end of year chrissy cheer

We went to Seth & Eme's end of year party on the weekend. The kids had a fantastic time at the "indoor park". Eme was absolutely fearless climbing up and down the equipment - I, on the other hand, was having labour pains watching her! Here's Eme tucking into the finger chips during dinner...
Poppy, Nanny and Aunty Beth came along too to watch Seth's graduation from preschool. Unfortunately Seth was really tired and emotional and it was a bit too much for him. Santa had just been to give all the kids a present and neither of my kids like him all that much - strike that - they love the idea that he delivers pressies, they just have no interest in meeting the man in person! They decided to have the ceremony straight after the gift giving and Santa decided to hang around - well that was the end of Seth, he just didn't want to cooperate! Thankfully Kiri (one of his carers) came to the rescue and gave him lots of protective cuddles from the big, hairy, scary man in red!


Look at that face - the poor little mite was absolutely terrified!! I felt so bad for him. Jodie and I had made all the graduation caps for the kids and it took all my will to convince him to put the cap and gown on. Seth is very strong in his convictions and once he's made up his mind, that is it! He was presented with a certificate and a pressie, which turned out to be a beautiful framed photo of Seth wearing his cap and gown and a big, proud smile on his face - I must get a copy of it from the school. He is so excited about starting school next year... I just hope this hasn't frightened him too much.

Here's the graduating "class" for 2007! All the kids looked gorgeous. A lot of the kids had been at the centre since they were little babies, so it'll be sad not seeing their faces everyday.

A massive thank you to all of the carers for putting on such a fantastic party and for looking after my two little treasures this year. They do an absolutely fantastic job and I can't thank them enough.




Sunday was spent getting ready for Christmas. We finally put up the Christmas tree - no photos - too busy keeping the kids from touching all the ornaments - tree decorating is not for children (lol)! We have one rule for Christmas - once an ornament is on the tree, that's where it stays! The kids are doing okay so far, but they're all just so shiny and tempting, it must be killing them that they can't play with Mummy's precious tree. After only 20 minutes, Eme had broken the first decoration - a chrissy snow globe that she was give for her first Christmas. She dropped it on the floor and it smashed everywhere! Then she got her hands on a Christmas tree that opens to reveal Santa and presents - she ripped the hinge off that one - pretty sure I can glue that one back together, but the snow globe is a goner! I gave them a few ornaments and trees with bells on them to display on their dinner table (yes, they have their own kiddie table), which they can do what they like with - hopefully that will keep them entertained.

In the afternoon, being the sadist that I am, I convinced everyone we should get a Santa photo. Seth agreed to participate, but only if he could sit on Daddy's shoulders and Santa didn't speak, look at or touch him - fair enough. In the end, Seth reniged and was trying to climb over the top of me to get away from him. I love this photo - its not perfect, but it represents us right now...Eme's not too sure, Andrew's watching out for her, I'm comforting Seth and there's a smile plastered across my face because there's a camera in front of me - a typical day really.

We also managed to put up the lights outside the house - they look so beautiful twinkling away - I'll try to take a photo, but night photography is not my forte. A lot of the houses in our neighbourhood go all out for Christmas and you can hear cars driving slowly by checking out everyone's light displays - such a beautiful sight.

Hope your Chrissy plans are going along smoothly...
Cheers, Lis.