How to survive the post-holiday slump

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Hello to all my wonderful readers, you may have noticed I fell off the radar again this month. Once I finally got over all of my various illnesses, (except for the conjunctivitis Miss K so kindly shared with me two weeks ago) I discovered the silly season was well and truly upon us, and I needed to get my ample bottom into gear to get ready for the celebrations. I'm sure you'll all appreciate how crazy things get around this time of year, so even if I did attempt to write anything, it would have come out as a crazed stream of consciousness, complete with rambles about tinsel and presents for a family of 15. But now with the endless stream of parties and gift giving ceremonies almost behind us for another year, I sit here eating what's left of the plum pudding in an empty room, wondering to myself now what?

We hosted Christmas at my house this year, and in a stroke of what I can only call pure insanity, mum decided the party needed to be beach themed this year. So I spent a crazed week crawling through Pinterest trying to find beach themed decor I could do on a budget of free hugs and my most charming smile, and managed to cobble together a beach themed party that even a mermaid couldn't fault. Then our annual Boxing Day party got moved from my big sister's house to our house at the last minute due to inclement weather, and the fact that we have a larger living space to accommodate all of the slightly larger bodies thanks to the feast we put out the day before, so we ended up having two parties in two days at our house. On top of that I spent three hours building a kitchen for Miss K at 9pm Christmas Eve, went shopping every single day for a week for more Christmas essentials, and also cleaned the house so that we weren't shamed by the fact that for 364 days of the year we live like someone from an episode of Hoarders, Buried Alive. So sitting here now, with nothing to do is kind of hard to do. Add to that the fact that Miss K has now gone to Melbourne for a week to have Christmas with her father and his family, and I am as lost as a one legged man in a butt kicking contest. So I have decided to share with you some of the techniques I have learned over the years to get over the post-holiday blues that always hit at this time of year, to help you guys achieve the balanced calm I so clearly show on a daily basis.

Me on a good day

Go shopping

Now that gift giving season is over, you really have no reason to go shopping, but that is exactly why you should get out now, more than ever. Beside getting to take advantage of the opportunity to return any practical gifts that well meaning long distance relatives bought you at the last minute so they didn't show up at your house empty handed, you can witness human beings at their absolute worst, thus making you appreciate your empty house and it's lack of festive feelings all the more. The long line of customers all coming to complain about the over priced child's toy that broke five minutes after being removed from it's packaging only makes you love your own family all the more, because they aren't that obnoxious man at the front of the line loudly proclaiming that this is the last time he shops at this particular store. 

Clean up your house

You've just spent the last month complaining that if you stepped on another bauble the whole tree was going into the bin, so now is the time to make good on your promise. Pull down the tinsel, drag every strand of angel hair out of your carpet, and throw all of it in the bin (or into storage if you can't stand the thought of having to replace it all again in ten months time). The sight of you going into a cleaning craze will send your children running outside just in case you get the bright idea to give them any jobs to do of their own, so now is the perfect time to "lose" any of the irritating noise makers or cheap plastic toys they were given by the same well meaning relatives who thought a life time supply of micro fibre cloths was the perfect gift for you at the same time. This is also a good time to search for any stashes of chocolates the kids have hiding in their rooms, and add them to your own stash of chocolate hidden in your bedroom. You need the sugar more than they do, as you're the one who spends your life chasing after them trying to get them to act like civilized human beings. 

Put on some tunes and dance alone in your living room

Just because the party season is over, doesn't mean you need to pack away your best moves for another year. The lack of audience apart from your children is irrelevant, as you can always embarrass them, no matter the time of year, so get your boogie on and keep the party going as long as you want it to. If you didn't get to do the Nutbush this year because you got vetoed at the last second by someone wanting to do the Whip Nae Nae (whatever the hell that is) then put that song on repeat and Nutbush until you can't move any more. You deserve it after all the hard work you've put into these holidays.

Eat all the party food in the house

If you were too busy to eat during Christmas because you were hosting the party, now is the time to get yourself a big plate of whatever is left over and eat it in front of every one. Diets are for the first day of January anyway. I personally like to buy two plum puddings, simply because I am a horrible pig who doesn't like to share my food, so I always have enough pudding to last me several weeks once all the parties are done with. I don't need to buy any breakfast or lunch foods for ages now because I spent an extra $4 a week ago. That's not only smart, it's economical. 

Start getting ready for the next big celebration now

If you've been bitten by the party bug but Valentines Day is too far away from you, get on Google now and find another holiday closer to today you can prepare for. For Australians, Australia Day is always a good one, as it falls on 26th January, meaning there is plenty of time still left to start preparing our barbeques and best Australian Flag decorated party supplies for the big day. For something even closer again, check out Earth Calendar which tells you exactly what you can celebrate every single day of the year. For example today is St Stephens day in Bulgaria. So if that is enough reason for you to party, get out your best duds and celebrate St Stephen as only you can. 

Sleep

If all else fails, get into your pyjamas and go back to bed. 

Well that should be enough to get you through the next few days, so if you'll excuse me, it is currently the Stanley Sports Day in the Falkland Islands so I'm off to hit a tennis ball against a wall to honor this special day. 

It's beginning to look like a last minute rush

So is anyone else in denial that we only have two more sleeps until Christmas? My to-do list is slowly shrinking, but I still haven't wrapped a single present, and mum and I only just finishing decorating the lounge room this afternoon.

It's not Christmas at our house without some tinsel bunting

Miss K's contribution to the decorating is not touching this table

So this is technically an unfinished wall because we'll be stringing up some tinsel to make the baubles look like they're hanging on the wall, but you get the idea.

And I finally got a picture of the finished Christmas tree, it has had some rearranging done over the past few weeks as Miss K can't resist touching everything, so most days I find several ornaments sitting on the floor that need rescuing. 

Ladies and gentlemen, we give you Santa vomit.

If you look very closely, you'll see a large white rectangle close to the bottom of the tree, that is actually an ornament that Miss K made with Grandma several days ago. She was so proud of it, and we have to show it to everyone when they first enter the house. Luckily we don't get a lot of new visitors around here otherwise I would get very tired of talking about it. Needless to say this will be saved and kept as a reminder of a time that is passing all too quickly.

In our house, no Christmas is complete until the toys come out. For the past few years mum has been collecting all kinds of irritating singing Christmas themed toys and Nutcrackers. Every year they take their place next to the tree to stand guard against potential thieves, and Miss K loves to spend her days racing the toys, or turning them all on at once and making them perform riff-offs. It's a guaranteed headache creator every time, but it keeps her entertained for so long I have learned to tune it all out.

We're doing all we can to keep the battery industry alive in Australia

Now we were very saddened this year to discover that apparently Nutcrackers have become uncool again. For several years the stores have been well stocked with these gorgeous toys, and mum always managed to find at least one that she felt needed to be added to the collection. Now we have to wait for the next time someone remembers these relics and decides to make them cool again to add further friends to our collection.

Won't someone think of the Nutcrackers???

Now yesterday I harnessed my inner handyman and built myself a marquee. Not from scratch of course, I'm not that good. But given that a lot of Miss K's toys are intended for outdoor use, I wanted somewhere safe and shaded for her to be able to play, even in the hottest days of summer, and given that my only experience in building has been flat pack furniture, I am pretty pleased with my efforts. Of course I built the marquee where our old pergola used to be, and the structure that was the roof is still in place. And yesterday I was surprised to find that it is less than 2.5 metres tall, as the marquee couldn't be erected to even it's shortest extension underneath it. Oops. But even crouching on the ground as it was yesterday, it was tall enough to fit Miss K and an inflatable pool underneath it, so we spent our afternoon having a swim.

I of course have to kneel to fit underneath it, but since it's not for me, that didn't really matter.

Luckily for us Nat was over this morning, so she helped me to move it, raise it up and tether it down with the tent pegs and rope provided. I am now very ashamed of our abilities to tie ropes and secure flimsy buildings, but luckily for me, I have a dad who is an absolute pro at putting up tents and tying ropes, so I'll get him in after Christmas to secure that sucker properly so it doesn't pull a Wizard of Oz on us and fly away to the Emerald City.

And of course what Christmas would be complete without a gingerbread house? My big sister bought a kit for her and my niece and nephew to put together and decorate, and she was kind enough to invite Miss K and myself to participate. Sadly I didn't get any good pictures of Miss K decorating the building, but the finished product is pretty impressive.

If you look closely enough, you can even see the "snowman" in the front that I got to decorate. Yay!

And I finally got a picture better than Miss K sitting on Santa's knee, and that's Miss K dressed as Santa. Now I have to add that this was actually her idea, but it wasn't her idea to pose for photos, which is why she has been stood on a table, in order to slow her down long enough to get a decent photo.

HO HO HO!!!

But of course chasing her around with a singing reindeer always gets good results too...

Well I've shared all of my new photos with you, and managed to put off getting anything productive done for yet another evening, so my work here is done. Tomorrow is now going to be a mad dash to get absolutely everything done before the clock strikes Christmas, but I shall try my hardest to check in with you guys before all of the celebrations have started (or finished).

So until next time, stay awesome my wonderful readers and I hope none of you are as poorly prepared for the next few days as I am. Of course if you are, you could always share this with me, the comments box is always open, and I'd love some confirmation I'm not alone in my lack of organisation skills. 

Miss K's first Christmas

Hello again my lovely readers, I'm back again for more bloggy goodness. I have decided that given that most of you weren't around to view Miss K's first Christmas (given that this blog was still 2 months away last December) that I would share the fun with you guys today. Now I am ashamed to say that if it wasn't for the dozens upon dozens of photos I took in December of last year, I would remember very little of Miss K's very first Christmas. In my defence I was still wearing my mum training wheels at the time, so a lot of those months are just a blur. Luckily for me (and all of you) I was a lot better at taking photos last year as there were so many amazing things I saw that just had to be captured as Miss K rolled over for the first time, sat on her own finally, smiled for the first time and all the other wonderful memories that babies create.

So of course the lead up to Christmas saw a lot of first; Miss K seeing a Christmas tree for the first time

I think she's applauding it, but I can't be certain.

And of course decorated the Christmas tree for the first time. I do remember her being a lot more co-operative last year.

And of course on the big day she got to discover the joy that is ripping wrapping paper to shreds

And thanks to her many aunts and uncles (and Grandma of course) she was spoilt absolutely rotten too.

This is just the presents she got first thing in the morning before all the aunts and uncles descended on the house. The little walker down the bottom right most of you should recognise as the awesome toy that helped her to gain the confidence to finally walk earlier this year. The Elmo plane was Grandma's present, and both the babies of the family got one, and that white dress on the couch was a hand made gift from my wonderful aunty. Amazingly enough Miss K still fits in the dress 12 months later, but not for much longer I think.

Everyone loves a good button to push.

And of course what Christmas is complete without a heap of animated toys that sing Christmas carols to play with?

This little fellow is so well loved by all the kids in our family.

I don't know if she's wrestling with him or hugging him...

The one memory from Christmas that is still as clear as day is the fact that I ended up rushing Miss K to the emergency room 2 days before Christmas with a 39 degree fever, and ended up spending 4 hours waiting to see a doctor who put her on steroids and antiemetics, both of which are incredibly dangerous for babies to be taking. Of course her illness meant that her nose dripped more than our kitchen tap over the whole of Christmas, meaning I have had to Photoshop out a lot of unsightly boogers from our Christmas photos. 

While the little things may be a blur now, I know that our Christmas last year was a lot of fun, and full of laughter and love, and my whole family being there to help celebrate. And I know I've probably said this before, but the real reason for me to celebrate this season is my family, and they are the ones that make this time of year a party, and something worth being around for. 

Well that's it for me, I'd love to hear from you guys, so here's a question, hopefully to put you people in the mood to chat finally. What makes Christmas special for you guys?? Do you have any traditions that you have to follow every year, and how do you celebrate this season?? 

Well until next time, stay awesome my wonderful guests, and remember that little box down the bottom of this page is always open so please drop me a line and share your Christmas with me.

Busy little blogger

I know I have left it too long once again between posts here. I watch all of these wonderful bloggers manage to post with amazing regularity and all I can do and sit here and wonder how do they manage to fit it in between feeding their kids, cleaning their houses and actually doing the projects that they blog about. I am lucky if I get dressed before lunch time lately, so such capability just leaves me in absolute awe.

So this blog is just a quick update of our weekend really, because the silly season is well and truly starting, and Miss K and I are starting to find our little calendar filling up for the next few weeks, and this weekend just passed was an excellent start to the party season. As predicted, the Christmas tree got a face lift and we now have a lounge room full of Santa vomit. (For a full explanation of that term, check out this blog post here)

Santa vomit in progress....

This is the point where I realise that I never actually got a photo of the finished product (oops) but if you've seen one Christmas tree you've seen them all really so you'll just have to take my word that it looks awesome. Of course my special little Christmas elf was right in the thick of things playing with everything she could get her hands on and having an absolute ball in the meantime. 

I had to rescue this plastic candy cane from her mouth several times during the day.

On Saturday afternoon we went to my little brother's house for his daughter's second birthday party. There were lots of kids there, as well as a jumping castle, several motorised cars and Donald Duck...

Yes that is my lovely daughter running away from a grown man dressed up as a duck. Trust me, if I didn't know it was my uncle underneath that mask I would have run too. Considering that it was about 30 degrees in the shade on Saturday afternoon that was not a very comfortable costume for my poor uncle to be wearing. Luckily the kids loved the surprise and even Miss K warmed up to him eventually

I swear that is not pure terror on her face...

I even got my photo taken with him, even though by the time he got to me he was so tired and over heated that he had started to wilt somewhat...

No he's not eating his hand, he's fixing his face...

Once the presents were opened and the cake had been cut my brother bought out my niece's wading pool, at which point I realised I had forgotten Miss K's bathers and towel. Well Miss K has never been one to let that stop her and decided to jump in the water fully clothed. 

Well that's one way to cool yourself down...

Of course her cousin seeing Miss K jump into the water fully clothed decided this was an awesome idea and jumped right in after her. So there was nothing left to do but strip both the girls off and let them both back into the water. Of course my niece isn't quite as physical in showing her excitement as Miss K is, and got several face-fulls of water thanks to Miss K's vigorous splashing. All the photos my sister got show my niece looking rather miserable, and she did spend a lot of time yelling at Miss K to stop. But all of us adults had a good laugh. When the girls started shivering we decided they'd had enough time in the water and it was time to go home and put Miss K to bed for a nap. 

After tea Miss K and I went to my big sister's house so she could test out taking photos of Miss K wrapped up in Christmas lights. While the project wasn't a complete success I think she managed to figure out how to do it properly next time. I hope to have another crack at it again soon, and hopefully I can have some decent photos to show you this time to make up for my own terrible attempts. 

As for Sunday, I decided that one exciting day was enough for this weekend, so we had a very quiet Sunday hanging around the house and watching Miss K try her hardest to destroy the Christmas tree.

Well that's it for now, I'll be back again soon I hope, providing that Miss K allows me to have some quiet time over the next few days. Stay awesome till then wonderful readers.

Miss K and the Christmas tree

Well I had hoped to come back over last night to update you guys on our Christmas tree, but after spending half an hour fluffing up fake branches, then another ten minutes trying to figure out how to anchor the tree to the wall (Miss K is too likely to pull the whole thing onto herself in five minutes flat if we let her) and another twenty minutes helping mum put the lights on the tree, I was all out of energy and motivation, so you guys had to wait.

Now it may surprise you (or it may not, I could be wrong) to discover that our Christmas tree this year is actually pretty bare. We rushed to get the lights on before Miss K went to bed, so we could show her really the most exciting part of a tree, but once we plugged them in and turned them on, we discovered that the effects of the lights on a bare white tree were so stunning, we have decided to leave the tree ornament free this year. (Whether or not this actually stays the case I'm not sure, mum tends to have a lot of changes of mind, so we could be back tomorrow covering the tree with every ornament we have to hand.) Normally we have what we call the Santa vomit effect, where every last square inch of tree is covered in ornaments and tinsel, till it looks like something that Santa would regurgitate after too many plates of cookies and glasses of milk. But for now I am loving the simplicity of our tree, as well as the added bonus that there is nothing small for Miss K to pull off and break or choke on.

Given that by the time we were finished last night, it was after 8 o'clock, it was pretty dark outside, but still too hot to pull our blinds down and block out the only source of cool air we have, so I actually got to test out one of the most popular Christmas themed photos at the moment...

(Source)

Now of course given that Miss K wasn't going to be wrapped in the lights (well not yet anyway) and I didn't have a proper source of natural lights, my picture was bound to come up a lot different to this one here, but it still makes me smile every time I look at it.

My big sister and I are planning to do the proper Christmas light photo at another time, but for now I'm happy with my efforts.

Well that's all for now, Miss K and her cousin are currently trying to swap sippy cups so I need to go and separate them yet again. I'll be back again soon with more Christmas fun.

Guess what we're doing tonight

Can you guess what's on my list for tonight??

That's right, we're decorating our Christmas tree tonight. (Or as we call it with Miss K our Santa tree because every time she looks at it she yells out "HO HO HO!!!")

So I've got our Michael Buble Christmas CD pumping and Miss K and I have been given the job of spreading out all the branches while mum runs down the street to buy some coloured Christmas lights because we only have white ones and we want different ones this  year.

I shall be back later on with photos of the finished product. 

And to explain why Miss K is doing her decorating wearing only a nappy, the barometer has spiked at 38 degrees here today, and barely dropped at all, despite the fact that the sun is as we speak on it's way out. So in the name of comfort Miss K has been stripped down to the bare minimum. Oh to be one again.