Week 2 of Tommy the Elf and the children are still as excited and enchanted by him every morning. Here’s week 2 at the Sparkles home….
December 7th : Footballing Tommy
December 8th : Horse riding with Barbie
December 9th : Sitting in the wreath.
December 10th : Morning everyone
December 11th : Strumming the Guitar
December 12th : The Simple Things
December 13th : Planning the Christmas Cake
This week has been all about preparations and getting organised. It’s that funny week before everything really starts to get going so I’ve used the time to wrap presents, write cards, buy a few foodie items for the season etc.. I really want to enjoy the events next week and not to be thinking that I should be doing things on my to do list. I’m feeling pretty relaxed about Christmas, I’m organised (hey that’s just me) but to me Christmas is simple it’s about being together and as long as I have my little family it’ll be perfect.
READ
Oh the tradition of the season, this week not only have I read The Christmas Radio Times but I’ve highlighted my favourites too. I’m already looking forward to cuddling up on the sofa with the children after Christmas lunch and watching Julia Donaldson’s Stickman.
I also helped the children read some rather special Santa letters. My mum has always taken the responsibility for organising the Santa letters and normally has them done through charities as a means of fundraising. However this year she wrote and printed them herself and they are amazing. The letters showed how much she listens to the children and their little adventures. Their personalities shone through the letters and they were truly magical. I was so touched and proud of my Mum’s gesture, as the Grinch says
LISTENED
I’m still addicted to my Christmas songs playlists and have used music to enhance the mood whilst I did some of the less exciting Christmas jobs this week.
WATCHED
When Mr S left to go travel up to work on Sunday afternoon, the children and I cuddled up to watch The Magic Reindeer, a beautiful animated film with a lovely Christmas story.
I also got to watch the children’s excitement at the Christmas tree festival as they went from tree to tree guessing the theme and choosing their favourites.
MADE
Mummy bonus pints for remembering the cakes I promised to make for the ballet Christmas fair, Nigella’s Raspberry and Lemon muffins. However I couldn’t find frozen raspberries in town so they became strawberry and lemon which worked perfectly with my strawberry cake cases.
Whilst I didn’t make my wreath I watched it being made by some of our brilliant students at school as part of their enterprise work. Our students all have complex special needs so for each to have played a little part in making this wreath is very special to me.
WORE
So maybe a little late and I’m sure they would have meant that my hand injury would not have been so severe but I wore my running gloves out on my first tentative runs since my accident. I am only running in the light and have taken a ridiculous interest in the state of pavements and roads but I am out. As I’ve said before I need to run, it’s my thing to keep me sane and happy.
I’m also wearing my old Fat Face brown boots I’ve had them for years and with the demise of my black Clarkes boots they’re back to number 1. I’m hoping to pick up a new pair of boots in the New Year sales, I did try some on in Fat Face a few weeks ago so fingers crossed they’ll be reduced.
And …
Next week is Christmas fun at schools for me and the children. The week is a whirlwind of Christmas lunches, parties, concerts, fairs and Christmas jumpers. I love the week its madness and sparkle is just part of the build up to Christmas.
We live in a small rural town so we don’t have the razzle and dazzle of the big cities’ Christmas celebrations. However I like to think that our Christmas reflects some of the simpler traditions of the season which still bring that lovely sparkly festive feel.
Tonight I took the children to a beautiful event, The Christmas Tree Festival. The idea is simple, local businesses sponsor a Christmas tree and local groups and schools decorate the trees for display. It used to take place in the tiny church of a local village but the event has got much bigger and has moved to the newly built town church. This makes it accessible to more people and allows for more activities on the site too, there was a café, children’s craft tables and an inspired manger scene where you could dress up and have your photo taken in the most authentic Christmas story tableau.
However the highlight was the 38 trees. The themes and decorations were so creative and original. The badminton club had covered shuttlecocks in foil and made them into daleks with the tardis as the tree topper. For the Knifty Knitters each decoration was hand crafted. A local chef had decorated hers with edible decorations and it was humbling to read wishes for the world from local school children. In addition to the trees there is a programme of events during the festival, bell ringing, toddlers sing song, carols, craft activities, readings and a very poignant lights of love service.
I loved the festival, it is a simple idea but beautifully creative with a real sense of community and anticipation of Christmas.
This is our third year of our Elf On The Shelf and he is a much loved and treasured Christmas tradition in the Sparkles household. Tommy is not a mischievous elf but is much in the spirit of the accompanying storybook celebrating the children being kind and helpful. I hide him each night and also leave a letter writing about the positive things the children have done and little memories of the day. I enjoy the creative challenge and the magic he brings to our house. This year I thought I would publish our photos from each day, the letters are so personal that they can’t be published but they remain wrapped and saved in our house.
December 1st 2015
Pilot Tommy
December 2nd 2015
Mountain climbing.
December 3rd 2015
Arise Sir Tommy, the medieval knight.
December 4th 2015
Saving the Pennies
December 5th 2015
Channel hopping
December 6th 2015
Tommysaurus
And a bonus … a trip to school
This was a very different week as it was the first with Mr S working away, he left Sunday afternoon and has just returned this Friday evening. It was a week of new routines and expectations but the children have been brilliant and it’s been a lot more relaxed than I expected. Before the children Mr S used to work away a lot so I am used to his absence but there is a big difference between just looking after myself and now the children too. However I am content how this week went and generally positive about the next few months. With Mr S away I have tried to keep Christmas traditions and activities for our time together and have ‘just’ done our Elf OnThe Shelf Tommy every evening. I love Tommy and so do the children, it’s the 3rd year of doing him and is one of my favourite parts of Christmas.
READ
With Mr S away in the evenings, I’ve had the much needed opportunity to catch up with some statutory professional development which has involved lots of reading on a range of topics. I did it over two evenings and am pleased to have ticked it off. I’ve also been reading the Christmas Vegetarian Good Food magazine and planning menus for the Christmas period.
LISTENED
I downloaded the new Adele album and have enjoyed listening to it, it’s relaxed and chilled and perfect for quiet reflective times in the evenings.
From December 1st I have my Christmas music on loop. I love it, both pop and classical depending on my mood and have been playing lots this week, singling along in the privacy of my home or car. I love the feel good, sentimentality of the songs and so many happy memories of Christmases past.
WATCHED
On Saturday we were looking for a family trip out on a pretty miserable day and we went to the cinema to see the new Pixar film, The Good Dinosaur. The animation was stunning and it was nice film but it was a bit of a nightmare with badly behaved children running all around the cinema, up and down the stairs, in front of the screen. I think we’ll stick to our little town cinema rather than the multiplex next time.
On Thursday evening, my Mum and I took Little Miss to see the ballet the Nutcracker. I have it on my bucket list to see the Nutcracker at the English National Ballet at Christmas. We didn’t make it to London this week, but watched it at our local theatre and still loved it, the story, music and costumes were delightful. We sat close to the stage and I was surprised at the toned and muscular bodies of the ballerinas, they had beautiful bodies but rather than the skeletal dancers they can be portrayed as these were healthy strong defined bodies. Little Miss loved the ballet and I can’t wait to take her to London one Christmas. It’s lovely that she enjoys dancing so much, I’m enjoying taking her to the theatre to see more performances. I think it’s time to introduce her to musicals too as she loves singing and dancing.
I also watched the children meet Father Christmas at the school fair. He was a lovely Santa and his grotto was so beautiful. The children loved him and chatted away, full of innocence and awe.
MADE
Ok, this may be a little contrived but I hope that this week with the return of Tommy that I’ve been making precious memories for us all. Tommy merits his own blog post but each night, I hide him in a themed tableau, write a letter and wait for the children to find him. They love him and it so adorable to hear them talking to him. I took a few photos of Tommy at the children’s school this week and sent some to Little Man’s TA who showed them to him on the iPad so now he’s convinced Tommy pops into school to see him doing great work too!
WORE
Another bandage on my hand, this running injury is a nightmare and I returned for a 3rd hospital appointment this week! It appears I may have punched the pavement as I fell thus the deep, awkward cuts which are difficult to heal. I’m really hopeful that I’ll be able to remove the bandages at my next hospital appointment on Sunday.
I wore my sparkly shoes to the ballet on Thursday and then again on the school run on Friday! I was leaving to pick up the children on time but a top secret delivery arrived that I needed to hide and the sparkly shoes were first to hand as I ran out the door late. It added a little sparkle to the pick up!
And Lastly …
This weekend it’s my Christmas Saturday, I’m off with our neighbour to the county town for shopping, lunch and hair appointments and Mr S and the children are Christmas tree shopping in preparation for dressing the house on Sunday.
I sometimes imagine my Little Sparkles weeks as a title from Friends. This week would be ‘The one with the bugs, bumps and ballet.’ We seem to have fitted a lot into this week, it started with Little Man being poorly with the bug which swept his school, my fall from which I am still hurting, last minute weekend ballet rehearsals and the exam on Wednesday and finishing on Thursday with a wonderful classical music concert for the children. This has definitely been a Mummy week and I appreciate how lucky I am to have such an understanding employer who has allowed me to swap hours to accommodate my needs this week.
READ
Today when they got home from school, Little Miss and Little Man discovered a postcard from Tommy our elf. They were so excited and I loved hearing Little Man asking Little Miss to read it to him and her reading it beautifully aloud. It was a warm, fuzzy moment and I was so pleased I had made the effort to send the postcard.
WATCHED
I love the Blackpool Strictly episode so thoroughly enjoyed Saturday night’s television, the extra dancers and pizazz just make it even more sparkly and fun. My favourites are still in the competition and the programme is my tv highlight each week. Apart from Strictly I haven’t watched much tv this week, in the evenings I’ve been getting organised for Christmas, writing lists, gaining inspiration form the Internet and planning.
LISTENED
On Thursday afternoon, I accompanied Little Man’s class to a classical music concert. It was a delightful experience to introduce children to classical music. Little Miss also went with her class, we waved across the hall! I really like being a Mum helper on these type of trips, it’s why I work part time so I can volunteer some time to help on events such as this. It was a lovely community event with all the schools from our town and surrounding villages attending and some senior members of the community helping too. The children all brought their teddies and got to ‘dance’ with them during the concert, they also got to conduct and jump up and down in certain pieces of music too. I was so impressed by all the children they were really well behaved and all very actively participating in the concert. The orchestra were so friendly and welcoming, for some songs they came among the audience and all were dressed casually to be more approachable. It was such a pleasure to attend and enjoy the beautiful music played at this concert and to see the children’s discovery of classical music, a real musical treat for us all.
MADE
I love homemade soup and chunky granary bread, its my ultimate comfort food. Sometimes I will follow a recipe at other times it’s whatever vegetables I have at home chucked into a pot. This week I have made a few soups all of which have been delicious.
In a tenuous link, I have also made progress on my Christmas planning. Living in a small town with lots of independent shops, I have always tried to support my local commerce by shopping locally and I picked up a few things this week. I have also challenged myself not to simply shop locally but to try and buy goods made in the UK. This week I’ve chosen some Caroline Gardner Christmas cards and discovered Poppy Trewenny and their hand stitched goods made in Cornwall. Unfortunately despite my best intentions, there will be plastic imports from China among my shopping as Star Wars figures feature heavily on Christmas lists.
WORE
Little Miss wore her hair so beautifully and looked so neat and tidy for her ballet exam on Wednesday, I was so proud of my little dancer. It was such an organised event and there were hairdressers on hand to put the girls’ hair into buns. I was so relieved, my hair is short so I have no experience in styling. I spent the morning at the base helping Little Miss to get dressed and then I waited whilst she did the exam. It was such a lovely morning, catching up with Mums, encouraging the dancers, congratulating them on their return and just being among the excitement.
I have worn bandages on my right hand this week. My running injury is still pretty ugly and I returned to the hospital today to have it checked and redressed. It is healing but part of the wound is still open. My hand is badly bruised with an odd mix of yellow and green bruising. I need to return again on Wednesday for another check. I am so grateful for our cottage hospital. There was a big campaign to save it a few years ago and I’m so pleased it was successful, it really is so important to our town.
AND FINALLY..
Next week is the first without Mr S who starts his new contract on Monday. It will be tough without my support team but we’ll make new routines and work together as Team Sparkles, wish me luck x
This week, I am feeling fragile and that my confidence has been shattered. I am that person always in control, in my element in a crisis, cool, calm, collected. I am the friend who never gets dangerously drunk so I can make sure everyone else stays safe. I am the strong one that no one thinks needs looking after, reliable, dependable until now… On Monday night I did my normal night run, I needed it after a weekend of sickness in our household and a busy work day whizzing around my head, I needed that freedom to run, to run fast and free. Corny as it seems, running is my time, my therapy. I was quickly in the zone and loving every step and then I fell. I have no idea how, but it was a heavy fall on a dark pavement and after the initial shock of the fall I quickly realised I was hurt and bleeding quite a lot. I weighed up my options and realised the simplest was to walk home, by the time I got there, limping and in tears with blood everywhere I was a bit of a wreck. I had two badly scraped knees which were already swelling and tender to touch, my left palm was missing a lot of skin and I had deep cuts on my right hand which were bleeding heavily. I was also pretty nauseous and light headed with shock, I cleaned myself up as best as I could and then quite numb in pain and shock just sat down unable really to think or move. After a difficult night’s sleep when I woke a couple of times in pain, mostly with my knees and right hand I realised that I needed to go to our local cottage hospital for my hand which was still bleeding and heavily swollen. It was glued and stitched back together and is now padded and bandaged whilst it heals. Although the physical injuries have been cleaned and protected until they are healed, I’m not sure that I’m healed, I am so shaken and numb by the fall. This is worrying me as this is not me, I get my knocks, shake myself down and just got on with life, no drama, feeling sorry for myself, but since the fall I have been cautious and hesitant, I’m quieter and feel withdrawn. I have been running for 8 years now and have had 3 falls, a twisted ankle, cut knee and now this, all have taken place on a dark night run, our roads are lit intermittently and the surfaces aren’t always as smooth as they could be. As important as my running is to me I can’t help but come to the conclusion that it’s time to stop running in the dark and only do daylight runs in winter. It is a difficult decision, my runs will be fewer and less thinking time but I need to look after myself so I can look after my family. Sadly our gym closed in July so I can’t swap for gym sessions on the treadmill, perhaps it’s time to eat healthily in the winter, do a DVD and step up my walking ready for a Spring full of running challenges.
There are certain weeks when life just carries on regardless of all the chaos that surronds it, this week has been a week like that. The shock of the Paris terror attacks is still raw and real, whilst in our little household we are preparing for a change in our family life for a few months which will see Mr S working away during the week until Spring. This week has been organising the finer details, itineraries, hotels and travel as well as trying to plan the time to fit in all the family fun and traditions in the run up to Christmas. It’s going to be a challenging few months but hopefully the financial benefits and long term aim of more time together in the Summer will keep us all going, Mr S has promised us the best summer ever and it’s a promise we intend to keep.
READ
Words cannot describe the beauty, dignity and love in this Facebook post, it is the most moving prose I have read in a long time.
LISTENED
Some excellent listens this week, I’ve been at home a lot waiting in for people to call so have managed to catch up on lots of Podcasts. I’ve been enjoying the Woman’s Hour series on appearance, thought provoking and entertaining and loved this week’s Desert Island Discs with Nicola Sturgeon, undoubtedly my woman of the year. It’s rare to find a contemporary political role model so witty, interesting and lively. I liked her music choices too, lots of shared tunes there!
On a slightly different note, I was so impressed with the versions of La Marseillaise I have heard this week. Firstly sung in defiance as Parisiens left the Stade de France after the attacks, not scared silence but strong, proud and bold. Then La Marseillaise was sung at Wembley at the England vs France match to show unity and respect, two very powerful versions of the song.
WATCHED
On Saturday we’ve got into the habit of watching a film after Strictly. I really enjoyed our choice this week with the Steve Jobs film. I know it’s been criticised by his family, yet it it showed a genius and flawed character who was incredibly innovative and creative.
I also watched part of Little Miss’ ballet class but Little Man was not behaving well and sadly I needed to leave before his behaviour affected the students’ concentration. Little Miss and her peers have been working so hard for their ballet exam next week and what I saw was polished and well danced. Personally I’m terrified by the pressure of having her hair neat and tidy in a bun for the exam, I may need to call in a few favours!
MADE
Last Friday night, I started to make a list of Christmas things to do and make and we began the list on a wet and miserable Saturday afternoon with button decorations. They were fun to make and a good distraction to the weather. I prefer the tress they were simple and the children could choose the button sizes, Santa was more challenging.
WORE
After the wet weather of the past few weeks, the cold has suddenly arrived, so we’ve all been wrapped up in woolly jumpers, thick scarves and bobble hats. I do like a bobble hat and how it can cover a bad hair day, of which I have many!
Normally I wouldn’t write up a day out as simple as a morning at soft play and a lunch out but today seems different. In a weekend full of sadness and reflection the simple pleasures have seemed more important and the cosy warmth of a family day out has helped to smoothe some of the hurt and despair I’ve been feeling. Soft play was as good as it could be, its never going to be my favourite activity, a warehouse full of running, hot and sweaty children in a stuffy room but today we went to a different venue, family run and very well organised and planned, which proved to be a much better environment than the very large play area in the town next to us. We chose a soft play a little drive away so we could stop off on the way home for a Sunday lunch in a country pub, far preferable to a pizza in the fast food restaurant at the nearest soft play warehouse.
We were lucky enough to come across an absolute gem of a pub and arriving at 12 on the dot we managed to bag the last table, we didn’t know of its reputation but following our experience it is fully deserved. The country pub was a picture perfect pub, thatched roof, low ceilings, wooden beams on the walls and such a cosiness and welcome as you walked in, you could feel your worries dissipate as you entered. Even better than the environment was the food, we had a Sunday Roast, a nut roast for me but it was stunning, accompanied by homemade Yorkies, crispy roasties and an amazing side plate of vegetables, yellow roasted beetroot (sublime) swede mash, yellow and orange honey roasted carrots, red cabbage and a variety of sprouting broccoli. It was an amazing meal to feed and nourish our bodies and souls and we relaxed into happy chat and just the pure pleasure of being our little family of four. The children were so well behaved and mature, they are growing up into such special little people and make such treats a real delight. The warm atmosphere and feelings seemed to be shared by all in the pub as there was such a relaxed and peaceful ambiance. Today’s lunch was a great family time but also seemed to reflect a certain Britishness and culture, traditions we should nurture and value and always be thankful for.
Today has been a day of great sadness and reflection trying to make sense of the tragic events in Paris last night. News was breaking as I went to bed and I listened to the radio until the early hours of the morning, scarcely believing what I was hearing as the evil acts unfolded, I lay in bed feeling a sense of disbelief and anger, strong, pit of my stomach anger. I love Paris and France, I am a French graduate and spent a very happy year working in France in my early twenties. In this year many of my weekends were spent in Paris, travelling through by train and then staying in the cheapest hotel me and my friends could find so we could enjoy the delights of Paris, I have so many happy memories of nights dancing, drinking and having sparkling fun. Such delights and simple pleasures which were attacked last night and in which many innocent people lost their lives on a Friday night out with friends. It is so sad that the wonderful relaxed evenings spent in bars, philosophising over meals or watching a football match or rock concert could be so cruelly interrupted. These activities are French life and culture at its best, passionate, vibrant and respectful. I particularly liked the cartoon by a Charlie Hebdo cartoonist not asking people to pray for Paris and treat it as a victim but to celebrate French life and values, liberte, egalite and fraternite. For the second time this year my heart has been broken at the events in France but France is strong, fair and determined, such strength and values will always defeat extremism and hatred.
Paris, je t’aime. La France reste forte.
Seaside Sparkles 