Bloggy Advent Calendar DAY 25

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Love Charlotte, Willy & Jaimeson
{hugs!}
{chinking glasses- Cheers!}
{CRACK! That's a bon bon going off. No doubt I "won" whats inside, cos I seem to always be left with the majority of the cracker!}
{groan- patting tummy, too full after Christmas lunch!}

Thanks for sticking with me for the Bloggy Advent Calendar for 2011. Hope you have a great Christmas & get to celebrate it with your most loved Family & Friends!
And remember, Jesus was born today! Merry Christmas!

Bloggy Advent Calendar DAY 24

CHRISTMAS EVE!!
I'm so excited for Jaimeson's First Christmas! We're at Mum and Dad's now, and Yvette, Dave and Tassy should be arriving later today, Willy will come after work tonight; then on Boxing Day my sister Alicia and her little man Xander comes and my other sister Felicity with her husband Matt and Cooper and Sienna will come for lunch. It's gonna be a busy Christmas time! I'm so looking forward to it. I love big family Christmas's! And I know Jaimeson will enjoy it too, he'll soak it all up!
So for my second last Bloggy Advent Calendar, here is our little Christmas Tree! It's not lush, expensive, massive tree; nor colour themed with matching decorations. But it's a modest tree, with all my fave decorations on it, and I {heart} it!
It sits on a table here, above Jaimeson's play area in what was formerly known as "The Museum Room". So called cos it's filled with Chinese furniture, still covered in plastic, that no-one ever sits on. It's all for show! LOL! I have enjoyed turning the lights on the tree and it's funny to see Jai's face every now and then when he rolls on his tummy then looks around the room and see's it. His expression is like "Whoa! What on earth is that?" {smirk} It's too cute!
And do you like his giant bear? I think Asians have a thing about children needing giant bears, at least Jaimeson made it to almost 7 months before he got one! This one was for Christmas from Uncle Vincent & Aunty Natalie. You can see they don't hold much toward present wrapping, or keeping them til December 25th either! Its a beautiful bear though, he has a really friendly face and Jai can snuggle into him quite well!
Well, I hope you get to bed early tonight and that you've been good so Santa will visit!
Santa Baby..... Hurry Down My Chimney Tonight! {Looking left and right}, ok, no Chimney. Maybe try the Front Door {wink!}
:) C

Bloggy Advent Calendar DAY 23

Yep, I'm still doing some Christmas Baking, with only 2 days to go til Christmas! Phew! {running hand across forehead like I've been running on a treadmill!} I bought all the stuff to make a Christmas Pudding or Christmas Cake about 2 weeks ago, and just hadn't fitted it in yet. Honestly, I've had a to-do list as long as my arm, every day of December! And you know, I can't even tell you what was on it now! As soon as the task is over, I've forgotten it and moved on to the next thing. I have never experienced a December so busy! Is this what it's gonna be like with Children from now on? I'm pooped {flopping down on the bed... to consult to-do list for next task!}
I used a recipe from the free Coles mag. Did you pick it up this year? It's got some really good recipes in there, and Yvette said her MIL made the Mango Macadamia pudding and it was awesome too. I must give that one a go! Is it too late to make pudding after Christmas? Maybe it can be my New Years Pudding. LOL!
The recipe was to make 10 small Christmas Cakes and I used some mini flan tins with removable bases, that I got at Vinnies a few months ago. {$4 for a bunch of about 30 tins?? Score!} The recipe called for Mixed Fruit, but I have a mountain of Sultanas, Raisins and Dates in my cupboard cos I tend to think about making Chocolate Raisin Cake or Lumberjack Cake (my 2 faves!) when I'm doing the grocery shopping. And I inevitably buy more dried fruit and get home and realise I already have 2 boxes of said fruits at home. {sigh!} So I used them in my Christmas Cake, as well as Cranberries and Walnuts, and it's really delicious! They only needed 20 mins in the oven and they turned out super moist and yummy! Hooray! The mini size is great cos it makes so many! I'm leaving some here at Hotel d'Lam for Will's family to eat, giving 2 to a friend at work and taking some down to Mum and Dad's with me. {licking lips!}
Jingle Bells!
:) C

Bloggy Advent Calendar DAY 22

Can it be? Can it be? Only 3 sleeps til Christmas! Somebody slow the clock down!
Here are a couple more pages from my December Daily album!Day 6: Here is my Reindeer Car! {giggles!} I know a lot of you out there hate the Reindeer car, and I have to admit, the first year I saw them I thought they were soooo ridiculous. But last year I couldn't resist the pull of the Antlers and Red Nose! I bought myself a set and displayed them proudly on my little yellow car {slight sobbing at the memory of my favourite car} and nodded in mutual appreciation any time I pulled up at Traffic Lights beside another Reindeer car, or crazily pointed one out to Will {wildly waving arms in direction of Reindeer Cars}. This year I dug them out again and attached them to my new car. YAY! Will even got a set too! I think there are less of them out there this year, and also they have gotten tiny, the Antlers I've seen on some cars are teeny! Will saw a whole fleet of Repco cars with them on, LOL!
How cute is that 3D Reindeer sticker with Pom Pom feet {hugs}. Love him! Though he does make the album very chunky. But that's the fun of it right? To be all awkward and mis-matched?DAY 7: Our Santa photo! Love that Santa. His real beard was so awesome! Oh I love the glittery green page, its a Nestabilities shape, and I just cut 2 and stuck them together to make a cool page for the album! Noice!
:) C

Bloggy Advent Calendar DAY 21

Here is Jaimeson's First Christmas Decoration. Courtesy of Granny. Thanks Granny! {hugs} It's a shatterproof bauble (yes, plastic) painted to be a happy Santa face, filled with tiny polystyrene balls that shake around. It's just perfect for little hands to put on the tree! And I know Jaimeson will {love} Christmas and decorating the tree (cos I'm sure my excitement will rub off on him!), and I know he will love having his own special "little hands proof" decorations to put on the tree! I might have to retire my special glass baubles for a few years and bring on more child friendly adornments! Maybe I should make more of the felt decorations I have pinned a tonne of on Pinterest? I should start now for next Christmas! LOL!
Oh Come All Ye Faithful!
:) C

Bloggy Advent Calendar DAY 20

Hi y'all!
I finally got more pics printed for my December Daily album. Hurrah {clapping hands}. So here are some more pages for you..
Day 3 was just a regular day for Jai and I. We got some pics printed at BigW and did the grocery shopping. I decided to keep a "regular" day in the album, to show that we don't always do super fun and exciting things! LOL! I love those "painted" holly stickers, not sure why but they really appeal to me. Maybe it's their giant size?Day 4: Will, Jai and I went Christmas lights shopping. Jai really loved looking around at all the beautiful lights! I don't really like the left hand page of this LO, it's got too much white area, but its ok I'll deal with it {laying back on couch in therapist's office}! That snowman sticker I've had for eons, no really I have. I love how cool the white rub-on looks on the black chipboard!Day 5: Well, Yvette, you said the hospital visit would make for an interesting December Daily entry! Only I didn't get a pic in hospital (funnily enough, it wasn't top of my mind), but I did get a pic of us in our delightful face masks once we got home! Oh I am so glad we had a quick recovery {shuddering at memory of being sick}. I left the right side LO as a plain printed page and I really like it. Especially after the very busy day 4 LO, I think it helps to keep the album a bit balanced. And the word "JOY" appears a lot in my album! I have a lot of embellishments that say Joy, apparently. And I'm feelin' it! Are you feelin' it?
Joy to The World!
:) C

Bloggy Advent Calendar DAY 19

Hi y'all!
Today I'm posting about a sweet little Christmas ornament that I was inspired to make off Pinterest! If you haven't heard about Pinterest yet, you are totally missing out! It's an online pinboard where you can pin pics of things you like on websites as you trawl around the internet. So you don't need a long list of bookmarks that you can't remember what they were for! Ok, that's not the best description of Pinterest, but it's awesome. YOu can also just go there for inspiration (called Pinspiration!) and you can "follow" other people whose interests are similar to yours. I LOVE Pinterest, and it has inspired me to sew/bake/cook a few new things You can check out my Pinterest board HERE.
So I was inspired to make this sweet little Gingerbread house ornament. (Hahaha, cheesy pic of me with the house! LOL!) It's made of felt with "candy" buttons sewn on the roof. So cute! I also sewed a gold star-shaped button the front door.
I wanted to personalise it a little more, so I freehand embroidered "The Lams, W, C & J, 2011" on the back of it. I {heart} it! It turned out just how I wanted to too! And, I was so glad to have actually made something that I had pinned on Pinterest, cos I have a whole "Christmas" board and I hadn't made anything off it! Hooray for making it {high five}!
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
:) C

Bloggy Advent Calendar DAY 18

Hi y'all!
Yesterday was my extended family Christmas Party, with my cousins on my Mum's side. Mum had read all about a Cookie Swap, somewhere in our mags after Hawaii I think it was, and she decided it sounded like a fantastic idea for our Christmas party! {up here's for thinking!- pointing at head} We do have a few keen bakers in the family and so we knew there would be some enthusiastic participants {rubbing oven mitts together with glee}! The idea was to make at least 2 dozen cookies and bring them to the dinner in a festive tin/container. The containers all go on the table together and everyone chooses some of each others cookies to take home. YUM! We also brought a copy of the recipe to swap too, so we could make more of our favourites at home! {sweet!}
I dabbled with a few different recipes- Cranberry Apple Pecan cookies, Peanut Butter Cup cookies (both of them were a bit soft- is that common with American cookie recipes? They seem to like them soft...) but in the end I really couldn't go past the Melted Snowman Cookies I had seen on Pinterest! They were so cute! They are just a basic sugar cookie dough for cutting shaped cookies, then you accessorize with white icing, a partially-melted marshmallow (about 7 secs in the microwave does the trick), choc chips (mini M&Ms would have been great too, but I didn't have any) and decorating gels to draw on the arms & facial features. Oh how I LOVE LOVE LOVE how they turned out {swoon!} They are gorgeous! And they don't taste too bad either! I also made cinnamon stars using the same dough recipe, and a Cookie Cutter I got at Williams-Sonoma on our Honeymoon. It makes a slit in the cookie that allows it to sit on the edge of your coffee cup! Pretty cool hey?!
Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas!
:) C

Bloggy Advent Calendar DAY 17

Hi Y'all!
If you popped over to Yvette's blog yesterday you would have seen her Snowman in a Glove ornament that Mum made. Well, I was about to blog about mine yesterday too! What a co-incidence! But seeing as I didn't get to, here is mine today. Thanks Mum! I love mine too!
I can't remember where Mum originally bought hers from, but she set about making us girls one too, and he turned out perfectly! She's ingenious like that, my Mum! She makes the most beautiful things, and inspires me to make beautiful things too! Thanks Mum, for teaching me all about how to be a craftswoman!
:) C

Bloggy Advent Calendar DAY 16

Whoa, slow down calendar!! Day 16 already? Eek!


We're into the Christmas Spirit at Hotel d'Lam this year! Will & I put up all the lights with such excitement, like little kids {jumpin up & down with happiness!} Will was so excited to buy a new item to go on the house, and he bought the LED star which is actually 3 concentric stars that flash. It's so pretty! His poor sister has a pretty bright bedroom at the moment tho cos she's at the front of the house and the lights are quite bright {giggles!}
Deck The Halls!
:) C

A- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Bloggy Advent Calendar DAY 15

Here it is Yvette, our Santa Photo! Though I should imagine you have received my Christmas Card by now, with it proudly on the front! We ended up going to Rhodes Shopping Centre to get our Santa photo this year. And I'm so glad we did, cos the Santa was just lovely, he had his own beard and everything! And there was no line, we just walked straight up and sat on his knee {sweet!} Jaimeson had his usual "surprised" face on, but it was so cute and so typical of him that I didn't mind. We also got a really sweet close up of him looking straight up at Santa with his surprised face, but I haven't scanned it yet so you'll have believe me that it's really cute! And I have always loved that my sister Yvette and her husband both get in the Santa photo with my niece, so we've started that with Jaimeson too. Oh and we colour co-ordinated. Yay us! {high five!}
I always mass produce Christmas cards these days. Gone are the days when I would try to make a different one for each person, at least changing up the colours if not the basic design. These days I make one card and send it out to everyone! Though this year I only sent off 7. Sorry other peoples, my time just doesn't stretch that far this week!
I only had a basic idea in my head on Sunday when I stole away from Jaimeson while Willy put him to bed, and I stamped and stuck together 10 cards, wrote on them and addressed and stamped them in only 45mins! What a record! I do like how they turned out, the background is a Stampin Up rollerwheel which I stamped in Not Quite Navy to match the baubles on the trees in the BG of our photo. It reminds me a bit of newsprint on the Kraft cardstock. Then I used a tiny paper doily, a strip of ribbon and the photo. Done!
HO HO HO!
:) C

Bloggy Advent Calendar DAY 14

Today is a very special day on the Advent Calendar... it's this fella's Birthday! Yep, HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILLY!! Here he is at 6 years old. Awee {hugs}. He had a big round head even then! LOL! And a bowl haircut. Nice. Why is he squinting? LOL {mean!}
Traditionally he has worked a day shift on his birthday and we have gone out for dinner, but this year I'm not at work so he's got the whole day off. Yeah {punching the air}! We were going to go bike riding at Centennial Park but it's supposed to rain, plus it's the last week of swimming for Jaimeson so we might just go there instead. Willy doesn't want Jai to miss out on a certificate. Do they give certificates to 6 month olds? I mean, he hasn't had to pass a test or anything! Maybe they give one for "Splash Participation!"
Hopefully we can still go out for Lunch or Dinner though. Willy is so easy to please. Me: "What do you want for your Birthday Lunch?". Willy: "Meat". Ok, a steakhouse it is! Easy done!
:) C

Bloggy Advent Calendar DAY 13

Hi y'all!
It's no secret that I have a tiny {arms stretched out wide} love for all things Woodland! When I was pregnant I knew I wanted a Woodland themed Baby Shower and it turned out so beautifully! I have actually had this glass Mushroom ornament for a few years but when I got it out to hang on the tree it reminded me of Peabody's Baby Shower and how beautiful it was! Did you know my Mum and sisters are Top Rate when it comes to throwing a party? That Alicia's house is just the most beautiful intimate party venue, and when it comes to food and decor, Mum, Yvette, Alicia and Felicity just can't be beaten! {chest bumps for the team} Here is a little pic to remind you of how beautiful the food table was! Look at all that Woodland-styled food! Mini cinnamon acorn cakes, a chocolate birds nest, mini lemon meringue tarts, chocolate chunk cookies, rocky road, caramel popcorn in paper doily cones, mini chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting and sugar leaves! Sooo sweet! {licking lips} And I got to put my owl collection to good use too! LOL!
Sweet Holidays!
:) C

Bloggy Advent Calendar DAY 12

I {heart} shoes. I have always loved high heels from when I was old enough to own a pair! I have always had interesting shoes for my school formals and big parties! Now that I'm a Mummy I have more "sensible" shoes (e.g. flat ones!) but I still have interesting flats! No boring black flats in my wardrobe {wink} I have red, turquoise, yellow, orange...! And remember my red Wedding Shoes! I loved having a flash of red poke out now and then from under my dress. People kept coming up to me all day saying "Do you have RED shoes on?!" {giggle} Who knew it would cause such a stir!
And if you were to look at my Christmas tree you'd know I love shoes too! Mum has bought me at least 4 high heel shoe ornaments to celebrate this love! I have this red stripey heel, a clear Cinderella "glass" slipper, a hot pink wedge with feathers and a jewelled ankle strap shoe. So sweet! Thanks Mum!
Good Tidings!
:) C

Bloggy Advent Calendar DAY 11

It was Kid's Christmas this morning at Church so we headed to that service, rather than our usual 6pm, so Jai could join in the fun. He enjoyed the clapping & singing of Christmas Carols, flapping his arms a lot! He also loved the fans above our heads. Lol! Then the kids did a Nativity Story & it was so cute!!


They also had Strawberry the Puppet who sang & interacted with the kids. Boy do the kids love her! I was trying to sneakily take pics on my phone so they're not the best.



It was fun to see all the kids really enjoying the Christmas service. After all, Jesus is the reason for the season!
:) C
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Bloggy Advent Calendar DAY 10

For today's Advent Calendar post, I present you with the first 2 layouts of my December Daily album! Hooray {streamers flying across room and confetti falling from the ceiling!} I am loving finally getting to do some pages in it! And what a perfect way to start the album off, with a pic of a fun outing with Granny and Papa! Fun stuff on this LO- washi tape, 3D sticker Christmas tree with beaded branches, the beautiful "Seasons Greetings" white rub-on that shows up so nicely against the black chipboard, the red herringbone paper strip.And December Daily Day 2 was a Date-Day outing with Willy into Broadway for lunch. It was lovely! I got a thickshake at Wendy's and it came with this funny paper moustache attached to the straw! Too cool! {giggles}. Fun stuff- the jingle bells rub on ( I love the handwritten font), the candy stripe sticker border that I've had for like, centuries, the red snowflake rub-ons on the clear acetate page, the sweet mittens on the journal spot!
Deck the Halls!
:) C

Bloggy Advent Calendar DAY 9

So wronwree! {sob!} Here is my one Christmas card, yep, count it! One! Only one Christmas Card received so far this year! One! Isn't it December 9 already? {staring at Calendar in amazement}. Now to be fair, I haven't made mine yet {hangs head in shame} so I can't blame everyone else cos they are only being as slack as I am! Everyone is so busy these days, it seems writing and posting Christmas cards has fallen by the wayside {looking over shoulder farewelling card-writing as I trot off into the sunset}. So Thank You Aunty Julie for taking the time to write and post Christmas Cards in a timely manner! You have made my card-string have a purpose in life!
:) C

Bloggy Advent Calendar DAY 8

Hi y'all,
Louella, you commented on how you have a very Multi-cultural Christmas tree, me too! I love that I have collected some Christmas decorations from here and there on my overseas trips, it makes it so special when I start unpacking them and I think "Oh yeah!", "Oooh I love {insert place name} that was such a fantastic holiday"! etc etc! I think there is no better time of year to travel overseas than Christmas time too. Getting to see how other countries celebrate is awesome! And they have their own set of traditional Christmas decorations and foods. YUM!
In 2006 I was lucky enough to be on holidays in the USA in November, right through Thanksgiving and into the first week of December. I loved seeing all the Thanksgiving decorations in the shops and then as soon as it was over, seeing all the Christmas decorations too! (Not to mention shopping in the post-thanksgiving sales!) The last stop on my holiday was to DisneyWorld in Florida (hehe, I was also lucky enough to have started the trip at Disneyland in California {spoilt!}) and I spotted these uber cute Mickey-head-shaped glass baubles with American flag colour scheme! I {heart} them! And they survived the trip home in my suitcase too, I think I must have learnt better packing techniques since I went to Germany! I also bought some plain-coloured ones which I love too, and unfortuntely one got smashed by the antennae-installing workman last year {frowny}, guess that means I'll just have to go back and buy more! {tongue in cheek!}
Also on the same trip I went to San Francisco and got this sweet San Francisco city brass ornament at Macy's. I always love these brass ones on the tree, they sparkle in the lights and swing gently in the breeze. So pretty!
Happy Holidays!
:) C

Bloggy Advent Calendar DAY 7

Hi y'all!
I am feeling heaps better now, thank you for all your well wishes! Its horrible being sick, and I am so glad that both Will and I are over it quicker than the 3-5 days the Doctor told me it would take. Hooray {party poppers going off!}
So today's Advent pic is all of my Christmas Mugs! Do you have as many as me? I actually have 15 cos there are 4 in an unopened box behind the reindeer serviettes (they have that same reindeer on them). I think the only person to beat me so far is my sister Felicity! I don't even think Mum has this many. Do you Mum?
I do love all the festivities that come along with Christmas, all the lights, decorating and tableware etc make me so happy! I swapped over all the normal mugs in my cupboard to Christmas mugs way back at the beginning of November. If I had my way I would have had the tree up then too! When I mentioned putting the tree up in the last week of Nov my MIL still said it was too early {bah humbug!} I just don't think we get enough time to look at it and enjoy it if it goes up Dec 1!
:) C

Bloggy Advent Calendar DAY 6

Good morning!
Todays ornament is a very special one on our tree! Though it doesn't look overly like too much, it was the ornament I bought on the day I found out I was pregnant with Jaimeson {smiles}. It was exactly how I felt. Full of JOY!
After being told that I would need assistance to fall pregnant because of Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome and then going to the doctor with a pain which I thought was one of my cysts bursting. Then to find out it was actually a baby was a huge whirlwind of emotion! But the biggest emotion of all was JOY! Knowing that we were going to have a little baby! And now, 14 months later we have a sweet little 6 month old who is still the biggest JOY in our lives! Love you Jaimeson {hugs}! Even if I can get near you cos I don't want to infect you! I have been wearing a surgical face mask when I feed him and he thinks it's the funniest thing and tries to rip it off or bangs his hand against it! I'm so glad hes not scared of me in it!
Season's Greetings!
:) C