Our 2012 Christmas...

There were lots of things about the Christmas that were very different for us. It wasn't a bad thing, just different. For one thing, I didn't decorate, not even a tree. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to, but I had to be realistic and we just didn't have the room. Other than our bedrooms, we are currently really only living in one room of our house. We are bumping into each other and tripping over ourselves enough as it is, so to through one (or two) Christmas trees into the mix was just not practical. For a while there I confess that it didn't really feel like Christmas time. I was sad about it for a while, then decided to just 'go with the flow', after all my new name is supposed to be Flow Patience anyway. So in the days leading up to Christmas, once the shopping and baking started, the feelings of Christmas and all that is good started to creep in and the excitement started to builder. Here's a little about our 2012 Christmas...

Christmas morning the kids were up bright and early. They were SO very excited that Christmas morning had finally arrived. FIrst up they sat at the end of our bed and opened their Santa sack presents. I won't share photos of these, it was just a little too early for photos!

Next, we all headed into our kitchen/lounge room to open our presents for each other. I love this photo of my two, the excitement is just beaming out of their faces.

We each take turns in opening one present at a time, and because I knew what was in 99% of the gifts, I thoroughly enjoyed watching each gift unwrapped and the happy faces of those I love.

Because Emily had gotten Pugsley as an early Christmas present, she mainly got little things for Christmas, which she was totally fine about. She still had a wonderful time opening her gifts.

Emily's gifts consisted of mostly leads, toys and food bowls for Pugsley with a Blythe dress and some new bikini's thrown in for a few extra goodies.

In the weeks (months) leading up to Christmas, there was only ONE thing Jasper asked for for Christmas - an ipad. With all of our renovations we just didn't know how on earth we could make it happen, buying an ipad really was out of our budget. To my complete happiness, one of my lovely stitching ladies told me her son was selling his, and to cut a long story short, we purchased a second hand ipad for Jasper for Christmas, complete with a leather case and bluetooth keyboard. That was his main present and he had NO idea.

I sneakily wrapped his new ipad in a biscuit box to disguise it but I am sure once he saw the size and shape he had a pretty good idea what might be in there. This is his face upon opening his very own ipad. Let me tell you, it has barely been out of his hands ever since. He is one VERY happy little boy.

Jasper also recieved a book from his sister and a Toy Story Rex from us (he is collecting all of the Toy Story characters) and some other bits and pieces.

We surprised hubby with his very own Coffee machine for Christmas. Even though I don't drink coffee (I wish I could but I'm a tea girl) I have loved making special hot drinks for my family.

My family spoiled me with some books, a Frankie journal and a sign for our wall (when our renovations are complete). And nope, I won't be sharing photos of me at 6 am after about 3 hours sleep hehe. I'm too kind to do that to you.

Once we had finished opening our gifts at home, I whipped up two batches of pancakes, we got ourselves ready and headed over to my Parents home to share Christmas with my oldest brother and his family, my parents and two Aunties. It is a tradition that I make pancakes for Christmas morning and it is something I really love doing for my family.

My parents had their tables all set beautifully, with lots of delicious toppings to add to our pancakes. We all enjoyed a delicious breakfast with lots of fun and chatter. I am so grateful to be able to share Christmas day with some of my family, it makes the day just that bit much more special I think.

After breakfast, we headed into the lounge to share a few presents with each other. Here we mainly only give gifts to the younger kids, but a few presents for the grown ups slipped in as well. It's just too much fun!

Our newest family member came with us for Christmas Day and enjoyed lots of cuddles. Pugsley sure is one relaxed little boy.

Just before my brother and his family headed off to their next Christmas event, we quickly took a few photos of Granny and Grandad with some of their Grandkids + 1. I love family photos, even if they are slightly out of focus, phone pics.

We then got busy preparing our Christmas dinner. We don't have a typical Christmas dinner as it is mostly vegetarian, however we just love to share food that makes us happy. We invited our lovely next door neighbours and friends to share Christmas dinner with us. Here we all are during our yummy Christmas lunch.

After lunch, there was much chatting and just enjoying spending time together. We then all headed home, for the adults to rest and the kids to spend some time with their new Christmas gifts. Emily and Jasper got busy playing with their new Wii game - Glee Karaoke. So our afternoon was spent with lots of singing. Just how I like it! I think it was a lovely way to end the day.

So there you have Christmas from our little corner of the world. It was a simple but happy way to spend the day and it all flew by WAY too quickly too. From my little family to yours, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas too. xx