CHRISTMAS IS COMING......

....... this week Christmas really began. There is a certain special magic about working with young children at this time of year and it definitely rubs off on me. On Wednesday we had some very special visitors at school; Santa dropped in with two of his reindeer and a couple of elves. It was a very exciting day! Rather than the science of wrapping hard-boiled eggs in different protective materials and dropping them to see which one would be best to wrap our 'worlds' in, before putting them in boxes to send off to the aliens who are buying them ( yes, I know! It's best not to ask!!!!!), we found ourselves stroking Santa's reindeer.


They took shelter in the bandstand decorated with ivy. A walkway allowed the children to come and see the reindeer up close. Santa brought Vixen and Comet with him.




He told the pupils some simple educational facts about his reindeer, like: both male and females have antlers, they have broad hooves that act as good snowshoes and are well designed for digging through snow - up to 3ft!- to find food. Reindeer are well insulated to keep warm and can lay on snow without melting it - so that it provides a comfy bed. Their noses are completely furry so that they can eat in the snow without getting cold; they roam over large distances. Did you know all that about reindeer?



Well, my class of 7 year olds do now! As they left, each child received a mummy and baby gingerbread reindeer. Such a magical day!



Aaahhhh!




I had to explain to two of my class that Santa had come to visit because he had heard such good things about our school. They were concerned, because they thought he should have been getting all his presents ready. We reassured them that he had left plenty of other elves getting on with the job!

Well, Wednesday definitely made my kind of Christmas begin for me. So, here is our teeny tiny tree and our much much bigger tree, in all their glory. Hope you approve!

First up is the teeny tiny tree.....



Next, the much much bigger tree....

Please note that neither tree has chocolates on yet. They will appear on Christmas Eve, because if I were to put them on the branches now........ sadly, they would not still be there by Christmas Eve. So, best to play safe.

Here are just a couple more shots of favourite Christmassy decoration bits from our around our home.




Oh, before I forget, you'll be glad to hear that I have been doing some knitting. I managed to finish the first of my November socks. Yes, I know I'm a month late, but I promise that bothe the November and December pair will be complete before the end of the challenge on December 31st.

What do you think!





I've also begun the final pair of the 2010 Sock Challenge. Here is progress so far ......


The pattern is easy and shows off the yarn really well. The colours are fabulous. But..... the Araucania yarn has a certain halo around it, which makes me think that it may well be tricky to wash and may felt quite easily. Lets wait and see shall we, rather that being too pessimistic before even one sock is finished!

I had hoped to show you some pics of one or two of the special ornaments on the big, big tree, but as I accidentally deleted over half the post a short while ago, and as it is now 10.45 pm and seeing as how I need to be all bright and Christmassy at school tomorrow, as it's our Christmas Concert day....................... and I still have to complete that hard-boiled egg experiment and make reindeer Christmas cards................. I think I need to call it a day.

Goodnight all! Hope you have a productive week .