Getting Ready for Christmas....

Trying on Mum's slipper

Santa's little reindeer



The girls were so excited to put up the tree



making marshmallow snowmen

The girls also made Christmas presents for their friends. We made brooches out of clay with miniature cookie cutters, then baked them in the oven, painted them and then hot-glued a pin on the back. They turned out really cute and the girls were so excited to hand them out to their friends at school.

busy painting brooches

Abby was so proud of her cute, little snowman brooch.

We made a gingerbread house too.

It was almost a gingerbread pile because the roof kept collapsing.

We also made our own frog game. The girls drew their own frog and then stuck a "party blower" (I guess that is what they are called) out of its mouth. We glued Velcro to the end that unwinds when you blow it. We cut out felt crowns and put Velcro on them. Then we made a pond with lily pads and little fish from blue paper. You then put all the crowns in the pond and the girls blow their party blowers and as fast as they can try to pick up as many crowns as possible. Whoever has the most at the end, wins....



This little one had to be strapped to her high chair with some oranges or she would have ruined everything! She looks innocent, but she is not!

This is how she eats these days, kicked back with both feet propped on the table. The Queen would not approve!

The girls decorated these boxes to put the brooches in for their friends.

Here are some finished brooches.



Sammy was so proud of her pile, ready to take to school.

We also made homemade hot chocolate mix for a few friends and neighbours. The girls made the labels for the cans of cocoa mix. They had a lot of fun making them, I promise. Sammy doesn't look so thrilled in this picture. Now the girls are busy counting all the presents under the tree and continually checking to see if any new ones have appeared. Only 2 more sleeps til Christmas....MERRY CHRISTMAS 2015!

Berlin Christmas Markets

At the beginning of December, I was very privileged to take a trip to the German Christmas markets in Berlin with friends and NO children for two days!! Wow! What a great way to start the holidays. My pictures have uploaded in reverse order but never mind.  After shopping all day the first day and half the day the second day, we took some time out and toured the Berliner Dom (the large cathedral).

We hit three different markets, each with hundreds of stalls. Berlin is full of Christmas markets all over the city. The third market had a Ferris wheel that we went on and got a good view of the city.

Christmas pyramid in the market

The first night in Berlin, we went up the famous TV tower and took a look around. It was really close to our hotel in Alexanderplatz. Great view from the top but no good pictures. It was too dark.

Berliner Dom

As I mentioned above, we toured the Berliner Dom on the second day. I loved the gigantic star they had hanging out front and my friend Lynsey.

Inside the dom

We also walked the hundreds of steps up to view the city from the top of the Dom. There is the Ferris wheel located in a German market nearby that we went on after our tour.

The TV tower viewed from the top of the Berliner Dom

My lovely friends on our first night in town. We had walked what felt like miles but we were happy.

This was the second market we went to. It was voted everyone's favourite in our group. It cost to get in thus the reason it was just a bit more posh. We bought a lot of stuff at this market. This is my friend Emma and I.

I cannot go to Germany and not have bratwurst and sauerkraut. Oh baby, I couldn't get enough! I was in heaven.

LIVE entertainment in the posh market. At one point, there was even a man dressed in what looks like a swan costume prancing around and the audience was hysterical with laughter. I didn't get it since it was all in German (where is Charles when you need him?).   

The three lovely ladies I went with. This was only a few hours after we had arrived and we had already eaten loads and bought tons!

I want to go again next year!

South Wales

For the last half of half term, I rented us a cosy, little cottage in South Wales.

It even had a playground and hot tub.

While we were there, we hiked up to the Carreg Cennen Castle located in the Brecon Beacons National Park not far from our cottage. The castle dates back to the late 13th or early 14th century.  Human remains found at the original site of Castell Carreg Cennen date human activity at the location back to prehistoric times. The site may well have also been an Iron Age hillfort. Roman coins from the 1st and 2nd century have also been found, although it is unlikely the Romans occupied this site on a permanent basis.The autumn leaves and colours were gorgeous! My pictures don't do the colours justice.

Here is Abby with some proper Welsh cows with huge horns located at the bottom of the hill where the castle was.

Sadie insisted on hiking up the hill. She would get very upset if we tried to pick her up. It made for some slow walking but she was determined.

The girls never tire of exploring castles. They always love running from room to room, up and down imagining what life would have been like.

 In the south-east corner of the inner ward a set of steep steps lead to a vaulted passage and a natural cave beneath the castle, which leads deep into the hillside. A fresh water spring rises in the cave, which would have been a useful supply of water in the dry weather. I went down with the girls while Charles stayed with Sadie. It was very slick, dark and narrow. We didn't have a torch so I used my phone camera for light and made the girls go much further than they wanted to. It reminded me of a proper dungeon. I would not have been surprised if we would have stumbled upon a skeleton of some wretch who had lived there suffering the last few years of his life for some crime. There were three small holes in the stone at one point, and I could imagine the old man having these as his only view out to the real world while he was locked up. We could have gone a lot further if we would have had a torch. I sure wish we would have known to rent one when we paid to get in. Oh well, it was really exciting going as far as we did.

This is the slippery tunnel down to the caves.

Looking out a small window from the tunnel to the caves. Its a long way down... 

Alex in the castle kitchen oven.

This is outside the castle. It would have been a well-fortified, protected place being on top of this huge hill.

Here we are on the opposite hill from the castle. Sadie wants to get down and walk so she can fall over the edge. I am not letting her.

Alex standing behind the castle.

This is the hill the girls and I are pictured on where Sadie wanted to go walking off the edge. You can see why I am holding her....

Abby contemplating life...

And now, the walk back down and Sadie is back to walking.

We enjoyed cosy fires, lots of hot chocolate, old Halloween movies and loads of good food! It was a really good break!