Well that's all for this year folks - Hope 2009 is a fantastic year for all of you , all my love Amber xxxxx

Before we hit the New Year I thought I better update with all the Christmas gossip.
Mum and Dad and Mark all arrived on Christmas Eve and the countdown to the man in red started in earnest - food was prepared and Caitlin decorated the Christmas Cake that her Granny had brought up, while Mum and I ran out to pick up the turkey and the last bits and pieces.


I baked some more cookies this time we went with orange and lemon sugar cookies and Caitlin insisted that Santa needed two and that the carrots should be cut into 18 pieces 2 for each of the nine reindeer apparently.

She set them out on the fireplace then started the serious task of hanging up the stockings - she took her job so seriously.



Even Cj and I have stockings - I fill his and he and Jennie fill mine, I in turn do a stocking for Jennie and we did one for Mark too as he was here. Yes we are big kids but it is all part of the fun.
Cait and I then track Santa's progress with Norad until he was over Lithuania which is where one of Caitlin's class mates comes from and then we headed to bed to read "T'was the night before Christmas" all the kids have been feeling poorly with nasty coughs so actually fell asleep quite quickly. I actually tracked Santa until he was over Scotland before I went to my bed too it was so cool.
The kids were quite civilised and didn't rise until 8 in the morning and even let me have a shower to help me breathe with this nasty chest infection - why oh why is it always Christmas we get hit with these things !?!


When we went down stairs Santa had been a bit naughty and made a bit of a mess with his magic dust - he is usually so good but was obviously in a rush this year.


The girls tackled their Santa gifts with gusto and Caitlin was thrilled with her new pony and Becca was so happy with her new body protector for riding. Check out her festive PJ's ( she is so going to kill me for this picture !!)


Isn't it funny how the smallest things in their stocking go down so well - Caitlin loved these cow socks she was always very fond of cows !!

and both the girls adored these Bush babies teddies, they definitely were a big hit, just show you you don't need huge expensive pressies to make them happy - although I think Becca's MP3 player from her Daddy and me went down well too.



Caitlin even wore her cow socks with her new dress, well comfort over style when you are a poorly girl.


Poor wee Rachel was so ill Christmas Eve and wasn't much better Christmas Day, that combined with the black eyes and the poor thing looked so ill and forlorn when she arrived over in the afternoon for dinner and more present giving.


It was crazy, even though we decided to do a Christcringle this year the tree was still laden with gifts and everyone was happy with the gifts they received because it was so much easier to carefully consider the person you had been allocated and find the perfect gift than to buy tonnes of presents with less thought and more stress for all.


We all went into the front room with Buck's fizz so Dad could take up his roll as chief present giver and Santa's helper - anyone want to take a guess what he got for Christmas ??


My lovely Secret Santa got me a new lens for my camera which I am thrilled with and a beautiful scarf and voucher for my favourite shop, I was such a lucky girl !! Thank you Santa :) I took this picture of Jen with my new lens.


My lovely husband got me a Turquoise DS - my favourite colour and Cooking guide ( hum is he trying to tell me something ??) and lots of other goodies and my daughter's got me a Filofax which I was looking for and a new big square punch.
While all these jolly proceedings were taking place the dinner was cooking - we have the full Christmas dinner with all the trimmings and it came together quite nicely, Jennie made the Starter which was gorgeous leek and mushroom vol Au vents, Mum made the desserts and I made the dinner with lots of help from Mum, she is my Chou chef in the kitchen according to her. I know I could never do it without her that is for sure and as Jen says it is amazing how we can all cook in the kitchen and there is never a row, it is fun to prepare together.


I was a bad girl and took no pictures of dinner except of Dad enjoying his new toy - my Dad was the main photographer in our house but sold his old camera when we moved to Ireland this is his first digital DSLR and it is a fabulous Canon Rebel - we were boring the pants of the others with all our talk of ISO values and such like the camera nerds we are !


After dinner we all relaxed and poor Rachel who had such a bad night on Christmas Eve fell asleep on her Mammy.


That evening we played charades badly - lets just say that I will never be able to watch Batman without feeling slightly embarrassed but in my defence I was filled with a lot of cough medicine and maybe shouldn't have had that large glass of Baileys when I decided it would be a good idea to re-enact the sleeping habits of a bat on the kitchen floor !!
We carried on the charades on Steven's day when David, Finn and Bern arrived up for another round of celebrations - apparently there is video footage of it which I am sure Mark took to bribe us all with !!
I have checked You tube to see if he actually made good on his threat to place it there but we seem okay - so far.
Rachel also had to go the doctors on Steven's day and was diagnosed with an awful throat infection, bless her, which explained why she was so ill on Christmas day.
Caitlin was also suffering and had been so good, the poor thing fell fast asleep with her new DVD player on her lap - which was just too cute a picture not to take.


We had a great evening with all the family there and it was lovely to see Bern again - she is just as lovely was we thought she was and even joined in the charades silliness with good humour.

Everyone finally headed home the next day leaving us a bit emptier to say the least - the house seems so quiet except for the mad coughing Cailtin and I keep doing constantly but I can truely say it was a Christmas to remember and I am happy we got to spend it with the mad family we have.

Well tonight is the night when we will make hot chocolate and cookies and read the "Twas the night before Christmas " and hang up the stockings in preparation for the big guy in red arrival - letters have been sent, the stockings have been gotten down ready for hanging and I have been wrapping presents like a demon !!
So are you ready ?

Caitlin and I made these gorgeous peanut and chocolate chip cookies - which taste just like Reece's cups- yummy, but they lasted all of five minutes so will have to make more.


Mum and Dad will be up tomorrow with Mark and David and Finn will be here on St Steven's day as will the lovely Bern ( we didn't scare her off !!)
Everyone has had a cold or cough which is not so much fun and Rachel actually ran into the table today and gave herself a matching pair of shiners for Christmas, I am going to have to photoshop those Christmas pictures aren't I !?!
The poor thing looks awful but according to the doctor miss her eyes and didn't do any damage ( no matter how appalling it looks) and only had a very mild concussion - eeek !
Rachel is a danger mouse at the best of times but she has never hurt herself under my care and I was gutted but thank goodness her Mum is totally cool about the whole thing - she knows her daughter well enough.



And we finally put up the trees and we have two as usual - the kids in the hallway which is so fun and the main one in the Living room. Which has been a nightmare to get a picture of to be honest, this is the best I could get.


Cait was a great girl and posed as usual for me as she was putting the baubles up on tree and I took the obligatory picture of myself in the bauble of course.



We found this amazing tree skirt for under the tree by pure accident in T K Maxx - now I will admit that I have never ever been in the shop before and I found it the oddest place ever with stuff piled everywhere but this skirt was worth it because all the other ones I have seen were twee or red and gold but this one is a beautiful shade of pale blue and cream and made from wool.


This layout is about last year's tree and was featured over at Docrafts this week and I spotted it on the TV too yesturday - Cailtin is famous LOL.


I have been so behind and spent this week finishing up all the cards, this was the last one, can you say cutting it fine !

But I am pleased because I manage to get them all in the post before the deadlines for Christmas rolled around which is always handy.
We also made the presents for Caitlin's class, we made them all Reindeer poop, which was Malteasers and marshmallows for those who think that actual poop might be a bit strange to hand over to impressionable kids. We had 28 bags to make up and clever old me decided that we had to hand stamp every bag - like I wasn't busy this week but thank goodness we managed it.


The brilliant labels are from Organized Christmas which I know it is a bit late now but trust me is a great site if you are feeling a bit frazzled and need help with all this Christmas stuff.


We also made up hot chocolate mix for the teachers and I designed these labels for them using an idea seen on an American site, I made my own design though as the ingredients they used were not available here so I had to improvise.

This is the second type I made we used them for Becca's friends. I know it is so amazingly late but they are so quick to whip up - we used 5 big spoons of hot chocolate, 1 of powder milk, 1 teaspoon of vanilla sugar, a layer of chocolate chips and a layer of mini marshmallows to finish it off, we found the easiest ways to fill the bags was to place the bag inside a glass and fill in layers.

Well as it is late and I need to sleep I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas and a fabulous New Year.
To all my family and friends you know we love you and will hold you in our hearts over Christmas. xxxxxx

Christmas preparations are in full swing here and the house is getting little touches of Christmas cheer here and there, we still have no tree up yet but hopefully we will attempt that one on Saturday. Also I added Christmas projects to the blog so you don't have to go looking for them - they are all in one place.
Poor Caitlin is now off sick - I think all that carol singing finally got to her throat and she is now tucked up on the sofa watching Spongebob and drinking warm lemon and honey.


Becca has had a rough week too but for other reasons - one of which was attending a funeral for her friend's Mum who tragically lost her battle with breast cancer last week.
I wasn't sure if she should go to be honest but she wanted to be there to support her friend which was reason enough for me.
All the girls came back here afterwards absolutely frozen to their marrows as it was bitterly cold yesterday so I filled them with hot chocolate and let them open the big box of Roses for some much needed TLC and just let them thaw and natter around my kitchen table for the afternoon, providing tissues and a shoulder where needed.

I also spent this week decorating - not just Christmas decorations either, while looking for decorations there was a sale on housewares in a local shop I was browsing and I fell in love with this blue throw -

pictures can not convey how soft and fluffy and cosy this throw is and it was ridiculously cheap so I couldn't resist - so then I picked up cushion covers and a new vase and these....
the cutest Babushka dolls in the same shades and then picked up some baubles to match for the tree - usually it is chocolate, cream and gold but this year it will be a chocolate, blue, cream and gold tree.

I also picked up this vintage looking sign in Jennie's work it is now in the hall and I love it :)


Then after I spotted this tree on Martha Stewart's site thanks to directions to it from Anna's blog Cait and I decided we could do it and took the trimmer to a Sunday paper and made this .......


Then we went mad with the blue and green glitter and smothered the whole thing in it !!


It actually was quite easy to do - although I found with the smaller paper at the top of the tree if you use a crop-a- dile or hole punch to make the hole instead of pushing it on, trust me it works much better. Also be prepares for grey fingers - all that newsprint !

I also went back to the card making - time is rapidly running out now (mental note must start sooner or be slightly more productive ) So this week I have four for you to see, I went for quantity not quality I think - how theses cardmakers do it I will never know !!

Wassail paper and vellum for this one

Stamping with brilliance inks and more Wassail papers ( can you see a theme here ?? LOL )



This one is a big one - I have a couple of big envelopes to fill you see - more Wassail, gems and I love that big swirl.


And finally my little red star card - lots of red glitter everywhere !!


I also decorated a little jar for my candy canes - I just hadn't got anything to store them in so I used an old baby food jar :) It now sits on the dresser.


My last project for the week - was a banner - you see there is a little boy who comes into Jennie's work every week.

Jen 's place sell ( among other things) things with children's names on and his name is an unusual spelling.
So nothing ever matches his room, he also suffers with a great deal of illness as he has Spina Bifida so is in his room which he spends a lot of time in is his pride and joy. Jennie was frantically trying to source things for his room but was struggling - so she asked if I would make a banner with his name on in his room colours of yellow and blue.
Apparently he picked it up yesterday from work and Jennie says he was beyond thrilled with it, he was so excited - now that kind of work makes all the nonsense in this business seem worth it because he doesn't give a damn that the papers are older or that the paper lines are mixed he is just thrilled it matches his room and says his name.

The countdown has started to my favourite time of year. I love Christmas and I will love it even more this year because my family will be here. This advent calendar is up in the kitchen filled with the yummy chocolates kindly provided by Granny Esther ( thanks Mum XX) and little bits and pieces of Christmas decoration are starting to appear slowly but surely around the house. I am waiting to put up the tree though as little Rachel would dismantle it in double time I am sure !!



My lovely family were all here last weekend mainly to finally celebrate this Man's retirement

It would have been sooner but he did insist on gallivanting off to Australia for a month. So last weekend was the only time before they set off again for the UK for a flying visit and before Christmas rolled around to get it done.
And what a weekend it was ..............


Mark came up with his new and incredibly lovely girlfriend Bern ( I can only hope we didn't frighten her too much with our nuttiness because she is a keeper !! ) And I finally got my new updated picture of that little Brother of mine, it is just a shame it was in my messy kitchen with it's appalling light but needs must !

Bern was so lovely and so good with Caitlin, the girls were totally impressed with the fact she used to ride horses too that she even made it into Caitlin's weekly news at school, as did the lovely Finn because she sat beside Caitlin at dinner like the wonderful Auntie she is and looked after her nieces with endless patience.

After all the introductions and the getting ready we all headed out for dinner in our local restaurant and it was fabulous. The food was incredible and the waiting staff very patient with the 12 and 1/2 of us ( Rachel is the 1/2 LOL )

I don't think we could have asked for a nicer meal out to be honest - everyone was happy and the restaurant was actually all ours for a little while as we went early because of the kids and the food was amazing ( Did I mention that already ? )


After the meal we all strolled home and that is when the nuttiness began - now I can tell you Abba music and dressing up was involved but much more and my family will have my guts for garters. Put it this way there is video footage for bribery purposes if needs be and this is the least silly outfit Dad ended up in ! Yes there was worse !

We presented Dad with his new case for his bass - my Dad is a talented musician and is back to playing the bass again now he has the time. And then we danced, laughed and drank far too much wine into the wee small hours of the morning !

I love this picture of Mum and Dad - it warms my very mushy heart !
The kids stayed up way too late as well although they did relax on the sofa bed in the front room that I had set up for guests watching Disney movies.

The next day when we all rose from our beds - well not all of us some phoned their order in - MARK !! We had a leisurely breakfast and declared the evening before a success. Everyone seemed to have a ball especially the Guest of honour and that is the main thing.

As for this week - well it has been no less exciting Becca has exams starting tomorrow and a nasty cold to boot and Caitlin was carol singing with the Brownie's down at the old people's home in the town tonight. I have been making more cards and lots of layouts for work (which I can't share yet!!)

So I am afraid cards is all you get - not earth shattering designs by any means I know but made with love I assure you :)


I also made this birdhouse decorations after seeing one on Debbie's blog and following the link to Nichole Heady's templates check it out she has some gorgeous stuff up there and a couple of my favourite scrappers work with her.



Finally the lovely Beckie awarded me this which is a testament to what a fantastic lady she is

This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and
relationships!
These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind blogger's aim to
find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement.
Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships
are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award
to eight blogger's who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written
text into the body of their award!
I have to award it in turn to eight others but I am so bad at having to choose people and hate leaving anyone out.
So any of the girls in my "places to go and people to see" links totally deserve this award they are my friends and my inspiration which is why they are there in the first place ( total cope out I know but it is late and I am tired LOL !! )