Wow, are the Christmas holidays over already?!
What a break!
Where to begin with what we got up to?!
Firstly, RELAXATION was the name of the day, every single day, amigos.
I needed to rest and recharge my ‘batts’ and that’s exactly what I did.
No blogging, work, shoots or paid social media- and although I missed this special place that’s mine right here, a digital detox bar the odd snap on some of my handles, meant truly switching off.
…I did share my pre-Christmas blow dry on insta naturally, though! Hello Hollywood waves.
…And I couldn’t resist some pics over the Christmas period.
Christmas day was a loveable affair with lots of kisses under the mistletoe!
The cutest thing, I didn’t even ask for Xander for a kiss in this, my sweet 3 year old just dived in when Peter was snapping away.
Taken on my phone, this is my favourite photo of the season and might just make next year’s Christmas card!
And look at my little pose below-I literally have NO idea who he gets it from 😉
Thanks for all the ‘thread-love’ on insta too. Here I am in a vintage Jaegar dress picked up in Oxfam years ago and Xander wears a stripy Ted Baker kids shirt and cords c/o Mamas & Papas.
Could this boy be any cuter?! #Biasedmama
The holidays were all about quality time with the whole family with days in scoffing and days out burning off the cals racked up scoffing, with brisk walks, park time and some cultural fun too (hello Rainbow Factory‘s production of ‘The Shoemaker’s Christmas Wish’)- all in all, it was just what the doctor (or you know, my Mum) ordered.
R&R.
Here is more of our Christmas in pictures-
Park life
Piggy back rides from Papou are just the BEST! And the sweetest thing? I remember him doing this for my brother and I!
Giddy-up! (sp?)!
Aw, my baby nephew is EVERYTHING! I asked Peter if I could have one and he told me to try Amazon. Very funny!
Below is my Number 1 girl. Thank you Celuu for gifting my Mum so many gorge dresses. Such a treat!
Loving my gorgeous earrings too my folks got me from New York too. These gorgeous gold numbers were picked up in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Stunning.
Oh hey there hot Mama!
Quick outfit change (why have one dress on right-it is Christmas after all)!
Beautiful!
Now back to Christmas morning and present time-a LOUD, joyous (and rather messy affair) although the wrapping paper was removed as was most of the toys these lucky boys received by the time we got round to snapping.
Taking pics (for a change) wasn’t a priority when it came to unwrapping, and lovely it was too!
…Thanks to Tennis Tots too, whom we are working with in the New Year-the boys will be learning to play tennis with them and simply cannot wait to get on the court!
They loved their Christmas packages left by tennis-loving Elves on Christmas Eve in time for the big day!
Rackets, balls and even tennis kit was included.
Perfect for air guitar too! The boy’s got skillz!
Thanks too to Hotel Chocolat for spoiling us with many a chocolate treat under the tree too! Yum!
Anfd the wonderful Kerry of brilliant blog, Oh So Amelia was my Secret Santa giver this year (thanks to Beth from Life As Mum for arranging a bloggers version this year).
The boys gobbled up the Chocolate santas Kerry also kindly sent us before I had time to take the photo-but look how gorgeous the gloves, lip crayon and treats are Kerry sent for us all. Thanks lovely lady!
After a morning of chocolate for breakfast (and some smoked salmon and cream cheese blinis with caviar) for erm, balance, it was time for Christmas lunch!
I had lovingly made mushroom soup first thing in the morning while the kids slept and Mum basically did the rest (Peter and I offered to help cook but she wanted to be Head Chef). Papa G was running one of the restaurants so left after presents were opened and returned for horsey duty in the evening. Fear not we did Christmas dinner twice, the following day too so he didn’t miss out too much!
…Oliver and I set the table for dinner and traditionally, it’s all about the antique gold china for the big day, that comes out but once a year.
And crackers, I think between us we got through two big boxes of the stuff. I actually pulled a muscle pulling crackers.
Chief taster approved my mushroom soup and ate it all up. Result!
Mum’s magnificent turkey!
Sumptuous, delicious food and the best company a girl could ask for.
Here are some more of the moments snapped which meant the most to me over the season (although we didn’t take that many photos as we were busy just ‘being’ and laughing-mostly at Papa G whom I made some culinary videos with too over the break, I can’t wait to share with you!
You will also be able to see him, and me, along with the rest of the family on Ch 4 in February but more of that to come another time! No doubt, it’s going to be an entertaining show!
Our complete highlight of Christmas was hanging out with my beautiful baby nephew Zachary. I am so broody it hurts!
He’s just too gorgeous!
Oh and thanks to Cosatto for the beautiful car seat.
Look at those cheeks!
Even his ‘cry face’ is adorable!
Aw! Babies make life so much better.
And get ready for quite possibly the cutest picture ever!
Oliver adores being a big cousin to Zachary!
…I must add, it wasn’t all fun and games over Christmas as we were very nearly flooded on Boxing Day evening- and my heart goes out to all those not as lucky as we were all over the UK.
Over at my parents, 20 minutes away from our house, we did lose power for several hours so it was dinner by candlelight that night…
And here we are, the calm after the storm, the day after a night of very little sleep for me as I spent the night worrying we might have been flooded.
It was a very narrow escape.
We were so very lucky.
Talking of luck, after the rollercoaster that was Christmas, we were kindly invited to see in the new year over at the stunning Raithwaite Estate, one of this family’s favourite places in Yorkshire.
With beautiful birds of prey in the grounds for guests to marvel at on New Year’s Day, thanks to Whitby Falconers, it was an utterly magical break from start to finish!
Hello!
Hi there!
Alexander kept asking ‘Why is the owl cross with me’? which made me burst out laughing (sorry Xand)- I did explain it was his eyebrow game and nothing personal!
…Raithwaite Estate is set in 100 acres so we enjoyed some refreshing walks while we were there by the waterfalls and lake on site. Let me tell you, it might have been cold, but it was FRESH and certainly blew the cobwebs away!
Brotherly love.
Spot the blogger? The only one looking at the camera!
Back inside, it was time to get warm and head for a dip in the pool!
Or if you’re 5 and 3, louging around might be more your thing!
Right boys?! These were heated loungers and Oliver was pretending he was sunbathing in Jamaica!
After a lush night’s sleep that involved 2 kids climbing out of their beds and getting into ours. What’s new, and thank goodness for King size beds, it was ‘epic breakfast’ time (think Dad might have had just the 4 courses)- before a movie in the room, back to the pool and then a drive off into the Yorkshire countryside.
We popped into the Postgate Inn for a hearty lunch (and they even rustled me up a tasty vegan dish of veg wellington as I’m taking part in #veganuary and then it was time to hit the road home.
Not before cuddles with Peanut the dog of course.
Aw, another cute pic!
What a wonderful, restorative time was had by all.
Now, I’m back home, holidays over, head down but more content, clear about my goals and aspirations for the year ahead, more mindful (thanks to veganuary and rediscovering yoga), more rested and most importantly, more focused on what I want to be doing work-wise and for my little family this coming year.
A whole lot of Christmas fun has created a great deal of clarity for this mama.
Thanks to my family for making the season so very special, the super chaps at Raithwaite Estate for turning our frowns upside down after the worry of potential flooding, and of course, a huge thank you to you guys, my loyal and supportive readers-much love to you all, keep rockin’ and Happy New Year my friends!
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Lovely pics, looks like you had a great family Christmas! 🙂
What a lovely break and what lovely pictures. Zachary is a dote. And those owls! I love looking at beautiful birds of prey like that. Hope there’s been no more near floods. Here in Ireland, there’s devestation – not affecting us, but is, so many. #brilliantblogposts
Lovely blog post, I really enjoyed all the photos.
It looks like you all had a lovely time over christmas. It’s a great time to take a break isn’t it x
Wow what a lovely (and busy!) Christmas you had! I too had some time off but I’m finding it hard to get back into the swing of everything! Your youngest is so cute and your new nephew is just beautiful! Lovely pictures 🙂
#BrillBlogPosts
Wow, what a lovely time you’ve had over the holidays! I can’t believe it’s over for another year ? x
I know right, time is going by so quickly xx
Lovely round up and love the owls!
Amazing pictures… those birds of prey are just beautiful! You did pretty much what we did and monged out mostly. Bliss! Thankfully though, we weren’t very nearly flooded… so glad you escaped it by a cat’s whisker.
Haha yes, total bliss, we were so lucky with the flooding, sad not every was as lucky as us
Looks wonderful! I tried to get some picture for a Christmas blog post and got firmly told to go away! Have a wonderful new year and all the best for 2016.
I love owls btw, and seeing these so unexpectedly has made my day. Random owls! Thank you universe
Oh that’s so sweet, owls rock don’t they, they made our day too 🙂
Hi Vicki,
What a lovely round-up of your family Christmas. Here at Tennis Tots we’re really excited about working with you in 2016! We’re looking forward to welcoming the boys to our Leeds class next week and so glad the elves delivered their goodie bags in time! Best wishes, Caroline @ Tennis Tots
Thanks so much Caroline, we can’t wait to work with you too and the boys are so excited to be learning a new skill. Happy New Year 🙂
Oh what a lovely Christmassy feast for the eyes – literally! What a beautiful family Christmas you had – my mouth is watering at the spread. Christmas dinner is my favourite 🙂 You have such a lovely family Vicki and your boys get more gorgeous as they get older – you have a couple of little heartbreakers on your hands there 🙂 Mim x #brilliantblogposts
Thanks darling, so lucky with my family, they are the sweetest-sending you lots of love beautiful x
Your Christmas looks beautiful. I love the boys coats they look so warm and cosy! Looking forward to seeing your Dad being a ‘youtube star!’ bless him.
I love the photo of your mum holding your nephew and your brother looking at him – he looks truly smitten! Beautiful Christmas.
How lovely was your new years stay too. xx
Haha Dad is hilare! Such wonderful memories, thank you, hope you had a lovely holiday season too. Happy New Year x
Looks like you an amazing Christmas, what wonderful pictures! Your mum is so hot! I love your dress too. Happy New year lovely xxx
Aw thanks darling, she is! I’m going to tell her that because she doesn’t believe me! Happy New Year darling x
Oh honey what an amazing roundup! Love the videos and seeing you all at home – Christmas is such a wonderful family time isn’t it! Loved seeing Peter on film too (although I don’t think he fancied it did he? ☺) Baby Zachery is just adorable. And what fun to have a stay-away and be pampered. Thanks for sharing your lovely Christmas with us darling and a very Happy New Year to you all xxx
Thanks sweetie, it was such a magical time, sad it’s over now! Happy New Year to you all too xx Haha Peter isn’t in love with being on camera, working on him though! xx
So glad you switched off and relaxed over the Christmas holiday. You never seem to stop mrs! It really looks like you all had a fabulous time, lots of lovely treats and a very lucky escape. (My hubby’s parents were flooded in the Tewkesbury floods in 2007, so I know how terrible it is). Thank you for hosting X
Thanks darling, I do have a busy schedule but I’m strict on my down time when it comes to work. So lovely though to totally switch off. So sorry about your folks, we had a lucky escape this time but my thoughts are with those affected, awful xx
Looks like an amazing break – just the way it should be. I too switched off and it felt so good. Loving the look of all the food – and that turkey looks gorgeous. I don’t normally like turkey but that I could happily tuck in to! Love that pic of Xander kissing you – so, so adorable. I can’t wait to see Papa G on your videos – just can’t wait xxx
Thank you darling, so wonderfully nourishing to switch off isn’t it. Come to Leeds so we can feed you guys up x
Looks like a lovely Christmas! We went to the Rainbow Factory at the end of November when we went to my sister’s in Leeds to meet my new nephew – I thought it was great! #brilliantblogposts
So pleased, wonderful place, my eldest is having his birthday party there on Sunday, we cannot wait x
Lol only you can make ‘recharge my batts’ sound saucy hehe. What a fantastic Christmas break you guys had, so pleased you managed to escape the flooding and feel for all those affected not just in UK but across the globe! Always seems to be some crazy big disaster or another around that time of year but makes you all the more appreciative of being safe, secure and surrounded by family – however mad they are. Love Papa G on horsey duty and such cute photos of all your cuties including baby Z… melt! And I’m not a turkey fan but your mum’s turkey really does look delicious, will you blog a recipe? I know it’s not the season any more but hey 🙂 Happy New Year again to the whole crew x
Baha, you naughty Mama, does sound saucy now! Thanks darling and for your phone call when I was so worried, meant a lot. Awful time for so many all over the world, you are so right, a lot of devastation seems to occur during these times. I remember the Tsunami around then too. Will have a think about the recipe, I’m doing #veganuary as is my Mum but I will sort for next year for meat eaters wanting to try it. Happy New Year my lovely to you all too x
Lovely pics and sounds like a wonderful time had.
#brilliantblogposts
Thanks lovely, it was x
Sounds like you had a great time at Christmas! What a wonderful way to spend the season with the entire family! Lovely photos and videos too! #brilliantblogposts
Thanks Cheryl, such wonderful quality time. Happy New Year x
Oh I love seeing these photos of your Christmas. It looks as if you had a wonderful time, full of Christmas spirit and wonderful family. Just what it’s all about. your boys get cuter by the day!
Thanks darling, it was just so wonderful, I got emotional writing about it all. Hope you had a fabulous time too. Happy New Year x
For a relaxing Christmas, you did a lot. Close shave with the floods, hey? I used to be a reporter not too far from you and I was watching the news with interest as I guessed the area might get hit by flooding. Anyway, the food looks delightful and some great pics there. Tennis Tots looks great btw. Look forward to seeing you on Channel4.
Thanks John, it was honestly chilled (for us)-ha, I don’t think I’ve ever eaten more and lovely to totally switch off-no work. Hope you enjoy the Ch 4 show, it can’t not be entertaining with my family!
What a lovely post, full of so many happy memories. I loved both of your vlogs too. So glad you managed to switch off over christmas. And my gosh – Peanut the dog is a cutie! x
Thanks darling, lovely, relaxing time. How cute is Peanut?! I want a dog and a baby now! Ha x
Wow! Your blog is so gorgeous! And this is absolutely the most beautiful of the #brilliantblogposts – gorgeous photography! Thank you for sharing your fabulous Christmas. I hope your new year is just as wonderful, xx
Thank you so much, Peter my husband is a super photographer but lots of my photos are here too so I’m doubly excited and touched by your comment. Thanks for joining in and for commenting. Happy New Year x
It looks like you had a wonderful time, I love those photos and little Zachary looks like he’s growing so fast, special first Christmas too :). Happy new year Vicki, to you and yours xx
Thanks darling, it was such a special time. Happy New Year to you all, hope we get to meet this year x
So many beautiful photos – other than the worry of flooding it sounds like a wonderful christmas and new year. How delicious does your breakfast look?!! #brilliantblogposts
Thanks Rachel, such a fab time and we felt so very lucky to have escaped flooding. Thinking of all not so lucky. Hope you had a wonderful break too. Happy New Year x
Aw it looks like you had a wonderful Christmas! There are some gorgeous photos! Isn’t taking a break from everything now and then really refreshing? X
So refreshing, I had a fab time. Hope you did too. Happy New Year x
What a wonderful Christmas it looks like you have had. I love the contrast between our Christmases where it was 35 degrees celsius, very hot.
Oh wow, so lush! I need a hot Christmas one year! Happy New Year x
Got to love a Greek mama! Glad you had great holidays all round. x
What a lovely Christmas & New Years you had! Baby Lucy is so adorable. My daughter & I watched your two vlogs & we both really enjoyed them – especially Zander chasing the light on the wall lol I’m so glad your house was spared from the flooding. Great to have you back on the blog. x
Thanks darling, it’s Baby Zachary but his Mama is Lucy, I think he’s so cute, he looks like a girl (not that boys can’t be cute, they so can of course and equally so but he like my youngest has such a delicate face). Very sweet ‘light chasing’-thank you for watching too and for your lovely words and linking up. Great to be back. Happy New Year x
Marvellous, looks like it was a fabulous holiday!
It was lovely thanks x
Fab post – beautiful photos – beautiful children – here’s to 2016
Cx
Thanks so much darling, Happy New Year x
Ahhh, perfect time was had by all. Cant believe how fast the festive season went by! Thankfully we love our jobs so no hardship going back to reality! Loved this bumper post xx
Thanks babes, true, Happy New Year xx
Oh your post has made me wish it was Christmas Eve again … it really is the most wonderful time of year! A beautiful post with just gorgeous photos – you have to make that one of your son and you under the mistletoe in to a card – it’s a must! Love you dress – and that blow-dry – can’t beat a good blow-dry – I’m obsessed!
Anyway, happy new year to you – hope it’s a beautiful one xx
Thanks darling, so cute isn’t it, def Christmas card contender for next year. Blow-dries are lush aren’t they?! Happy New Year x
Beautiful photos. I never thought of having soup as a starter. We always have prawn cocktail which I’m not a fan of. Looked lovely! Happy New year to you and your family.
OOh we often have that too, and soup (greedy or what?) haha. Happy New Year!
Ah looks like you had a great time and relaxed well! Ours was quite relaxing too although a lot of driving as well #brilliantblogposts
Aw sounds lovely, Happy New Year!
Glad you had a fantastic Christmas. Your nephew is gorgeous. #brilliantblogposts
Thanks Claire, we all besotted x
Hi Vicki, I love your pictures (I was lucky enough to receive my first DSLR camera for Christmas and can’t wait to learn how to use it to it’s full potential… Where to start though?).
I love the way your parents are more than happy to pose for the camera. After your break at the Raithwaite Estate you sound ready and raring to go.
So glad your house didn’t flood, I can’t imagine what it must have been like for the people whose house did flood. It must have been absolutely awful.
Wishing you all the best for 2016.
xx
Thanks lovely, was awful seeing so many affected by the floods, we were so lucky. My folks are troupers and Dad loves the camera especially! Happy New Year lovely x
Your Christmas looks great – so important to switch off and cut off as much as you can! Lovely pics.
Really is important to strike that balance x
Oh wow!! Looks like you had an incredible Christmas!!
It was lovely thanks x
It feels good to really relax and completely switch off, doesn’t it? Christmas seems to be the only time you can do that, and there’s no feeling guilty: everyone is doing it! The photo of you and your nephew is beautiful (you look like a teenager there!). Love that your dad plays on his hands and knees with the kids, bless!
Aw thanks darling Mel, I wasn’t wearing make up there, think I need to abstain more often! You are so right, the perfect time to totally switch off when everyone else is. Much love to you and Happy New Year x