The busy week finished with a trip to the Kings Head Theatre for Peter Pan (the theatre is out the back of an old pub on Upper Street in Islington). You walk out of the tiny theatre into a world of cigarette smoke and old dogs at the bar putting the world to rights.

Kids had a great time and we finished the week off with a film (Happy Feet: it was nowhere near as bad as I was dreading).

Marta is off to Poland for Christmas, so we have done a Christmas recording for her. An excerpt from it is below (Patrick will get off the video kick pretty quickly. We hope).



It is about a little cat that will not go to sleep. Our little cat was busy with her lollipop.

So, that's all from us this year. We are at home now getting ready for Christmas. Last minute baking and preparations are underway. We wish you all a Christmas filled with love, laughter and happiness and a wonderful New Year.

Here is our CHRISTMAS WISH SLIDESHOW, showing some recent pics of the kids.

Another leg in our very London Christmas - a trip to the Colisuem theatre to see the Nutcracker Ballet.

This has long been something Lauren has wanted to do and what better way to do it than taking along our little Ballerina for her first ballet. Needless to say that she loved it to bits and was dancing all the way out of the theatre.

The National Ballet is made up of a number of excellent dancers from all over the world and it truly was a magical experience, the theatre, the sets, the music and the standard of the dancing really showed why London is the home to the stage.

A film clip from it below.

Adding to the magic at this time of year is the FOG. London is covered in a thick fog in the mornings and evenings. There will be no snow this year - it is too warm across Europe for that. The fog is the thickest I have ever seen.

Xander is not the only one who has been busy performing for us.

It has been a busy few weeks for our Eleanor too. We went to her nursery Christmas Concert which was very cute, although we didn't see any leopards in the nativity. We were amazed by how much the teachers managed to teach them (and how much they actually remembered!).

Belle also had her open day at her ballet school. She really loves going, partly because it is fun, but mostly, I think is because it is a pink girly world, filled with tulle, glitter and sparkles. What little girl wouldn't love it.

We do have some group photos of these events but I rather not post them. Here, however, are a few of Bella and one with one of her best little friends, Ella. They're so lovely!

We put our Christmas tree up.

This year, we decided to let the kids do it all and see what came of it.

Tinsel chaos - but they all had fun.

One of the important events in our advent calendar was Alexander's music school concert.

Patrick and I went to the Redbridge Music School last week to see Alexander play in an orchestra for the first time. He was so excited about his first big performance.

He has been playing the recorder for a term but has been able to read some music since last year. The teachers and students worked very hard to put on a wonderful show for us. His fav. tunes were "Silent Night", "Once in Royal David's City" and "Jingle Bells".



WARNING! CONTAINS MUSIC FROM RECORDERS BEING PLAYED BY BEGINNER MUSICIANS



SILENT NIGHT



JINGLE BELLS

Alexander had a game of Rugby in Cambridge this weekend, so we all went up to watch. The Woodford u7's did a sterling job considering the conditions (about 2deg with a v chilly wind), winning 2 of their 3 games.

After the game we went into Cambridge for a hearty lunch to warm us up. There were lovely Christmas markets and carol singers to enjoy too. Xander requested that they sing his favourite carol "Once in Royal David's City" and they obliged. He was
thrilled.



That evening we took Alexander and Eleanor into the West End. Belle was so excited to be getting out into the big smoke. After a delicious Thai meal and a quick look at the ice skaters in Sommerset House, we took the kids to see the Snowman. It is something we have wanted to take them to for years now, but they haven't really been old enough to sit through it until now. A real Christmas treat!!

Like her cousin Emma, Bella likes to dive into Mum's make-up when the opportunity arises.

She said to Patrick the other day "I know what I'm going to get Mummy for Christmas - some make-up. I ruined all of hers, but I didn't mean to."

A pic of some of her artwork, being admired by her brother during the summer (just found these during a clear-up).

When the weather has allowed us over the last couple of months, we have enjoyed walking in the forest. The colours were short lived this year, because the weather has been hideous for the most part - we have had torrents of rain and howling winds (even tornados in some parts of London).

Margie likes her walks so relaxing that she falls asleep on the way. Such a funny little mouse.