Happy Saint Nicholas Day!

Happy Saint Nicholas Day!

Here at our house we have a mix of traditions, a lot of them come from my Omama's side of the family who are German. This time of year, one of them is the celebration Saint Nicholas Day on the 6th of December.

Traditionally in Germany and other European countries Saint Nicholas is the one who brings the gifts, not Santa Claus, but really, he IS el viejito pascuero (Santa in Chilean Spanish).

How else would we get our toys and gifts to us?

On the night of the 5th, we leave our nicest shoes by the door or chimney with our Christmas lists. Mami and I worked on ours during the day. I looked at hers and it looked like this:

• Car  done!
• Our own house
• Chanel bag
• Sleep

Good luck getting that bag mami!

Oh yeah, back to my story. Saint Nicholas comes at night, takes our lists and fills our shoes with yummy treats like nuts, raisins, chocolate and fruit!

Mami has been leaving her list since she was a little girl and it seems to work. She and my tío Tomás would wake up early get their shoes, then go back to bed and eat all of the treats! Nowadays, even papi doesn't miss out on this!

This year, we made special little bags to put the lists in (part of our Advent crafting), and we put them by our fireplace at Omama's house which is where we are living right now. She left hers too.

Of all the things mami makes me do, this has got to be one of my all time favorites. And I've been really good. All day. Every day. It's true. So I KNOW I am getting gifts!

Do you celebrate Saint Nicholas Day? We want to hear from others who do this too.

Now I'm off to crack open some of the peanuts I got.

First (or rather) Second Sunday of Advent

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. Well, no, it's actually the Second. Mami made a mistake. That's how busy and "out of it" we are. But who cares, we had so much fun and we will just have to catch up next week!

We lit the first of four candles on a wreath on the table and said a little prayer. After all, it is Jesus's birthday soon and "we can't forget that" mami says.

Each Sunday we light a new candle and when we light the fourth one it will be Christmas!

Afterwards we put on old t-shirts, sat around the kitchen table and we painted and made Christmas decorations!

We were like elves working away. Mami and Omama used glue guns to stick things on, cut up patterns to make viejito pasqueros or Santa's, and I painted pine cones to make a special center piece for the big day.

I even managed to make grandma and grandpa their gifts, but I can't tell you what it is just yet (they read the blog, so I don't want to give it away).

Phewwww! I ended up exhausted. Being an artist is hard work. But of all of us, I think mami had the best time, she was just coming up with all sorts of great things to make, I'd never seen her like this before.

And guess what?! We are going to make a barn next week. Well, it's the stable for Jesus..the Nativity.

What special things do you make this time of year?

Now I get it!

So Christmas finally arrived!

Now it all makes sense to me. The tree, the lights, the candles, the food and of course, the presents!

There was a lot going on, but the highlight of the night was getting my very own tool bench! Wow! Now I can help papi repair things around the house.

There were other gifts for me and mami and papi had some too.

But the best part of this Christmas was when mami turned on the computer and I got to SEE and TALK to abuelita, tio Tomas, tia Denise, my Great-Oma and Opa in Chile, AND my grandma Barbara, grandpa Bill and my uncles Brad and Jeff with Skype.

They all live very far away and we don't get to see them very often.

I even saw Duke, my tio's dog he's really big and I miss playing with him.

I could see how happy mami was that we got to see them all, she said that this was "a wonderful Christmas". She was a little sad earlier in the day, but that cheered her right up!

As for me, I've been busy hammering anything I can get my hands on around the house and making sure my tool bench is in order.

Hope you had a great Christmas too. Can't wait for the next one!

¡Feliz Navidad!

Con mucho cariño para ustedes en esta Navidad

From Little M and I to you with lots of love on this Christmas

¡Feliz Navidad!

Have a Glee-ful Christmas!

Is it Christmas yet? I can tell we are getting closer but I don't know how much more I have to wait. It seems I have been singing "jingle bells" for a very long time!

It's no secret mami loves Glee, and to make this Christmas even more special, papi and I got her Glee The Christmas Album.

She hasn't stopped listening to it, but instead of being annoying papi and I really really like it!

In the evenings mami will turn down the lights, turn on the tree and  put on "Deck the Rooftop" and we will march around the living room playing the spoons and banging my bucket.

Its such an upbeat and festive song, it really just makes me happy!

Then right before bed, we listen to a slower song called "O Holy Night" and then I'm off to sleep.

Other tunes include: Deck the Rooftop, Merry Christmas Darling, Baby Its Cold Outside, The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Last Christmas, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, O Christmas Tree, Jingle Bells, You're a Mean One Mr Grinch, Angels We Have Heard on High.

Its like Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Santa all rolled into one!

Feliz Navidad!

Shhhh! Silent Sunday

Clothing at Tesco: Stylish and Warm this Christmas

Everyone likes to look nice, right? Right. 

And keep warm. Of course!

But keeping a family stylish and warm isn't always easy. Just ask mami.

But when the girls at Clothing at Tesco asked us to find some "stylish and warm" clothing for £50 or less for Christmas, mami made it her mission to find the best.

Here's what she got us:

I really don't like wearing too much stuff, but the F&F 3 Piece Reindeer Fair Isle Set (hat, scarf and gloves) she got me isn't too itchy and I actually keep it on my head. The set has a fleece lining that makes it soft and warm. Only £10!

Papi chose the F&F Cable Knit Casual Blue Sweater with buttons at the top. Its a wool and cotton mix which helps keep him extra warm.

He likes to wear his "snow sweater" as he calls it, at home when he is reading his books or playing with me.

Mami says he looks very "smart" in it and I agree! The stylish sweater cost £20, a bargain!

And lastly, I really don't know what mami was thinking, but she chose a furry jacket/vest! Can you believe it?! Just like the doggies at the park!

But mami says the F&F Faux Fur Gilet keeps her toasty and it looks good with her black jeans and boots.

Well, okay then. But it is still funny to me. Oh, and it was only £20.

So there you have it, we are all ready for the Christmas season with our stylish sweaters and hats!

Now, you tell us, what items from Clothing at Tesco would you buy for the family to keep stylish and warm this Christmas for £50?

One winner will receive a £50 Clothing at Tesco voucher to get ready for Christmas.

Rules:

Check out Clothing at Tesco site and make your choices

Leave a comment below giving us your selection and your contact details

Follow this blog on Google Connect or RSS

One entry per person

UK only

Winner selected at random

Closes Friday the 3rd of December

For an extra entry you can tweet: I entered to win £50 voucher from @ClothingatTesco with @verybusymama http://bit.ly/idk67I you can too!

Good luck!

Congratulations to @Mum_TheMadHouse

Christmas, Chris-t-mas?

Mami and Chef Phil Vickery

I don't know how mami spends her days. She takes the train after leaving me at nursery, but after that I have no idea how she fills her time. I have heard her talk about her "office" and "work". But that is as much as I know.

So when she came home last week talking about seeing new toys and food for something named Aldi, I was even more confused than before.

"There was a room full of delicious food and chocolates and fun toys in another!" She told daddy.
I perked up from my high chair. "Toys?" I thought.

"It was Christmas in July" she exclaimed 

"Aldi has a whole range of toys, I had no idea they had anything other than food at their stores. Remember Aldi stores from Spain?"  She asked daddy and emphasising the word Spain  (I don't know what that is either) but daddy just thought for a moment and said,

"Oh yes. They have toys there?"

"Yes! That's the German store. I had forgotten they had them in the UK. They have amazing prices" said mami.

"They had a display of all products that will be out for Christmas".

"Christ-mas, Chris -t -mas" I thought slowly. I know that word. How do I know that word?

"So what else did they have?" asked daddy.

"Hold on!" said mami and she ran out of the kitchen into the living room. She came back with a white bag and began taking out chocolates and cookies.

"Yummy!" I thought and pointed for a piece. "No Little M, you finish your dinner"

Daddy looked at her and said "well, this isn't very good for your diet" Mami just snorted at him, took the chocolates out of his hand and put them into the fridge. I could tell she couldn't wait to eat them! I can't blame her because I want some too!

Changing the subject quickly she said "well, the best part of all is that I got to meet with Phil Vickery!"

Daddy stopped stirring the sauce and looked at mami wide eyed "You did? How? What's he like?" he asked excitedly.

"Well" said mami slowly, "He's a really nice guy. Very funny, big advocate for getting kids cooking.  He's been working with Aldi stores for 2 years now."

"So that's what Aldi is, a store" Got it.

"Oh, really?" said daddy "Wow! I had no idea"

"Oh yeah, he's got an online school called Phil's Cooking Academy that helps kids learn to cook from scratch. Something I want Little M to learn when he's older".

"Sure! I've seen daddy cook and I want to help too" I shouted out. Mami looked at me, wiped away some sauce from my cheeks and kissed my forehead.

"So, did he give you any advice?" asked daddy

"Of course!" Said mami and read off a list of tips that Phil recommend for all mamas:

• Bulk cook so that you can freeze 2/3 of it for another day - Daddy smiled because he does this already.
• Keep your meals simple and have balance of sweet, fruit, veg, meats - Mami smiled this time because she cooks very very simple. Daddy rolled his eyes.
• Fast-food does not mean junk food. He says you can have healthy packaged or frozen food that is fast and easy to make but that does not mean its "junk"  - No reaction. Guess they both agreed.
• Kids should be introduced to a variety of foods early enough so that they are open to try it all later on. He said it is something called "flavour profiles" - Daddy perked up and said "its like muscle memory, the mind doesn't forget"

"Don't forget meeee" I thought. And I threw some mashed potatoes at mami to get her attention. She turned to me and said, "Okay mi amor, lets get you in the bath".

I still need to figure out what this Christmas business is all about and how it involves toys.

At least I learned that Aldi has "great value" for money as mami says, a yummy range of fresh and frozen foods, and Phil Vickery on their side!