I know what you're going to say ...It's only November!It was Halloween five minutes ago!You need locking up woman!And maybe I do, but where's the fun in that. So here it is, Chloe's first "It's only the middle of November and you're mad you are Christmas Tree".
You never forget your first Christmas tree or at least I didn't forget mine. It was tiny, about two foot tall and all the decorations and lights were permanently attached to it so 'putting up the Christmas tree' for me meant taking it out of the box, demangling the branches a little and plugging it in. Not much I know, but it was mine and I was the boss of that tree. It stayed in the box in the bottom of my wardrobe and it was up to me when I put it up in my room, usually the middle of November.I can't in all honestly take any credit for Chloe's tree though. My mum first mentioned it a week or so ago that she was going to keep an eye out for a little fibre optic tree she could keep in her bedroom and Robert remembered the spare one we had in the roofspace.The spare one was my first Christmas tree, I was 17 and working in a job that paid a pittance. I walked to work for two weeks instead of taking the bus so that I could buy that tree. When we moved from Belfast to this house and I bought The Biggest Tree Ever™ I just didn't have the heart to get rid of the old one.So now it's Chloe's tree, even if it is seven years older than her already.
Robert even took her out last week to pick the decorations for it, pink and purple tinsel and a stack of resin decorations, plus a few of my own. The little wooden nutcracker decorations are the set I bought 12 years ago:) You'll notice though that Robert being Robert, he couldn't resist wrapping up one of her stocking fillers and putting it under the tree to torture her.Do you think she'll still remember her first tree when she's my age? I hope so.
When my brother and I were little my mum had one simple rule about her Christmas tree, "If my kids made it, it goes on the tree!".Simple as that. Now with two kids in a very large primary school which managed to get through a mountain of toilet paper every year that made for a lot of TP decorations on the tree, but she didn't care because we made them.I have exactly the same rule, though because Chloe's only four years old we're still building a up to a decent amount of her little handmade decorations. Until the day when she can single handedly fill our huge tree to the point it's at risk of falling over I'll fill in the gaps with things that make her smile.
And yes that box of Christmas decorations does include a green paper fairy, hand print angels, golden paper stars and a slightly mad eclectic mix of giant glass m&ms, fruit fairies, Mickey Mouse stringing his own set of lights a big blue penguin with a light pushed inside, a set of really, really gaudy glass ornaments featuring a lion and a monkey nut of all things, cushions (it's a big tree) and even a rubber ducky.I have coloured lights because Chloe likes them and Christmas belongs to her inside these fours walls, so she gets her way.And as if that isn't enough, there's even some tinsel chucked in for good measure.
There is no question that a child lives in this house:)
Merry Christmas everybody and a very Happy and hopefully relaxing New Year!
So, is everybody ready for Christmas? Pressies wrapped, stockings stuffed?That bit I've managed, though food is another matter altogether. I tried exactly the same method of organising the food for Christmas last year and it didn't work then either. Pity I didn't remember that it didn't work last year until I realised that it wasn't going to work this year either. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I did the same thing the year before that too.Will I elaborate a bit, oh alright then. Its simple enough, at the beginning of December I set a day aside, head out to the shops and spend the day buying a colossal amount of food. I mean a monstrously huge amount of food. The reasoning behind this is that it should mean that come the end of December I still have loads of food in the house and only have to pop out before Christmas to pick up fresh bits and pieces locally like milk, fruit and veg.Of course that isn't what actually ends up happening because what looks like a colossal amount at food at the beginning of December always seems to end up being the perfect amount of food for a month so I have to go again. On the 23rd of December!So we're just going to have to bite the bullet and try and get through it in one piece. The plan is that we'll head into Bangor and I'll do the dreaded Asda thing by my lonesome while Robert and Chloe get to do the fun stuff like go to Spice and taste all the lovely cheeses, they're under very strict instructions that they must get brie for mummy and none of that pasteurised muck either, I'd enough of that when I was pregnant thank you very much. Then of course, they'll probably tottle over to Heatherlea under the pretence of picking up some bread but they'll actually sit themselves down with something gooey and delicious and a mug of hot chocolate and watch the madness outside. All the while I'll do battle with Asda.You see I really don't like shopping for food this close to Christmas, I can manage if I have to get a few bits locally but I hate Asda and Tesco because you just can't get the idea across to some people that they're not stocking up for World War III, the shops will open again in a mere three days and it probably isn't necessary for them to wrestle in the aisles over a loaf of bread. I'll just have to put my head down and get it over with.With a bit of luck I'll manage to get back out again in time to join the family for some of that yummy hot chocolate.In other news, it has finally snowed here in Ards
Which has made me feel really Christmassy but it also means that tomorrow I will have to walk Chloe down to school in the snow which means that I will slip and land on my arse, likely in the playground beside the P7s who will laugh and laugh and then Chloe will spend the day telling everyone that didn't see it happen while I spend the morning in work sitting on a radiator trying to dry my bum.Merry Christmas everyone.
On Friday night we made the trip, all two hundred yards or so, into town to watch the Christmas lights being turned on.
We knew the Mayor was going to switch the lights on at 7.30pm so when Robert arrived home at five we let him get showered and changed first and then went out for chips first before making our way down to the square.
It's always quite low key but it's nice, nobody's drunk and staggering about and there usually aren't any idiots about trying to spoil the fun so it's perfect to take a four year old to. We started off at the bakery for mulled wine (for mummy) and hot chocolate and fresh Christmas tree shaped shortbread that was still slightly warm from the oven. Then we had to make a quick dash into a local shop to get Chloe a Santa hat because everyone had them. Pete Snodden was there and started off the night with a few songs and Robert and I sat ourselves down in the square with our shortbread and watched Chloe dance her heart out to "I wish it could be Christmas every day", there isn't a shy bone in that child's body.
Then of course there's the usual chance to win tickets to whatever is coming up, so this year it was tickets to go to Clubland and to see the Prodigy. Loads of people clamoured to get onto the stage for their chance to win the tickets and, dear love them, it was only once two girls were picked to go up for the Clubland tickets that they found out they were going to have a dance off to see who would win. I'd have been mortified but they both really went for it, although clearly one had been practicing in her bedroom at night and was the clear winner. The theatres around Ards really did their bit this year too and Chloe had a chance to see her first fire eater and stood amazed right in front of him as he juggled fire too. There were stilt walking elves and HUGE dancing polar bears too. There were also two fairground rides for the kids, one a little merry go round that is at the market every Saturday which Chloe loves and another one that would put you in mind of a mini waltzer for the slightly older kids. Chloe was desperate to get on it, but I was convinced she was too little and I knew Robert and I were too big for it, but the guy operating said she was fine and big enough. For once I bit my tongue and let her go.... £9.00 she cost me! She was on that ride 6 times, so clearly not a yellow bone in her body either!
Finally came the time to turn on the lights. Everyone, by this stage frozen solid, gathered around the tree in the centre of the square as the countdown began, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ... and every light in the square came on, apart from the tree. Have you ever heard a couple of hundred people laughing?
After a few minutes of fumbling with wires and plugs and what not the lights flickered and came on. The cheer was deafening and even Chloe saw the funny side.It actually made the night even better that the lights didn't work on cue, probably to do with something being broken and getting to fix it.
It was officially the Christmas season in Newtownards and some stayed to shop. We went home, had more hot chocolate and went to bed.
