Our Christmas 2023!

And just like that Christmas is over for another year. We have had a fantastic few days and it's been nice to have some time together as a family with Stu and Becky both having some time off work.

Christmas for us starts on the 23rd on my dad's birthday. We went to see him to drop presents off and spend a little time with him. The big food shop was delivered and I did chuckle at all the substitutions, there was 30 of them. I think the person picking the shopping just got sick and kept sending pork pies in replace of the party food which wasn't available. 8 packs of six pork pies were sent, 6 were sent back. lol

The parsnips weren't delivered with the food shop so first thing on Christmas eve I went off to the farm shop who had plenty, I do love that place and bought some extra treats for us. A giant pork pie, chutney's and some cakes.

On Christmas eve I spent my time peeling and chopping the veg and cooking what I could in advance for the Christmas dinner. I spent my dad in the kitchen singing along to music and having a dance. It is one of my favourite days of the year. Stu was fantastic and spent his day doing all the other jobs like cleaning the bathroom and doing some washing. We got 4 loads dry out on the line, it was quite windy here which was a real bonus. Stu and Ellie decorated the gingerbread houses which we Ellie and I never got around to doing and they had a lovely time. I started in the kitchen at about 11am and finished at about 7pm when I went for a well deserved soak in the bath. 

Becky went to work on Christmas Eve, doing a night shift, it was the last one so she at least had Christmas Day, Boxing Day and today off. Stu, Ellie and myself made sure we were up and ready to open presents for when Becky got in from work so she could go to bed when she had opened hers.

Everyone was very happy with the presents that they received. The girls mostly knew what they were getting but there were some surprises thrown in. I was beyond happy with my presents. I was well and truly spoilt! Along with bath stuff, candles, pj's and slippers some of my favourite presents were some Funko Pops, the Dobby and Marvel Infinity Gauntlet Lego and a gel nail set. The biggest surprise were the rings that Stu got me. Years ago I stopped wearing my old ring as my finger got to big so these were a replacement. I love them!

Due to all my preparation on Christmas Eve I didn't have much to do on the big day apart from cook some stuffing and the parsnips. I could spend the day relaxing and spending time with Stu and Ellie. I had a go with the gel nail set and it went pretty well, it's going to take some practice getting my nails perfect but the gel nail polish feels amazing and so much better than normal nail polish.

Becky got out of bed just before 4pm and we could finally eat. I was so hungry despite me eating chocolate and picking on things out of the fridge all day! We sat down at the table, ate and the dinner was amazing!

My work here was done, the way it works here is that I prepare everything in the run up to Christmas. Sorting the presents, most of the wrapping, the shopping and the cooking. As soon as we've finished eating it's my time to relax and Stu and the kids take over washing the dishes and tidying up.

We spent the rest of Christmas day watching TV and eating even more. Trifle, chocolates and cake. We still have the Christmas pudding to have, I think we might get around to that in January.

I hope you all had a great Christmas or break if you don't celebrate. I'm off to watch more TV and eat more. hehehe