The Night Before Christmas

I think we might burst with excitement. It's Christmas Eve!!!!!!!!

Yesterday we had a beautiful day meandering around Queenscliff. Apart from a tiny poo-in-the-undies incident (Phoebalina's, not mine!) it was a lovely day. We looked in the shops (including the old-fashioned lolly shop - ooh ah!), went to the playground, had lunch in the bakery. I was so relaxed. I can't remember the last time I spent the week before Christmas playing with my children, with nothing more pressing to do than make dinner at 5pm. Being away from home (and unemployed, and therefore without any money to spend!), I have avoided a lot of the stress-inducing activities associated with the festive season. And far from being bah-humbug about it all, the whole lack-of-an-income thing has allowed me to focus completely on the most important thing in my life - my family. This week, Team O'Toole has spent all of our time together, playing, walking, eating, cooking, preparing for Santa's visit...and it has been golden. I couldn't have asked for a nicer week.

To top it all off, today we met up with some very dear friends who are also holidaying in Ocean Grove over Christmas. We haven't really had any beach weather this week, so to speak, but today was sunny and warm so we headed over to the sheltered little beach at Barwon Heads for a swim. It was Maisie's first time at the beach, and what a little beach bunny we have on our hands!! While Jack and Phoebs ran and splashed madly in the shallows, Maisie Mouse sat contentedly in the dry sand and watched for a little while. I took her down to the wet sand to see how she'd go (let's just say that when I took her big sister to the beach for the first time, it was not love at first sight!). From the very first wave that lapped at her toes, she was in raptures. My little mouse rolled, crawled and sat in the shallows of the beach, eating sand and wriggling her chubby legs while her big brother and sister ran like mad things around her. At one point I tried to take her out of the water, but as soon as I placed her on dry sand she started crawling fiercely back to the water's edge! Eventually, I noticed that she was shivering, so I carried her up the beach and wrapped her up in a dry towel. She eventually went to sleep in my lap after a sandy breastfeed, with icy toes and salt-encrusted eyebrows.

After a quick bath back at the house, we met back up with our friends and their kids for fish and chips in the local playground. We didn't realise that Santa was scheduled to make a stop on the fire engine, so when the hordes of kids heard the siren, it was just too exciting!! When the mozzies became too thick for comfort, we wheeled the pram home and tucked two very happy kids into bed. Maisie is currently flapping around on the floor while the Carols are on the telly. Santa's homemade cookies are waiting on a plate, the stockings have been arranged on the floor, and we are waiting for a safe time to get the presents out of their hiding place and fill the Santa sacks....I wonder how many more Christmases we will have with Santa alive and kicking in our children's imaginations? The magic in this house tonight is palpable, simply because they believe with every fibre in their little bodies that he is real, and he WILL come. I can only cross my fingers and wish that these years will last for a while longer, because it is just too gorgeous for words. The beauty of this past week has come from the magic in my children, and I wish I could bottle this feeling forever. Merry Christmas to you all!!! I hope that it is a wonderful one for all of you. And now, if I could only get this little mouse into bed, Santa might be able to do his delivery....ho ho ho!!!!