This is something I am going to do every month this year – a little reflection on the previous month, and talk about five of the things that we, as a family, have really enjoyed. This might be days out, new things, films, books – whatever has taken our fancy!

December was obviously a lovely month, and it has been so hard to narrow it down to just five, but here goes….

Santa’s Steam Train Special

I will be writing about this in more detail very soon, but this was a magical day out for us. It was a ride on the steam train on the Severn Valley Railway, and meeting Santa Claus. The boys (and us!) absolutely loved going on the steam train, especially when it went past West Midlands Safari Park and we got a sneaky peek of the rhinos and elephants!

Harrison’s Nativity Play

Obviously, no photos of this one as I won’t put photos of other children on here. Everyone in the school has a part. Year two play the characters, and year one, reception and nursery all have their own songs to sing. Harrison’s year group sang ‘Away in a Manger’, and it was beautiful. It *may* have bought a tear to my eye! They perform it once at the local church and once at school. I was lucky enough to see it three times though – I helped with walking Harrison’s class down to the church for the dress rehearsal and for the first performance, and then with Graham and the boys for the performance at school. I was really pleased with Harrison – he quite often doesn’t join in with the singing and just stands there, but this time he joined in.

Salted Caramel Liquer

I’m not a big fan of Bailey’s or anything like that. I find it really sickly and I can only just about manage a tiny sip. This stuff however…wow! They were giving out samples in Tesco, and being a huge fan of salted caramel anything, I tried a bit – and immediately bought a bottle. Or three. Funnily enough, it was the drink that we left out for Santa this year. Pretty amazing that he has the same taste in drinks as me!

Mince Pies

It wouldn’t be Christmas without a mince pie or twelve. I’m quite fussy with my mince pies – I’ve made it my mission to try as many different ones as possible. The best ones? The ones that my mum makes. My dad even had a go at making some this year and they were pretty damn good. They may not be the most beautiful of mince pies, but they were lush!

They’re not the prettiest ones in the world, but my dad made mince pies. They’re lush! #mincepie #cake #pie #christmas #yum #foodporn #instafood #xmas

A photo posted by Rachel Cooper (@parenthoodhighs) on Dec 2, 2015 at 2:22am PST

 Parties & new outfits

Ok, so I am cheating here and combining two things. But I wore the new outfit to the party, so it totally counts. Each year (apart from last year, as it was on Benjamin’s due date!) I go to a big party with my family and friends. It is at a local hotel and is one of those three course carvery meals and disco type things. It’s always been something I look forward to, more so now that I don’t have work Christmas parties to go to. This year was probably one of the best ones ever, and I had a gorgeous outfit, which you can read about here to wear.

So there are our favourite things from December – what were yours?