03/01/2016

Christmas and New Year round-up


Let me begin with wishing each and every one of you a Happy New Year but wow didn't it all go so fast. I don't really know what happened, one day it was Christmas Eve, then I blinked and found myself in 2016! I've had the best time with my wonderful family and friends, taking time to relax, laugh, watch TV and eat my own body weight in food (that I really didn't need), I made the conscious decision too to fully switch off from my blog which is why I'm only bringing this post to you now......seems quite alien tapping away on a keyboard.  It's quite a long one so thought it best to break it down into chunks and put some of the photos in a collage as there's so many. Grab a cuppa, get comfy.

The four of us woke quite late on Christmas morning, the kids are older now so not that excited to see if Santa's been like they did when they were little, I think Mr C and I are more excited than they are, we both love Christmas time sooo much, it's like role reversal. After opening our presents and having a fairly lazy morning we spent the day at my parents house along with my sister, brother-in-law and their three young children. I love spending Christmas day with my two nephews and my niece as it takes us back to a time when it's compulsory to play silly games and build things all day long. 

~Christmas Day~ 

Mum and Dad did an absolutely amazing job with lunch, it was so tasty and delicious but it's always the same isn't it, you stuff yourself until you can't take any more and you struggle to move from the table! Doesn't stop us from doing it all again a few hours later though does it when a humungous spread is laid out on the table for tea. Where on earth do we put it all? We had planned to stay over and my parents but later on in the evening I ended up with a migraine (nothing to do with drink as I only had a little with lunch) so we drove home, which was better for me as I needed to be in my own comfy bed. Boxing Day was a lazy day at home in our pjs watching movies, candles burning and munching our way through the chocolates, in fact I can't lie most of our days have been a bit like this. 



~Gifts~

I was so lucky this year as Santa brought me a new rose gold Michael Kors watch and it's just beautiful. I also got jewellery, Hunter wellies, slippers, new make-up brushes, candles, make-up and underwear. Santa knows me so well! Mr C was chuffed to bits as he found a Fitbit under the tree with his name on, along with lots of other stuff as well. Tom and Emily had so many presents and between the four of us we had enough chocolate to rival Willy Wonkers Chocolate factory!!!! 

Oh and my gorgeous daughter only went and got me the Soap and Glory gift set from Boots which I am over the moon with, I love it all. 



~New Years Eve~

Now you may or may not know from my blog that for the last few years we have thrown a house party on New Years Eve, and last year we announced that it was to be our last one due to the fact that it takes so much work to organise, as we don't like to do things by half, lots of effort on the night and it takes every last drop of our energy to do the mammoth clear up the next day. Besides all of that Emily and I had both had operations late Nov/Dec so we had not planned anything at all for New Year. That was until Christmas Eve when our kids managed to persuade us to have another party. The four of us had popped over to our friend Sarah's to drop off presents and over a Baileys managed to get talked into it. It was too short notice to make it fancy dress as we've done in the last few years so we decided the dress code would be Dress to Impress. Mr C then had the mad idea of making it a bit of a casino night too and put the word out on Facebook that we were after a Roulette wheel and chips. Bingo. A kind friend came up trumps on the roulette and we purchased/made the card table. Were we mad? Yes we bloody were. We had just a week to sort everything out and let people know, it was too late to prepare nice invites, so the kids told their friends and we spread the word to our family and friends. 

   
    Fern, overall winner on the roulette table. 


The party was a huge success and so many of our family and friends came, more than we'd expected and that made it really special. At one point we did a head count and had around 43 people crammed in, I don't think you could have got one more person in our kitchen if you'd tried. Sardines springs to mind!

As we'd not had much time to decorate and get props we picked up some of those hilarious face mats and a photo booth kit and they went down really well as you can see. 


I know some people don't like to have their photo paraded around for all and sundry to see but I gathered that as you'd never be able to guess their identity hiding behind these mats they wouldn't mind a jot!


    Three wise monkeys or The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, I'll let you decide. 


I think it's fair to say that everyone had a fabulous time, the gambling tables went down a storm, and as a family we concluded that it was probably our best party yet! After midnight we kicked it up a notch and the dancing and karaoke really got into full swing, partying on until around 3am. We packed the kids (and mum and dad) off to bed around 4am and I think Mr C and I finally got to sleep about 5am, although I didn't really sleep as my feet were throbbing and my drunken son was snoring away like a freight train!

~New Years Day~

We got up around 9am the next day, absolutely exhausted but we couldn't lie in as mum and dad were with us, and although Mr C was a total angel the night before and cleaned and washed up we'd still got lots to do. We did say we would go out for a walk but most of New Years Day was spent in a tired haze, and a bit zombie like. One thing we do like to do though is have a roast dinner with all the trimmings and crackers, just like Christmas Day so good old Mr C rustled one up for us around teatime. 

~Time to pack away~

I adore Christmas and having the tree and all the decorations up but once the new year is here I do like to get it all packed away and getting my home back in order and all tidy and clean. Are you the same or do you stick with the 12 days of Christmas rule? We did ours Saturday (after getting up late again and having brunch) and it takes me quite a while as I like to pack it all away properly, yes I am a neat freak. I use very large clear plastic storage boxes with lids and I've found the IKEA press seal bags are great for all the little extras like ribbons, beads and small baubles. 


Later that evening and to finish off our festive celebrations in style Mr C and I popped the cork on a bottle of our favourite champagne, Laurent-Perrier rosé. We did plan on drinking it New Years Day evening but we were so damn tired we wouldn't have enjoyed it at all. 




I hope you all had the best time ever with your nearest and dearest, helping create those special memories. Personally, I've eaten too much, drank too much and slept too much, if sleeping too much is even possible, but I've loved every single moment and getting to share it with those closest to me warms my heart. 💕


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2 comments

  1. Looks absolutely wonderful!
    Happy New Year, I'm so glad you enjoyed a fabulous break with your family.

    ReplyDelete

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