This week has been all about Gary’s parents visiting. We are so grateful they purpose to visit us annually without hesitation. We all get on really well and they both make me feel like they have gained a daughter rather than lost a son. It is said that Tom only teases those he likes. I believe he must like me very much if the extent of him teasing me is anything to go by. I am the butt of most of the jokes which I (secretely) love (but shhhh don’t tell Tom!):
The photo of Tom falling onto the stairs with a big grin on his face is due to me telling him I thought he was right! Truthfully, I give as good as I get and he was so bowled over he was right and there fore I was wrong that his knees colapsed under him. Much the same thing happened when I , in passing, mentioned to Heather (Gary’s mum) that I thought I maybe had a few too many books. She too had to sit down and recover. That was one admission she did not expect to hear come out of my mouth!
It is always lovely to see them, but it was especially so this time because we put Tom (Gary’s dad) to work! He and Gary built our little ones a bedroom at the end of last week and finished it off at the beginning of this one. You can read all about it here but here’s a photo:
It was a fantastic opportunity for the little ones to help Daddy and Grandad:
You remember T13 received a bike for his birthday? It was second-hand and needed a bit of work done to it such as breaks and gears and a seat put on. Gary asked a very mechanically minded friend of his (who incidentally has made his own gorgeous wooden guitar from scratch!) for help. This friend stripped the bike back to its bare skeleton, Gary washed and polished it and then the bike was put back together again. Or was it? We got a frantic call from our friend to say that whilst he had been tidying up he had found a nut and bolt which belonged somewhere on T’s bike! T had just gone out for a ride and, although thankful on his return that he had not been hurt, we had to giggle when he arrived back with a pedal in hand looking slightly bemused! The nut and bolt did in deed hold the pedal fast to the bike and it is now safely where it should be.
T has thoroughly enjoyed his bike, choosing to cycle everyday for exercise. It is a muddy business and I can see my washing pile increasing in the very near future:
As we rarely get an opportunity to celebrate Christmas with Tom and Heather, I thought it might be nice to have an impromptu Christmas dinner. I served a bird inside a bird inside a bird, sausages with bacon wrapped round them, parsnips, roasties, stuffing, and lots of veg:
We all had so much fun chattering around the table:
I had included some left over crackers kindly donated by my mum. It is a family tradition going back years on my side of the family to all pull crackers together in a big ring:
Following was much commotion about gifts, hats and joke telling:
Once all the hats were placed on heads, jokes were told and the chocolate had been distributed (not very) fairly, we handed out the flutes which came with the crackers. Each flute, ranging from long to short, had a number on their base. We had numbered stick it notes and a Christmas song sheet with the songs played as letters rather than notes. Oh my, it was funny! We were atrocious:
I think only Heather guessed a song or two correctly! It was enormous fun though.
Just as a reminder to my English readers. I wrote yesterday about a book giveaway which will be ongoing until I have the room to build a door to our bedroom. Right now it’s looking impossible:
Yes, where those book shelves are is where we want to create a doorway to our bedroom. I will be going through all our books and starting on Monday will be giving one book away for free each week day until I have got rid of enough to build me a door!
All you need to do is check the Book page at the top of my blog each day, if it is a book you would like email me. It will be on a first come first served basis and I will let you know if you have been successful or not as soon as I am able. For more details see this post or email me or leave a message below and I shall endeavour to get back to you as soon as I can.
I hope everyone enjoys the weekend ahead with lots of lovely time with friends and family.
Linking up to Weirdunsocialised Homeschoolers, Homegrown Learners and Living and Learning with our New Normal