Nollaig Chridheil Dhuibh!

We've been so busy with all our Christmas things I've hardly had time to post in the last week but just popped on to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas - Nollaig Chridheil Dhuibh (nolag chreeyal guyeev) xxx

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Weekend fun.

The weekend kicked off with a spot of dog sitting....

 

It also contained some Christmas biscuit making...

 

 

 

Playing at shops.....

 

Our Sunday school Christmas party...

 

 

 

Some reindeer hat making....

 

And a tale of two birthday cakes for my mum who is down visiting just now.

The first was made entirely by Calum (10) and was a dairy & wheat free chocolate cake, which we enjoyed after Sunday lunch....

 

...the second was a rather splendid looking triple tiered chocolate cake made by my sister in law, which we enjoyed after Sunday supper!

 

You can never have too much chocolate cake in your weekend!

 

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How hard can it be.....

....to get a photo of the boys all together for our Christmas card?

The first few were too dark...

...and Ally was in a silly mood

...which was a bit contagious....

When I got the lighting right, Ally wasn't for sitting still....

...and then nor would anyone else...

..and then everyone got really silly!

Still, out of all of these fun shots I did get one that was not too dark, too fuzzy or too silly!

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Caring Christmas Trees

That's right, Christmas Trees that care.

 Well, sort of. 

It's more that you buying them shows that you are caring.

The homeless charity that my husband works for run their Caring Christmas trees project every year. All of the profits from every tree sold goes to help the homeless. The trees cost no more than you would pay in a garden centre for a fresh, sustainable tree and you get the warm glow of knowing you have done at least a little bit to help out this winter. You can read all about Caring Christmas trees here.

On Saturday David (7) went with daddy to pick out the tree. He took his responsibility seriously and is really proud of the tree he has chosen.

When we heard the car return, Alasdair (3) went running to the door full of excitement to see the tree.

(That's a perfect circle of ice that David found somewhere, sitting beside the tree. Last week's snowfall turned to solid ice by the weekend!)

We left the tree to dry off a bit and settle into position and Alasdair decided to get his tools out and measure it! 

In the evening we got the box of decorations down from the attic and each of the boys was excited to rediscover what was inside.

They each hung their own special ornaments as they do every year.

I love the cosy glow once the tree and the rest of the decorations are up.

I don't like taking tree close up photos with the flash on, but I had to take this one just to show you how lush and green the tree is!

Looking at our tree, with all of it's special ornaments, reminds me of how blessed we are. Knowing the charity behind the trees and the people they are trying to help makes me feel doubly so. It's important for the boys to know that too and to realise how fortunate we are.

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Gaelic Choir & Christmas Lights

Every year the Gaelic school choir are invited by the community council to sing at the switch-on of the Christmas tree lights near the school.

It's always lovely to go along to and really kicks off the Christmas celebrations.

So, last night they all wrapped up warm, and boy did they need to wrap up - it was freeeezzzing - and performed their little medley of Gaelic Christmas songs.

What you can't see in the clip below is how cold it was, although a few children jumping to try and stay warm kind of gives it away, and that it was snowing too.

Despite the temperatures they still sang very sweetly!

At the start of the second song their singing teacher invited the younger brothers and sisters who were watching to join in too, so David stood rather proudly at the front! 

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Weekend fun.

On Saturday afternoon the Gaelic school choir were singing at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh as part of an event called Scotland Sings. The choir was part of a larger choir made up of another three local adult Gaelic choirs.

While we waited for the choir to finish their final rehearsal we had time to have a very quick look at the animal hall of the museum.

 

 

 

 

After our quick look at the animals we had time for a quick cup of tea in the cafe before going back to the main auditorium to listen to the choir. The school choir is made up of pupils from primary 5 to primary 7 so Calum is our only boy in it (4th from the left, front row)

They sang beautifully and weren't distracted by the fact that a lot of the museum life was continuing around them, so there was a fair amount of background noise.

Before heading home we visited another part of the ground floor, with exhibits ranging from the 1600s...

 

....to slightly more recently!

 

And on our way to the train home we passed a very cool shop where my husband bought himself a great new mug!

 

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