Little Loves - December
December has been in some ways a wonderful month and in others it was... hard. All four of us had stomach bugs at one time or another this month, and our beloved pet bunny passed away so by the end of the month I was glad it was 2019 and we could start afresh. But Christmas eve, day and boxing day were absolutely magical. The build of excitement for BookBairn was a delight to watch and when she woke up on Christmas morning and enjoyed her presents it filled me with a kind of happiness I never expected. And The Wee Page Turner loved all the presents but when shy around everyone when they came for a marvellous Christmas meal that my husband cooked. It really was the best day of the year.
Last month I shared that BookBairn was loving the Story Orchestra book about The Four Seasons by Vivaldi and this month the book that we have read most often is another from this series! The Story Orchestra: The Nutcracker by Jessica Courtney-Tickle. She loves it so much that despite the fact that it's a festive book I haven't packed it away with the other Christmas reads because we just can't stop reading it! It's beautifully illustrated and a lovely version of the Nutcracker story but it's the transporting music that makes it such a delight to read. One for any time of year! She likes the series so much that I bought the Sleeping Beauty one for her too.
I wrote a blog post sharing the children's Best Picture Books of 2018 if you want to see more of our favourites.
I was thoroughly fascinated by the story of Tara Westover in her biography Educated. She describes a life so different from my own, and in some places so bizarre that I sometimes had to remind myself that it wasn't fiction. Coming from a family with a father who is fixated on preparing for the end of days, Tara endured a traumatic childhood with no formal education or medical intervention (even though it sometimes seemed glaringly necessary). A real story of survival.
For Christmas we gave both the bairns a new kids kindle so that instead of lugging around two very old ipads (very very old!) that they had inherited they now have two lightweight kindles. With a holiday to Florida planned, and a very long flight to entertain them on, we thought this was a gift that they would love. And they are both getting used to the new interface and exploring the videos on them!
A thousand princess dresses! BookBairn got four new princess dresses on Christmas day and has been wearing them, and others in rotation every day since. Sometimes even with a multiple outfit changes throughout the day! She had asked Santa for a Princess Wardrobe and he provided a lovely dressing up rail for her room so she can now see them and choose from them easily so I suspect we will have Princess BookBairn on a daily basis for a long while yet.
We have played with all the toys this month - obviously! BookBairn and The Wee Page Turner were very spoiled at Christmas and got lots of new things to play with and they have certainly been enjoying them. I have put some of the toys away for the moment, partly so we can have a wee surprise in January when it's a rainy day and we are stuck at home, but mostly because there isn't space for everything in our living room! Particular favourites include a John Deere tractor that comes with a battery-powered drill so you can take it apart and fix it again for The Wee Page Turner and lots of Princess related toys, especially Disney Doorables for BookBairn.
For Christmas, Daddy BookBairn gave me a Lego Hogwarts which we had great fun building on Christmas day after our families had left and the children had gone to bed. We put on the score to the Harry Potter movies and worked together to build it and it was really lovely and it looks seriously awesome on my windowsill!
A lot of singing of The Greatest Showman track - A Million Dreams - by BookBairn. She loves it and honestly I well up just about every time she sings along.
I hope you are very excited for the New Year, as I mentioned at the beginning we are very much looking forward to it - and particularly our trip to Disneyworld in March. If you want to see what books we are looking forward to check out our Most Anticipated Picture Books of 2019 blog post.
I hope you had a lovely festive season!
And are enjoying 2019.
And are enjoying 2019.
Mummy and the bairns xx
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ReplyDeleteI finally read a book I really enjoyed - “A Home on the 18th” by George Peper. He was an American golf correspondent who bought a flat in St Andrews close to the 18th hole on the Old Course. The book is about how he and his wife lived there for 2 years. I thought it was very well written and quite witty. It had me giggling out loud and reading bits to G’MaBookBairn. If you know the town it’s an even better read.
Watched
BookBairn and the Wee Page Turner unwrapping presents on Christmas Day. Great excitement! PS - Daddy BookBairn’s Christmas Dinner was fabulous.
Wore
16 items of clothing playing golf one day when the wind was from the East. Baltic!
Played
less golf than usual. This was down to weather, family commitments and fitness levels.
Made
a new friend (Gordon) who painted the outside of my house. Great job. Great handyman.
Heard
BookBairn singing in the back of my car. Melts my heart.
and Lastly
I’m looking forward to 2019. I’ve made a couple of New Year resolutions but shh...... saying nothing :-)
Love this!! And you're right the kids made Christmas so special this year!
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