Christmas

We went over to my little brothers for about midday and had a lovely afternoon.

The house was quite full.. my brother Thos, his wife Kt, 3 kids.. Kts brother, wife and 2 kids.. Kts brothers wifes dad. (work that one out lol) and of course the two of us.

I'm glad to say my brother has a big kitchen/diner with a lovely big table in it, so he managed to seat everyone together (apart from 3 kids who were on a kids table next to us).

It was a lovely meal of roast chicken for those that did.. with roast potatoes, parsnips, red cabbage, sprouts, stuffing, bread sauce, gravy and nut roast (mainly for me).

After the main course, we went through into the living room, and the mayhem of presents started!! It was fun to see the kids and adults all getting lovely gifts, although the thought that this one festival causes so much money to be spent on presents, and I think I may well just ask for Oxfam vouchers next year as I really dont need anything! Having said that.. Thos and kt gave me a school photo of their three kids. I was so pleased to get it - its a really lovely photo.

The other lovely thing I got today was some paua shell earrings from the parents - (fresh from New Zealand) they are little ovals of paua shell set in gold, and I will wear them quite a bit :-)

For me, the very best bit of the day came after everyone had settled down a bit, and Carlo (littlest nephew age 4) and his cousin Matilda (aka 'Tilda) (one of Kts brothers children) aged 3 came and snuggled up on me whilst I invented a story for them. I used to invent stories for Thos when he was little, then I did the same for Martha and Leo who are now 10, so it just came naturally to me to carry on with little Carlo. 'Tilda is a very sweet little girl, so it was lovely to tell her my invented story at the same time.

The sadness of never being a mother will never leave me, but when I get the opportunity to totally immerse myself into being with children I love, its the best feeling in the world :-) That really was the bestest present there could be.