Spiders, and Snakes, and Rodents (Oh My)

Nothing drives home the fact that I am not really a country girl more than creepy crawly critters, and because it is summer there are lots of them around.

I really REALLY don't like creepy crawlies. When I married the Country Boy, it was clearly part of the agreement that he deal with such things. Unfortunately he is not always around when the creepy crawlies are about, or worse still, doesn't think the creepy crawlies merit doing something about.

As a result, there is currently a large black spider living on the window of our bathroom. I just ignore it there, but I really want it gone! There is also a MASSIVE spider (and I am not exaggerating) who has taken up residence on the outside of our bedroom window. I have expressed my dismay at this to the Country Boy, but he just shrugged and said that it was outside and that it won't hurt me (it looks big enough to take one of the kids when my back is turned)!

Our house also has a few resident rodents at the moment. After being pretty much empty for the last few years, it is hardly surprising (our farm got the top end of the mouse plague that went through Southern Australia last year). The Country Boy put out baits yesterday, but last night I heard some scrabbling around in the blocked up chimney in the kitchen. Very much hoping I don't meet any of them, and that they disappear fairly quickly (and without too many smells either).

Lets not even talk about the snakes...

Review

I thought I would write a "year in review" type post where I would recap the major events of the year for our family, but to be honest, the whole year has been one big adventure. Our kids continue to grow (much to my disappointment) and change. Our lives continue to be busy. There hasn't been one stand out event, such as there has been in some years. 

We are lucky to have happy, healthy children. We are blessed to live in a beautiful part of the world. We are grateful for the opportunity to give the country life a try.  In some ways the end of the year is really an artificial milestone. When I wake up on Sunday morning (too early - like all parents of young children) nothing much will have changed. 

But even so, changes are on the horizon. I have a new job to start at the end of January. We have a new community to settle into. Hannah starts a new school. If 2011 was about preparing for our country life experiment, then 2012 is the experiment in action. I never make new years resolutions - mainly because I know that I won't keep them - but my hopes for the new year are high. The experiment has begun.

Hope the new year holds promise for you too!

Settling In

We are settling into farm life. The holiday period gives us time to relax without some of the regular pressures of school and work. We are enjoying a visit from our close friends and the kids are enjoying being out doors and having lots to do.

Our pigs arrived just before Christmas. Initially the kids wanted to name them Pinky and Molly, but we put a stop to that. Pigs are for food, and I may have had a little difficulty eating Pinky (and they are black not pink). The kids enjoy going to visit and feed them.

Toby is very impressed with his boots, and insists on wearing them and his hat whenever he goes outside. He is turning into a Junior Country Boy very quickly.

Meghann has achieved her life ambition by learning to climb the fireman pole (also known as the pole out the back).

And So This Was Christmas...

Christmas this year was fantastic! The whole day spent at the one place is what our family needed. We spent time together just relaxing, and enjoyed too much food.

Merry Christmas Every One

At last we are starting to get this place in order. Most things have found a place to live, though nothing says festivity like the drum set in front of the tree, where it has been for the past few days! Christmas dinner menu's have been planned, though I need to go to town tomorrow to get fruit and vegetables (along with the rest of the town!). Tonight Country Boy and I have to wrap presents for everybody, but they won't go under the tree until tomorrow night because of a destructive 17 month boy!

Moving house 2 weeks before Christmas is never what I would choose, but it was the best choice we had. Now that we are here we are able to spend the summer holidays settling into our new life before school starts up again.

This Christmas will be the first I have spent entirely at my own house! Each year we have always taken the kids to one set of grandparents or the others.  This year though, my in laws are coming to our house. The weather is supposed to be warm so I am planning to have lunch on the veranda. I have plans to put up my Christmas bunting and decorate the pot plants with baubles.

Some of our closest friends are arriving on Boxing day evening to spend the week with us. We only see them once or twice a year so we are excited to catch up with them.  We will be having a family Christmas with Country Boy's sister, brother and their partners too.

In the new year we are heading North for a weeks holiday with my extended family. We began it last year, and had a fantastic time, so we are going to try it again this year. We will also celebrate Christmas again with them!

Christmas is my favourite time of year, so much opportunity to spend time with friends and family! 2011 has been a year of many changes, and I am sure that 2012 will be the same.

Thank you to all of you who have stopped by and read about our Country Life Experiment. I will be continuing to blog intermittently over the next 2 weeks, but will keep you up to date on facebook and twitter. We wish you a happy and holy Christmas from the country!

Christmas Carol Confusion

We are in the midst of a final push to get the house sorted out before Christmas, after which visitors start to descend on us (yay!). Unpacking is just not very Christmassy, so I have put carols on in a bid to make the work feel more festive.

One thing I have noticed is that Meg is walking around the house singing "Oh well, Oh well, born is the king of Israel". I tried to explain that it is Noel, but she said that it doesn't make any sense my way. She is also singing "Rusty the Snowman" because apparently "Frosty" is a silly name!  "Silent night, oily night" is in the mix too.

Miss Meg is full of mischief... and is sooo cute (not that I am biased)

There is no way to convince her that the words she is singing are wrong (which is really annoying Hannah), so we continue to sing "oily" instead of holy in every carol. It makes me giggle, but I am now also singing Meg's version of  the carols.

I used to think the "Herald Angels" (from "hark the herald angels sing) was a choir at the Sun Herald (Sydney news paper).

What carols did you get confused about as a child (or even as an adult)???

Christmas Lights

One of our Christmas traditions each year, is to go for a drive around the local area and admire the Christmas lights. In among the move and all the end of year hype, I wasn't sure that we would be able to fit it in, but last Wednesday after Hannah's School Concert, we went for a drive.

Hannah saw this boat and said "That's the best Christmas boat ever". I asked her how many Christmas boats had she seen: "Only one" was the reply, which is probably why it is also the best!

In our local area there is quite a few houses that put up lights, but there is one street that is legendary. Each year we always end our tour in that street, and get out of the car. One house has 2 Christmas trains, plus the most incredible lights. The kids always remember it and can't wait to see it. Even though they are a bit tacky, we all love it!

On the farm, there are no Christmas lights, so next year we will have to drive to town and have a look!

Home

The village near our farm is about 5 minutes away. It is one of those "blink and you will miss it" type villages. We have a couple of churches, a 2 teacher school, a recreation ground, a post office, and the Memorial hall. These days only one of the churches is used as a church, and the others have been converted into residences, and the only thing you can purchase is a postage stamp.

If you were to drive through, you would guess that maybe 40 people live in the village. Like most villages however, there is actually a lot more people who live in and around it.

On Sunday night we went to the community carols night in the hall. Like all good country events, it begins with a shared meal. Generally the call goes out for "ladies, bring a plate" which I find hilarious (apparently men are incapable of catering). With so many good cooks the spread was fantastic. The girls thought they had hit the jackpot. There were lots of sandwiches, cakes, profiteroles, fruit platters, meatballs, homemade sausage rolls, (and more and more and more!).

After dinner, we were all given a handout with the carol words. The local primary school students, began by playing their guitars (17 guitars!) and singing several songs. Then we all sang all the good old songs. There would have been 200 people in the hall (I told you looks can be deceptive) and we all stood and sang Joy to the world, Hark the herald angels sing, Mary's boy child, and many others. It was fantastic. The whole community sang together as one.

We sat up the back and joined in. It will take some time to settle into the community and our new life, but on Sunday night, I saw what I am looking for, for my kids. I want them to grow up connected to their community. I want people outside my family to look out for and be interested in them. The Country Boy has always called this village home, despite having moved away 20 years ago. To me, I will probably always call the mountains "home", but I would be quite happy if my kids call our village "home"

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas (at last)

Well the farm house still has a lot of sorting out, and we have a huge list of things we need to buy when we go to town next week, but it is starting to look more like home.

Yesterday afternoon, we put up the Christmas tree. The girls had been very patient about waiting, but they were busting to do it, so I put all my efforts into sorting out the room so that at least one room is complete, and looking ok.

Once we got started we just kept going. I have quite a few nativity scenes, and they all look gorgeous displayed on shelves and mantle pieces... at least until Toby finds them.

Many of our Christmas decorations I have bought during our travels, or have been given to me by friends. I love to bore tell my kids the stories attached to each of them.

The glass teardrop was bought in the village of Shere in England where we lived for a while in 2001. It is the village where "The Holiday" was filmed (among many other films). My brother-in-law gave me the glass ball with the bird inside. He knows I LOVE Christmas, even if he doesn't really understand why!

I bought this hand made German (made in Germany too!) candle fan in Oberamagau (Southern Germany).

I have filled up jars and vases with more red balls, and placed them around the house (this is the mantle piece in the kitchen). Meg liked this job.

Once the kids ran off to play I did a little "strategic rearrangement" to place some of the more hideous crafts in less prominent positions (and was caught doing so by Country Boy!)

Here is our tree. I think it looks beautiful in front of the fireplace, though I didn't take a photo of the junk behind me. Hopefully it will all get done soon.

It is beginning to look a bit like Christmas at the farm house!

A Very Pinterest-ing Christmas

We are now in the process of unpacking and settling in at the farm. The girls are soooo eager to start decorating for Christmas (and so am I) and our goal for today is to finish our 2 living rooms so that we can set up the tree and decorate the house.

We have so much to do before Christmas, both to get ready for Christmas, and to set up our house. I haven't spent much time on the computer at all, but being on a bit of a Christmas meme at the moment (along with every other blogger) I am going to share some of the random "Christmassy" (is so a word) pins I love.

This looks like an easy last minute decorating idea. I have a 3 tier cake stand and heaps of baubles, so I may well do this tomorrow.

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Frozen Peppermint Cheese cake. Looks super yummy and really easy. Hello Christmas day dessert!

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I like this idea. We have heaps of pine cones lying around the farm, and pine trees too. The Country Boy has plenty of pots, so if I manage to get our veranda cleaned up before Christmas, I am going to do this!

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How great is this bunting???? There is no way that I will be doing it, but I love it!

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We don't have any stairs at the farm house, and after the recent mouse plague, I don't imagine this idea would go down very well anyway, but I still think this one is easy and very cute!

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Well after a week and a half of craziness, I am hoping to resume something approaching normalcy. We are starting to get the house in order, and ourselves sorted out. Thanks for all the messages of support!

I am linking up with TinaGray{dot}me for Piquing My Pinterest. If you enjoy my blog, you can follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest (so many options!). Thanks for stopping by!

Last Days

Today is Hannah's last day at school! And because we are going to the farm (tonight) its her last, last day at her school. Last days are always a bit emotional, and I am feeling sad already, but am trying not to let her know so that she is free to feel what ever she wants to...

I know that she is sad to be leaving her friends. I know because she has been difficult and teary all week - like she can't quite put her finger on what the problem is. She has said many times that she doesn't want to leave her friends.

At her school, all the children who are leaving are "clapped out" on their final day. Lead by the year 6 kids they walk through a tunnel of hands made by the other children who then clap them good bye! I imagine that there will be tears, not only from Hannah, but from me too!

When we started planning this experiment, we thought of all the good things that would come from it. More space, a simpler life (ha), more freedom to raise our family the way we want to. Sure we thought of some of the down sides too, but I guess I just skated over them a bit in my head.

I know we are doing the right thing. It is going to be great. The Country Boy is already down on the farm waiting for us to join him. We can't wait to actually be there. I just want the good byes to be over.

Think of us today....

Things I Will Miss About The Mountains

With only a few days left until our move I have been reflecting on all the good things I love about living in the mountains. Even though I have lived my whole life here, I know that I am privileged to have lived in such a beautiful part of Australia, which has the best of both the city and the country.

So here is my list of things I will miss when we leave the mountains:

Going To The Shops And Knowing Half The People
Everywhere we go we run into friends and acquaintances. If I don't know some one personally, they may introduce themselves as a friend of my sister/mother, or someone who baby sat me etc. There are people from various activities I did as a child, friends of friends, people I went to school with. Often when I visit my parents, one of them will say "I saw so and so the other day... did you know that...". Suffice to say that the community is big enough to accommodate lots of activities etc, but small enough to know lots of people. After 35 years, there are a lot of people I know!

Knowing All The Local Characters.
We have "super walking man" who walks for 3 hours every morning, and by whom you can set your clock to. There is the guy who has strapped a giant stereo system to his mobility scooter, and drives along the foot path twice every Sunday, playing hymns at high volume. We know which houses have the amazing Christmas lights each year, and which houses have the scary dogs.


Garage Sales

The mountains have the most awesome garage sales. Lots of quality books, toys, kids clothes, antiques, and craft stuff. My girls each have several brand name dresses that would have cost $60-$80 new, and I got them for $5 each! There is no way I would buy a white dress for $80, but $5 is no problem. Not sure how I will dress my kids once we move!

Great Schools
Our area has a fabulous little primary school. It is small enough that the principal know every kid, but large enough to provide opportunities like dance group, and band tuition. The teachers are all fantastic, and the school is very much at the center of the community.

Convenience
The mountains may not be the city, but it is easy to get almost anything you need within a 15 minute drive. We have a 24 hour service station for late night milk runs. There are several large shopping centers not too far away, but there is not much traffic. It really is the best of both worlds. It will be an hour round trip for milk once we get to the farm!

Good Friends Who I Have Known For Ever
Many of our friends I have known since I was a kid. They know all my "back story". They know my faults but are gracious enough to overlook them and be my friend anyway.

Supportive Family Close By
My parents and one of my sisters live near by. Our kids spend a lot of time together, and my parents are very involved in all their grand kids lives. They are always willing to mind the kids if we need to do something or if we just need some time off.

After reading through my list, I am not really sure that I want to move at all. I am going from all that is comfortable and known, to the unknown. In my first ever post, I talked about how our tree change would be a bit of an experiment... but I am starting to think that it will be a much bigger experiment than I imagined... stay tuned to see how it goes.

Doing The Limbo

We are into our limbo week.

We have moved out of our house, our stuff is all down on the farm in various states of unpackedness (that is definitely a word!), and our house in the mountains just needs a final clean out before our new tenants move in on Thursday.

I have to work until next Tuesday, before I am officially on maternity leave again (no I am NOT pregnant, but more on that later), and the NSW Education Department in its infinite wisdom doesn't end the school year for students until Friday. This means that Hannah won't finish school till then. I know we could pull her out early, but it is important to her to finish off the school year, and as she will already be quite stressed with the move, we want her to end the year at her old school.

Hence we still need to be in the mountains, but don't have a house, so we are camping at my parents house.

Being the last week of school, we have Christmas concerts, parties, etc for both girls. Some where in among all the fun, we also need to get some jobs done. I have a long list of things I need to buy, and because I don't know my way around the nearest large town to do shopping, I am going to try to buy it all in an hour after work!

No doubt this week will be full of chaos, and too many takeaway meals. But at the end of it, we get to go back to the farm and start to settle in.

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

Hello from the country!

It has been quite an exhausting few days. The weather looked like it was going to awful, but miraculously it wasn't.

We loaded up on Friday and drove down on Friday night - The farm truck and trailer, plus 3 cars and 3 trailers. It was quite the convoy. Meg started asking were we there yet 10 minutes after we pulled out of the driveway (it was a 4 hour drive), but with some Christmas music to sing along to and a stop to get some chips half way there, we eventually made it down, and slept at my in laws house.

Today we unloaded everything and have started to get stuff unpacked, but we have a long way to go. Plenty of stories to tell you all once I have time to sit down properly.

Tomorrow we head back up to the Mountains to finish cleaning out our house, before our tenant move in on Thursday. Both Hannah and I will finish up the school year, staying at my parents house, before we move down here permanently next weekend.

Almost too tired to type. Thanks for all your good wishes!

See You On The Flipside...

Well this is it! This is the week where it all happens, and I can't believe it is actually happening!! (lots of exclamation marks!!!)

I started blogging back in July about our move to the country and all our preparations that we were making. Back then it seemed so far away, yet here we are. I have written over 100 posts about all sorts of things. I've planned and organised as much as humanly possible, but now it is time launch the experiment.

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Needless to say, moving house whilst trying to work full time, and with the myriad of other distractions going on is hard. Throw blog writing into the mix and I may end up in the foetal position. So for nest few days, I will be somewhat absent. If I find myself with a spare half hour (ha!) I may write something, or I may just go to bed! Either way, I will be taking lots of photos, and will keep you up to date on Facebook, and I will write soon from The Country!!

Wish me luck!

Easy Stained Glass Windows For Christmas

One thing that I love to do with the kids each year is to make a stained glass window. Last year we got super creative and did a huge elaborate picture of the star over Bethlehem, which I forgot to take a photo of so you will have to take my word when I say it was beautiful. Back on track...

I was talking to a friend at church on Sunday, telling her about the stained glass windows, so she could have a go with her grand-kids. We haven't tried doing one yet, with our house move, but I may try it once we are down there, if we are in need of an activity!

You will need:
Black cardboard
Sharp scissors or a scalpel
Contact (sticky backed plastic)
Multicoloured cellophane, cut into small squares

1. Draw a simple design on the cardboard, making sure that it is centered well with black card surrounding it.
2. Cut out the center, leaving a "hole" the shape of a star or whatever you have cut out (this part is best done in advance by an adult).
3. Peel the contact off its backing paper and apply it to the whole of the black card, so that the sticky bit is exposed where you cut the hole.
4. Place the cellophane squares all over the contact so that it is completely covered.
5. Stick it on your window and let the light shine through it!

Once you have the idea, you can go as big and creative as you feel like. Let your imagination run wild. This is one my sister did with her kids last year! The photo doesn't do it justice, but you get the idea!

Does this make me a craft blogger???

Linking up with Jess for IBOT. Check out who else blogs on Tuesdays!

So Long, Farewell, Goodbye...

We are in our final week in the mountains and the goodbyes have started.

Yesterday we said goodbye to our church family. The Country Boy and I have been going to our church since before we had children, so our children have grown up going there with many of the other children who attend, and it really does feel like an extension of our family.

Over the years we have been involved in small groups, youth groups, and many other activities that our church ran. We have met so many wonderful people who have been role models for us in how to raise our children. We have been supported through good and bad times in our lives. We love that we could meet with like minded people each week to encourage each other. We have many good friends, who we hope will visit us on the farm, but it won't be the same as seeing them every week.

When we move to the country we are not sure where we will go to church. There are several options we will need to check out once we are settled.

I hate goodbyes, and saying goodbye to so many people left me emotionally exhausted. I imagine, though, that this was the first of many!

Pinteresting Ways to Wrap Your Presents

In among the madness of moving house next weekend, I have been perusing pinterest so that I can ignore the chaos around me, and finding inspiration for Christmas (like every other blogger - I know I'm not original). For this weeks link up, I am sharing some of the creative ideas I have found to wrap your Christmas gifts. If you have the time to make it beautiful, why not? My presents will most likely be wrapped in leftover old news papers recycled from our house move, but the thought will be there at least!

This looks relatively easy. Love the classic brown paper, with an over lay of printed paper. A bit of double sided tape and some ribbon, and I think I could master this one fairly easily!

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Here's another variation on the brown paper theme. I love the cut out snow flakes. I thought that you could cut your own from card, or use a paper doily instead to achieve a similar effect.

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This is yet another brown paper wrapping. I love the idea of the coloured confetti being glued along a line. I also thought that you could use just reds and greens to make it look more "Christmassy"

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Love the idea of using a Christmas decoration as part of the wrapping of the present!

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Using several types of ribbon looks fantastic and is sooo easy!

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This one looks very impressive, but I would want to have a die cutter because I am too impatient to cut it out by hand.

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You can find these and more great pins I have found at my Pinterest boards. You can also follow me on facebook or twitter. Thanks for stopping by!

I'm linking up with Tina Gray {dot} me for Piquing My Pinterest and 5 minutes just for me for Pinning and Singing

5 Great Presents For Teachers

One of my good friends messaged me the other day, asking me about what would be a good present for a teacher. Being a teacher myself, I guess she thought I may be an authority on the issue. The truth is as a teacher in a public high school, presents are a little thin on the ground, though I have received a few. I have also been buying presents for my children's teachers for a few years now.

It is worth keeping in mind that teachers are unable to accept presents over a certain value as it poses ethical issues (just in case you were going for the aged scotch).

No teacher expects gifts from their student, but all teachers really love a small token gift - even a hand made card is lovely*. So if a teacher has made a difference in your child's life, and you would like to show your appreciation, here are 5 gifts that a teacher would enjoy.

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1. Christmas decorations for their tree - the good about Christmas decorations is that you can always put another one on the tree. Unlike candles, you can put them away for the rest of the year. My mother, who also was a teacher, has some decorations given to her by students over the years which she still puts on her tree. Each year she gets them out and remembers the child who gave each one to her. If you would rather your child not be remembered, don't give this one! (This is what I always give).

2. A charity donation - Why not buy your teacher a chicken, or something else that is useful in third world countries. Samaritans Purse and World Vision are 2 charities that we support that provide "gift" catalogues. By the time Miss Jones has been given 22 candles, she may be thrilled with a gift that makes a difference!

3. Homemade biscuits / mini Christmas cake in a terracotta pot / something yummy to eat - How can you go wrong with some nice food? Just avoid foods that people have strong reactions to like pate. Most people like biscuits/cakes/jams/chocolates etc, and if Mr Brown gets given lots of food, he can always share it with his family and friends over the Christmas period (the Country Boy agrees with this sentiment).

4. Coffee and accessories - Most teachers drink tea or coffee (a lot). Some of my colleagues wish it was possible to have coffee intravenously! Why not wrap up A coffee cup, some fair-trade coffee or tea, or some fancy instant flavoured lattes (I am the only teacher I know who doesn't drink coffee!)?.

5. Bath bombs, soaps, or similar. In someways this seems a bit boring, but soap is useful, and can be used up. A pamper pack might be the perfect antidote to the stresses of the last few weeks of the school year, with it's concerts, parties, assemblies, and reports to organise.

My over all advice is to give things that can be used up or are in someway useful. There really are only so many inspirational quotes and candles that a teacher needs. If you really appreciated what the teacher has done with your child, write this in the card. I know that the cards I have received with notes from the parents also, have meant a lot more to me than any fancy gift.


* I once got a card from a special needs student which read
Dear Miss,
Happy Christmas. 
You are my second favourite teacher... Miss Smith is my favourite 
Love from...
(I guess second is better than third or fourth - I still have the card)

How We Celebrate Christmas

So I was stalking reading through Tina Gray {dot} me the other day and I saw this post from last year where she answered preset questions about how she celebrated Christmas. Tina then invited others to write a similar post and put the link in her comments.

Admittedly I may be a little late to the party (better late than never), but here is how we celebrate Christmas in the Country household

Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?  Hot Chocolate all the way, though when it is hot, I really prefer a nice cold drink rather than Hot Chocolate

Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?  As I have written about before Santa doesn't visit our house.  We do wrap all our presents and put them under the tree. I always hide the kids gifts until after they go to bed on Christmas Eve, then I put them out so they are so excited when they wake up.

Coloured lights on tree/house or white? Well this is an bone of contention... I love Christmas lights on houses. I want the white "classy" understated lights, whilst the Country Boy doesn't want any. Last year I bought some and after I struggled to drag the ladder out and tried to master my fear of heights, Country Boy took pity on me and reluctantly put up some across the front of the house. 2 weeks later we had an almighty hail storm which knocked all the lights down. CB refused to put them back up, and I couldn't be bothered. 

This year, there really isn't much point putting them on the house, and I don't think there is much chance of getting Country Boy to put them on the silo.

Do you hang mistletoe? No. I love to collect Christmas bush and put it in vases around the house. When we were in England I collected lots of holly and made some wreathes.

When do you put your decorations up? We always do the tree on the first weekend in December, regardless of the date. The weekend just suits us better than having to do it on December 1 if it's a week day. This year we won't be putting it up till about December 17 after we have finished move.

What is your favourite holiday dish? Anything I don't have to cook is always fabulous. Last year my sister in law and her partner hosted Christmas lunch. We had a beautiful turkey with all the trimmings and that was pretty fantastic.


Favourite Holiday memory as a child? My mother has a Candle fan which she bought in Germany with the nativity on it. Every year we would light the candles and watch the shepherds and wise men gallop in and out of the stable. It was always the center piece of Christmas lunch.
When we went to Germany I bought my own Candle fan which is now the centre piece of our table.


When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I never believed in Santa.


Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? On Christmas Eve we go to church for the carol service. I love singing all our favorite carols and catching up with friends afterwards. We then drive past houses with Christmas lights on the way home. 

How do you decorate your Christmas tree? I love my decor to be coordinated but with 3 kids it is not always possible (read never possible). I have also collected Christmas ornaments from our travels around the world. We always get out those decorations and tell the kids about where we got them and remember what we did while we were there. Christmas decorations make the best souvenirs.


Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it. We had a white Christmas in 2001 when we were living in England and it was beautiful, though cold. What was difficult was the idea of staying inside all day. There were heaps of good movies on TV and at first I couldn't understand why, but after being inside with relatives all day, I could see the appeal! To be honest though, Snow is not really an issue at Christmas time in Australia - I also love a hot Christmas!


Can you ice skate? No. I am gentically predisposed to be terrible at all activities requiring coordination of my limbs.


Do you remember your favourite gift? I really don't remember many of the gifts from when I was very little. I do remember being super excited about my "Ghetto Blaster" with 2 (Thats right: 2) tape decks. I think I might have been about 13 by then.


What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Spending time with friends and family celebrating the birth of Jesus


What is your favourite Holiday Dessert? I don't really like pudding. A pavlova is always good. 


What is your favourite holiday tradition? We have lots. I love going for a drive to look at the Christmas lights with the kids. I try to do some Christmas crafts with them, and some cooking. I just love spending time together as a family with some common projects. This year I think we may have to skip a few of them with our move though!


What tops your tree? A star to remind us of the star that lead the wise men to Jesus


Which do you prefer giving or receiving? I love planning what I am going to give each person. Having said that, I love receiving a present too!


What is your favourite Christmas Song? Mary's Boy Child


Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum? I can take or leave them. They look pretty but I really don't love them that much!


Favourite Christmas Show? When I was a kid I remember watching all kinds of Christmas specials leading up to Christmas (He Man Christmas Special???) but there are 2 which really stick in my memory. "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" had Hotlips from MASH in it - and was really cute.


My sisters and I repeatedly watched "A Mom for Christmas" with Olivia Newton John. It was really B grade, but we always hung tooth brushes on my mums Christmas tree after seeing it. I'm not sure my mum appreciated it.


Saddest Christmas Song? Wish you were here, by Melinda Schneider


So there you have it: how the the Country family celebrates Christmas. What things do you always do at Christmas time?