Christmas.

Needless to say, it's been a busy day.  But here are some of the highlights...
We kicked things off at about seven, with the boy getting up to see if anything had arrived by overnight reindeer.  This was perhaps a little early for some of our houseguests, but they played along!  Sure enough, the stocking had landed.  We did his presents, and one of ours each before breakfast.  We hit church at half ten (well, ish...) and were treated to a tableau.  We went to the village church today, as it's a little more convenient than driving into Burton, and possibly more what Anna's family is used to.
Then it was home for lunch.  We have the advantage of two kitchens (one industrial), which made cooking large amounts of food much easier.
I dug a couple more parsnips this morning.  Two of them were intertwined, thus:

 Once peeled and trimmed, they looked almost architectural. 

What's more, they doubled very nicely as a fine piece of headgear.

We had an amazing lunch.  Turkey and ham, spuds, parsnips (honey roasted, freshly dug, that is!), red cabbage, sprouts (yuck), carrots, pigs in blankets, great stuffing, various other 'trimmings'.  All in all a great deal of meal!

Joshua's spent a fair amount of the day riding around the house on his new bike.  This has been great fun (he put his helmet on after his first fall!) and he's loved it.  He's also enjoyed all the other things he received today, and they've all had a decent amount of play time!

I've had some really fab presents today, including an all-singing-all-dancing meat thermometer/timer/general kitchen tool from Anna, which was used a lot today!

Really grateful for lovely family to share the day with, and looking forward to seeing my side of the family as they descend over the next few days.

Tonight, Joshua and I talked about why Jesus came to earth.  He told me that Jesus came because there were some bad people, who were doing what God didn't want them to do.  I filled in the gaps and we got there pretty quickly.  A distinct improvement on last night's conversation, which went

Me:  What's the nicest present that God gave us at Christmas?

Joshua:  Uh, Buzz, Buzz Lightyear?

Oh dear :)

But seriously, what an amazing gift He did give.  I think of the explosions of angelic choirs heralding His arrival, and the sheer enormity of His coming to earth, but tinged with the knowledge of the Father about the destiny of His Son, for the sake of His children.  I think back to just before Christmas four years ago, looking at the very real possibility that we might lose Joshua, and I just can't fully grasp how God made the sacrifice He did.  He must love us a great deal indeed.

Dig it.

  So, here's what happens when you've planted some lovely parsnip seeds way back in who-knows-which-month, and you think to yourself, "I know, I'll leave them in the ground until we need them.  Because they do fine just left in the ground.  In fact, the consensus is that these things actually taste nicer (sweeter) if they've been subjected to the odd frost."

So, the odd frost comes and goes.  Then, all of a sudden, you're in the middle of a 'cold snap', which includes temperatures below -10C.  And it's almost Christmas, and you desperately want to get some parsnips on that table that haven't come from Tesco.  And so you have to dig.  

 But, looking on the bright side, I've learnt a few things from this.  First of all, there's the fact that it may be worth taking the parsnips out when the ground isn't frozen solid.  Secondly, there's the knowledge that it is actually perfectly possible (and, to be honest, slightly easier than I had first feared) to take parsnips out of the ground using a pick axe.  Thirdly, (and this was more of a reminder than a new gem of knowledge, having spend my youth doing cross country runs in the snow in the foothills of the Himalayas) there's the fact that it is quite easy to work up a sweat, even in sub-zero temperatures.

 And here's the end result.  We'll probably take another row up (this is less than half a row really) before Christmas, so that we can have really freshly harvested parsnips on our Christmas table.


In other related news, we were given an awesome present today.  Some friends of ours gave 'us' a gift of seeds and tools that, through Oxfam, they had sent to a family in need (probably in Haiti).  Given how much they know I love doing stuff in the garden, I thought it was a fantastic present.  I'm hoping that the Haitians don't have the same problems with their parsnips though!

Birthday Boy.

That's what I called this post last year, and it seems apt, so I'll stick with it.
Four years on. Every now and again, I try to think what I was doing four years ago. I have to say, it's got less pleasant as the day's gone on, but the outcome was ok :) Still can't believe it's four years. (I know, a bunch of you say the same, but with bigger numbers!)
We had a party today, which was more low-key than last years mammoth. No inflatable ball pool for starters! We did, however, have a cake. This time it was Rex, and I've written all about it on the other blog, so won't go through it all again.
There were no friends from nursery this time (he's increasing his time at school, so nursery will be finished at Easter). One from church, a couple from (his) school and a bunch from (our) school.
Anna did loads of amazing stuff for it - craft table, biscuit decoration, huge spread of food, pin-the-tail on the very old donkey, pass the parcel. Everything to make the perfect party.
Once again, we failed in the 'blowing out the candles' shot. We have a before shot, an after shot, but no 'during' shot. Oh well. Maybe next time.
Today I've been more conscious than I think I was last year of the blessing of having him at all. After the horrendous first few days, it seems all the more precious to have time with him, and to celebrate birthdays and other big events. He's amazing, and such a gift. Thanks God for giving him to us, Anna for having him, God again for keeping him with us, and Joshua for being him! Love you all.

Oops.

Done it again. Posted elsewhere when I meant to post here...
Oh well, check it out anyway!