Christmas

Mom is gonna kill me! I just looked at the photos we had taken from Christmas and there are very, very few. Sorry. We were too busy playing, I think. But in the interest of fairness, lest anyone think upon me as a wicked step-mother, here is a photo of Tony and his two older children, James and Vicki, along with our daughter, Seraphina. This photo doesn't show it but Seri looks a lot of like Vicki. Sometimes. And there are times she looks just like my sister Wendi. She's also been known to remind me of her daddy (which makes sense as Vicki looks just like him as well). But just to be confusing, because she is a Gemini, after all, she also resembles my sister Dez and even upon occasion, my mother. Sometimes. Curious child.

At the beginning of December, Tony and I were filled with Christmas spirit. We had a ball decorating the house, doing some shopping, planning Christmas dinner (he's incredibly un-English, for the record, as he would not even consider goose and figgy pudding). Then, on the 7th of December:

AND

If you don't know, Tony is an avid cyclist (you can read his blog entitled So Tyred if you have insomnia) and like most of them, will cycle in any weather. He slid on black ice, came off his bike, hobbled home with one arm and is now inordinately proud of his cycling injuries and his war story. At the emergency room - and by the way, did you know that Sunday mornings are the busiest time of week for English emergency rooms? Seriously. Football injuries, drunkards from the night before, kids playing unattended whilst parents have a lie in, all recipes for disaster - at the emergency room, Tony was more worried about getting home to check on his bike than he was about himself (which is portentous and unprecendented when it comes to Tony and injury or illness).

So there went a little of our Christmas cheer. And to make matters worse, I came down with a serious case of bronchitis, Seri ended up with a viral infection and Tony contracted bubonic plague. Awww, I'm being mean. He really was ill but I was disinclined to offer much sympathy when I was still nursing Seri feeling the way I did. This lasted right up until the week of Christmas. Have a look at Seri's hair because she was feeling too poorly to put up with grooming and I was feeling to poorly to make her.

Took us 45 minutes and nearly a whole bottle of detangler to get through that.

But at the end of the day, we had a fantastic Christmas. James was home from University and Vicki and her boyfriend Mo joined us, too. It was fantastic to have a full house. And what's even better? They watched 'It's A Wonderful Life' with me and they seemed to enjoy it! I just wish Nate had been there and it would have been perfect.

So here are the measly few photos that were taken.

Seraphina feigning sleep. The one day I really need her to pose and she does not cooperate. Any other time, trying to capture her in a natural state is like trying to get a photo of the elusive blue footed pintail. Anyhoo, that's her new digital camera and around her neck is her first diamond necklace. I couldn't resist! Every girl needs fine jewelry.

Seraphina and the beginning of her Sylvanian Families collection. What have I started? They are gorgeous, though. Wendi reckons she saw one in Japan that is a Japanese-styled house! How cool is that? I sense that birthday shopping will be a breeze from now on!

Well, for some reason, I am not being allowed to upload any more photos. I'll try starting another post but if not, stay tuned.