Christmasy Things

Last Saturday night we were invited to a small gathering of people to celebrate the season with mince pies and mulled wine (not 'mold wine' as the boys thought).... a very British tradition.  Mulled wine is red wine mixed with various spices, served warm, and mince pies are small sweet pies with a spicy raisin and sultana filling.  Kids played games by the fire while the adults mingled.  It was a nice time talking with new people and doing things 'their way.'

  

Max's class at school was invited to be in the Christmas parade in Oxford.  This involved making lanterns out of willow branches.  The kids sat and 'worked' the willows very gently for quite a long time before they were ready to be made into heart shapes. After the willows were assembled and taped together, a thick tissue paper and glue and colors were slapped on to make a festive lantern.  

The streets were chock a block

Some lanterns were quite elaborate

He might deny it, but Max was very proud of his work

Each year our  family drives to the same cute little Christmas tree lot looking for the perfect tree that will make our christmas feel 'just right.'  This is always a together event and everyone has their say about what kind of tree they want.  We drink hot chocolate and warm our hands by the fire as the tree is being cut, wrapped and tied to the top of the van.  This year, in keeping with the theme of doing things differently, I hopped in the (very small) car with someone I barely know and went to pick out a tree at a hardware store while everyone else was at school because it was my only chance.  It was not a hard choice to make since all the trees were pre-wrapped.  I picked the family tree in record time and helped shove it into the (very small) car through the back of the trunk (which is called a 'boot'), past the baby and into the front seat.  The tree sat on the porch for a few days as Jeff was busy finishing up the term, giving me time to hunt down a saw to cut the end off with.  It wasn't until Sunday that we cut the wrapping off and drug it in the house to see what our 'mystery tree' looked like.  It turned out to be a beautiful tree.  We turned up the music and pulled out the decorations that my dear friends sent for my birthday.  What made the tree extra special was the popcorn and cranberries that the kids had been stringing together for a couple of weeks.   

Max didn't know that popcorn could even be popped this way!

Max was happy that his string of popcorn and cranberries was longer than him