So, the last time I wrote, we were embarking upon the overwhelming task
of moving house but I am pleased to report that the move went smoothly and we
all settled into our new surroundings quickly.
The first few weeks in our new house were busy. It felt like we'd just moved in but we were hardly home, rushing from one event to the next. With the end-of-semester sports matches, Christmas events at school, celebrating Eli's birthday, ZOE events and seeing friends.
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| 10-year-old birthday girl selfie! |
Suddenly, the realisation that we'd moved from a house with all built in storage to one without soon became noticeable. The absence of
having drawers and enough storage for our clothes became more and more chaotic
as the days passed, “I can’t find my PE uniform” “Where’s all the socks?” “I
don’t know where anything is!!”
Eventually we were able to get the furniture that we needed and now most
things have a home… what a difference that makes!!
The most puzzling thing for me though was that once everything was
sorted and put away (from being in piles and thrown across our bed) was that I
was left with … 21 odd socks!
C’mon, a few odd socks I would expect, but TWENTY-ONE!!!! That’s just
ridiculous. How do twenty-one socks lose their partner?
“Life is too short to waste time
matching socks”
As Christmas time drew nearer, we realised how different it would be this year for our family. We had celebrated at the
The NEST a week before Christmas and at ZOE on Christmas Eve leaving
Christmas Day all to ourselves. It was
the first time in a long while that we had the whole day with just us five six (including Latte) and
we were all pretty excited!!
We created a menu based around our restrictions (no dairy, wheat, refined sugar)
and set about getting everything just right. I just love how our children are
able to help and be a part of it now. The day started with GF pancakes and eggnog.
During the week Spencer had created his own pin-board on Pinterest and
selected dairy free, sugar free ice-cream recipes to compliment the avocado
chocolate fudge brownies that I’d made earlier. Him and I made some Chunky Monkey ice-cream...
And the
older two kids made a delicious entrée of bacon-wrapped enoki mushrooms all by
themselves while Dave and I also worked on the roast vegetables, chicken and gravy. We
even enjoyed GF fruitcake and custard for afternoon tea… it ended up being
quite the feast!
“It felt great… like a new pair of
socks”
There were so many highlights throughout the day and just like their
father my three children were all heard commenting, “This was the BEST Christmas ever”. I guess you just can’t
beat genetics!
During the day we read the Christmas story from our Bibles, wrote
birthday cards to Jesus and prayed for the many people for whom Christmas Day
is not filled with love, presents,
family and togetherness. We each took
words that were opposites to how we felt and prayed for those people for whom
the day is difficult, lonely and painful.
We also got to chat with our precious families in Australia via Skype.
It was so lovely to hear their voices and see their faces.
“I miss you like the mismatching
sock I can’t find”
Our day even included some drama! We were excited to light the final
candle of Advent, but during lunch, when we were all chatting happily, one of
the pinecones on our advent wreath (in the middle of the table) caught fire.
Whoops! My red tablecloth and runner were ruined but thankfully everyone was
safe and the fire was easily contained!
We also watched the story of William Booth (founder of the Salvation Army). It was very thought provoking and a good reminder about why we "fight".
And of course there was also time during the day for opening presents… and,
yes, there was even a few new pairs of socks under the tree!
I’m hoping your Christmas was also joy-filled and memorable.
From our family to yours, odd socks and all… Merry Christmas!
“Happiness is discovering that all
socks came back in pairs when folding the laundry”.
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