And so this was Christmas .....

Well Grandies I hear you've all been good and Father Christmas made it safely to your houses.

Jasmine, Tamika and Angus I'm glad you all had a nice day.  By the time Nan & Pop got to call, you were tucked up safely in bed after a very busy day out and about so we talked to Daddy and Mummy and they told us all about your day.  I hope you got lots of lovely presents for Christmas and you liked your presents from Nan & Pop as well. We look forward to seeing some of your photos soon. You all look lovely in this photo Mummy sent us. I'm glad the clothes fitted you well.

Isaac and Talia I hear you had a great Christmas Day and Father Christmas and Mummy & Daddy brought you lots of lovely presents too. It was nice that you were able to see Gramps and Granny for lunch and  you caught up with your cousins earlier in the morning.  I hope you can use your new bag for child care Isaac !!!! I think you'll be able to carry lots of things in it.

Nan and Pop had a lovely Christmas. We missed you all but we celebrated the day with U/Darius, A/Kristi and Lucian who came to visit us here in the UAE. 

Here's a few photos from U/Darius and Nan, telling you the story of our Christmas this year.

This digital slideshow created with Smilebox

Hi there.......

Hi Grandies, Nan is just waiting for Darius, Kristi & Lucian to arrive. They are on the plane right now and will be here tonight.


I hope you're all being good before Christmas as Santa will be coming on Saturday night.  What have you asked Santa for? Have you all been good?

Pop has been good so I think there might be a small present under the tree for him on Christmas Day.

Preparations for Christmas .......

You might be saying, "What are you doing over there Nan & Pop"? Well, we're working at a College teaching English and on the weekends we're getting ready for Christmas. 


You saw us trimming the tree so now I have to finish writing my Christmas cards and Christmas newsletter and decide what I'm going to cook for Christmas Eve and Christmas lunch this year. 


On Christmas Eve every year Pop & I have a  party at our house.   We invite a lot of people from work, our friends and neighbours to come over to our house. We have lots of food then we sing Christmas Carols by candle light outside in the garden. 


This year U/Darius, A/ Kristi and Lucian will be here to join in with us. 

This little girl is waiting for Father Christmas.  She looks a lot like me(Nan) when I was her age. I use to have plaits just like her.

Talia Maye .....

And here's Talia getting into the Christmas spirit as well.

A snowy Isaac......

Here's Isaac in his theatre bugs costume.

Doesn't he look cute?

Father Christmas ..........

Jasmine, Tamika & Angus

A popup Christmas tree to make .....

You might like to make this pop up Christmas tree with Mum or Dad and decorate it with your own special  ornaments made of felt .........

What you need

Paper Plate

Crayons, Markers or Paint

Paper or Craft Foam Stickers

Sticky Back Felt for Kids to Cut Their Own Tree Trims (optional)

Pencil

Ruler

Scissors

What you do

1. With the paper plate right side up, fold the bottom edge toward the top edge less than half way - as shown.

2. On the larger half of the bottom side of the plate, mark the center at the top and at the fold, and draw a light line to show the center.

3. Using the center line as a guide, draw a Christmas tree so it is pretty centered on the large half of the plate. It doesn't need to be perfect.

Make the tree trunk nice and wide.

4. On the bottom side of the plate, color the tree green and the trunk brown or black.

It doesn't matter if colors go outside the lines because that part will be cut off.

5. Cut around the tree and across the middle of the plate on the lines where it says cut (see above photo).

Do NOT cut across the bottom of the tree trunk.

6. Lay the plate flat with the green side of the tree up, and decorate it with stickers, stars, etc.

7. After the tree is all decorated, turn the plate right side up (with the green side of the tree face down) and at the base of the tree trunk, gently fold the paper plate pop up Christmas tree up and toward the plate half.

8. If the tree doesn't lean back slightly, make the crease a little sharper - but not so much that the tree lays flat.

A paper plate pop up Christmas tree makes a cute decoration, and your kids will be proud of their creation!

9. The small wrapped gift box is made from a Christmas card. 

Oh Christmas tree.......

Nan & Pop putting the angel on top of the tree

This weekend Nan & Pop put their Christmas tree up.


 Have Mummy & Daddy put yours up yet?

 It took a long time but now our house looks ready for Christmas Day.  Pop had to go in under the stairs and get out the Christmas decoration boxes. Pushkin and Mushu wanted to help and they kept getting into the cupboard to find somewhere to hide. We had to make sure they weren't stuck in the cupboard before we closed the door. 

The Christmas tree angel on our tree is very special because great Nan made it for me.

Here are some pictures of some of the decorations on our tree.

We even have a camel that has a red nose.  I think he's pretending to be Rudolf the red nosed reindeer.

Rudolf the red nosed Camel !!

Nan had to sit down after putting up the tree.

What is your favourite Christmas tree decoration? 

Christmas is coming soon....

Hi 'Grandies' Christmas is coming soon and I thought you might like to see this video.

I hope you enjoy it.  Nan & Pop did.

Sisters ........

This picture was taken when Jasmine and Tamika came to stay over at Nan & Pop's holiday house this year. 

Having fun.....

I love this photo of Talia and Isaac playing together.

 I think they must have been having fun don't you?

UAE National Day

Tomorrow, December 2nd, is the 40th National Day here in the UAE where we live.  It's also Aunty Laura's(Mummy's) birthday so that's how Nan remembers the date.

National day is a bit like Australia Day in Australia where everyone celebrates their special country. Children all around the world love where they live because they were born there.

On Australia Day there is a big parade in the city and everyone waves an Australian flag.

Well here in the UAE the children dress up in the colours of their flag which are black, red, green and white. Some people put coloured ribbons and stickies on their cars and it's like a big party.

Nan and Pop are teachers and we teach adults how to speak English. Yesterday they were allowed to bring their children and we dressed up and had a party at the College with their Dads.

Here are some pictures of some of the children.

The boy at the top has a flag painted onto his left cheek and some hearts painted onto his right cheek.

The girls look cute in their special dresses

Can you see Pop in his special clothes as well?  It was lots of fun to dress up for the special party.

Happy Birthday to you......

Happy 3rd Birthday Lucian

with lots of love 
from Nan & Pop xxx

Camel races

Well Nan and Pop went to the camel races near where we live last Friday morning.  We had to get up at 6 o'clock to get there nice and early as the camels only like racing when the weather is cool. We got to the racing track and there were hundreds of camels all waiting to take there turn at racing around the track.  They all had colourful coats on and most of them were well behaved. They use to have small boys riding the camels but these days they have little robots on their backs.  

I think this camel was watching me. Maybe he didn't like having his photo taken.

Before the races the camels have to sit down and a man sprays some paint onto the camels necks to give them a number. The numbers are written in Arabic. How many camel necks can you count.

Spraying on the paint

 The men that look after the camels (the handlers) hold them still until the race begins. Can you see the little robots on the camels backs?

Camels and their robots

 Then it was time for the camels to race. The handlers had to run as fast as they could to get out of the way of the racing camels. Would you like to be a handler? I don't think I would.

The race began.

 When the race was over the handlers put a muzzle over the camels mouth so they can't bite him.  Do you think he looks handsome?

We had a fun time at the races.

The cat came back....

Well Nan has some good news for you all,  Mushu has come home and he and Pushy are together again.  They are very happy to see one another.  Mushu is exploring our house again as he has been away for a whole week.

A little while ago Pop heard the doorbell go and the children from the house next door said,  "I think we've found your cat, he's hiding under a table in our garden".

Pop went to have a look and there was Mushu  very frightened and scared because he'd left our house and he knows he shouldn't have.

He ran inside the house and he's been eating and eating and drinking and drinking because he's very hungry and thirsty.


Now he has gone to have a sleep on his favourite chair.

Hi there .......

This blog is for my favourite little people, Jasmine, Tamika, Angus, Isaac, Talia and Lucian. Pop writes a blog for the grown ups and Nan thought that you might like one too.  You can read what we've been doing and then with Mum & Dad's help you could write back to me.

Here's a picture of Pushkin.  The other day I went to my sewing box and when I turned around Pushkin jumped into the box and thought he was going to have a sleep !!! The box was a bit small for him so he soon jumped out and I could put the lid back on the boxagain.

Pop and I are a bit sad at the moment because Mushu our other cat has gone missing......he hasn't been home for 3 nights and we are getting worried that someone may have thought he was a nice cat and took him home.

Pop and I are doing fine and Nan's sister Aunty Pam and her husband Uncle Keith are here visiting this week. We're having lots of fun doing sister things together whilst Pop and Uncle Keith have enjoyed a rest.

Tomorrow we're going to the camel races so I will send you some pictures next time I write.

I hope you like having your own blog from Nan & Pop.  

Chat soon (((hugggs)))