It must be getting closer

 Because we've just come back from Rosie's first Nativity Play

and I've started constructing a gingerbread house

I had tears in my eyes before the first angel had walked on stage because I cannot help myself when I see those little five year olds desperately searching the audience for their mums and dads.  There are sixty children in each year group so this meant the cast list was quite enlarged from the original Nativity story.  Rosie was Inkeeper 1's wife.  She'd chosen her husband wisely as Inkeeper 2 sat down and started chewing his toenails part way through 😱

I think I would quite enjoy decorating my gingerbread house myself but I've promised Rosie and Leo that we will finish it off when they get home from school today.  There will be squabbles no doubt about who wants to be doing the icing and what sweets and sprinkles they will use to decorate, and there's a very good chance one will lean too hard on the roof while doing it and the whole thing will collapse.  I'll try and get the 'after' photo to share another time.

We went to Chelmsford for some Christmas shopping yesterday (which is one of the reasons I forgot to do a 'Me on Monday') I managed to tick a few more things off my list and it was a nice atmosphere there, not too busy.  We stopped for a coffee and a scone mid morning, I liked this sign they had in the John Lewis cafe

We have a busy weekend ahead with watching Leo and Rosie in their drama club concert on Saturday and we have all the family round for lunch to celebrate Paul's 66th birthday a little early on Sunday.  Fancy that, I'll be married to a pensioner!  So tradition dictates that we need to put our Christmas tree up very soon, then it really will feel like Christmas is getting closer!