Christmas

Our morning began at 6:30 with T knocking on our bedroom door. She went in and got Jimmy and they both oohed and ahhed over the presents next to the tree, wrapped in fabric or recycled Xmas wrap and placed on Jimmy's new Lego table that his daddy made for him the other day as a last-minute gift.

Unwrapping followed very soon after. T had to do most (well, all) of her brother's unwrapping since he was more interested in bits of cardboard. T got a handmade hat, 2 sewing patterns, 4 Lego sets (her dad sneakily bought 2 more just before Xmas), a game for her DS, a 'bling' kit for her DS, a top and a pair of denim shorts. Jimmy got a handmade hat and matching shorts, a book (Hello Baby), 2 Duplo sets, a blow-up paddling pool, and the piece de la resistance, the lego table.
I got a fantastic Donna Hay cookbook, a chain with a locket, and a subscription to Ottobre magazine (which I bought myself). DH got a bottle of Eternity and a Star Wars lego set.

DH went into the kitchen and started making funny noises. Upon entering the kitchen, I was greeted by the sight of a very large number of ants crawling all over, in, through, and under the 3 meringues I had spent hours baking the previous day. Arghhhhhh! So instead of finishing off my croquembouche wreath like I'd planned, I had to remake the bloody meringue discs. I was very annoyed because I like cooking on my own equipment, and I knew that the toffee would be bloody hard, especially on my MIL's temperamental cooktop.

Meringues made, we headed off to the IL's. The kids jumped into Granddad's present and we wheeled it to the front door- he loved it!

Opened more presents. Jimmy got a wooden helicopter ('cotter') and a wooden car track with two cute cars. T got a fantastic sewing basket that her Gran lined and filled with all manner of things crafty.
I got a dress and a 3CD compilation of lady jazz singers. DH got Lego Indiana Jones 2 for his Xbox.

After presents, Jimmy went down for a nap and I got my ass into the kitchen. Toffee, take 1: I put in the exact amounts of sugar and water stated on the recipe, and after heating it for 25 minutes (it said 8 mintutes) it still hadn't changed colour or thickened AT ALL. Take 2: DH had a go. His got a little thicker but it wasn't toffee-coloured but clear. Oh well. They still looked pretty good, and the creme pattissiere inside the puffs was to die for. Then I assemble my raspberry dacquoise and it looked super sweet.

My family arrived around midday. More presents. Jimmy got really cute Hawaiian print boardies and a set of mini books from Nan, and a big bag of Mega Bloks from Auntie. T got a dress and jewellery bag from Nan and a Hannah Montana boogie board from Auntie- wasn't she stoked with that!

We had some nibblies and finally sat down to lunch at 2:30. We had duck, ham and turkey, apple & potato bake, and steamed vegies in an Asian dressing. Yummo! My desserts were a hit.

Jimmy entertained everyone by running around like a madman (as he does). We left around 4pm to take T to her mum's house, where she received about 3 times the amount of presents that she had already gotten. A Nintendo DSi (why she needs one when she already has a DS, I don't know), an Ipod Touch, 5 DS games, 5 pairs of shoes, and the list goes on and on. DH, Jimmy and I went home then had a swim. All in all it was a great day.