Cat and Eilir Day 6

 

Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree(s)

This year we had two Christmas trees to decorate. Our rather large chaotic one (at our house), which Eilir and I decorated with the bits and pieces collected and made over the years (including some that I made with my eldest son 16 years ago as well as a new one star Eilir made this year!).

The other was a whole family project - my Mum's living tree that she has been fretting over for weeks. Hers is a small living one that I bought her four years ago. She didn't want to bring it in too early for fear of killing it and also couldn't bring it in herself due to mobility difficulties, so Rixon (aka Eilir's Dad) went over early on Saturday morning to bring it in from the cold and lift it into pride of place in the living room.

The second phase of the mission involved Eilir and myself as the follow-up troops in the afternoon, dropping in to decorate it and the room - climbing and reaching all the places my Mum can't get to.

Eilir likes my Mum's tree because it is short, fat, and misshapen. Growing in a pot on the patio means it has no competition for light, so it grows outwards not upwards! Eilir particularly liked attaching string to bags of chocolate coins that my mum had bought him so that they could hang on the tree.

Silver and girls Day 6

Penguin Necklace

Another kit!  But again, easily replicated if you got the component parts.  Take a selection of pony beads in appropriate colours, blues & white in this instance but green & red would work well too.  Using a basic penguin shape Nim added the features using double sided tape.

She then threaded it onto a length of nylon cord and added a knot on either side to keep the piece in place.  Next she threaded the beads and snowflake shape on, again adding a few knots to keep the foam piece in place.  Another quick and fun one to do, until bedtime, when she had a tantrum as I said she couldn't sleep in it!  Hehehe.

Johana and T Day 6

T and D did a painting together with red paint, silver glitter and then cut and stuck some posh chocolate box packaging to it.  Two pieces of sticky tape later and we had a crown.

Adeola and boys Day 6

Christmas drawing, take two – Nativity scene. Lo had a tummy bug so was home from school. He and I did the first drawing of Mair, baban Iesu (in a giant bed thing), Joseph with dread locks (of course)  a king with gifts, stars, full moon (with craters), some cows and sheep. Babi did some more impressive mark-making. Then we played Star Wars top trumps.

When Roti came home from school he thought that the picture needed a snowman, crescent moon and a tiny tiger? Why not! We kept adding to the drawing as the day progressed. Think we’ve had our fill of it now. 

Steph and G Day 6

Shepherd's lunchpacks.  Pack of filo pastry on a whoops, seemed a bit of a must. We have made samosa a couple of times, and they looked good but childers balked at the spinach and cheese filling, preferring the standard bolognese we always have every other day as a filling, which was a bit prone to leaking. Out of ideas i left it completely to G, lamb mince, no onions, no not even if I cut then really small, black pepper, paprika, chilli powder, bit of a chicken stock cube.

 Mantra being 'take control of the pan, control your body!'  G announced half way through, "I love frying!" not really the lesson we were hoping for, can you steam lamb mince? G retained good pastry sheet painting with olive oil, and folding skills, mine were well ropey, and not pictured,( I was rushing it ,I was informed.)

 As a nod to the one of five, I cut down the edges of a carrot to make the shapes suggested by G , then she was able to chop off tree shaped carrot slices and star shaped cucumber pieces.