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A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013.

Madison: The budding photographer (checking his photos after taking them)
Noah: This boy is full of cheek and is such a clown. Always pulling the funniest faces for the camera.

How fabulous is this idea? You can give all the credit to Jodi @ Che and Fidel. I'm joining in too.

BOXING DAY TO NEW YEAR'S EVE.

Sunshine. Sand. Family. Scenic walks. Nature. Relaxing.

These are the words that sum up our next few days after Christmas. The whole extended family headed to Port Fairy for a sumptuous week of photo taking, picturesque views, relaxing to the full, and enjoying each others' company.

I can't put my finger on why it was so good - perhaps it was my state of mind - but it was such a wonderful week.

In fact, the end of the year will be how we hope to spend the last week of 2013 too. In exactly the same place. There is news to share soon. Let's just say that this year plans to be an exciting one for us.

And I can't wait for it to begin.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS. EVER.

As long as the lead up is to Christmas (it starts around September, right?), it is all over far too quickly.

Our home was full of laughter, music and singing. The lads were in their element with not only two big sisters, but three (we adopted one along the way)!

There was too much good food, and the company was just amazing. My favourite memory was baking in the kitchen and listening to guitars and singing from the girls' bedroom - to the beat of the toy drums. It seemed they had a little band going on. The boys were drawn in and excited to be part of some amazing music, so it seems.

I loved the hub of our family home, busy with activity. I felt honoured to feed my family so much it hurt. I loved that our children were excited to be home together. I still smile from the memories.

Such a wonderful day, and we all agreed: it was the best Christmas we've ever had.

| Top to bottom: the family enjoy their new Christmas gifts; the girls upload their Christmas message to YouTube; the lads try out their new billy cart (made by dad); finishing Christmas gift hampers; Noah's fetish for pistachios; the lads with their cousin Karl (back from USA); waiting patiently for present opening time; present madness begins; the aftermath of Christmas day brunch. |

CHERRY PAVLOVA

Sometimes Christmas is... all about the food. As a family, we loved this so much.

Eat up, and have a merry cherry Christmas!

INGREDIENTS
oil spray
5 egg whites
1 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
600ml cream, whipped
400g cherries, half quantity quartered and pitted
Icing Sugar, to dust
 
Cherry Sauce
1/2 cup Caster Sugar
100g Cherries, halved and pitted



METHOD
 
1 Preheat oven to 130°C or 110°C fan. Using a pencil, draw an 18cm circle on 3 pieces of baking paper. Spray 3 oven trays lightly with oil and place the paper on them, pencil side down. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Add sugar gradually, beating well after each addition, until thick and glossy. Beat in vanilla.
2 Spread the meringue onto the trays within the pencil lines. Bake for 1 hr, swapping the trays from top to bottom shelf halfway through. Turn off the oven, prop the door slightly ajar and leave to cool completely.
3 Meanwhile, to make the Cherry sauce, combine the sugar with 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat without boiling until the sugar has dissolved. Add the cherries and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Cook for about 7 mins, or until the liquid has become syrupy. Strain into a jug and cool completely (reserve the cooked cherries for another use).
4 To serve, place one disc of meringue onto a serving plate. Spread with one third of the cream, and top with half the quartered cherries. Top with another disc of meringue, half the remaining cream and all the remaining quartered cherries. Place the final meringue on top, and spread with the remaining cream. Pile the whole cherries on top, drizzle with cherry sauce, and dust with icing sugar.

Original recipe found here.

ON THE SECOND DAY OF CHRISTMAS...

In an effort to be creative, I made some origami cups three years ago for our Advent Calendar. I wanted something that would be big enough to put a couple of treats in as well as a note. I bought packets of christmas paper, and then made each one different with some scrapbooking stuff I had. Of course, I would do it differently now that Pinterest has upped the ante with beautiful Advent Calendars there to view. But the kids love that each one is different, and that they hold something special inside.

Day 2: Choose a favourite Christmas DVD and watch as a family (with a small container of bubbles each).

What child doesn't love bubbles!? 

Delighted, both boys headed outside to blow bubbles. Noah is still learning how to aim his breath the right way, and so took a little practice. But he tried and tried until he literally ran out of bubble mixture!

Madison still has most of his mixture, and felt that riding his bike would be more fun than the art of blowing bubbles (especially seeing he mastered that a few years back!)

The boys both had such a big day on Saturday, they put themselves to bed after lunch. Yes, you read right. They put themselves to bed. It seems miracles do happen sometimes!

That evening, we chose Shrek The Halls, a movie which the lads just love. Plus it's short enough to still have an early night. Win-win.

I just love nights when we can all hang out together. Especially cuddling together under a big blanket! Good times don't get any better than this.