Christmas approaches!

ITS NEARLY TIME FOR THE BIG DAY...
SANTA’S POLISHING UP HIS SLEIGH....
PRESENTS READY AND SHOPPING DONE....
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Hello again and I hope you are all prepared and excited for Christmas!

As it’s a special week I have a guest blogger for one week only to tell you in his own words what Christmas is all about. It’s the one the only SAM TAYLOR (aged 10)....

“Hi people, I think Christmas is all about........... XMAS DINNER of course! it’s amazing especially when it’s from Iceland!!!! :D I would like to receive... Well, get enough Christmas money for an Xbox 360 Elite. Anyway when it’s the amazing day, we are having our whole family round. It’s going to be the best Christmas ever!!!! I have made a board game for Christmas called Christmas Delivery and it’s a bit like monopoly. Hopefully my mum will put a picture of it on the Iceland website. I’m also feeling ecstatic because it is my first ever in my own house - all thanks to Iceland!!!!!“

By
Sam Taylor :D

OK it’s back to me now. An Xbox? He’ll be lucky! I do have something in store for them both that I hope will get the “wow factor” on the big day but it’s not an Xbox so I’ll have to tell you next week how they liked their presents.

Snow

I think most parts of the country have been hit by snow this week. Whilst this looks very pretty at Christmas time it has been causing a few problems. Unfortunately someone must have slid into the back of my parked car whilst I was at work last week and I now have a smashed up bumper that needs replacing. I know accidents happen in this weather but if I had been the one crashing into someone I would have left a note. This means I will now be asking Father Christmas for car parts this year!

I always do a lot of my Christmas shopping online and have always considered myself very clever for avoiding the scrums at the shops. This year however it has backfired on me a bit and I have had an anxious wait to see if my deliveries will arrive in time. I still have a couple of items outstanding so am just keeping fingers and toes crossed now!

Christmas Parties

It’s been a busy week for parties and celebrations too. Unfortunately I have had the winter lurgy bug and felt really quite ill. I keep telling myself at least it means I will be better by Christmas day if I get it out of the way now, but it does spoil things when you sit sniffing and coughing throughout your get together! First it was a Christmas meal with my work colleagues, and then I had a secret Santa party with some neighbours. I love secret Santa and always get so excited about a present when you have no idea what might be inside. Secret Santa was kind this year and got me everything a girl could want: some wine, some chocolates and some smellies! There were about 12 of us at the party and yet again it was an occasion when Iceland party food really came into its own. We all brought a couple of items with no one spending more than a couple of pounds and had enough food to feed the whole street!

Finally this week we also had our annual pre Christmas lunch with my friend Helen and her children. This is a tradition for us that dates back about 6 years. We take it in turns every year to go to each other’s houses and have a full roast dinner with all the trimmings just like the real thing. We exchange and unwrap our presents to each other and it is good practice for the big day. The children are getting older now, but I still forced them all to sit through “The Snowman” and “Father Christmas” on DVD to get into the spirit of things! After complaining, they did manage to forget for a minute they are too old for all that and actually enjoyed it!

So with two more days of work to go and most of the presents wrapped, and most of the food bought, I want to wish you all a very Happy Christmas!

Thanks for reading

Ellie

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The Nativity

IT’S NOT CHRISTMAS WITHOUT THE NATIVITY....
AND THERE’S NOWHERE I WOULD RATHER BE....
THAN IN THE SCHOOL HALL WATCHING THE TALE UNFOLD...
OF THE “GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD”!


Hello again,

It’s always a nerve wracking time watching the school play. I think every parent knows the feeling of sitting in the audience nervously willing them to do well. It was a big one for me this year as Sam is in his last year at primary school, and so it was his last proper Nativity play.

I still remember the very first one when he was at pre-school and very shy. I remember sitting and watching his sad face under his tea towel shepherd’s hat trying not to cry. I had to restrain myself from jumping up on stage and rescuing him as he looked so uncomfortable! Luckily as the years went on his confidence grew and he looked less uncomfortable with each performance.

A few years after the tearful shepherd he had a part as a frog and jumped up and down enthusiastically throughout the whole play so I knew then he was over his stage fright! You may be wondering where the frog fitted into the traditional Christmas story, but remember, teachers always have the challenge of creating parts for all the children. I think they do a great job at adapting the story each year so all the children have a turn to do something, rather than just give every child the part of “sheep number 24” or “Shepherd number 12”!

This year there was lots of singing and dancing involved and whilst I managed to get some film of Sam, Luke made sure he stood behind someone at all times! I think I just managed to get a glimpse of the top of his lasagne box crown in one shot!

The bit that brought tears to my eyes this year wasn’t even my own children but a little boy doing a saxophone solo after only three lessons. Okay I admit it was a slightly wobbly rendition of “Once in Royal David’s City” but for only three lessons it was fantastic! I just thought he was so brave to stand there and play on his own.

The bit that made me laugh the most was one little boy from reception year who obviously has a future in show business. The songs all had a modern feel and this little boy got so absorbed in the music he looked like a miniature member of the Black Eyed Peas as he strutted his stuff!

In the end it all went well and baby Jesus was born on stage, quite realistically I thought with Mary shouting “OW”! I think perhaps she had been watching Holby City!

Also this week, following the Christmas fair, our local papers reported on the opening and called me “Ellie from the Tellie” They also wrote, “Thousands of people braved the wintry December weather at Nailsea annual Christmas street fair which was declared the biggest and best for a decade. A fanfare of seasonal fun greeted the estimated 8,000 strong crowd.” They also put, “Poet Ellie is becoming known as the Pam Ayres of Somerset.” Wow what a claim to fame!

We have also been watching the finals of I’m a Celebrity and X Factor I was of course sad to see I’m a Celebrity end as I was getting used to seeing myself and all the other Iceland Mums in the advert breaks, but was also glad to see Stacey win. She really is a “glass half full” person! I couldn’t believe that whatever they threw at her she just kept smiling and laughing. The only other person I’ve ever met who is always so positive and happy all the time is my fellow Iceland mum Charlene. Mind you, I’ve never seen Charlene forced to eat disgusting creepy crawly things and nasty animal parts so I don’t know if she would still be smiling then. If I was made to put a bet on it though I would say she would!

I have to admit I always get a bit bored of X Factor by the final and prefer the early stage auditions so was glad to see the worst auditionees invited back. Just think, that could be me next year!

Well actually it couldn’t, as I have no intention of even applying but after this rollercoaster year with Iceland I still firmly believe anything is possible!

I hope all your own Christmas preparations are going well, and that like me, you are all enjoying your children’s starring moments up and down the country.

Thanks for reading

Ellie
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The Christmas Fair

THE TIME HAD COME TO OPEN THE FAIR....
ALL MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY WERE THERE....
IT WASN’T AS SCARY AS I HAD FEARED...
ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY CLAPPED AND CHEERED!

Hello again,

I am pleased to say that the Christmas fair went very well despite the arctic temperatures. People in Nailsea really make the effort and there was a huge turnout. There were so many stalls this year some people had to be turned away.

Let me take you back to last week when I was preparing to do the official opening. I had been told a long speech wasn’t required but when a member of the town council called round the night before to go through what I would say, I started to panic! He said to me “I expect you are used to making speeches aren’t you?” I replied “NOOOOOOO!”

The only speeches I am used to are at work to customers about different types of lenses! He said he had been asked to write a speech for me but didn’t want to put words into my mouth, I said I honestly didn’t mind having words put in my mouth but in the end we agreed the key points I had to mention and I said I would just talk around those points .He also asked if I could make up one of my poems about the fair but I did warn him I’m not Shakespeare and I’m not sure you could call them poems.

As the evening wore on I decided that I’m a bit of a loose cannon when asked to speak freely and that if I feel nervous it gets even worse. My mouth tends to run away on its own and leave my brain behind, so I decided to write down every word and read it out to be on the safe side.

So that evening I was scribbling down speech ideas as they came to me, cooking the boys tea, and trying to come up with two costumes for the school play all at the same time! It crossed my mind to remember and write this on my CV if ever I needed proof of my multi-tasking abilities! Anyway I ended up making a king's crown for Luke out of tin foil, an Iceland lasagne box and some tinsel. I was a bit stuck on the robes until I remembered we had a gold Christmas table cloth in the cupboard. The hard bit was convincing Luke that kings really did wear robes made out of table clothes but we got there in the end .

I also had to make a “robber” costume for Sam and ended up drawing big black arrows on the only white t-shirt I had in the house. Unfortunately it happened to be mine. He also had to have a mask over his eyes so I adapted a batman mask by cutting the ears off and that was another job done! I’m not sure how many schools actually stick with the original Nativity play these days as I remember there being some kings, but I’m sure there weren’t any “robbers” in my day! It could be worse though, my boss at work said she had been instructed to supply a costume of a “Polish villager” for her son's nativity!

The speech was written in between costume fittings and I felt better knowing I had something down on paper. I even managed to make up a special poem for the fair and it went like this.....

I LOVE THE VICTORIAN CHRISTMAS FAIR....
IT MAY BE COLD, BUT DON’T DESPAIR.....
PLENTY OF STALLS FOR EVERYONE...
CHRISTMAS GIFTS AND LOTS OF FUN...

NAILSEA IS THE PLACE TO BE...
YOU CAN FEEL THE SENSE OF COMMUNITY...
SO ENJOY THE FAIR AND DON’T FEEL DOWN...
LET’S CELEBRATE OUR LOVELY TOWN!

Apparently Sam turned round to someone in the crowd whilst I was speaking and said “That’s not my mum!” but apart from embarrassing my children it seemed to go OK and I was very pleased when people clapped and cheered at the end. I don’t think they necessarily did this because I was good, but because they are loyal friends and I thank each and every one of them for that! We then just relaxed and enjoyed the fair. There were fire jugglers, carol singers, raffles, gift and food stalls, and fairground rides and although it stayed cold it really felt Christmassy. After we got home both Sam and Luke said that they were proud of me really, so that touched me!

I mentioned last week that I had also been invited as a “celebrity” surprise guest to a friend's “Come Dine With Me” style dinner party. Unfortunately this had to be postponed due to illness but I will let you know how that went when it has been rescheduled.

This afternoon I’m off to see the boys in their Christmas play. It’s the second performance today so I’m just hoping the lasagne box crown is bearing up! I always get very over emotional at the school plays so will take the tissues! They usually have at least one or two funny moments too. I’ll never forget the year Mary dropped the baby Jesus and he bounced across the stage, but these are all special moments in the school nativity play experience!

Please come back next week and I can tell you how they got on.

Thanks for reading

Ellie
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Winter is here!

THE BOYS WERE EXCITED TO SEE THE SNOW...

MY FIRST REACTION WAS “OH NO”...
ALTHOUGH SNOW IS PRETTY AND LOOKS VERY NICE....
I DON’T LIKE THE SLIPPING AND SLIDING ON ICE!

Hello again,

I know as a nation we are known to others for continually talking about the weather, but I’m afraid I have to reinforce this stereotype by saying first of all: snow in November?! What’s that all about?! I admit it does look very pretty, and as always the first thing I did when the snow came down was grab the camera and take pictures like a mad tourist who has never seen the white stuff before. It also gave me the perfect excuse to put the Christmas tree up because somehow it doesn’t seem too early when everything is white outside.

I think the way you decorate your tree reflects the type of person you are. Organised people chose a different colour scheme every year and create a work of art with every bauble colour co-ordinated and equally spaced. Christmas addicts really go to town and cover the tree until it can hardly be seen and have light up reindeer on their lawns and perhaps inflatable Santas. Environmentalists have natural holly branches and mistletoe and make their own decorations every year. I think we must be a mixture of all these. Sam and Luke love to decorate the tree themselves so usually I have to secretly move a few baubles later as they end up with big clusters and then bald bits of tree. We also have a selection of handmade dangly creative things that they have made themselves going back to pre school days and I would feel like a bad mother if I didn’t allow these things pride of place every year!

The big argument in our house is usually over what goes on top, star, or fairy. I have just about given up now as the one year I managed to get my fairy the starring role she later ended up head down in a plant pot thanks to sabotage by the boys.

Anyway those are the plus points of having lots of snow early in the year, it looks pretty and you can put your tree up. There are a few negatives too. I absolutely hate having to get up earlier just so you can go and stand outside freezing to death whilst you try and find your car under a big blob of snow and ice. I also hate the feeling of ice skating in my car; I was never any good at doing it on my own feet so it’s even worse on four wheels. They tell you on the news not to go out unless it is necessary, which I’m sure is good advice but I’m always left wondering who are these people who like to go out when it is not necessary? Do some people normally just get up and say I’m just going out but I don’t know where to, or why? If I go out there is always a reason for it, so it is necessary!

The other problem with really cold weather is that things seem to break more easily. Ironically my freezer in the garage broke down this week. It was actually warmer in the freezer than in the garage itself so I would have been better off not putting the food inside at all. This did mean that some of my Christmas party food from Iceland needed eating sooner rather than later so I decided to take it to share with friends. There are a group of mums from school who I often meet up with for a party at home. Usually something is for sale like candles or nice smelly things but really it is always just a nice excuse to all meet up without the children and enjoy a glass of wine and a chat. I decided to take the big fruit platter, mini kebabs and breaded garlic prawns to see what they all thought and to help me with my food reviews.

I have never been a big fan of fish in general so was relying on their views for my official write up on the prawns. They went down very well and I was told they were very juicy and full of garlic and tasted just as good, if not better than the same from a higher priced supermarket! The chocolate covered fruit and kebabs were also well received with everyone preferring a different fruit.

We all agreed at the end of the party that it would be very nice if my time as a general new product tester for Iceland could continue for a long time! With so many willing volunteers you know that the overall opinions will be genuine and unbiased.

As I write this I am also preparing for my role as official Nailsea Christmas fair opener. I have to admit I am getting more and more nervous as I want to do a good job but am really not sure what I will say. If only speeches were as easy as blogs! Perhaps that is how I should think of it and write myself a little note.

Please come back next week when I will be able to tell you how it went and whether I kept my nerves under control!

Thanks for reading

Ellie

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