Our Winter Solstice

When my eldest was little I hated spending Christmas Day in the kitchen and missing him opening his presents and playing games. A roast dinner wasn't as important as spending the day with him. That's when I had the idea of having our dinner on the Solstice so I could enjoy spending Christmas Day with my boy. This has become the norm for us. Over the years the Solstice has come to mean a lot more to me. It is now my New Year too as it is the natural turning point of the year when the days start becoming longer.

Yesterday didn't turn out quite as I planned. The boys were ill and not wanting to do much. I wasn't as prepared as I wanted as I had been looking after the boys but we still had an AMAZING day!

Here are my crackers

Each cracker has a hat, crap joke, sweet necklace to make and a crystal animal. 

These are the crystals that went in the crackers. My eldest had the dog as he has the same attributes. Baby boy had the rabbit as he loves Peter Rabbit (he was also born in the Chinese year of the rabbit). My middle boy had the bear as he has always loved stories with bears in (he also shares many attributes with a grizzly haha) The little pig is mine. Make of that what you will! 

Nom Nom! Lamb and potatoes coming along nicely. 

My super chef! His first roast was phenomenal! He is now thinking of training as a chef (lucky me!) 

Poorly baby boy

Middle boy is lost without his buddy and playing quietly on his own. 

Dinner is served! 

Princess joins in the fun

 Pudding.. Love cheesecake! 

Making sweet necklaces - such concentration! 

Baby boy had no intention of playing with his sweets! 

Very proud with his necklace! Took him longer to make it than eat it. 

The thing that made it such a great day was spending the whole day with my kids. I thought I would miss having adult company but I didn't at all. I was glad that nobody turned up to be honest. I thoroughly enjoyed being at home with them. They are totally amazing and great to be with. 

I think the other thing that made a difference was putting everything on hold. I didnt worry about the state of the house, jobs I had to do or shopping I needed. I didnt aanswer the phone or the door, it was just us all day. Perfect.