Doth mine ears deceive me, or can I hear sleigh bells on our rooftop??
Oh yes people - Christmas Is Here! And we are going full hog as usual in the Hooper household! This year we have five trees ... and I'm still pretty certain that I can fit a few more in ... With everything decked out with garlands, bunting and enough fairy lights to take out most of Ampthill, we are feeling very festive over here.
And that reflects in the videos that you are about to view!
Kezia's pre-school had it's Christmas Bazaar. It is a brilliant event which is run by the Directors and Committee of Ladybirds - all of them are volunteer parents who have children at the pre-school. We raised a lot of money for the school, but the most important aspect of the fair was that it was entirely focussed on the age range of the children who attend the pre-school. So we had face painting, bauble decorating, pre-school age fair games, adopt a teddy ... and ... Father Christmas. Now, some of you may not know this, but us Watkinson's are highly connected in the Kringle Circles, if you'll pardon the expression. Grandpa Watkinson is often called upon, as am I, to act for Father Christmas during his busy times. And this was one of those occassions. Grandpa W did a fabulous job as Father Christmas and really got into the spirit of things. Thank you pops - we would've been stuck without you! xxxx
Then, there was Kezia's Christmas Concert at her pre-school. Her play was on a Wednesday. I knew this, because I am a Director at the pre-school. What I didn't know, until the Monday evening before the performance, was that Kezia needed to be a donkey for the concert. Not a rock-n-roller as I had previously thought. "A donkey?" I said, trying hard to look calm and totally nonflummoxed in a yummy mummy kind of way (difficult to do when you're wearing jodhpurs and wellies with horse poo on them, but I think I pulled it off) "Oh, how lovely. And, urm, does she need a costume?"
"No, don't worry" came the pre-schooler worker's reply, temporarily filling me with an eyelet of hope. "Just dress her in some brown clothes" All hope disappeared out of the window. Brown clothes? Why brown? Would a pink polka dot donkey be out of the question? Or perhaps a nice tartan kilted rock-n-roller with converse sparkly boots on style of donkey, thus using the one outfit I had erroneously got already.
So, not one to be fazed, I dashed onto Ebay found a donkey costume that was selling within the next 2 hours, won it and arranged with the woman, who lived just over an hour away on the other side of the next county, that I would collect it - thus endearing itself to me as the most expensive dressing up donkey outfit I have ever bought. Still, needs must. And if Kezia needs to be a donkey - then a donkey she shall be.
So the next morning we all got up nice and early, knowing that we had to trek over to get this outfit. There was one further complication to the whole affair. This particular day was the day after our wedding anniversary, and therefore it was my grandfather's (BIG G's) 93rd birthday. So off we trotted to Newport Pagnell to have a lovely lunch with my parents and grandparents. As we ate, the fog fell. And I'm not talking normal fog here. This was like James Herbert Fog! It was so thick and icy, that we daren't drive over to get the outfit. Brilliant. "Don't panic" came this call from the Hooper clan, as we dashed into Mothercare to find brown clothes for Kezia. We looked in the girls section. We looked in the boy section, giving you an indication as to how successful we were in the girls section. Nothing. Not a dickie bow. Until my husband, my wonderful, creative and, most importantly of all, my outfit saving husband cried "I have it. With cunning use of our creative skills, we can turn this Gruffalo onesie into a donkey" "How much is it?" I cried. "Never mind," I said quickly "It's all we've got"
So there we were. Chance and I. Sat in the kitchen with Kezia asleep upstairs, slowly brutalising a stuffed monster. It's original bright orange eyes were more than a little alarming, so we decided to paint them white and give him little eyelids instead which helped to diminish the 'horse from hell' look he was currently sporting. With all of his spikes, horns and claws cut off, and a sleeve of my old jumper stuffed with teddy stuffing and stitched to the front of his face (the other sleeve obviously having been used to create a long mane at the back) he suddenly became a wonderful donkey! Exultant, a tired husband and wife smiled at each other, knowing that their daughter was going to be the best donkey there.
The donkey costume was excellent. There was, however, one design flaw. The amount of stuffing required to give the donkey his lovely squishy muzzle weighed quite a lot when it was stitched to what was essentially the hood of a onesie. Therefore, it weighed down on Kezia's forehead, pushing her over slightly into a bit of a stoop! However, I felt it aided the worn out donkey look - after all, that donkey must've been knackered after that long walk carrying Mary ...
The time came for Kezia's little group to step forward. And there she was, stooped in all her donkey glory. It was a moment of pride. We'd done it. Silence fell in the auditorium.
Then she opened her mouth and said, in the deepest and loudest voice she could muster " Look mummy, I'm a don-Key"
After the excitement of the Christmas Concert, Father Christmas had one more surprise up his sleeve ... he had sent Kezia an email and I luckily was on hand to film her when she opened it. There is nothing I can say to describe this video to you. It just sums up what Christmas can really mean to people who believe.
