One night on the run up to Christmas...

...I took the girls into Cairns City.  MrL was having some Christmas drinks at work and both Monet and Lily were keen to see some of the lights around the traps.  I wanted to see the giant Christmas tree the council had set up at the Lagoon, so that was our first port of call.  

After a McDonalds dinner (as you do) and a mandatory Baskin Robbin's ice cream, it was time to pose next to the beautiful tree.

We drove home, the long way, via a couple of suburbs which I had read on the internet, that had some cool Christmas lights.  Both girls oohed and ahhed at particular homes.

And then we came to this house.

Rhonda and Barry had done a spectacular job on their yard.  (And no, I do not know Rhonda nor Barry but I had heard it took a good three months to set it all up!  Heck!!)  The lights all flashed in time to particular music and was pretty special, truth be told.  The girls loved it and Lily's face seriously lit up and she didn't want to leave.  It was nice to see some Christmas Spirit after spending previous Christmases in a Muslim country.

A Poorly Christmas

We had plans this year to spend Christmas Day lunch at the Saadiyat Gold Club with a handful of friends, but the four people in this household had to cancel.

Monet was ill for four days, which wasn't fun for the seven year old.  The 'four day tummy bug' has been going around and it seems to have missed the rest of us here, which is a good thing.  Lily though has a sore throat and a head cold and a voice that sounds like Donald Duck, but she is now slowly on the mend after sharing the head cold with me.  She's been sleeping solidly which is fabulous, considering on her first night of a sore throat she was awake and crying after every sleep cycle (ie. every 40 minutes).

Santa still dropped off presents for our girls, which was just as well!  It took Lily a little convincing that 'Santa' wasn't hanging around downstairs when she came down and then after she spied what he had left,  spent the rest of the day saying that 'Santa is a good boy'.  Her little wooden kitchen was a hit.  Monet laid on the couch as MrL put together a beautiful little dolls house for her, poor poppet.

One positive thing, living in a Muslim country is that all the shops are open on Christmas Day.  So as we cancelled our Christmas Lunch outing, MrL went and bought a rolled pork, a chicken, a bottle of champagne and other bits and bobs.  So whilst the girls napped, and both without appetite, MrL and I sat and drank and ate.

A very different Christmas and we will look back in years to come and talk about Christmas 2011.

This following photo was taken at a Christmas Party a week previously.  

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and everyone was fit and healthy, which is more than what I can say about my little family here in Abu Dhabi.  =)

Christmas in the UAE...

For a Muslim country, the UAE sure know how to decorate a Christmas tree.  Santa even comes and visits but shhh, we won't tell Lily - she is not a fan of the man in red.  Trust me, we've caught a couple of glimpses this week of him and she is definitely not a fan!

But that hasn't stopped her requesting that he comes and visits in a few nights time...

My first, like, you know, 'Proper' Market Stall.

Well,with a bit of nervousness and much determination, I had my first market stall last Friday. I put my lovingly made skirts 'out there' for the public to ponder through.

I had been invited by someone to sell my skirts at a Christmas Bazaar, held in the area we live in, between the three current compounds. I jumped at the chance and got myself organised in the week leading up to the event.

As MrL had to work in the morning of the market (which ran from 10am till Midday), it was I who had to work out how to get my skirt rack from our villa to where it needed to be and organise two young girls to come with me.  I need not have worried - IKEA furniture is made to come apart and with a spare Allen Key (which I found in MrL's tool box), I had disassembled the rack and put it up again!

The Market itself was rather quiet, but busy enough for me to sell 10 skirts within those two hours.  Not a bad couple of hours work.  The girls were really well behaved, entertaining themselves with some snacks I had brought along and a couple of toys they had brought along.  My mate Kaz visited and entertained the girls for half an hour or so which was greatly appreciated.

This Thursday evening I am having another stall at the British Embassy Christmas Market.  I am actually looking forward to it and hopefully I will sell quite a few skirts to justify that extra glass of wine I will indulge in at our 'Abu Dhabi Family' Christmas party on Friday evening....

Here I Am...

...in Victoria, Australia. It is a long way from Abu Dhabi but my girls have handled it very well. Our plane flight over was rather uneventful, bar the fact that after one sleep Monet had, she woke up feeling ill and consequently had a little vomit. Noice.

I've been staying at my parents whilst waiting for Lyndon to arrive next weekend, when we will then stay at Lyndon's folks. (Our parents don't live too far apart.)

In the meanwhile we've been busy taking it easy. We've been rugged up...

...had some delightful bath times...

...put up Christmas trees....

...had nice time just doin' stuff...

...watched our little Lily growing just a little bit older...

...and missing our Lyndon. (No need to really, we just look at Lily and see her father staring back at us!)

Boxed On

Hope you all had a great Christmas, as we did.  We spent the day here and the evening joining some neighbours (who HAVE furniture!) and belted out tunes via SingStar on the PS3.   I have a feeling come New Year's Eve, in our street, there is going to be a 'UAE Idol'.  *heehee*

Yesterday we decided to venture into Abu Dhabi and visit a couple of Hotels to enjoy a drink or two, plus do a spot of shopping.  We headed to Marina Mall initially, and then went to Abu Dhabi Mall (bit bigger than Marina Mall).  The thing about Abu Dhabi Mall is that it is squished between two hotels, (read in between the lines here readers.  Hotels are the only public places in this country that serve alcohol.  No bars lining the streets here.  You have to enter the Hotels to enjoy bars/pubs etc.,), The Beach Rotana and the Le Meridien Hotel.

At The Beach Rotana, we enjoyed the Brauhaus section of the Hotel.  Ahh, a nice German Pub serving icy cold, genuine German beers...

...and German nosh.  Of course.

After a feed we made our way 200 meters down the road to the Le Meridien.  Here we had a good look around (amazing little place this one) then continued on to enjoy (another) cool beer, sitting in the sunshine, whilst Monet watched the tourists swimming in the pool...

It was then time to have a little shop in the Mall (lucky me bought some new Birkenstocks, my Christmas present).  

Now, catching the taxi home was an adventure in itself, let me tell you!  (It is not at all recommended to have a drink and drive in the UAE, even if you are under the limit.  They have zero tolerance here.  If you get caught with any alcohol in your system when driving, you spend the evening in jail.  Best to catch taxis - they are very cheap!)  It was nice to drive along the city streets in the dark, the buildings lit up like?  like Christmas trees!  Lol!!

On the way home (I am NOT joking here) the taxi driver was going 140Km's an hour.  Oh my goodness.  They may have a zero tolerance against alcohol in this country but you can drive any bloody speed you like!  Go figure.  (There are signs all up over town and on highways saying about Speed cameras but everyone knows there really isn't any.  Police don't seem to be able to 'police' drivers here.)

Hope you had a relaxing Boxing Day too....

It is (Finally) Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas...

About time.

Since we (or anyone else, it seems) don't know where our Shipping Container full of OUR stuff is, we went and bought a Christmas tree and decorations yesterday.  Our little Christmas elf decorated it after I put it up.  A fine job she did too.  It kept her busy for a good 15 minutes...

 

Now, one must go and wrap up some presents and place them under the tree...

Hope all your Christmas plans are doing just that - going to plan.

Christmas 2007

Besides the youngest member of our household waking up feeling rather grumpy (a case of the all-too-muches, don't ask!) our Christmas Day was spent inside relaxing. I swear we spent the majority of the morning unwrapping gifts, after all, we do live interstate!

When we all first got up at the 'normal' hour of 7am, Monet rushed to see if the reindeer had eaten the carrots she had left out for them (they had), but when she first spied her bike her eyebrows frowned. Apparently, Monet wanted a 'Dora (The Friggin' Explorer)' Bike, NOT a Disney Princesses one. (Who knew!! Obviously not us! All she had requested was a bike, pink or red. And it had to have a basket on the front and streamers off the handles. We thought we had ticked all boxes, but according to Monet, Santa got it wrong..)

(Photo taken Boxing Day when someone was back to her cheerful self!)

When Monet first 'cracked it' Lyndon and I gave each other a knowing look meaning here we go! She was pretty much grumpy all day. She did have her moments, let me tell you!

She cheered up somewhat when Grandma and Grandad gave her an art easel and bits and bobs that are all arty to go with it. So that was fun.

Monet received numerous toys. Fisher Price Little People Plane and Caravan, as requested to Santa along with a requested Barbie car, numerous new books (Yay!!), a new doll and stroller and a My Little Pony baby horse which Monet cuddles and kisses like you wouldn't believe. Hopefully enough new stuff to satisfy her during the wet season when we're banged up inside all day! She also received gifts from my parent's friends which was really thoughtful and appreciated.

Lyndon and I got a few little things each, including a iPod shuffle (yippee!) and some money to put towards our Big Trip next year. That's why Lyndon and I didn't give each other anything (we usually don't anyway) as Lyndon picked up our plane tickets the other week when he was in Brisbane on business. (NO turning back from our trip now!)

We had a nice big (BIG) lunch which was washed down with a glass or two of champagne. I had no room in my tum for my traditional Trifle until about 9pm, when I scoffed a big bowl full. (Oh how I love Trifle!)

We all went for a dip in the pool later on in the afternoon then relaxed on the balcony with a cool drink or two.

It was nice to have my folks here to share in Monet's joy, which didn't really happen because she was pretty moody, alllll day. (But since then, Monet has been her normal good self!)

Can you believe Christmas is over for another year? I hope you all had a great, relaxing holiday. Who knows where Monet, Lyndon and I will be spending Christmas next year... *hmmm*

Little Bike Rider

So, the world has another bike rider and a very good one at that!

Santa brought for Monet (amongst other things) a bike. She had been asking for ages, along with a helmet ("so we can be safe"). I honestly didn't think she would pick it up so quick and I imagined ourselves at the park for days on end trying to encourage her to ride. How wrong I was.

This was shot (via my mobile phone's camera) yesterday, Boxing Day.

First go and she was basically off with a little help from her dad and under her Grandad's watchful eye, she was all under control.

I'm very proud and I'm sure Auntie Kim in London will be grinning from ear to ear...

Merry Christmas

These were the Christmas Cards I sent out this year. They still make me laugh.

One more sleep to go and then *drum roll please* it is Christmas Day. I hope you seriously all have a fantastic day, no matter what your beliefs are and no matter how you celebrate the day, just make sure you take it easy and enjoy the company of those you are with.

Monet is very excited, I too for that matter. We have so many pressies under, or should I say, surrounding the tree it isn't funny. I know a little girl who will be busy all day tomorrow with all her new things. I think Santa knows that Monet has been pretty good this year. *grin*

I have been busy already this morning. I have a chicken roasting in the oven which we'll eat tomorrow, the half leg of ham is positioned nicely in the fridge, I have made my 'layered salad', the trifle is half made and I am yet to go to the butchers to pick up my ordered rolled leg of pork (sorry all you Vegetarians out there!) I think I am just about organised.

So from all of us at biglittlesister, we wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas.

Thanks for visiting.

Oh yeah, one more thing, eat like it's going out of fashion! *heehee*

The One on the Right is Busy...

In the spirit of Christmas and today being Friday, here is a Flashback photo for you.

Can you guess which one is me? Yeah, the dark-headed Monet lookalike one. The one who looks sooooo excited and admittedly very cute (what happened?) I have a feeling this photo was taken before the final school concert of the year. I wasn't even three in this photo (it was taken in 1975), which means Kimbofo would've been in about grade Prep or 1. (My dad was a Headmaster at the local school that we both attended so the End-of-Year concert was a big thing for all of us. Mum included.)

I know that mum had painted the Santa picture behind Kimbofo and we had that plastic tree every Christmas until one year mum got sick of packing it up and piffed the whole thing (including most decorations) in the tip. I too hate 'un-decortaing' the tree because no one ever wants to do it. Oh yes, it's very exciting putting the thing up but pulling it down is a completely different story isn't it?

I have my parents arriving tomorrow afternoon for a two-odd week visit which we're all looking forward to. Especially Monet. That could be her in the above photo with the look on her face this morning, knowing there was only one more sleep to go before the arrival of her Grandma and Grandad. She's more excited about them visiting than Santa.

I am off grocery shopping this morning, hopefully to beat the crowds before the next few days, but I find my local 'Coles' not too busy at the best of times anyway so I should be right. I already have 'most' things bought, I really only need supplies. I'll be visiting 'Rusty's Fresh Produce Market' in the next day or so and then I'll be avoiding the supermarkets like the plague.

All presents have been bought now (I think) so I am feeling a little organised. Just need to do some final 'sprucing' before the folks arrive tomorrow and then I'll be sorted. I also have Lyndon's birthday to contend with before the weekend is out too. Busy, busy, busy...

How is your Christmas planning going along?

It's a Good Thing I Like Her...

Anyone would think that Nanna is on her way. Oh, that's right, she is.

Lyndon's mother is arriving tomorrow, alone (ie. without Poppy) for 8 days. We're all looking forward to her impending visit. In fact, we look forward to most people visiting, which is a good thing because two weeks after Marianne (Nanna) leaves my folks arrive for a 2-week stay. Christmas is a busy time isn't it? Around here it is anyway...

The spare bed is made, the balconies swept, the flywire cleaned (at long last!), the bathrooms are sparkling, the kitchen is spotless (I even cleaned out the cupboards! - *I know*), Nanna's favourite cereal is in the pantry and a bottle of her favourite wine is chilling in the fridge. We've booked the lovely Italian Restaurant down the road for tomorrow night and looked into visiting one of the large hotels up at Palm Cove on Saturday morning for Buffet Breakfast. (Yes, it is all about the food!)

Monet even decorated the Christmas Tree.

Not that you could tell, could you? It was decorated with a lot of love, let me tell you. (How long do Monet's legs look in this photo and how old does she look? No wonder people assume she is a school-age child!)

Monet's been wanting to do some baking for a few days now, so we did this afternoon. We made cupcakes and decorated them, especially for Nanna.


We've got a busy agenda over the next week. There will be shopping involved, a bit of touring, time in the pool, time in the playgrounds and plenty of time for food and drink with Monet's Nanna.

It's a good thing I like her.

(Sorry about the quality of the piccies, they were taken with my mobile phone...)

Fill In...

Monet adores her dad. It's scary how much she behaves like him.



(Sorry about the poor picture quality there, I'm not a fan of the flash on my mobile phone.) Notice the hand under head watching telly pose? Hmm.

Did I tell you that I got my hair cut last weekend?



Yeah, that's Monet and I, striking a pose, not a couple of 'fill in' models.

I like it. The girl who cuts my hair does a great job and always cuts it the way I ask. Love that.

Last Saturday also saw Monet and I invited to a 4 year old's birthday. In typical Cairns weather, it rained practically the whole time, so thank goodness for big undercover patios.

Monet had an absolute ball. She wasn't too keen on playing 'pass-the-parcel', but loved the 'Stick-The-Pirate-On-The-Treasure-Chest' (rather like 'Pin-The-Tail-On-The-Donkey'), mainly for the fact that my blindfolded girl won!! She won a Dora Scrapbook which made her day.

Being typical Tropical Queensland, what else do kids do at parties, but go swimming in the pool, even if it was raining! (This would never happen in Melbourne!) Monet had a fabulous time in the pool, she did so well splashing around with her floaties on. All the kids were under strict supervision by the mothers who were leaning around the pool fence and the dads who came, were in the water with them. I don't know who had the best fun in fact. Sometimes I think grown men enjoy being in the pool with the kids rather than the opposite way around.

Can you spot Monet in this chaos?

The parting party pack included a couple of el-cheapo Little Ponies, which Monet has been playing with all week! ALL WEEK. Thank God for $2 Coles Clip-strips.

We've got Lyndon's Work Christmas party tomorrow night. No one is happy about it. You might remember that last year we were fortunate to spend two nights here, but tomorrow night we get to do this again. No one is happy. I am though, it is a night out!

A Post About Books (& a plug for a cool website)

I love books, especially good Children's books. I have a few books waiting patiently in my wardrobe to be wrapped and put under the Christmas tree for the youngest member of this household. I love it when Monet gets books for Christmas because ultimately it is I who reads them all and I get sick of reading the same ones over and over and over....

At least on Christmas night there will be at least 5 new books for me to read. *Phew*

I was speaking to one of my Melbourne mates this morning (Hi Paula!) and told her about this fabulous website, Huggies Book Club. So for all you Aussie pals, I recommend you join (it's free) and they offer free postage (FREE!) and 10% off RRP on ALL books! You can even lay-by your books. They even offer gift wrapping and gift cards, for an extra $2.50, which makes ideal Children's gifts.

I have been a member for quite some time and have ordered books via this site for my Nephew in country Victoria. Apparently the card was hand written which my S-I-L (to be one day) said it was a really nice touch.

You can bet I am waiting in anticipation for my little parcel of books to arrive in the post in the next few days...

January First

This morning, after waking up with no headache or hangover in sight, we popped into the local 'Woolworths'. We went to pick up some more of Monet's favourite snack food (and her mother's favourite 'get-in-the-pram' bribery food), little packets of cheese flavoured rice-cakes. When leaving we picked up the new catalogue in which we spied this...I can't believe it is just one week since Christmas and Easter Buns are already on their way in! Somebody is making a buck somewhere aren't they?

A Beer, Some Chocolates and Carrots...

When growing up, it was always a tradition to leave at our place a beer for Santa (usually a VB if I recall correctly), a block of Cadbury's Dairy Milk Block of chocolate and a bunch of carrots for Santa's reindeers. I know when Kim and I were tucked into bed late on Christmas Eve, my dad would guzzle down the beer and mum would chomp down the chocolate. The carrots usually would find themselves back in the fridge.

I remember one Christmas morning, Kim exclaiming, "The reindeers' carrots are back in the fridge!!" and then saying something about Santa not being real. I'm not sure how old either of us were but I know we were shattered. Well, I was anyway. Why were the reindeers carrots back in the fridge?

On Christmas Eve here, we made a big song and dance before Monet went to bed, about leaving some things for Santa. A Corona beer, complete with 'stubby holder', a box of mixed Cadbury Roses chocolates and two large carrots. Monet was very excited, especially about the carrots.

After she went to bed and we put the presents out and assembled the cubby, I replaced the beer in the stubby holder, with an empty one, ripped open the box of chocies (my mum would've been proud!) and scoffed a few, leaving the wrappers in the box. I went to put the carrots back in the fridge when Lyndon said, "Nah, don't put them back, didn't your mum ever break off some of the carrots?" No. She had not. Remember she just put them back in the fridge. What a terrific idea, so Lyndon broke the two carrots in half, leaving the tops back on the ground.

The first thing Monet said on Christmas morning was "Did the reindeers eat the carrots?" We went out into the lounge and she was pretty thrilled to see that the reindeers HAD eaten half of the two carrots. She didn't care about the empty beer bottle or the half eaten box of chocolates. It was the carrots she was most interested in.

I think that was the best part of my Christmas Day. The magic Monet brings into our lives. The innocence of a two year old, believing that Santa feed his reindeers the carrots Monet had left out... *smile*

Did you ever leave anything for Santa on Christmas Eve? If so, what?

Christmas, Cairns style.

So, while our friends and family had a freezing, cold Christmas Day (in Melbourne, country Victoria and London!), we sweated it out. Just the three of us and yes, it was wonderful. (Sorry family and friends, but it was wonderful.) We even went for a swim in the pool, something I had always wanted to do on a Christmas Day since I don't know when. I love a warm Christmas and this year it was guaranteed.

Santa was good to Monet, bringing her an outdoor plastic 'Dora the Explorer' cubby, which we decided will have to be brought indoors. (The little one will probably pass out in it this afternoon, it is that hot and humid outside!) He also bought her some other 'Dora' gear and a 'Little People' Farmyard. Her grandparents and Aunts and Uncles also bought her numerous gifts. So many, we are considering moving. Seriously.

Lyndon and I were lucky enough to receive these gifts. (I got the groovy red Sunbeam Mix master - yay!!!) I don't drink coffee.

Our breakfast consisted of croissants, fresh strawberries and champagne and juice. (Monet didn't have the champagne, don't worry.) It was a nice way to start the day. Even thought Lyndon had like four coffees (of the Latte variety) he seemed to 'conk' out after lunch. He blamed the champagne. I did have a tiny nap, listening to some terrible music that annoyed me, but I was too stuffed to get up and turn the bloody music off! Oh well.

Our Christmas lunch consisted of roast pork and potatoes, salad, ham and chicken. And champagne. Followed by my speciality, trifle. Nice.

Monet spent the afternoon playing with her 'many' toys... It was a great day.

Outside was hot. Sweaty hot. We thought we'd go for a swim in the lagoon at around 5 pm, so we wandered down to find it simply packed with tourists. P A C K E D. We turned around and spent quite some time in our own apartment block pool, with no one else. It was lovely.

All up we had a stress-free, happy day. I hope you guys did too. Cheers.

Is This How You Wear Santa Sotckings?

I swear, we haven't laughed so hard in ages.... (Hope you get a giggle out of this too!)

Ready and Waiting for Tomorrow...

Yep. We sure are busy around here...

Ready and waiting for tomorrow is the following;

Quarter Leg of Ham. Rolled Leg of Pork. Twin Chickens. Layered Garden Salad ingredients ready to be put together today. Potatoes to be roasted. Gravy to be made. Trifle being in the process of being made. Corona Beers cooling. Bottle of champagne. Strawberries and Croissants. Bottles of wine ready. Bon-Bons sitting in the cupboard. All presents wrapped and waiting to be opened. I think that's it. Oh yeah, also a box of Chocolates waiting here for Santa. I'm sure he'll appreciate that. Along with a beer of course.

And what will be doing tomorrow? With all that food and alcohol we have here you'd be expecting us to be having a load of guests, but nah, its just us three. And I can't wait!!

May you and your family have a wonderful Christmas, as we are hoping for ours.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Reindeer Antlers and Santa Hats

We made these yesterday at Playgroup and Monet just adores them. I don't know how many times the Santa hat went on and off her head (and our heads too!) last night, but I'll tell you, it was a lot. The reindeer antlers were also a big hit. Don't you just love them? Monet's hand prints, painted in brown paint. Very clever eh?

Last week we made special Christmas paper ornaments, but I didn't get to photograph those in time. Why? Well, Monet thought it was good fun trying to get the glued stars off and the coloured matchsticks off too. Oh well.

I bought during the week, a 'proper' Santa Hat from a local shop which Monet has been wearing around the place. When I mean around the place, I mean here in the apartment, down the street, in the shops etc., etc., It is soooo cute and we get lots of smiles. I need to decorate her pram in tinsel like I did last year, as I do like to make people smile! *smile*

And because I can, here is a photograph of the 2006 Christmas Bear I bought for Monet. She spied it in the supermarket and wouldn't let go! He was on special for a whole $5, so that was okay that she wouldn't let him go....