Busy Busy 2!

It's mad here!
I was up till 4am yesterday wrapping all the presents.
I spent most of the afternoon (didn't emerge until about 10am!) cleaning (serious deep cleaning) the kitchen today and still only managed to have done 2/3rd of it, so have that to finish off and bathrooms to do tomorrow - plus hoover through if I can, or at least downstairs. BUT I am shopping with Mum in the afternoon, for things she hasn't bought yet and for something nice for my Nan (not that I have much money left now!), so need to do get finished early in the day - and it's already 2.30am so I'm going to be tired again (been out with a friend tonight).

My plan is to spend Christmas Eve baking with the kids and preparing things for Christmas Day. I am would like to make Cranberry muffins on Christmas morning, but as we have to be at church by 10.30am I need to have things ready-to-go when I get up and I hope to be up early enough to enjoy playing with the kids a bit too. P is horrified at the thought of sweet muffins for breakfast, but I am hoping that the smell might warm him to the idea and that the kids will love them - no guarantees there though :( This year, I have felt quite keenly, that our family is lacking in any of its own 'traditions'. I have always wanted to create and build them, but somehow it's never quite happened in the way always envisaged. P remembers Christmas as a time of over indulgence in various yummy cakes - a special thing in their family as they didn't have cake much the rest of the year, except on birthdays - and competing with his brother to see who could put away the most! For me, I remember snuggling into my Nan's bed with my stocking presents on Christmas morning, dinner piled so high on my plate and smelling delicious and a fry-up on Boxing day morning accompanied by my Nan's wonderful 'bubble & squeak'. All of the above would be a waste of time replicated in this house as, for example, the kids would no-way eat Bubble and Squeak and they are really not great fans of cake (of any description) at all. So... how to remedy this lack of traditions..? I decided that I would make a few 'special' things and see how they go down and if they work they will become our 'Christmas food'. So Christmas Eve we shall make 'Maple and Pecan Chocolate Pie' (not sure that all the kids will like this but some will - and I definitely will!), and Cranberry muffin mix ready for the morning. Then Christmas lunch time, whilst eating lunch I shall have cooking 'Chocolate Sauce Cake' - which apparently has the consistency of - yes, - chocolate sauce! I think this will almost certainly be a hit with the kids and much preferable to Christmas pudding or mince pies in their eyes! And to jump backwards - we have a starter with our Christmas meal and this year instead of having the children all fool about and get bored while we tuck into our Prawn cocktail, I have bought Tomato soup for them to have, which I shall try to make look pretty - maybe a swirl of cream to make it appear more special than usual.

Coupled with the food itself, I am hoping that the baking on Christmas Eve might become a bit of a tradition too. And I need to think more about what else we can do for next year... One thing we do do each year already is create a 'snowflake display' for the front window and a 'Hama display' for the side one. This has become something the children do look forward to, but I want there to be more. I really don't want Christmas to be all about the presents received on Christmas day - there is so much more value in Christmas than that, on so many levels :D