Merry Jumping Tipismas!

Christmas morning started at 8am.
Ms.Fab let us sleep in a bit, even though she woke up at about 5am.

Then the fun began.

I dont know if you remember from last year, but we dont wrap presents anymore. Instead we have a sack we use to bring out the gifts to each other. We run around and play Santa. Its half the fun. On top of that we get to stick our heads in it and dig presents out.

Exhibit 1:

The fooffy skirts I mentioned in my late night update were a hit.  I thought Little B will have more fun with it, but I was wrong. Her sister definitely got most out of it. I think they ended up being a bit “itchy”, so next time I have to think of something to line them up. They did look fun.

The Baklava couldnt care any less about the festivities. He found himself something to do while we were being silly. For example, he decided to reorganize the DVD drawer.

This is what you are supposed to do when you receive a present, in this case a book.

Exhibit 2:

The Baklava sneaked in and got one of my chocolate presents. All alone in the dark corner of the room, he pushed, pulled, tore and got to the bit that was of interest to him. The other kids kept on wanting from me to “share”. It was a good thing to do, they kept on convincing me. I am still not convinced.

The kids had piles…piles of handmade gifts for us.

Like little Snake guys:

String Tick Tack Toe:

(my personal favorite)

Japanese faced balloons with little pieces inside to make sounds, for little brother.

My  bone, Flintstones necklace.
I wore it all day.

And so on and so on.

They were wonderful. I cant wait to see what they will come up with next year.
The creativity factor is reaching quite pleasing levels.

We revealed the big present from Mom and Dad. The tipi.
Please note the decorations, hand drawn, hand cut, hand ironed personally by Mr.Blab.

The rest is yours truly.

We are quite chuffed about it.

So we left the girls with the gifts. Mr.Blab cuddled Baklava for a sleep and I went to make some lunch.

This is a beautiful little candle from a dear friend of mine:

Tradition has it that we enjoy a big stack of crepes for Christmas morning.

So that is what I did. A bit stack of crepes that took me over an hour to make.

First some savory ones – cheese, parsley and capsicum.

Exhibit 3:

Then free selection – jams, honey…

…cherries, vanilla ice cream and dark chocolate sauce.

Need I mention that it was yummmo. I distinctly remember the kids licking plates.

Then more playing.

The tipi and the cardboard house were center of attention.

See the clothes line? ;)

There was a moment of a break to eat the frozen melon slushy we made yesterday.

And more playing.

I wish I could say the day was mellow and relaxing. But it wasnt. It was nuts. It was crazy and fun and loud and messy.
It was hot and sweaty.

I especially loved the moment when I was laying on the grass with a full colander of freshly washed cherries and chatting with the girls. This was mellow.

Not much else was. Oh, maybe the times when the flaps of the tipi were closed with all the kids inside. Maybe that was mellow too. But I dont remember, my brain is tired.

Remember the skirts?

This one?

Exhibit 4:

Late in the afternoon we had some fun with them.

From time to time we have these crazy series of shots. I usually suggest something and we end up having heaps of fun with it. This was no exception. Enjoy exhibit 5:

Mr.Blab couldnt stand not being included and barged in a few times.

Clumsy, dude. Clumsy. Where is your skirt anyway?

Learn from the professional:

We finished the day with a bowl of popcorn and “Ponyo” the new movie from Hayao Miyazaki – we love his work.

Phew!

Its quiet now. The troops are all down and the night is cool and fresh.

Happy Holidays! I send you my most bestest wonderfulest amazing..est wishes for a new year.

Last exhibit: Hugs.