My Christmas 2016

It feels strange blogging about Christmas now we're almost a week in to January and the last of the decorations have been packed away for another year, but I am strange (and lagging behind), so let's do this.

How was your Christmas?

I had a lovely, albeit very quiet Christmas at home with my parents, younger sister, Sarah, and our dog, Rosie. Marie and Steve, my other sister and brother-in-law, were away visiting his family in Scotland this Christmas, so it was just the four of us on the day. We don't live near most of our relatives, so we usually spend Christmas Day with just our immediate family, and visit our extended family before or after the day itself, and that works for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it would be lovely to have a house full of people on Christmas Day, but I actually enjoy having a quiet, low-key Christmas at home with my family. It's great to be able to finally chill out after a busy month, open presents in our PJs, dress up as much or as little as we feel like without judgement, eat waaay too much food, watch festive TV, play board games if we feel like it and not be forced to play games like charades, spend time together as a family, and even spend a little time apart later in the day if we've driven each other mad and need some space to recharge. We just keep things casual, and spend it in a way that's right for us. And as you'll see, this Christmas was no different...

I awoke at 8am on Christmas morning and we were all up and exchanging gifts by 8:30am. We vowed to cut back on presents this year, but somehow I still got spoiled rotten with lovely gifts. I'll be blogging about what I got for Christmas properly in a few days time, but for now, here's a sneak peek of some of the prezzies my family gave me.

Presents from my parents.

Presents from Sarah. I love the Paperchase brussel sprouts paper!

Some of the presents I received on Christmas Day.

Presents I received from Marie and Steve a few days later.

We popped Rosie in her crate while we opened presents because the little monster would have opened them all for us, and she looked so confused by what was going on, and a little wary, too, at first. That was until I let her open her own presents- yes, I wrapped up presents for my dog; I'm a crazy lady- and after that she was so happy and excited she barely stopped smiling all day. She had fun tearing open the paper, liberating her new toys, playing with the packaging, and enjoying her new toys and treats. It was so damn cute I think it was the highlight of my day! I even managed to dress her in a Christmas jumper, and put a couple of red bows in her hair, and she looked so adorable in her festive get-up that I kinda want to dress her up more often. And I'm not the biggest fan of dressing animals in clothes. She seemed to really enjoy her first Christmas, and I loved watching her experience it all for the first time. She looked like she was having the best day ever!

The next photo was taken just after she'd finished opening her presents- look how happy she was!

Her awesome Christmas jumper was from Boohoo (here), and she's wearing a size large, which was a little too big on her, but I'm sure she'll grow in to it by next Christmas.

We gained some of my Grandad's Christmas decorations this year after he moved in to a home. His tinsel candles are so retro, and I love it.

I spent the rest of the morning watching Santa Claus The Movie, putting up some more confetti balloons for my Mum as Christmas Day is also her birthday, throwing together some table favours, and setting the table for Christmas dinner. (Although I never got a photo of the finished table because I ran out of time, and had to go get dressed). We sat down for dinner early afternoon and ate waaaay too much delicious food. We had turkey with all the trimmings, and apple and blackberry trifle for dessert.

My Mum face-timed my sister while we were sat around the table, as she'd stuck photos of Marie and Steve to balloons on the empty chairs at the table for a laugh, and wanted to show her. The funniest part about it was that they were issued chairs, and my Mum ended up sitting on the uncomfortable Heineken tin stool that comes out when we're short on chairs! It was funnier than it sounds. I guess you had to be there.

After dinner, we had a lazy afternoon watching Christmas TV, playing with Rosie, and enjoying a few nibbles. I didn't have the pain tolerance for much else, and had to crawl back in to bed at 5pm when I'd reached my limit. I got back in my PJs, and spent the evening watching TV, cross stitching, napping, and eating turkey sandwiches. I'm so rock 'n' roll!

It was a quiet Christmas and probably sounds boring to most peoples standards, but I still had a lovely day, and enjoyed spending time with my family and my dog, spoiling them with presents, and indulging in some tasty food. The basis of a good Christmas, if you ask me!

I didn't actually manage to take many photos this year because it was raining and so dark and dreary all day, so sorry for the lack of decent pics, My camera doesn't work well on overcast days; it only wants to cooperate when the sun is shining; kind of like me. I need to get myself a better camera this year and polish my photography skills.

I'll be blogging about what I got for Christmas, and the Christmas cross stitches I made in December over the next few days, and then I should be ready to take on the new year, and finally get back to normality.

How did you spend your Christmas?