mum?" he asked.

"Um… it's $1000.  Do you think that might be vaguely out of our price range?" I replied, my voice an octave higher than usual.  He huffed and gave me a look that made it clear I was just being difficult.

"I'm really good at Christmas shopping," he proclaimed. "It's easy when you're not here."

Meanwhile Turi selected himself an oven thermometer and announced that he would really like "this little clock".  No matter what kind of store we are in, Turi always manages to find something he desperately 'needs'.  He is like a little bower bird finding treasures on every shelf while I helplessly shriek after him, "touch with your eyes, not your hands!!".  I can totally relate though.  I keep finding items I want for myself… a gorgeous new basket perfect for veggie box, a set of vintage wooden mooncake moulds, some cute little ceramic berry baskets.  And yet, somehow when I'm looking for other people all I can see are ceramic pineapples.

By the end of the day I was so exhausted, I was staggering about like a drunken schoolie in platform stripper heals.  Sadly I'll be heading back to the shops again tomorrow, to finish off the last few gifts.

These photos are totally unrelated because who takes photos when they're shopping?  These are from yesterdays play group at the beach.

The christmas tree...

In which I randomly resume blogging...

I'm resisting the urge to be completely overtaken by Christmas panic!  This end of the year seems to be an endless whirlwind of christmas parties, school breakups, concerts, Kris Kringles, and catch-ups with friends.  Any one of these events taken individually would be great fun but the ceaseless back to back celebrating is making my eye twitch.  I'm starting to wish I could hide behind the Christmas tree in my pyjamas, with a copy of Great Expectations until the parties are all over!!  I haven't even started my Christmas shopping and it's less than a week until we celebrate with my side of the family.  But instead of spiralling into complete scrooge-like behaviour, I'm popping on the Christmas carols, channelling Mary and trying to emanate an aura of calm ("It's totally fine Joseph, don't worry about the manure.  I'll just birth our baby on this hay bale and he can sleep in the feed trough.")

In pursuit of this calm, today we headed to a local berry farm to pick a mountain of juicy Logan, Silvan, Young and Boysen berries.  We'll package up our goodies for teacher gifts.  It was great to avoid the shops, support a local family and get the kids involved in the gift gathering.

While we're on a berry theme I thought I'd sneak in some pics of the berry tarts I made for last night's CFA christmas bash… because yum!

Letters to Santa...

"Happy Christmas Santa!  Please bring me one of your elves to clean my room because our room is really dirty.  I'd also like a unicorn to ride to school on so mum doesn't have to drive me every day.  A pink doll house would be nice too.  Thank you santa for giving me my presents.  Love Minty."

"Dear Santa, Merry Christmas!  Thank you for my presents last year.  This year I'd like a crane for the back garden (maybe 2!), a pet doggy, a squirty toy shark for the bath (one for Minty too).  Love from Turi."