Print This Post
A chimney overflowing with presents from Santa!
Well, it was a Christmas day to remember. It all started out okay – although Katya and I felt a little bit under the weather. But this was nothing compared to what was to come…
Tolii got up early, or more like his normal early time, so that he could see if Santa truly had come back to shove presents down the chimney. You see, the night before, Tosha and Tolii had peered out of their bedroom window just before going to bed and had seen Santa come into the back garden!
Tolii spots the present shapped like a skateboard
Skateboards! Santa did listen!
The letter that Santa had left said that his elves had told him that both Tolii and Tosha have been very nice and polite boys, and so he would be leaving them lots of presents! Well, it was pretty easy to get to sleep after that!
And true to his word, there were many presents falling out of the chimney come Christmas morning.
Eventually, Tosha woke up and came downstairs after hearing all of the commotion Tolii was making – “That’s my skateboard, I know it! Can I open it first?”.
The 2008 presents haul
The boys tore into (and apart) their presents. It took all of maybe 15 minutes. Then the serious business of playing with them could begin! Tosha became the expert at spotting presents that were still waiting to be unwrapped. Many times, he returned to the fireplace or Christmas tree to conduct a search for anything that had been overlooked before. Now we always ask Tosha to help us find anything – he knows he will find it.
Snape teases Tosha
There were even a couple of presents for our cats, Snape and Lyra. They tried playing with some of the boys toys, too!
Reading through the 2009 family calendar present
Oh yes, and there was one or two things for daddy, mummy and Baba.
Right, time to get dressed, have breakfast and then get outside to ride the skateboards! Of course, Snape had to come along to watch all the action. Both Tolii and Tosha started by just sitting on the skateboards – quite the speed was achieved this way! And stopping was merely a matter of rolling off into the grass.
Tosha balances himself on the skateboard using his bum!
Bravely, Tolii soon tried standing up on the skateboard. With just a few tries, he managed to balance on it. Pushing off was a bit more difficult. At one point, Tolii said, “It doesn’t work properly”. Eventually, though, he was able to get the hang of things (after a few getting-to-know-you brush ups with the hard pavement).
Tolii gets the hang of skateboarding under Snape's watchful gaze
By now, Tosha had decided that he’d play it safe and just watch from the sidelines – confident in his ability to do skateboarding, if he were to decide to do it.
Time for lunch!
Head-banger Tosha sports a Christmas cut
As in past years, lunch was to be had over at Grangela’s flat. We packed up the skateboards and started our walk across town to her place. Tosha tripped once, picked himself up and continued on. He tripped again. He picked himself up and walked on. He tripped a third time! But this time, the corner of a brick wall was in the way.
A fair sized cut was made above his left eye where he made contact with the wall. The wound started showing itself off in a traditional Christmas colour: bright red. Daddy scooped him up and dashed the short way to Granny’s. It wasn’t the kind of arrival she was expecting to say the least!
A recovering Tosha unwraps some presents at Grangela's while mummy learns to be an engineer.
Christmas traffic on Andover's ring road
Tolii, unfazed by all of this, wasted no time and got stuck into the task of sorting the presents he spotted at Grangela’s and then began unwrapping his.
Meanwhile, daddy applied a cold cloth to Tosha’s head. Finally, the blood slowed and daddy was able to call mummy to tell her the news. She came dashing over with some psst-psst (our name for some anti-bacterial spray) and a bandage. We ended up using neither: Tosha was more interested in taking the opportunity to catch up with Tolii’s unwrapping count, and to have a little bit of a bite to eat.
Tosha heads into Andover's minor injuries unit
Daddy phoned NHS Direct and then the local surgery (surprise! it was closed!). The advice from NHS Direct was to go to the Andover War Memorial Hospital’s minor injuries clinic.
A lovely nurse glues Tosha back together again
So, after a stressful lunch, daddy took Tosha to the hospital. The roads were literally empty and no one else was in the clinic. The nurses there loved having something to do on this quiet shift; A very cute (and bleeding) three year old was just their ticket.
Tosha makes up for lost time
A lovely, friendly nurse put everyone at ease. She treated Tosha right away – what a brave guy (either that, or he has gotten very used to medical facilities!).
Tosha laid calmly on the bed while she cleaned the wound and glued it shut. The bad news: no swimming or any water near the wound for 5 days! Too bad daddy forgot to mention this to mummy until the next day (and after his bath).
The new, favourite toy - remote controlled airplane on a track
Tosha had his choice of treats from the nurse – he took a Scooby-Doo sticker set and a chocolate Santa on a stick. He wanted the stick opened but refused to even lick it until he got back to Grangela’s to show it to her and Tolii!
Back at Grangela’s then, and it was time to finish off the food and the presents. Many boys-toys for the boys. Lots of fun was had by all. And finally, daddy could start to relax. That’s when his body started to remind him that he was not feeling all that well himself….
Santa brings daddy some toys, too!
Soon, it was time to head back home with Grangela for Christmas dinner. Mummy and Baba had spent the afternoon cooking up a delicious seafood feast! Not a hint of turkey or any meat to be found anywhere.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
First to the table was Tosha and Tolii – not just because they were (still?) hungry but also because they had spotted all the Christmas crackers. Pop! Bang! Yipee!
Champagne was opened (pop! again) and poured. The starter was served: a scrumptious crustacean mix in a shell. The main course was served: calamari, shrimps, mussels, sea bass, and a tasty white wine sauce. The only comments over dinner was how quiet it was – everyone wasl so busy chowing down!
Happy 4th birthday, doggie!
Up next: dessert. And singing “Happy Birthday” to doggie, who turned four this Christmas day.
Starters...
But first, daddy had to go up to bed because his cold started getting the better of him. No sooner had he kerplunked himself into bed than it was lights out for the rest of the night.
Next morning, there were tales of Tolii not feeling well, too – of vomiting in the bath, actually. Oh dear! But that may have just been because he had sooooo many sweeties during the day. Hey, it is Christmas after all!
...mains...
Aunt Monica phoned from her home in Canada – she had invited Grandpa over for dinner and wanted to share the Christmas spirit. She got more than she bargained for when she heard of our woes!
Mummy’s cold got worse overnight and made it difficult for her to enjoy her morning coffee.
...and, desserts!
(Its the worst year for almost a decade in the UK for flus and colds).
Thank goodness this “memorable” Christmas was over!
Resolutions for next Christmas (why wait for New Year’s to make a resolution or three?):
- Never have Christmas dinner – have a Christmas lunch instead;
- Buy Tosha new shoes (did that yesterday in Winchester – we think the reason he tripped was because his “new” shoes from August were already getting too small); and,
- If possible, fly somewhere warm and sunny for a holiday over Christmas
[...] Show Stuff About… Andrew Autumn Baba Basingstoke Beach Birthday Cars Cats Children Christmas Education Entertainment Family and Friends Friends Games Gardens Grandpa Grangela Holidays Home and Garden Katya Milestone Millennium Meadow Museum Nursery Outing Pets Phrases Playgrounds Reviews School Seaside Sports Swimming Technology Tips Tolii Tosha Travel Travel and Holidays Videos Walks Weather Whitchurch WinchesterWP Cumulus Flash tag cloud by Roy Tanck requires Flash Player 9 or better.var rnumber = Math.floor(Math.random()*9999999);var widget_so = new SWFObject(“http://www.reeves-hall.net/wp-content/plugins/wp-cumulus/tagcloud.swf?r=”+rnumber, “tagcloudflash”, “210″, “210″, “9″, “#ffffff”);widget_so.addParam(“allowScriptAccess”, “always”);widget_so.addVariable(“tcolor”, “0×333333″);widget_so.addVariable(“tcolor2″, “0×333333″);widget_so.addVariable(“hicolor”, “0×000000″);widget_so.addVariable(“tspeed”, “100″);widget_so.addVariable(“distr”, “true”);widget_so.addVariable(“mode”, “tags”);widget_so.addVariable(“tagcloud”, “%3Ctags%3E%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fandrew%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-18%27+title%3D%2718+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+9.3658536585366pt%3B%27%3EAndrew%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fautumn%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-50%27+title%3D%278+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+8.2276422764228pt%3B%27%3EAutumn%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fbaba%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-30%27+title%3D%2713+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+8.7967479674797pt%3B%27%3EBaba%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fbasingstoke%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-100%27+title%3D%277+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+8.1138211382114pt%3B%27%3EBasingstoke%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fbeach%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-35%27+title%3D%278+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+8.2276422764228pt%3B%27%3EBeach%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fbirthday%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-38%27+title%3D%2715+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+9.0243902439024pt%3B%27%3EBirthday%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fcars%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-130%27+title%3D%2711+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+8.5691056910569pt%3B%27%3ECars%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fcats%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-41%27+title%3D%276+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+8pt%3B%27%3ECats%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fchildren%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-86%27+title%3D%277+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+8.1138211382114pt%3B%27%3EChildren%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fchristmas%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-124%27+title%3D%2716+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+9.1382113821138pt%3B%27%3EChristmas%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Feducation%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-58%27+title%3D%2710+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+8.4552845528455pt%3B%27%3EEducation%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fentertainment%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-74%27+title%3D%279+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+8.3414634146341pt%3B%27%3EEntertainment%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Ffamily-and-friends%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-140%27+title%3D%277+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+8.1138211382114pt%3B%27%3EFamily+and+Friends%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Ffriends%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-8%27+title%3D%2727+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+10.390243902439pt%3B%27%3EFriends%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fgames%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-43%27+title%3D%277+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+8.1138211382114pt%3B%27%3EGames%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fgardens%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-26%27+title%3D%2719+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+9.479674796748pt%3B%27%3EGardens%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fgrandpa%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-34%27+title%3D%2717+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+9.2520325203252pt%3B%27%3EGrandpa%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fgrangela%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-342%27+title%3D%2732+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+10.959349593496pt%3B%27%3EGrangela%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fholidays%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-286%27+title%3D%2717+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+9.2520325203252pt%3B%27%3EHolidays%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fhome-and-garden%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-24%27+title%3D%2710+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+8.4552845528455pt%3B%27%3EHome+and+Garden%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fkatya%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-32%27+title%3D%2714+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+8.9105691056911pt%3B%27%3EKatya%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fmilestone%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-151%27+title%3D%2754+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+13.463414634146pt%3B%27%3EMilestone%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fmillennium-meadow%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-153%27+title%3D%2712+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+8.6829268292683pt%3B%27%3EMillennium+Meadow%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fmuseum%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-3%27+title%3D%2711+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+8.5691056910569pt%3B%27%3EMuseum%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fnursery%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-42%27+title%3D%279+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+8.3414634146341pt%3B%27%3ENursery%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fouting%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-389%27+title%3D%2723+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+9.9349593495935pt%3B%27%3EOuting%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fpets%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-40%27+title%3D%277+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+8.1138211382114pt%3B%27%3EPets%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fphrases%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-56%27+title%3D%2726+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+10.276422764228pt%3B%27%3EPhrases%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fplaygrounds%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-133%27+title%3D%277+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+8.1138211382114pt%3B%27%3EPlaygrounds%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Freviews%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-143%27+title%3D%2710+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+8.4552845528455pt%3B%27%3EReviews%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fschool%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-25%27+title%3D%2712+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+8.6829268292683pt%3B%27%3ESchool%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fseaside%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-29%27+title%3D%277+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+8.1138211382114pt%3B%27%3ESeaside%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fsports%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-22%27+title%3D%2715+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+9.0243902439024pt%3B%27%3ESports%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fswimming%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-5%27+title%3D%2716+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+9.1382113821138pt%3B%27%3ESwimming%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Ftechnology%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-27%27+title%3D%2717+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+9.2520325203252pt%3B%27%3ETechnology%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Ftips%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-163%27+title%3D%277+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+8.1138211382114pt%3B%27%3ETips%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Ftolii%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-6%27+title%3D%27129+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+22pt%3B%27%3ETolii%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Ftosha%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-7%27+title%3D%27103+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+19.040650406504pt%3B%27%3ETosha%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Ftravel%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-145%27+title%3D%2723+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+9.9349593495935pt%3B%27%3ETravel%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Ftravel-and-holidays%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-4%27+title%3D%2714+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+8.9105691056911pt%3B%27%3ETravel+and+Holidays%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fvideos%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-307%27+title%3D%279+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+8.3414634146341pt%3B%27%3EVideos%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fwalks%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-173%27+title%3D%2711+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+8.5691056910569pt%3B%27%3EWalks%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fweather%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-118%27+title%3D%2715+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+9.0243902439024pt%3B%27%3EWeather%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fwhitchurch%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-37%27+title%3D%2736+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+11.414634146341pt%3B%27%3EWhitchurch%3C%2Fa%3E%0A%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeves-hall.net%2Ftag%2Fwinchester%2F%27+class%3D%27tag-link-15%27+title%3D%277+topics%27+rel%3D%22tag%22+style%3D%27font-size%3A+8.1138211382114pt%3B%27%3EWinchester%3C%2Fa%3E%3C%2Ftags%3E”);widget_so.write(“wpcumuluswidgetcontent”); ← Head-Banger Christmas [...]