#emotions #elves #Christmas #selfhelp #caring #autism #anxiety #mentalhealth #children #family #learing #digital

Hi everyone hope you are all doing well today, December is always a very busy month for me and no doubt this year it has come in with a lot more anxiety then years before not quite what any of us expected when we saw the New Year and 2020 in with that hope that this year would be a year of reaching goals, a year of paying off things to make your financial situation stronger, a year of starting new projects, or moving projects started in previous years forward. I was hoping to be in a better place as far as the book goes, I have hit many set backs since I began the publishing journey things at times I never through I would carry on with.

But here I am 4 years later a few more books sold, a few reviews left, and much further on my journey, if we allow ourselves to fall at each step and don’t pick ourselves up and dust our selves off and persevere how will we ever know if we missed that opportunity that might be one connection away or, the right person reading your book at the right time. I am adapting all the time to the situation working hard at it learning so much more along the journey then I ever expected to when I first started. miracles never just happen they are a sequence of events happening at the moment they are supposed to. some are meant to change you , some are meant, to teach you and some just happen because it is fate. Then their are the ones that change the very meaning of your why your how your when. They bring the best people to your life.

Here we are at the beginning of the last month of the year , we are out of lock down and in tier’s and we have a vaccine being delivered and rolled out, developed in the quickest time, is it the miracle to life that we once knew the jury’s still out on that one but I will say I will take it, if it has the chance to save peoples life or lesson the impact of Covid its worth it. There are many opinions and many different theory’s on the vaccine and that I think is an important part of the process,and really we can listen to what every one has to say on the subject but ultimately right now we have a choice about it, I do think their is so much fake and misleading information put out with out verifying the facts it’s understandably confusing and scary for some people.

Their is the fact that maybe we get to worried to ask questions but doctors are their to not only talk it through with you if you have concerns they are also at the best placed people to discuss your own health and medications and the Jab. Don’t avoid asking questions if your worried.

Anyway been a busy start too week, decorations have gone up, in a very quick time this year took us 3 days left us aching from all the trips to the attic to get our collection of things down, things missing only to be found on second day, but we did it had help from hubby, kids, Hayley, even the elves motivated us to keep.

we usually have the tree decorated first ready to light on first morning of december but this year we did it back to front, we decorated the kitchen and dining room first because we spend alot more time in thier this year. I always like that first morning of december to have the lights lit while the children open thier advent calendar’s and of course Hayley when I pick her up.

You set the table with their breakfast a glass of milk and thier advent calendars.

Jakes is always the dairy Milk one and Niki really wanted a pepper pig one this year. I didn’t capture pics of kids open thiers they were still tired, and not in the mood for photo’s we did have a giggle Jake had school , Niki woke up early to open hers and went back to bed, she didn’t have college and didn’t sleep much the night before.

After Dropping Jake at school and picking Hayley up and brining her back to mine , I gave her, her Elf calendar, which made her smile and giggle a little.

We also decided to do some videos to send every day to Mum to keep her going through the christams period firstly they build both Hayley’s and my camera confidence but also because it is another way to have and give them moments to mum too, far apart but always in the heart we will be together as soon as this vaccine is done hopefully.

” I don’t own rights to music used in this blog, but I Have brough and payed for the ones we use, for self help puposes, and teaching Imporving our own mental health”

Music has really helped Hayley through this lock down so much.

We did some arts and crafts after, sending this off to mum.

The day center had asked Hayley to design it and send it to them with what she would like to get for christmas and what she likes doing, and she is going to be the 5th day of the advent calendar on the day centers Facebook page. She was very excited about this.

This is their amazing facebook that shows the fantastic work they do for all the young adults that go thier with varing disabilities, they are always looking for more folowers and share because they are charity based and that helps them raise funds, and invest it in supporting these beautifyul and fantstic adults with disabilies. They really do bring out the best in them all and the love they recieve back from them is genuine and unconditional and full of smiles. They give them a sense of independance as much as possible for the individual but also try to teach them new daily living skills, and so much more the community here is 5*

https://www.facebook.com/Outreach3way

We also did Hayley’s Chrismas shopping we decided to do it at our local Range shop in opened in the begining of lock down and it has some real beautiful qulity items there for very good prices plus it was not very busy so we wanted to minamkise the risk for Hayley to do her shopping before everything opened and it got crouded. It was a good choice to make we were in and out pretty quick and got all but three pressies.

we had lunch when we got home and set to work wrapping before her afternoon Zoom friendship club with the day center.

We also Did A bit of Christmas food shopping for Hayley and dad she wanted to be the one who brought the treats this year as they won’t be with us for Christmas, so we can have our own big Elf Home our Josh we have him only for the five days we are allowed at the moment hopefully that may change to a bit longer but for now five days is better then no days .

Even Josh joins in the dressing up and spreading Xmas cheer.

I spend most of December , dressed in Christmas things, or warm clothes adds to the jolly atmosphere.

I love the creative process, I think mostly impulsively so having the elf with me helps me to suddenly think on the spot what i am going to write. After all Emo was an Impulsive buy that year 2015Thats how long he has been with us now.

I baked a Christmas cake the weekend before , only Niki loved the smell so much she tucked into it with a big slice cut out. I will have to make another one.

It really did smell so nice cooking, tasted great too, the first one I have ever made normally My mum makes them for us but we cant see her this year. Mums are great though aren’t they always want to be involved with your life and help anyway they can.

Decorating Trees One small one in kids rooms, Jakes Face when he came home and found Emo like this in his room .

We also decorated the tree’s, after Hayley went home my hubby had put the lights on the tree then me and the kids do our thing with it ,they stayed till the last decoration was on this time, although we all have creative differences on how it should be I kind of got it done the way I liked it.

We have some special ornaments we collected over the years , one or two from our grandparents tree, some from my parents some the kids made when they were little, We have 2 poems and some wings and a bauble for our Amy who is and angel in heaven she is always with us in this moments even if she has never even met her brothers and sister and they never got to meet her.

I find it comforting to see them there.

We also have the nativity seen, we get it out every year and it has an importance to the meaning of Christmas.

Going to finish off blog in a minute very late here didn’t start writing till late tonight was watching Spiderman with Jake and his dad.

Welcome to a view in our home and life.

Going to leave some links to paperback book and Kobo, eBooks at the bottom of this blog so still a chance to get it as a gift of as a stocking filler a good family read.

Paper Back

Kobo EBook

https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/emo-the-emotional-elf

Good night Much love Faye xxx

P.S Santa the elves and kids been good this year