Precipitation In The Form Of Ice Crystals

We have snow! The UK has been bathed in the white stuff for the last 3 weeks on and off, but it has avoided our neck of the woods until now. The youngest three children were due back at school today after the Christmas break (Ben returned on Monday much to his disgust) but we had a snow day! It's hillarious that our country falls into chaos with a couple of inches of snow. There was only one mission on the agenda today: find a hill and slide down it!

Here's a video of Rosie with her friend, showing the boys how it's done:

And here is Ethan (at the front) crashing with style:

Battle Of The Rocker

My niece Olivia loves Noah's dancing in this post so much she watches it over and over. She recently sent us a video of her rocking out to Muse... the battle is on! Here's a clip of Noah dancing while I cooked dinner:

Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot

Dear Jay,
I'm sorry it's taken so long to post about our Christmas festivities! We basically opened presents...

...and played Band Hero all afternoon. Amy was on form singing Kung Fu Fighting (and may kill me for posting this!):

I cooked a gorgeous roast and we ate plenty of chocolate in between.

Boxing Day was spent visiting Leah's family for food and Beatles Rock Band (see a theme here?!). Mum knew all the songs of course and totally relived her concert going days! We missed you guys not being there to share the madness. The day ended with James taking to his bed with Man Flu where he stayed for 4 nights and 3 days.

He arose on the 4th day (probably a stone lighter) in time to welcome in the new year at the Cockram's house. The children managed to stay up all night (James managed to nap on their sofa for a while!) and crashed when we got home at 1:30. For the first time ever they all slept in the next day! I know... my kids sleeping in! Noah and Ben got up at 9:00, and Ethan and Rosie were out until after 10:00. We opted to stay in bed rather than to go to the New Year's Day ward football match, it was much warmer and safer that way!

Happy New Year to you all,

Love Naomi xxx

You're Welcome

Orange & Cream Cheese Mince Pies

Ingredients:
450g/1lb plain flour
150g/5oz icing sugar
350g/12oz chilled unsalted butter, diced
Grated rind and juice of 1 orange
Milk for glazing
Icing sugar for dusting

Filling:
Mincemeat
225g/8oz cream cheese
30ml/2tbsp caster sugar

Method:

1. Sift flour and icing sugar into bowl and rub in butter until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add orange rind and stir in just enough orange juice to moisten, gather into a ball and wrap in cling film. Chill for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to Gas 8 or 230c. Beat together cream cheese and caster sugar. Roll out pastry to thickness of 3mm. Using a 7.5cm/3in fluted cutter stamp out rounds and fit in bun trays. Half fill each with mincemeat and top with a tsp of the cream cheese mixture.
3. Use a 5cm/2in cutter to stamp out lids. Brush edges of the filled pastry cases with milk then set the rounds on top. Cut a small steam vent in the top of each.
4. Glaze the pies lightly with milk. Bake for about 15 minutes until golden. Cool for 10 minutes and transfer to a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

If you have time to make your own mincemeat it's really simple:

Mincemeat

Ingredients:
1 ½ lb cooking apples
8 oz vegetable suet
2 lb mixed dried fruit (e.g. sultanas, raisins, currants)
10 oz brown sugar
Juice and grated rind of 1 lemon
4 tbsp orange juice
½ tsp mixed spice

Cook sliced apple with no water until mushy. When cool add remaining ingredients and leave overnight before use. Freezes well.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

...your branches green delight us! It's finally Christmas in the Miles household, all is well.

Random

Ethan's Christmas present arrived in quite possibly the most oversized packaging I've ever seen! The box is deeper than it looks and it took me a while to actually find the thing!

Getting The Christmas Spirit

This morning I watched Ethan's class Nativity. (He's behind Mary's left shoulder slightly shadowed!) As the children attend the village Church of England school they get to use the church along the road. I always feel there is something special about being in an old church with stained glass windows, sitting on a hard pew listening to carols echoing from the tall ceiling. As much as I love them, LDS churches just aren't built the same! Today I finally felt festive.

Yesterday Noah had his Christmas production (I guess that's what they call them these days) and it focused on Christmas celebrations throughout the world before ending with the traditional Nativity. His class had the country of Australia and after singing 'Kookaburra' they finished with 'Sun Arise', complete with actions. It was the sweetest thing and it really touched me... maybe because I used to sing it when I was a child!

At Laaaaaaaast!

I knew it would get worse before it got better, but I didn't think the stress would be so bad! I have spent the last 3 1/2 weeks moving boxes and furniture from one upturned room to the next, and back again. Monday mornings are bad at the best of times, but this week I had to clear the living room and move all the furniture into the centre of the room BEFORE I took the children to school!
When the workmen leave each afternoon I spend an hour cleaning dust and mess to make my home habitable for the evening, only to do it all again the next day. The weekend before last was a treat, it was full of highs and then an awesome low... I think lack of sleep and illness played a large part! I left home Friday night in a minibus of youth for our temple trip, and returned Saturday afternoon. A short while later we set off for west Wales to meet our new niece Beth and witness her blessing. Isn't she adorable?The children had so much fun meeting up with their cousins and we enjoyed an early Christmas meal with the family. We returned home late Sunday night and after putting the children to bed, had to empty our bedroom (I seem to be able to store a lot of things in a very small house!) and take the bed apart as we had the builders coming first thing to replace the floor. After 19 hours of travelling over the weekend and very little sleep I was just about done with everything... and may have let a few tears loose!

As of this morning the last of the building and decorating is finished! Hurrah! The only thing we have to wait for now is the new carpet, and that won't be here in time for Christmas, but I am finally able to put up our Christmas tree and get cooking... orange mince pies, here I come!

Baby Boy

My little man is five! Noah is our last baby and he has been a wonderful child to raise. Noah started life kicking and screaming (the back of his head had been cut by the surgeon’s knife) but he was soon sleeping and eating well and observing the passing world and loud siblings without much fuss.

A year later he still had the perfect cheeks to smother in kisses:
Noah turned two in Provo when we visited Auntie Jay and Uncle Nate. He had a stomach bug and didn’t eat anything that day, but he had fun in the snow:
I still see those cheeks at three:

By the age of four Noah had mastered the art of getting away with anything by saying 'I wove you the bestest mummy!':

Today Noah is sick again, he has a cold and cough but he carries on like he always has, with smiles and enthusiasm (but with a voice to rival Barry White!) He paused halfway through opening a present to wipe his nose... I don't think I could have done that! Happy Birthday Noah!

Bah Humbug!

I love to put up my Christmas tree on the first of December, but until the ceiling gets fixed and the carpets replaced I can't. But I did not spend the last few weeks sewing tree decorations for nothing... here's my sad little contribution to the festive season: