Shameless plug

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The lovely lady in this photo is none other than my younger sister Elaine, taken on her wedding day in 2008. She is a woman of many talents, not least of which include having to put up with having me for a big sister. She has always been the artist in the family and I greatly admire her skill in this area. Elaine has recently combined her talent for drawing with her wonderful dry sense of humour in a fantastic new blog. It's called Mindless Receptacle and you have to go and read it right now. Seriously...why are you still here?
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Dear Father Christmas...

Tom's letter

Lily's letter

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Off to the fayre

Santa baby!

This afternoon the Podlings and I went to the Christmas fayre at Tom and Lily's school. There aren't many places where I can give the children a pound each and expect to get much for it, but a pound will buy you quite a lot at the school fayre. Tom couldn't believe his luck when he found a Mr Men book he doesn't have for a mere 10p. We had a pleasant time and came back with a selection of goodies, not least of which was the very box of sweets we sent in for the fayre ourselves. Tom was rather thrilled to win them in the tombola since he rather fancied them when he took them in!

I have to confess to feeling incredibly guilty that I didn't make anything for the bake table. I had planned to make a batch of my fairy cakes, but with the whole family being ill this week and preparing for a long business trip for Mark, I simply didn't have the time. When I saw how little they had on the bake table I felt really bad. I'll have to make a double batch for the summer fayre to ease my conscience. I hadn't actually promised to bring anything, I just like to contribute where I can and I'm good at heaping guilt on myself!

I put Emma in a cute little Santa hat for our outing to the Christmas fayre. My mum knitted it for Tom's second Christmas, along with a matching cardigan. All the Podlings have now worn it, though it was a bit big for Emma when she wore it last year. It matches her red coat and dress so perfectly I couldn't resist taking her picture before I put her in the pram. I can't resist dressing the children in red in December...it's so Christmassy!
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Lily, being Lily, had to take a turn wearing the hat too!

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It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Tom and Lily decorated the Christmas tree on Sunday afternoon, shortly before Lily came down with a nasty fever. I haven't actually rearranged any of the ornaments as I think they did a really good job this year. I put on the lights, the ribbon and the angel and Mark and I put a few decorations on the higher branches to balance the tree out a bit, but they did the rest and had a lovely time doing it. I took a gamble and put the tree in the lounge, but thankfully Emma isn't as obsessed with it as I thought she might be. She already knows she's not supposed to take the baubles off the tree and tries to get away with merely tickling them when she thinks no one is looking! So far no breakages!

Emma loved exploring the box of baubles.
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A walk in the snow

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Mark has been working from home this week because of the bad driving conditions. This meant that when I put Emma down for her nap today I was able to head out on my own and take my camera for a walk in the snow. I only went for a walk round the back of the house, but it was blissful. There was no one else around and I relished the opportunity to be alone with my thoughts as I tried to capture some of the beauty around me. I'm no photographer, but I wanted to share a few of my favourite pictures from my walk.

 Frost on catkins

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 I wasn't the only one out for a walk this afternoon!

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 Rosehips in the snow

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As I walked home I startled a flock of starlings. I pointed the camera and hoped for the best!

(You can click on the picture to make it larger. You'll have a better chance of seeing the birds if you enlarge the photo!)

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Pygmy snowman

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The school was closed again today, so Lily and I got to build our snowman after all. We waited until Emma went down for her nap, left poorly Tom in the care of Daddy and headed to the garden to pile up some snow. Lily tends to get cold and fed up before we make much progress, so any snowman we make together tends to be on the small side. I think this might actually be one of our smallest yet, but Lily loves it. We used berries to make the face and buttons...I think our usual stones and carrot approach might have been a bit over the top for our pygmy snowman!
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Lily wanted a picture with her Daddy and the snowman, so Mark braved the cold in just his shirt to oblige her.

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Lily's snow day

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It didn't come as any surprise that Tom and Lily's school was closed today. This didn't make any difference to Tom who is very unwell at the moment, so wouldn't have been going to school today anyway. Lily, on the other hand, woke up thrilled to discover that not only was it snowing, but that she got to stay home and play in it. Lily had a lot of fun today and I took a lot of pictures of her and Emma in the snow. Poor Tom spent most of the day in bed or on the sofa and didn't want me to take his picture. My poor boy is not at all well!

Lily and Emma had some playtime in the garden before lunch and Lily had a lot of fun making snow angels and throwing snowballs at me. After lunch, with Emma safely tucked up in bed, Mark and Lily took the sledge out for its maiden voyage. Lily has never been sledging before and she loved it. They were out for quite some time before the inevitable returning home in tears because her hands were cold. I well remember that feeling from my own childhood!

I stripped off her wet clothes, wrapped her in a blanket and plied her with hot chocolate and Lebkuchen. Before long she had warmed up and was smiling again. I really hope they close the school again tomorrow as I love having my Podlings home. It will give us a chance to build the snowman we didn't get around to today too!

 Sledging with Daddy

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 I think her face says it all!

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Back up the hill for another run.

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Baby, it's cold outside!

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Hot chocolate in a special cup, Lebkuchen and a warm blanket...all is well with the world!

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