Preparations Davies style

 The advent reindeer has taken it's place in the dining room again, with each sack full of ideas for the day, ranging from making things such as paper snowflakes, or beeswax garlands, to more simpler things for those busy days such as hot chocolate with marshmallows.

We have put the Christmas tree up, with Alec playing jingle bells on the guitar, and Luke playing drums on anything he can hit!

 We had Gene Aubrey (I think) singing many winter-y/ Christmas songs to us whilst we decorated the house, and that prompted our dancer (aka Ethan to strut his stuff!)

 We had a Christmas angel!

 And Gimli was eyeing up the tree with great interest.

 Sophie insisted that we were not having a fairy at the top of the tree, but a dinosaur!  So Luke very kindly drew a dinosaur to adorn the tree.  You never know, it might have been a part of the Christmas story that was overlooked!!

 I love the way our Christmas tree has a history to it, with many homemade decorations on it.  Alec made this lego Father Christmas and sleigh the other day...

 ...a ping pong ball covered with papier mache and painted, ready for our first Christmas tree in our first house together 16 years ago...

 ...A pine cone the children decorated a few years ago, and a reindeer made by Ethan at Beavers last year...

 ...a terracotta Christmas tree made by Luke a few years ago...

 ...the Christmas fairy that Ethan made, which has been relegated to further down the tree (I love the vines that he has going up over her dress).

 Sophie also has her own Christmas tree in her room, complete with dinosaur atop!

We are trying to make this Christmas special, and different.  It will  different in many ways, and hard too, but for the sake of the children we are trying our very best.