Christmas Day 2018

As you can imagine there was MUCH excitement on Christmas morning when the kids woke to find Santa had been!  They immediately brought their stockings through to us in bed and climbed up to start opening presents.

Craft Courses review - Paper Scissors Rock paper cutting in Kent

The other craft course I booked with my birthday gift voucher was paper cutting with Paper Scissors Rock in Kent.  Sam is an excellent teacher with loads of samples for inspiration as well as templates for us to use during the class and extra ones we could buy for £3 if we wanted to carry on at home.

Ice Skating at Calverly Grounds in Tunbridge Wells - review

We booked a session on 22nd December for the ice skating at Calverly Grounds in Tunbridge Wells and had a fab time!

Boxing Day in The Garrison, London

We went on a day trip to London on Boxing day for a meal at The Garrison pub with family.  As we weren't able to be together on Christmas as planned this year we arranged to meet up for a meal that was relaxed but delicious and The Garrison was an ideal venue within easy access of London Bridge station.  The kids had a blast with their cousin and we all had a cuddle with the newest member who's looking cute as a button as always!

It was lovely to get a family photo but of course with so many kids, at least one was bound to not be up for it.  Priya was getting a bit tired by this point...

My Rainbow Christmas Tree!

My love for all things rainbow has really gotten out of control if you ask my husband!  You know what though, rainbows just make me so happy!  The bright colours really do cheer me up, I'm so drawn to them, so yes, it has become a bit of an obsession but I don't care and I think he gets it really.  He does love our tree (despite his concerns it might look a bit "shopping centre"), he loves how it turned out almost as much as I do!  And the twins?  Their response was "Wow" when they saw it after a weekend in London with Daddy seeing their cousin while I stayed home to work and prep the house for Christmas!  :D

Before I found some more yellow ones on eBay!

Advent Adventures

Last year I made a half hearted attempt at a homemade advent calendar of activities and treats but never got past day 6!  I found a beautiful branch, wrapped it with fairy lights and hung a few snowflakes and notes off it so this year I've converted that to just have lots of snowflakes hanging in the window.



This year I bought a cute little house advent to decorate from Hobbycraft.  I had great fun painting the little numbers and snowflakes in (you guessed it) rainbow colours!  I got all the bits from Hobbycraft and used my acrylic paints for nice bright colours.  I also put a little Grimm's rainbow on the chimney.

Christmas at Wilderness Wood

Right at the very start of our Advent Adventures (post to follow!), we headed to Wilderness Wood for the first of our activities behind door one...  Buy a Christmas tree!

I knew they had festivities planned so we went there in the evening to choose this year's Nordmann Fir and check out the outdoor kitchen in action.  What I didn't realise was that when you buy your tree you get a free wood-fired pizza included - bonus!  Tonight's the last night they're doing it so make sure you head there if you still need a tree and enjoy your super fresh pizza too!

Our first Pantomime! Cinderella at Devonshire Park Theatre in Eastbourne - review

As part of our advent fun this year, we wanted to finally see a pantomime!  Can you believe I've never been!?  Anyway, it worked out perfectly when we were invited to review Cinderella at Devonshire Park Theatre in Eastbourne, we weren't able to go to their press viewing last year but this year even Nik managed to get the afternoon off so we could all go as a family, yay!

I'll give you the moon.

My boy LOVES the moon.  We've known about his love for the moon pretty much since he could talk.  He gets so excited when he sees the moon, be it in real life or a book or on TV.  "I see the mooooon!"

So when I saw these 3D printed moon lamps, I knew I had to get him one for Christmas.  The lamp we've been using as a night light has been scratched and now looks quite tatty.  This is the perfect replacement and I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought of this exact photo opportunity when I bought it ;)

Cocktail Recipes

We enjoyed quite a few home-made cocktails over the Christmas, birthday and New Year period.  Here are some of the recipes for what you may have seen us enjoying on my social media, they're all very simple short drinks and super quick to make.  Apologies for the poor photos, I was too busy enjoying the day to bother with the big camera so these are all phone snaps ;)

A good old gin martini

Our Christmas Day 2017

I was so excited about Christmas, as usual, and this year we finally had the Christmas I longed for when we were trying so hard for a family.  The excitement, the traditions, the magic and all the special food ;)

Off The Wall Entertainment - Christmas disco review

We were thrilled when Gemma from Off The Wall Entertainment invited the twins to come along to her Christmas disco on Christmas Eve eve!

Support Local pop-up in Tunbridge Wells

On Sunday we went along to our first Support Local pop-up event in Tunbridge Wells.  The pop-up was located in the lovely One Warwick Park hotel near The Pantiles.  There were so many lovely independent businesses selling a really good variation of goods.  It was lots of fun shopping with so many local makers and sellers all in one place, we bought quite a few Christmas presents, including a couple of things for us/the house!  I love discovering new local businesses, we like to shop small and find different things to those you can find on the high street.

My favourite item we bought was a really unusual vase from Five Nordic Swans who sell various Nordic goods.  It's perfect for our newly re-decorated guest room, I can't wait to share photos of the room when it's finished!

Clockwise from top left: Five Nordic Swans,  The English Beagle, Peachy Pottery

Our Christmas Tree & other decorations 2017

Every year I've planned to post about our decorations and I don't think I've managed it once since having the twins!  I struggle to keep up with everything at this time of year and end up thinking I'll take the photos and write it ready for next year!  Happened once in 2015.  So I'm surprised at myself for getting this year's decorations photographed and on the blog before Christmas!

Uckfield's Late Night Shopping event

I'm trying to catch up on posts about events we managed to attend in December and Uckfield's Late Night Shopping evening is always a highlight.  I attended this year solo with the twins so only have phone photos to share but as usual we had a lot of fun and loved the local festive atmosphere.

 Local juggler with his fire throwing show in the High Street.

Simple Toddler Christmas Craft - Potato stamping Cards/Wrapping

I meant to order cards with the photos I took of the twins in their jumpers at Ashdown Forest but it's a bit late now.  (See a mock up of the designs below though, looks like it'll be e-cards this year again!)

As we needed some physical cards for teachers at pre-school and the childminder to give with our thank you/Merry Christmas gifts, I decided we should make some.  Rather than just random painting or anything too taxing given the sleep deprivation lately (it's sadly ongoing again as Kalyan now has a cough after everything else!), I thought potato stamping would be a good bet.  I halved a potato, carved out a simple Christmas Tree on each side (to avoid arguments) and put some green paint onto a paper plate.

My Christmas song playlist

Christmas tunes, one of the best things in the run up to Christmas (as long as they don't start too early!) is hearing all of my old favourite festive songs.  I'm sure everyone has a favourite and mine is good old Mariah - All I want for Christmas.  I love the beginning in particular, it's my guilty pleasure to sing along and belt it out in secret (singing is not one of my talents I can assure you)!

Cable & Cotton lights - Brighton store experience

If you love colour like I do, you must visit the Cable & Cotton shop in Brighton!  I already have a set of their lights in green and grey (our wedding colours) from 2011 but now they do LED ones and after seeing their window display for Brighton Pride, I knew we needed a new set for the twins' room in rainbow colours.  When Ma asked what she could get the twins for Christmas this year, I knew just the thing!  

Christmas Jumper Round Up 2017 - Grown up edition

Christmas jumpers aren't just for the kiddies!  I LOVE getting my festive wear on all through December.

Links are included below pictures for your convenience, some of these are affiliate links.

For the ladies...

L-R: Sequin Star Jumper - £32, M&Co., Red Prosecco Jumper - £15, Matalan, Wake me up Jumper - £16, Asda

I love the sparkly stars from M&Co (who currently have 25% off and free delivery!) and that one can be worn all winter.  The others have sequins too because what's Christmas without some sparkle!?

And for the menfolk...

L-R: Penguin Jumper - £26, Next, Santa Jumper - £18, Matalan, Santa Beard - £30, Next

And for something a little different, why not get a personalised family sweatshirt from Ellie Ellie, a local Brighton based company?  I like this bauble design but they also have other options.

Personalised Bauble Sweatshirt - £39, Ellie Ellie

Obviously one of my absolute favourites is the Little Bird Fairisle Jumper from Mothercare because it comes in Mummy size too.  I like to occasionally match the twins to each other so for me to be able to join in too is fun and they love it!  I said before that this one is maternity but I find it fits fine as a baggy jumper (I bought XL) without the belly being too baggy as there's no ruching at the sides.  As it's Fairisle and not overly Christmas themed, it'll be great all winter too!

Santa at The Llama Park - review

Santa has arrived at The Llama Park in East Sussex and he is amazing, as he should be, because he's definitely the real deal, no Santa's helpers here.

We were invited along to Santa's Grotto at The Llama Park for the twins to meet Father Christmas himself on Sunday.  I wasn't sure how they'd take to him, having previously refused to even enter the same room, leaping into our arms and not even accepting presents from him (1-year-old Priya even threw her soft toy back at him on the train the first time they met him).  Luckily they seem to have gotten over it, a new understanding of presents may have something to do with it, they are now big fans!

As we entered Santa's Grotto, we found ourselves in a mystical forest with elves in the trees before we made our way into an igloo at the North Pole, surrounded by twinkling lights and with places to sit and draw.  By Santa's cabin, we were greeted by two friendly elves who invited the twins to write their Christmas wishes for Santa (we skipped that since they can't write yet), before we were taken in to meet the man himself.

Santa's cosy little cottage was beautifully decorated, he was surrounded by letters from children, his own little Christmas tree and decorations as well as his sacks of presents of course.

The twins were quite happy to stand and chat with him, cheerfully accepted their presents and said thank you.  Not so keen to stand next to him for a photo though but they did climb into his sleigh for a few pics afterwards.

They couldn't wait to open their presents!  Priya received a set of butterfly wings and Kalyan a dinosaur egg to hatch.  They also both received a book about Santa which we've been waiting for December to read to them, although Priya did take over in the grotto when K opened his!

I was really impressed with the grotto, it's so beautifully decorated and Santa is wonderful, he was great chatting with the kids and so patient with them, you can tell he loves children and enjoys talking with them.  The twins were so excited to go in and loved all the twinkling lights.  You can also see another one of my photos from Santa on this month's Uckfield Matters magazine out next week!

After we left the grotto we explored the Llama Park itself, finding Santa's reindeer, the play area with bouncy castle and playhouse as well as the shop and of course Llamas!

There are beautiful views across Ashdown Forest and some gorgeous Peruvian gifts in the shop, it's a lovely place to visit.

Family tickets for Santa's Grotto cost £38 for 2 adults and 2 children which includes entry to the Llama Park to see all the animals.

Santa is there every weekend from now until Christmas Eve and on weekdays from 11th December and you can call 01825 712 040 to reserve your Grotto visit and/or Christmas lunch.

We received free tickets to Santa's Grotto in return for this review.  As always, all reviews are our own honest opinion.